Introduction
The term cognitive impairment is understood as the inability of students to remember what they covered in previous lesson, learn new things, and concentrate during class time as well as to make decisions that affect their daily lives. In relation to this definition, different teaching mechanisms and strategies should be utilized to help students to remember what they covered in previous lesson and learn new things as well as help them concentrate during class time (Anderson, Murphy, & Troyer, 2012). Some of these strategies include asking questions during class time, using learning materials and providing a recap of issues covered in previous lesson. Apart from this, the lessons should be as short as possible covering one particular area of the unit so that students can grasp one issue at time and concentrate during class time. The unit plan focuses its attention on leisure, and it is aimed at helping children in grade 3 to learn various leisure activities and participate in those activities as a way of helping them to remember the unit.
Unit plan
| Subject area: leisure |
| Grade level: Grade 3 students |
| Unit summary
In this unit, grade three students should study the meaning of leisure, its importance to their health as well as where they can go for leisure together with other leisure related issues. |
| Unit objectives
At the end of the unit plan, students should be expected to do the following. Define the term leisure in own words Provide examples of leisure activities Tell how they can prepare for leisure Tell where people go for leisure Identify the benefits of leisure |
| Lessons
Lesson 1: the meaning of leisure Time: Friday 9:00-9:30 a.m. This lesson should introduce leisure topic, but its main focus should be on the meaning of leisure. At the end of the lesson, students should be asked to give a recap of the issues covered during the lesson.
Lesson 2: types of leisure activities Time: Monday 9:00-9:30 a.m. This lesson should introduce students to different types of leisure activities they can engage in during leisure time. Learning activities should include asking questions that relate to the lesson and previous lesson, reading storybooks and viewing photographs the teacher should provide to aid learning.
Lesson 3: what to do during leisure Time: Tuesday 9:00-9:30 a.m. After students understand leisure and the type of activities they can engage in, this lesson should introduce them to what they can do during leisure time. Questions should be asked during the lesson to develop interest into the topic. At the end of the lesson, questions should also be asked to assess students’ understanding of the lesson’s objective.
Lesson 4: community leisure resources and where to go for leisure Time: Wednesday, 9:00-9:30 a.m. This lesson will introduce students to where they can go for leisure as well as community leisure resources. The lesson’s objective will be to help students to appreciate the importance of resources and where they can go for leisure. During class time, students should be asked whether they have been to these resources, and at the end of the lesson, they should be asked to highlight some of these resources.
Lesson 5: benefits of leisure Time: Thursday, 9:00-9:30 a.m. The focus of this lesson should be on the benefits of leisure to people’s health. During class time, students should be asked to mention some of these benefits to evaluate their prior knowledge and interests into the topic.
Lesson 6: how to prepare for leisure Time: Friday, 9:00-9:30 a.m. The lesson should focus its attention on what students should do to prepare for leisure. During class time, students should be asked how they can prepare for it before the teacher tells them what they should do. The aim of this practice should be to develop students’ interest.
Lesson 7: practical part of the learning Time: Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. This lesson should focus its attention on practical part of learning, and students together with the teacher should go for leisure in a neighboring community resource. Its objective should be to help students appreciate the purpose of covering the topic by participating in practical side of learning.
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| Procedure
Before learning starts The teacher should start by telling the students to stand up, clap their hands and sit down. After the students sit down, the teacher should ask the students to get their writing materials from their bags. This should be aimed at preparing the learning environment.
Setting the learning stage Next, as opposed to introducing new ideas directly, the teacher should start with a recap of what was covered in the previous lesson if the lesson is not the first one. However, if the lesson is the first one, the teacher should start by introducing the topic and asking students whether they have ever gone for picnics. For the other lessons, the teacher should start in the following format. Who can remind us what we covered last time? Who else? Nobody can remind us what we covered last time? Then, if there is nobody to remind us, I should do it myself. These questions should be aimed at attracting the attention of the students. After preparing the students and attracting their attention, the teacher should proceed to introducing the day’s lesson. For example, the teacher should say that today we are going to learning the different types of leisure activities. If need be, the teacher can ask questions even at this point to test whether the students have any idea of the day’s lesson. For example, the teacher can ask the students to give examples of leisure activities. At the end of the lesson, the teacher should close the lesson and perhaps assess students by asking them questions. For example, he/she should say that we have come to the end of the lesson, but I would like someone to remind us what we covered today. If need be, the teacher can ask each student a specific question.
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| Learning assessment
The purpose of learning assessment should be to assess the understanding of lesson’s objectives. Accordingly, this should be done by asking questions that relate to the lesson directly, and the following open-ended questions should be asked. Who can remind us what we have covered today? Who else? What are the types of leisure activities did we cover today?
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| Differentiation
Bearing in mind that students have different needs, the teacher should use different teaching mechanisms and strategies to help students understand everything taught in class. In this respect, to help students who are slow in understanding and struggling with learning objectives, the teacher should use storybooks. Such storybooks should contain information and pictures that relate directly to leisure. For example, the storybooks should talk about how John went on a picnic with his father. It should also talk about what John and his father did during the picnic, what they ate and the means of transport the two used.
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| Materials needed
Printed materials: Story books should be used to aid in learning, and the teacher should be responsible for providing them. If need be, the teacher can ask the students to come with such storybooks if they are able to get them. Supplies: the teacher should provide photographs for leisure places and people on leisure as well as anything else that can help students understand leisure related concepts.
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Reference
Anderson, N., Murphy, K., & Troyer, A. (2012). Living with mild cognitive impairment: A guide to maximizing brain health and reducing risk of dementia. Oxford: Oxford University Press.