Maci Dyer

Heather Harper
2nd grade

Thanksgiving Struggles: Creativity Lesson on Turkey problem solving.

CONTEXT OF LESSON:
I have observed the students in my class for 2 months. I have seen them work in the
stem lab and how it taps into their creativity. The students get so excited to participate in
anything that is hands-on, which tells me that the stem lab would be perfect for their
interests. Each day we have at least one read aloud, so I figured I would use a book to
introduce the topic. Then for follow up the students will discuss there traps in what they
used to make it, how it works, and what could they do better next time, if anything. With
Thanksgiving just around the corner it is a perfect time for this lesson. Also, what a better
way to get the students thinking and collaborating to cover content; this lesson is perfect
to help students to be creative through their work.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
- The students will be able to create a design brief and answer questions about
their trap.
- The students will be able to create a trap to catch a turkey with no harm
to the Turkey.
ASSESSING LEARNING:
-I will be able to observe the process of the students creating the cage, they will design
what they are going to make, and then I will also have a final product.
-I will also have their design brief to see what they understood about creating this trap
without any harm of the Turkey.
RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING

Writing
2.12 The student will write stories, letters, and simple explanations.
a) Generate ideas before writing.
c) Expand writing to include descriptive detail.
d) Revise writing for clarity.
Oral Language
2.3 The student will use oral communication skills.
Visual Arts
2.1 The student will generate a variety of solutions to art-making problems.
2.4 The student will create works of art inspired by a variety of concepts,
themes, and literary sources.

Maci Dyer
Heather Harper
2nd grade
MATERIALS NEEDED
List all materials that will be needed to teach this lesson. Who will be responsible for
securing each item?

Childrens Book: A Turkey For Thanksgiving, By: Eve Bunting (I have, from the
school Library.)
Design brief (I will provide)
Crayons/ Markers (Each student has their own supply bag)
Materials to build their cages (STEM lab consists of the materials the students
could use.)
Pictures of the traps for the discussion ( I will provide)

PROCEDURE
Day 1, November 6th (10:30-11:05)
As students finish their silent reading/ snack time we move into writing. I will have the
student join me at the carpet for a read aloud. I will introduce Eve Buntings A Turkey
For Thanksgiving. I will get the students to predict what they think will happen in the
book. Then we will then read pages 1-19. From then I will ask the students how would
they catch the turkey. I will probably have some students suggest that they will hunt
turkey. I will then introduce what we will be doing. I will say that we are going to make a
trap to catch the turkey, so Mr. Moose could use to make sure the turkey gets back to
Mrs. Moose safely. The students will return to their seats to work on their design brief of
their traps. It will be silent so the students can tap into their own personally creativity.
Day 2, November 11th (1:30-2:30)
The students and I will be going to the STEM lab to carry out their plans.
Day 3, November 18th (10:30- 11:05)
During writing we will look at the pictures of the traps the students made and talk about
them and then we will finish reading the rest of the book.

DIFFERENTIATION

Maci Dyer
Heather Harper
2nd grade
I have tailored my lesson to my students. I chose to do a read aloud, because it gets all of
the students attention, as well as keeps all the students on the same page. About four or
five students in my class are way ahead of the rest of the class. If I were to give passages
those students would bypass everyone else. Where as I have students who can barely
read. If I were to give them a passage they probably wouldnt get through it. Then when
creating the design brief we would go through it as a class, but then I would go through it
step by step with my lower readiness group, so they could complete the task. When doing
to the lesson I have separated the two students that have major behavioral issues. They
are not suppose to be with one another because they feed off of each other and distract
their fellow classmates.
WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO
ABOUT IT?
-Student behavior could be an issue in the stem lab, which would cause them to lose their
privilege to complete the project.
-Students might have a hard time seeing the story from the turkey perspective, so if they
do I will get the students to take a minute to act as if they were Turkeys.

Lesson Implementation Reflection

As soon as possible after teaching your lesson, think about the experience. Use the
questions/prompts below to guide your thinking. Be thorough in your reflection and use
specific examples to support your insights.
I.

How did your actual teaching of the lesson differ from your plans? Describe
the changes and explain why you made them.
I took out the writing process of writing from the turkeys perspective, because I
think they would get confused and it would take longer than the time allotted for
this lesson. We had to extend the time students had to work on the design brief for
one hour. I figured a discussion of the students traps would be better than writing
and everyone can be involved. I had students volunteer to share their traps and
why they used what they did. This helps portray their thinking of their creative
traps. It was really interesting to hear them explain, because it was different than
what I thought.

Maci Dyer
Heather Harper
2nd grade
II.

Based on the assessment you created, what can you conclude about your
impact on student learning? Did they learn? Who learned? What did they
learn? What evidence can you offer that your conclusions are valid?
Based on my assessment I can see who understood my direction. All of the
students were able to make a trap and they all did it so differently, which made
this lesson such a success. The students were able to collaborate with one another
and refer to the book as they were making their traps. They all made connections
and showed their creativity through making this trap.

III.

Describe at least one way you could incorporate developmentally appropriate

practice in a better or more thorough way if you were to teach this lesson
again.
If I were the teacher I would have kept a writing component in there even though
it does take more time, but some students can express themselves better on paper.
This allows the students to express their creativity in many ways while learning
the content.

IV.

Based on the assessment data you collected, what would you do/teach next if
you were the classroom teacher?
I would bring in more literature and more turkey activities across the curriculum
based on the interest level I received through my assessment. Bringing the
creativity aspect into other lessons is a must! The students engagement is so much
higher when they can use their own creativity to do what they want with a little
guidance of content from us as teachers.

V.

As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or
had reinforced about young children as learners?
Children are like little scientist. They are naturally curious. The students are more
engaged when you make them partners in learning. We know when students are
engaged they are learning. The students loved that they had a choice in what they
were learning and that is a strong tool for us as teachers to use.

VI.

As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or
had reinforced about teaching?

There are so many ways that teachers can incorporate creativity into their lessons. It is
more fun to teach the material. Plus the students have fun learning the material. Why

Maci Dyer
Heather Harper
2nd grade
arent we integrating more often? Taking some time to plan how you can incorporate the
arts can make the biggest difference in the outcome of your students gained knowledge.
VII.

As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or
had reinforced about yourself?

After planning and teaching this lesson I realized how much fun it was to incorporate
creative arts in my curriculum. I had a hard time at first getting myself to think outside
the box, but once I started it was all fun and games for me. Plus the students loved it, so I
would say, that I will be teaching many more lessons like this one. I want to make
learning and teaching fun!