Lesson Plan

Name: Angelica Kohlmann CHD 145, E20M Title of Lesson Content Area Targeted Age Group Move Like an Animal Locomotive skills Kindergarten (5-6)

Standards: Milestones of Early Learning, VA Foundation Blocks, or VA Standards of Learning (SOLs) This lesson meets the VA Foundation Blocks physical and motor development standards in skilled movement (controlling muscle groups and improving locomotive skills), responsible behaviors (listening to teacher instruction for when to move and what to do), movement principles and concepts (ensuring their pathway is clear and determining which direction to move in), and personal fitness (raising the heart rate through movement).

Learning Objective(s): (What do you want children to understand after completing this lesson?) After this lesson the students should be able to: 1. Walk, run, crawl, hop, and gallop 2. Identify the different ways animals move Resources/Materials Needed: (What resources will the teachers and the children use?)

Any kind of music. Strategies: (How will the teacher engage the children? What activities will the children complete? Indicate the teacher questions/prompts, expected child action, and the closing portion. Indicate at which point the students are teacher-directed and at which point they are child-directed.)

For this activity the teacher will introduce the topic by asking the children what movements certain animals make. (A horse gallops, cheetahs run very fast, elephants walk slow, a frog hops, worms crawl, etc.) The teacher will then introduce the idea of a freeze-dance style game where (s)he will call out an action (ie, gallop like a horse) and when the music begins the children will gallop around the room. When the music stops they will freeze and wait for instruction. 1

The teacher will continue with the play/freeze rhythm and during each pause the teacher will call out a new action (run like a ___, hop like a ___, etc). After repeating each action a few times, the teacher will ask the children if they can think of any other animal movements they can imitate. After the activity is over, the teacher will review the movements with the class and quiz them on how each animal moves by calling a specific child to imitate any given movement for the class. Adaptation for Learner Diversity: (How can this lesson be adapted or structured for children with special needs or different age groups?)

For children with limited motor capabilities, the lesson can be altered to more basic tasks like walk like an elephant or crawl like a worm. You can also eliminate the music if it proves to be too distracting and simply rely on vocal cues from the teacher for start/stop instructions. Assessment: (How will you determine the extent to which the children grasped the concept?) The assessment will be quizzing the children on their ability to reproduce the movements they have learned.

Optional Analysis/Reflection: (How well did this lesson work? Would you change anything next time?) My children, mostly age 5, were able to complete most of the movements. The one that proved hardest was galloping, but other motions like crawling, walking, hopping and running were easily completed. We played the song The Freeze from the Kids N Motion CD, which the children have used for other activities multiple times, so the concept was familiar. The children were giggling and trying to keep up their motions with the pace of the music (it is very upbeat), and afterwards asked to do it again on different occasions. It has become an activity the children look forward to, and it helps them work out some extra energy and help them focus in on instructions. The assessment, though, I have changed to simply observing the children as they complete the motions, rather than having them individually complete activities after doing it as a group the children are more rowdy and wanting to all play together, so its hard to ask an individual child to complete a specific motion. Source of Idea/Information: Prior use of animal-movement repetition activities, a co-teachers additions to my own ideas.