Individualized Lesson Plan
Religious Student Who Can't Particiate in Classroom Parties
Description
Ms. Jones, a fourth grade teacher, loves Christmas time! She is a teacher in a large city that is a melting pot for people of different cultures and ethnicity. Christmas time is just around the corner and she thought a fun lesson to do right before winter break would be to have students share what they celebrate during this season! She contacted all the parents and most were on board with hearing what others celebrate. However, Ben's parents were not okay with their son listening to others' sometimes religious celebrations during this time of year. So Ms. Jones came up with an alternative lesson plan for Ben! Ben is Jewish and loves this time of year when he gets to celebrate Hanukkah. Ben also loves basketball, the Ninja Turtles and helping his mom cook! Amy celebrates Christmas like many of the other students, Maria celebrates Los Posadas and James celebrates Christmas and Kwanzaa with his family.
All the students are to come up with a presentation about 10-15 minutes long explaining about their family celebrations. In this presentation, they must include background history to how this celebration was created, by whom it was created, what food they eat at their gatherings, and whatever else they feel necessary to include. After each presentation Ms. Jones will come up with a test to quiz these students on each religion. As for Ben, he is allowed to stay in the classroom while all the students are researching their topic, but once presentations come, he will need to go to a different room while the others present. While Ben is separated from the class he will be researching his celebration to present to the class.
Teacher-Student Connection
- Ms. Jones will speak with each student individually, in doing this she will get a better understanding for each students' holiday and have the one-on-one time to help them plan their presentation.
- For Ben, Ms. Jones will be sure to set aside extra time to help him since he will be out of the classroom while the other students continue to present their own holiday traditions.
- Ms. Jones will also be keeping in contact with parents and inviting them to get involved with their student's project whether it's helping put together the presentation or coming in and helping share their holiday with their student. Ms. Jones would email and call each parent to stay informed.
- Ms. Jones will have lunch with Ben once a week to hear about his progress on his personal project. They will also talk about things that Ben likes like his basketball team that he plays for and which Ninja Turtle is the coolest.
Student-Student Connections
- The presentations of each students' holiday will give everyone a chance to be able to share their holiday.
- The students are allowed to bring in whatever they like to represent their holiday (food, decor, pictures).
- The overall party at the end of the presentations will have representations of each holiday that was covered and will end the semester on a positive and fun note.
- After Ben shares his presentation the students will have the chance to tell Ben what they liked the most about his holiday.
- During his presentation Ben gets to bring his favorite food to share with everyone.
Motivational Strategies for Learning and Promoting Positive Behavior
- Students will be motivated by being encouraged to share their holiday celebrations and bring in any items that they might want to share.
- Ben is motivated because he can bring in any thing from Hanukkah that he wants, no other student in the class is presenting on Hanukkah so he has permission to make it however he would like.
- Ben also receives an extra 10 minutes of recess on Fridays (while the other students are presenting) if and only if he shows Ms. Jones what he has completed so far on his project and any other worksheets she has given him throughout the week to complete.
Teaching Methods
- Auditory - listening to each student's presentation about their holiday. Ben will be watching/researching things on his own religious holiday while other students are presenting.
- Kinesthetic - The actual party, we will be up decorating, socializing, and of course eating food.
- Visual - seeing each presentation, seeing/handling any physical examples students might bring in.
- Ben receives one-on-one time with Ms. Jones planning and revising his presentation over Hanukkah that he will give to the class.
Assessment Techniques
- After each presentation leading up the party and Ben being the last student to present there will be short worksheets over what was learned
- Ben will be assessed over the material he has covered during his research since he is not allowed to listen to the other student's presentations. Ben must also turn in a short essay and all his notes/research he has found at the end of his presentation for point since he will not be eligible for the points he is missing during the other student's presentations.
- With the help of Ms. Jones, Ben's presentation will need to be 15-20 minutes long.
Modifications
- We will continue to user our techniques mentioned above about having each child share their religious holiday traditions to rest of the class so everyone can learn what they celebrate,
- To make a lasting impression, we will have a class celebration with food and decorations celebrating ALL the different religious holiday traditions we have learned about.
- Ben gets to leave class to work on his presentation or whatever he was assigned during other students' presentations.
- Ben gets to have lunch with Ms. Jones once a week to talk about his favorite sport, basketball, and his progress on his presentation.
- Ben also gets to have extra recess on Fridays if he can show Ms. Jones that he has been working on his project like he is supposed to during the week.
Resources
- Pinterest for different religious ideas, background information from students and their parents.
- Student/parent information about their holiday traditions.
- For individual research on each holiday. www.factmonster.com , www.santas.net/mexicanchristmas.htm
Creative Element
- The creative element for Ben's ILP was that we allowed him to not only share his religious holiday but also his personal interests. Ben loves to help his mother cook so during his presentation he prepared a traditional Hanukkah snack for the class with the help of Ms. Jones. Ben also has a book about Hanukkah that his mother reads to him every year that he brought in to share and read to the class. Ben created a powerpoint that he worked on at home and with Ms. Jones that was basketball themed but had everything about Hanukkah in it.