LESSON PLAN

Nov. 24/21 The Circles Around Us k

Date Lesson Title Grade Level
25-35min Socials 1
Time in Lesson Subject Lesson #
Developed by Diane Greenwood & Megan Rogall

IDENTIFY DESIRED RESULTS

Learner Outcomes from the Program of Studies
What are the SPECIFIC outcomes to be addressed in this lesson?

- expresses needs to other children and adults in an appropriate manner (Alberta Education, 2008, p. 30)
- becomes aware of the needs of others and individual similarities and differences (Alberta Education, 2008, p. 30)
- values and respects significant people in his or her life (Alberta Education, 2008, p. 22)
Alberta Education. (2008). Kindergarten Program Statement. https://education.alberta.ca/media/563583/kindprogstate2008.pdf
Assessment Strategies
Objective in student-friendly language
What will I accept as evidence of learning/development? Have I employed formative
What will students understand/experience/appreciate as a result of this lesson?
assessment? Do I make use of prior assessments in this lesson?
By the end of this lesson students will… - I will accept asking meaningful questions as evidence of learning
- be able to further understand who around them has an impact on - I will accept completed work with at least 3 circles as evidence of
their life learning
- be able to recognize which ‘circles’ are important to them - I will accept written or drawn circle labels as evidence of learning
- be able to recognize the importance of teamwork

Resources Personalization/Differentiation
What materials/resources/technology will be required? How will you attend to the needs of ALL learners in this lesson?

- Book: “The Circles Around Us”
- Large chart paper
- Markers
- Video: “Teamwork – For the Birds” (bad teamwork example)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJg10H39FhE
- Video: “Minions – Teamwork” (good teamwork example)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSCW-zZaaro
- The main content will be delivered as a whole class to give
opportunity for larger group discussion
- The activity portion of the lesson will be done in small groups to
allow for more one-on-one help
- students who can right words or try ‘kid writing’ will be
encouraged to do so on the outside of the circles
- students who are only comfortable with drawings will be
Adapted from Wiggins, Grant & J. McTighe (1998)
 encouraged to add specific details to their drawing
- this lesson will use multiple forms of delivery from a book, to
videos, discussions, and hands-on activity

LESSON PLAN SEQUENCE

Introduction
How will you ACTIVATE prior knowledge and ENGAGE them in the lesson and how does this lesson connect to prior lessons?

Remind students of how many different people help us in our lives. We have also been talking about working as a team in this class and caring about
each other’s needs. Why is that important?

Learning/Activity Sequence
How will students ENGAGE, EXPLORE, EXPLAIN, ELABORATE, and/or EVALUATE their understandings of the outcomes.

What is the TEACHER doing? What is your plan for the body of the What are the STUDENTS doing? How are they engaged while you
Approx. time
lesson? What steps are taken during the lesson? are teaching the lesson?

Read or play book “The Circles all Around us” Listen quietly to the story. Raise their hand to ask questions if 8 min
they have them.
Ask students what they thought of the book and what they Give ideas and input on their thoughts on the book. Ask more 2 min
thought was important. Answer any questions. questions if they have them.

Play ‘teamwork’ video(s). Bad teamwork first, then good
teamwork. Go to page of book with all circles around the child,
explain how we need all the circles to have good teamwork
and achieve certain things.
On the page of book with all circles around the child, explain
to students that that is what we are going to be doing on our
own sheets of paper.
In small groups, give quick demonstration of how to draw a
circle around yourself, then a second one. Explain to students
what these circles are and that they will write or draw what
each circle means to them (family, friends, etc.). Have student
draw a squiggly line around and through all circles to
Watch video. Reflect. Listen to explanation. 4 min
Listen to overview of the lesson. Ask questions if needed. 2 min
Watch demonstration. 10-20min
Sit on their own papers and start drawing circles around them.
Explain to teacher what each circle will
represent when asked. Label each circle with words or
pictures.
Adapted from Wiggins, Grant & J. McTighe (1998)
represent how they can all work together sometimes and be
apart at other times. Walk around and help students with
creating their artwork.

Conclusion
How will you ensure students walk away with a sense of understanding the PURPOSE of the lesson and its IMPORTANCE to their learning?

Replay one videos at the end of the day before students go home, as well as a video version of the story narrated by a child of their age group.
Repeat the importance of using all our circles to work as a team and share love with everyone. Ask students to raise their hand and share what
one of their circles was and why. Tell students that we will be posting our circle art in the hallway so that we can show the rest of the school why
different circles are important and spread love.
Reiterate that we, as a class, are a team and it is important to help each other whenever we can.

Adapted from Wiggins, Grant & J. McTighe (1998)

PRE-SERVICE TEACHER SELF-REFLECTION
In your self- reflection of your lesson, please consider the following questions:

1. What went well in your lesson? What were the strengths of the lesson?
2. What are the areas that need to be refined? What might you do differently next time?
3. What are your next steps to further develop/ refine this lesson? How will you continue to grow in your practice? What actions will you take?

These are additional questions that can help guide your response to the three self– reflection questions.

 How do you feel your students experienced this lesson?

 How were they able to make explicit and self-evaluate their growing understanding, skills and/or knowledge?
 How did you employ formative assessment for/of/as learning?
 Were you successful in reaching all students? How do you know? How did you accommodate for diverse learners and those requiring
accommodations?
 Were there opportunities to address Indigenous, multicultural and interdisciplinary activities and knowledge?

Overall, this lesson went very well. Students were engaged and really enjoyed watching the short clips as a secondary hook to the activity. All
students participated in the creation of their own circles and were able to explain why they chose those circles. In the morning class, the kids
began to lost interest after sitting on the carpet for too long, so I decided to shorten the discussion portion slightly for the afternoon class and
almost doubled the body breaks. Another thing I wanted to improve from the first lesson was asking questions that would be more open-ended
and allow for a variety of responses from the class. In the afternoon, instead of asking something like “was that a red choice?”, I would ask
“What was the red choice that that character made in the video?”, “What was the red consequence that we saw because of the red choice?”

If I were to do this lesson again, I would expand it by potentially doing it over the course of two days. I would work with the students on the first
day to come up with circles specifically for our classroom and have them investigate what our school community is made up of. Then, on the
second day is when I would review the book and have students make their own circle art. This would allow for a deeper understanding of their
individual lives, as well as the life that we have as a class and team. I also think that to develop in my teaching practice, the idea of this lesson
would be a fantastic mini unit for an older grade. It would be interesting to have students research the various circles, such as community
members, that they decided were important as a part of their lives.
From a kindergarten perspective, I would build on this lesson by having students look at each other’s circles and recognize the similarities and
differences that they see between them. This would allow for students to develop a deeper understanding of their own uniqueness, as well as
develop their skills in respecting the characteristics and values of those around them.

I feel that my students really enjoyed this lesson, especially the afternoon class. They were all eager to have their turn in small groups and design
their own circle art. They drew pictures and added details that demonstrated a genuine interest in what we had learned about.
I was able to apply formative assessment throughout the lesson as I made mental notes as to who participated in discussions, who demonstrated
Adapted from Wiggins, Grant & J. McTighe (1998)
curiosity, and who continued to ask questions as the lesson went on. After school I also looked through student work and observed who was
able to put in extra detail and how many circles students thought of which allowed me to analyze, in a more summative way, how each student
engaged with the lesson and task.

I feel that I was successful in reaching almost all students. There were some students who struggle most days to engage in activities, however,
every student completed their artwork to some degree. While some students put in more detail and effort than other, only a few seemed to
struggle with developing a complete importance of the lesson. I was able to sit down with these students as they worked and have longer one-
on-one discussions to reiterate why each circle they chose, was important and special because it was theirs!

I am very excited with how this lesson went and I cannot wait to continue to reference their artwork in connection to the community skills we
are building. I will continue to incorporate the themes of teamwork and loving one another even when it is hard. Throughout this lesson I
learned more about the importance of incorporating body breaks and having one-on-one discussions with students to fully understand their
level of engagement and understanding. I am proud of how I managed the class today and hope to keep designing fun and intriguing lessons for
my kindergarteners!

Adapted from Wiggins, Grant & J. McTighe (1998)