Lesson Plan

Learning Development Area:

Communicating
Active learning
Wellbeing
Connectedness
Identity
Context for learning:
Routines & transitions
Real-life engagements
Play
Group time

Implementation
Date:
19.10.16
Duration
Approx. 15 minutes

Does this build on prior experiences/interests of the children?

An extension on the children interacting with the new billabong and tent and role-playing
being Australian animals. This builds on the exploration of Australian native animals.
Mangroves are prevalent in our local area so this is a relevant habitat to focus upon.
What is the focus?
Literacy introduction of new vocabulary
Guiding Behaviour
Essential skills for guiding behaviour - establishing expectations, wait and scan,
parallel acknowledgement
Model positive and welcoming greeting and disposition
Model turn taking, active listening and correct vocabulary
Monitor focus child and Implement behaviour plan as needed
Resources:
Mangrove root
Mangrove image PowerPoint
White board
Computer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er-OnJCn1gg
TV
Differentiation strategies:
Sit C (focus child) near to teacher for further assistance and to help with guiding
their behaviour
Sit F close to teacher for assistance due to a hearing impairment
Assessment Strategies:
Assessing prior knowledge through a feely bag and specific questioning
Teacher observation throughout lesson
Transitio
Identity key focus: Acts
Children have been playing give them a 5
n
minute warning to pack up
with increasing
Clapping routine
independence and
Teacher to sit on the chair this cues the
perseverance
children to sit on the mat
Use give me 5 ears are listening, eyes are
watching, lips are zipped, legs are crossed,
hands are still. Ready to learn.
Use visual cues for the children through the
transition.
Introduct Active learning key
Invite the children to sit in the yarning circle
ion:
focus: is building
positive dispositions
Place the mangrove root in a bag so the
and approaches toward
children can not see it

learning
Connectedness:
Showing increasing
respect for
environments

Select a child to come up and have a feel of

what is in the bag and describe what it might
be

Ask the child open ended questions such as

what can you feel? Why do you think
that? What else can you feel Does it
remind you of anything?

Record their responses on the whiteboard.

Invite another child up and ask tell me about

what you feel Does it remind you of
anything? What could it be?

Record their responses on the whiteboard.

Repeat this again with another child or until

the responses are becoming the same by
each child

Body:

Active learning key

focus: is building
positive dispositions
and approaches toward
learning
Connectedness:
Showing increasing
respect for
environments
Communicating:
Exploring and
expanding ways to use
language

Recap with the class

So you have told me that you think that it is
X, Y Z and it reminds you of X but you are
still unsure of what it is.
Place the PowerPoint on with an image of a
mangrove
Ask what can you tell me about the photo?
What do you notice about the twists in the
tree?
Write down the childrens responses.
Invite one of the children who had had a go
with the feely bag to come up and feel again.
Ask, Do you have any other ideas?
Identify the thing in the bag as part of a
mangrove recap the twists in the tree and
refer to the images.
Ask what can you tell me about Mangroves

Record the childrens responses on the

whiteboard

Explain to the children that, Mangroves are

trees or shrubs that grow in salty water in
hot places like here in our area.

Ask the children Where might you see

Mangroves growing? Why do you think
that?

Discuss further

Ask the children what animals might live

there? How do you know that? Why do

you think that?

Conclusio
n:

Identity key focus: is

building a confident
self-identity.

Record the childrens responses on the

whiteboard.

Explain to the children that, Mangroves are

a good place for many coral-reef fish, shrimp,
ants and crabs to grow.

Give me 5 ears are listening, eyes are

watching, lips are zipped, legs are crossed
and hands are still.
Use visual cues for the children through the
transition.
Watch the YouTube clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErOnJCn1gg
Ask the children what was the coolest part of
the clip we have just watched, why do you
think that?

Transitio
n

Identity key focus: Acts

with increasing
independence and
perseverance

If you are wearing blue go and wash your

hands and get your lunchbox.
Carry on until all the children have washed
their hands.

Evaluation / Reflection:
Setting clear expectations was a great start to the lesson the children knew what was
expected of them from the start.
Incorporating a feely bag and this really caught the childrens attention gained responses,
such as rough, twisty, twirly, smooth, feels like wood, like a tree, like outdoors,
feels like the tree in my garden. The children realised that the mangrove root was a part
of the tree but did not pin point that it was a mangrove root and I did not expect them to
be able to. This strategy was intended to create intrigue and promote the use of language,
as well as scaffold learning.
The children recognised the mangroves once I put the images of them up on the TV and
they were able to then identify the mangroves distinguishing features upon second feel of
the root.
Many of the children were able to tell me where the mangroves grew due to them being
such a large feature of our local area. A few of the families are into fishing so the children
were able to tell me Ive seen those when Ive been out in the boat with dad dad puts
crab pots there!
The children came up with a good selection of animals which live in the mangroves but
one they didnt realise lived there were ants. The YouTube clip by David Attenborough
provided great visuals and initiated talk of high tide and low tide, which was interesting for
the children. Although the vocabulary and language was complex in the YouTube clip, it
exposed the children to lots of new vocabulary, some of which we looked at further and
discussed its meaning.
Sitting the identified children near to me as identified allowed to help focus child with
guiding their behaviour without disrupting the lesson and F was able to participate
inclusively due to close location of him to me.

Overall, I was happy with the implementation of the lesson. To improve the lesson/ or
extend on, I would try and source a crab pot to bring into show the children. An addition, I
had hoped to be able to plan for was to bring in some mangrove seeds and do an
experiment with the children to see if the mangrove seed would grow in salty or fresh
water the best. Unfortunately, I was unable to source any seeds for this lesson. This would
have allowed for literacy and numeracy to be embedded into the lesson, with measuring
water, predicting, mathematical vocabulary etc.