Lesson+Plan+-+Big+picture

Lesson Plan - Big Picture

Scheme of Things: Unit of Astronomy in an Earth Science curriculum classroom (early middle school level) Lesson Before: Introductory lesson on astronomy: Big Bang, beginning of the Universe Lesson After: Life cycle of a star

Current Lesson In Spanish students have been introduced to the Mayan Culture in the South of Mexico. The Mayan culture is well known for their mathematical system and their astronomical observations. The students will be exposed to vocabulary related to our science lessons in order to meet with the Standards for Foreign Language for Connections (connect with other disciplines and acquire information) and Comparisons.

Music Therapy will also be used during this class to help support the students academic learning through the use of song as a mnemonic device (to remember Spanish words in relation to astronomy concepts). The Music Therapist will also be working on a group goal to help increase social interaction between the students by involving all of them in the song and drumming activity. Students will need to work together to keep the drumming activity going, each one calling on the next student for the next word, and students will be able to say the correct words individually or as a group during the song (this provides less individual pressure yet still interaction with the group).

The science portion of the lesson will be the main part of the academic lesson.Students will use the song Why Does The Sun Shine? by They Might Be Giants to learn the basic workings of a star. They will be asked to identify science vocabulary and answer questions about what a star is.They will listen to a historical story concert about Hertzsprung and Russell and their inspiration to work to understand the life cycle of a star.