Lesson Plan for
Focus:
To introduce the Habit of
the Mind to students, to have students realize language can be misunderstood if
not used carefully and to make students more aware of language and word choice.
Process:
1. Introduce the Habit of the
Mind to the students. Tell them it is the focus for March.
2. Read the students your choice
of book. (Amelia Bedelia, Mr. Bananahead or similar style book)
3. When finished questions
students about what happened in the story. What was the problem? How could the
problem be avoided? Do words sometimes mean more than one thing? How can we
avoid being misunderstood?
4. List the directions and the
consequences on the board. As a class rewrite the directions for Amelia Bedelia
for one or two from the story.
5. During the month bring up
the fact that there are certain times when you NEED precise language. Have the
students tell you how to do a math problem. Be Amelia Bedelia. Do exactly what
they say. Talk about scientific research, math, recipes, etc. If the language
of a cookbook wasn’t precise what would happen?….
Some ideas:
1. If you didn’t do it last month, have a
traveling mystery box. Remind students to use precise language when forming
their questions.)
2.
Choose one time a day to be Amelia Bedelia time and have students direct
you to do something (a math
problem, a science process, a DOL sentence, etc.).
3. In groups have students write directions for
a simple process.
4. Give an unclear direction and see if
students question your language.