.png)
Kindergarten 2
Hello! Having been in charge of these children since Nursery 1 has been an adventure as I am knowledgeable of their strenghts, interest etc. It's always interesting when they bring my lessons to life in the classroom.
-Ms Lisa
Term 1:
My Friends
Term 2:
Life Cycle of Animals
Term 3 Overview:
Children will learn all about keeping themselves safe while walking about on the street. They will learn about the different signs (Green Man, Red Man etc) they can see as a pedestrian and what they should do as a pedestrian (Cross the road only when the green man is seen, Raising hands when crossing the zebra crossing etc).
Lesson Overview:
Using road structures they have crafted in a previous lesson, the children set up the classroom with them. Road structures used were traffic lights, zebra crossing. In groups of 3, children drew a task card and completed the task while making sure they did not get safety points (deducted every time they fail to comply to a safety rule). The groups with the most safety points was be awarded the safety ambassadors of the class.
​
Lesson Objective:
1) Identify safety rules they should take note of as a pedestrian
2) Solve problems they encounter as a pedestrian
Facilitating
Problem-
Solving
is arranging the environment
and providing materials to meet
the children’s need in a
child-directed learning process, with guidance provided only during necessary times after observation is made to ensure that learning experience provided suits children’s needs and interests (MacNaughton & Williams, 2009).
Tapping onto children's prior knowledge:
To provide a meaningful learning experience, the children are prompted to share their knowledge on the concepts previously taught. This gives children the context to the content being shared and helps the teacher measure the children's level of understanding (Ministry of Education, 2013)
Explicit directions:
By being explicit, the teacher provides ease to the children. Such direction enable better comprehension so to present the least amount of distraction to the learning process (MacNaughton & Williams, 2009).
Small group instructions:
When instructions are given to smaller groups, they can be targeted to the group of children receiving the instructions. This helps in the better comprehension of the instructions among all children (The National Academics of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2015).
Extending their learning:
Questions that require more critical thinking are asked towards the end of lesson. This stimulates the children to think beyond the concepts learnt in class
(Ministry of Education, 2013)
is guiding the children to
discover answers to questions
that arise during the learning
process. It is used to support
children’s development in different aspects, such as cognitive
(thinking of solutions) and socio-emotional (equipping with social leadership skills to solve problems together with their peers)
(MacNaughton & Williams, 2009).
Use of materials:
The concrete use of materials stimulates the children’s interest to engage in problem solving. The open-ended nature of the materials encourages the children to problem solve through a child-directed process, from reading the task needed to accomplish to formulating a solution for the problem (MacNaughton & Williams, 2009).
Use of space:
Along with time, space should also be provided for children to test out their solutions. This presents opportunities for the children to test out and nurture their problem-solving skills. Less stress on formulating a solution within a short amount of time will ease the children’s learning process and allow for more complex and deeper thinking put into solving the problem (MacNaughton & Williams, 2009).
Appropriate problems:
By presenting the children with relatable real-life problems, it enriches their learning
experience. The problems
should also be appropriate
such that they are able
to formulate solutions
by recalling their
everyday experiences
(Ministry of
Education, 2013).
Teacher taps onto the chhildren's prior knowledge as the lesson is built upon the contributions of the children.
Inviting the children to use vocabulary words and their experience on pedestrian crossings to kick off the discussion
Responses such as the use of a pedestrian crossing was further prompted to check if safety rules were adhered to
Teacher taps onto the chhildren's prior knowledge as the lesson is built upon the contributions of the children.
Teaching Technique: Facilitating
​
During the tune- in, I asked the children to share how they traveled to school and any use of pedestrian crossings were further discussed. The children responded that they used the pedestrian light and zebra crossing when they traveled to school that day which were recorded on the whiteboard.
03:33 - 04:05
Invite the children to recall pedestrian crossings they have seen in Singapore
Invite the children to share the safety rules they associate the pedestrian crossings with
Record the children's responses as they will be left on the whiteboard for the children's reference throughout the lesson
Invite the children to recall pedestrian crossings they have seen in Singapore
Teaching Technique: Facilitating
​
I invited the children to recall pedestrian crossings as well as the safety rules associated with them to provide relatable context for the lesson development. The responses (traffic light, zebra crossing, overhead bridge and roads with pavements at either sides) were written on the board, which were available for viewing by all the children throughout the lesson.
04:15 - 04:47
Giving explicit directions when introducing the materials to the children eliminates confusion
By going through the materials, children can be more focused on their learning development instead
Giving explicit directions when introducing the materials to the children eliminates confusion
Teaching Technique: Facilitating
I gave explicit directions to the class when delivering the expectations of the children when using the activity sheet while showing the actual activity sheet.
05:20 - 05:52
By going through the materials in small groups, the instructions can be more targeted to the comprehension level per group.
This takes into account the developmental advancement of each child because children have different levels of competency although being in the same class
By going through the materials in small groups, the instructions can be more targeted to the comprehension level per group.
Teaching Technique: Facilitating
I gave explicit directions by groups of 3 children, who experienced the activity course together. The flow of the activity course was went through with the display of materials to be used during the activity.
06:15 - 07:28
Teaching Technique: Problem-Solving
I introduced the element of deducting safety points for violation of any safety rules to encourage children in strategically coming up with the best solutions without getting points deducted.
07:17 - 07:28
The element of safety points motivate the children to formulate the best solution in the least number of tries, encouraging the use of their critical thinking skills
The element of safety points motivate the children to formulate the best solution in the least number of tries, encouraging the use of their critical thinking skills
Teaching Technique: Problem-Solving
I designed the task during the activity such that the children were expected to solve problems that are similar to real-life problems. Here the child is reading the task "Safely cross the zebra crossing."
07:35 - 10:02
The problems presented to the children during the activity were replicated from real-life situations that they could face as a pedestrian.
The problems presented to the children during the activity were replicated from real-life situations that they could face as a pedestrian.
Explicit hints should be given when facilitating the learning process of the children.
Hints that were stated clearly will enable the children to understand the hint and formulate an answer.
Explicit hints should be given when facilitating the learning process of the children.
Teaching Technique: Facilitating
I gave explicit hints to the children participating in the activity. I can be seen asking "What are some things you have to take note of when you cross the zebra crossing?". From there, the children were able to formulate a solution and responded "Raise your hands".
07:39 - 07:46
Teaching Technique: Problem-Solving
Here, the children can be seen carrying out their solution to the task, enabling them to perform the solutions instead of only discussing about it.
07:48 - 10:02
The space provided to children as they test their solutions should be sufficient for them to maneuver around
The space provided to children as they test their solutions should be sufficient for them to maneuver around
Explicit hints should be given when facilitating the learning process of the children.
Explicit hints should be given when facilitating the learning process of the children.
Teaching Technique: Facilitating
I gave explicit hints to the children participating in the activity. When the children proceeded to cross the pedestrian crossing, I can be seen hinting "...You did it in the previous round". From there, the children were able to formulate a solution and responded "Raise your hands".
08:24- 08:30
Teaching Technique: Problem-Solving
Here, the children can be seen carrying out their solution after having failed the task the first time round. Time is allocated for children to reevaluate and try out their solutions to conclude on the best ones.
08:31- 08:41
The space provided to children as they test their solutions should be sufficient for them to maneuver around.
The space provided to children as they test their solutions should be sufficient for them to maneuver around.
Verbal praises shows the children the recognition of their efforts to formulate better solutions to the task.
Verbal praises shows the children the recognition of their efforts to formulate better solutions to the task.
Teaching Technique: Facilitating
I verbally praised the children to encourage them as they formulate another solution for the task.
08:43 - 08:45
Explicit hints should be given when facilitating the learning process of the children.
Explicit hints should be given when facilitating the learning process of the children.
Teaching Technique: Facilitating
I gave explicit hinted the children that their solution was not feasible by stating "...you can't even see where you're going."
08:57 - 09:04
Teaching Technique: Problem-Solving
Children had sufficient time to test out their new solutions until the problem was solved. A child suggested to crawl on the floor to meet the criteria of being as close to the floor as possible when 'using the underpass'.
09:08 - 09:18
The space and time provided to children as they test their new solutions.
The space and time provided to children as they test their new solutions.
Verbal praises motivate the children to complete the task as they receive recognition for their efforts.
Verbal praises motivate the children to complete the task as they receive recognition for their efforts.
Teaching Technique: Facilitating
I verbally praised the children for their solution. They had thought about crossing the road by going around the parked cars instead of between the parked cars in compliance to the task.
09:50 - 10:02
Discussions based on the children's responses were carried out as an attempt to extend their learning.
Questions that encourage the children to challenge their answers and think out of the box were posed.
Discussions based on the children's responses were carried out as an attempt to extend their learning.
Teaching Technique: Facilitating
I added onto a child's response that we should always remember to raise our hands, by asking the children why they thought we should raise our hands when crossing the road.
11:48 - 12:08
Term 3:
Road Safety
