Microteach Lesson Plan

Teacher Name Shannon Derry, Chelsea Kasprick Date March 12, 2018
Subject Area Current Issues in Teaching Grade ED2500
Topic Teaching Styles (play based learning) Time 15:00

Learning What does research tell us about the effect of activity based learning versus
Objectives traditional lecture or paper based teaching?
Assessment Group activity followed by discussion/debate
Materials Jenga with math problems written on it, math worksheets (x22), dice, playing
cards, blank sheets of paper.
Set up smart board with visual timer, youcubed and mathletics websites.

Introduction Introduce topic and learning objective (1 minute):

For our lesson today we are going to look at different styles of learning/teaching
and what research can tell us about what method produces the best outcome for
the students.

Key points/terminology (2 minutes):

Play based education – This style of teaching is based on learning through

structured play facilitated by a teacher.
Game based learning – Used to describe a method of learning through online
games, typically used in mathematics and science education.
Activity based learning – using activities to create an experience of learning and
to give visual representation of a lesson.
Teacher directed, or lecture based education – learning predominantly from
reading books and taking notes in a traditional classroom setting.

Body Hand out worksheets (2 minutes):

Inform class that they will have one minute to complete the worksheet in front of
them. Allow time to prepare pencils, etc.
Start timer for 1 minute.
When minute is up, ask class to put worksheet aside, but keep in mind as we are
continuing through.

Short lecture (5 minutes):

In early years education, there is much discussion around the benefits of

introducing math concepts through a structured, teacher led lesson. However,
studies show that the benefit of structured play can be more effective not only at
introducing mathematical concepts such as patterns and numbers, but also for
the development of social/emotional literacy, problem solving, and team work
(Thomas, Warren, deVries; 2010, p 69). Children tend to be more motivated,
involved, and engaged when they are playing so why not try to incorporate that
into their education through structured activities?
Moving into the later years of elementary education, studies show that
confidence levels in students drop significantly between grades 4 and grade 8
(Ku, O., Chen, S-Y., Wu, D-H., Lao, A-C-C., & Chan, T-W. (2014) p. 66). It
could be hypothesized that this is due to a decrease in play (or game) based
learning practises as education levels progress. There are many different ways
of incorporating game based learning into classrooms of any grade level that
focus on that principle of motivation and engagement to build confidence in
learners. It has been shown that adding competition to increase engagement
through venues such as digital or online games can also help to build confidence
and help students to understand mathematic concepts through visual means (Ku,
O., Chen, S-Y., Wu, D-H., Lao, A-C-C., & Chan, T-W. (2014) p. 66). These
digital games give immediate feedback without drawing attention to the student
and can offer a competitive factor by adding virtual opponents. This particular
study showed that game-based learning allows the students to rectify errors
independently and increases the self-efficacy of learners at any grade level
showing a benefit for students of all learning levels (Ku, O., Chen, S-Y., Wu, D-
H., Lao, A-C-C., & Chan, T-W. (2014) p. 73).

Activity based learning can also help educators to overcome differences in

commitment, motivation, and retention among all of their students. Which can
prove beneficial in classes where you have students who are at various different
levels of learning. This style of teaching/learning is focused on allowing the
students to be active participants in their education rather than simply receiving
information through traditional lectures (Fanta, F., Boubacar, I. (2016) p. 61).

Introduce activities (3 minutes):

Memory Multiplication – This center will have 2 decks of playing cards.

Lay cards out in a grid pattern.
Select 2 cards to flip over. Multiply the numbers on the
Cards.
If correct, keep the cards. If incorrect, flip cards back
Over.
Take turns until there are no cards left.
The person with the most cards at the end wins.

Jenga – Play Jenga according to rules.

Each block will have a math problem on it. Student will have to answer
The problem before placing the block on the top.

Circles and Stars – Player A rolls the die, then draws that number of fairly large
Circles on a piece of paper. Player B rolls the die and does
The same.
Player A rolls the die again and draws that number of stars in
Each of their circles. Player B does the same.
Each player writes the number sentence that tells how many
Stars they have (for example, 4 circles with 3 stars in each
Circle would be 4x3=12 stars).

Set timer for activities (5 minutes)

 Cue students to stop activities.
Invite students to discuss the differences they felt completing a worksheet versus
working together on activities. (5 minutes)

What was the take away from each activity?

Did they feel different after worksheets versus an activity?

Closure Tie it together (2 minutes)

Today we focused on math because it is a common area of struggle for many

students and seems to be the base line for most of the studies done on this topic.
However we feel that the principles behind activity based learning can be
generalised across many different subjects.

Bring up Youcubed and mathletics websites to show as examples.

In closing, we would like to leave you with some sources that we have found to
include activities and games into math lessons.