Easter

1. Unit Lesson Easter

2. Part I. Identification, elaboration, and planning the topic • Title of Unit/Theme: Easter Celebration • Summary statement/overview Group three is focusing on the Easter holiday theme. In order to grasp the children’s attention all group members were wearing bunny ear head bands and used Easter decorations around centers. Anna was in charge of introducing the Easter holiday and the vocabulary words that the team members were going to use in their centers. Monique was in the math center and in her activity she was using matching numbers. Stacy Perez was in the writing center and she had the children write the first letter of their name. Lizeth Garcia was in the art center and her activity was to have the children decorate an Easter egg using different shapes and patterns. Tony Cerecerez was in the social studies center and he introduce different types of rabbits and their history in Texas. Maricela Garcia was in the science center and her activity was to have the children see if the Easter eggs would sink or float. Irma Gomez was in the reading center and her activity was to read a book to the children and explain the parts of a book to the children. Finally Patricia Duron was in charge of the summary were she had an Easter egg hunt to end the lesson on the Easter Holiday.

3. III. Grade Level: Pre-Kindergarten – Day Care Facility • IV. Background Information A. Generalizations • Easter is a Christian holiday. It is a holiday which celebrates the resurrection of Christ. • It should be held on the first Sunday after the full moon landing after the 21st of March, which is the Equinox. • Easter can land anywhere between the 22nd of March to the 25th of April. • Decorating and giving away eggs for Easter is a symbol of life for Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. • Egyptians and Persians decorated exchanged eggs decorated in spring colors. They believed • Earth hatched from and egg which contributed to this custom. • Early Christians used to exchange red eggs in particular to symbolize the ending • and resurrection of Jesus’s life. • Rabbits have a similar meaning to that of eggs. The ancient Egyptians believed that • the symbol of new life (or rebirth) was the rabbit. However, rabbits are also a symbol of the moon. • Back in Medieval times, there used to be a celebration known as “egg throwing”. The Catholic Church would have an egg throwing festival actually in the church. • The first Easter baskets given were meant to imitate a bird’s nest when eggs were placed inside. • The holiday’s name is actually derived from a “goddess” named Eastre. She was the symbol of the rabbit and the egg.

4. B. Vocabulary/Concepts 8. Egg 12. Holiday 9. Hunt 13. Spring 10. Rabbit 11. Easter Warm-Up Stretch Exercise Sink 5. Float 6. Texas 7. Species 8. Egg • V. General Objectives (long term, accomplished at unit end) • A. Understanding (Cognitive. Use thinking skills) • Understanding: Students will be able to listen to information on different types of rabbits. • Students will understand symbols that are related to Easter • The children will be able to identify numbers 1-10 • The children will understand that writing has a purpose. • The children will develop an understanding for sink and float. • Students will be able to tell the parts of a book like for example front, back, and title page. • The children will develop an understanding for shapes and patterns. • Student understands how people learn about themselves • The children will Understand

5. Skills (Psychomotor skills/behavior) • a. Students will use fine motor skills to create their own rabbit. • b. Child will use skills that require eye-hand coordination • c. Child knows that objects, or parts of an object, can be counted. • d. The children will be able to look for the first letter of their name and match it to the same letter on the alphabet chart. • e. The children will be challenged to throw and catch a plastic egg in a water container. • f. Children will be able to hold the book the correct way and flip the pages accordantly. • g. The children will use fine-motor skills and imagination by following shapes and patterns. • h. Students will show experience on Easter holiday. • C. Attitudes and Patterns of Behavior (Affective) • a. Students stayed in task during the activity creating their own rabbit. • b, Students will be able to sustain attention to a routine tasks until they are completed. • c.Child Demonstrates what the order of the counting sequence is always the same, regardless of what is counted. • d.The children will be able to recognize that they can relate to print and writing. • e.The children will be able to identify an egg that floated and an egg that sunk • f.I feel I should have chosen a shorter book because the children were getting distracted because the book was too long • g.The children will be challenged to stick and glue on different pre-drawn sections of an Easter’s egg. • h. Students are expected to participate and discuss about holiday. • ***(develop about 5 Objectives per area above and numerate).

6. Time Table and Sequence of Unit • Topics and sequence in which they will be taught. HELP!! • (Describe by order of lessons or by days.) • Greeting the children: blahhh • Introduction: blahh • Centers: Blahh • Conclusion: Blaah

7. Part II. Teaching the Unit • I. Introductory Activity: Ana Jimenez • Title: Easter Holiday • TEKS: The student understands important customs, symbols, and celebrations that represent American beliefs and principles and contribute to our national identity. • Knowledge and skills: Students will show experience on Easter holiday. • Materials • Post Board • Flash cards • Name tags • Ribbons

8. Introduction: • Introducing my self to the class. Start the holiday introduction and a brief description of the vocabulary they will see • Ask questions about holiday and let students participate and give enough time for them to answer the questions • Start handing out name tags to students. • Let every group member take the students to their stations • Help group members take students to the work stations and make sure every teacher has 3 to 4 students per table. • Evaluation: I think that the students were very talkative and were excited to participate. Every student participated in the vocabulary description. I was impressed because we had control over the class at all times even at the egg hunt everyone was able to listen. I had a post board to help students visualize what holiday and Easter meant. Explaining students that Easter was the celebration of spring was very easy and no student thought about the holiday Easter is the resurrection of Jesus.

9. II. Individual Lesson Plans: Ana Jimenez- Introduction Antonio Cerecerez- History Irma Gomez- Reading Lizeth Garcia- Art Maricela Garcia- Science Monique Buchberg- Conclusion Patricia Duron- Math Stacy Perez- Writing

10.  ECED 4353Play Development in Early Childhood  Spring 2014 Center Lesson Plan Antonio Cerecerez Rabbits in Texas (Social Studies)

11. III. Materials: Internet Pictures, Balloons, cotton balls, wiggle eyes, construction paper, and glue. • IV. Introduction: • A. Ask the students what’s the first animal they think of when they think of Easter. • B.Ask the students what makes the rabbit different from other animals. • C.Explain to the students how rabbits are also different from each other • D. Define species to the students • E. Give visual examples of different types of species of other animals. • F. Show pictures of different kind of rabbits. • G.Clarify to the students that the four types of rabbits we’ll be discussing about live in Texas. • H. Ask students if they know what Texas is. • I. Define Texas to the students. I. Title: Rabbits in Texas II. Objectives/ Thinking Skills: A. TEKS Social Studies Kindergarten (b) Knowledge and skills. 14) Social studies skills. The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use information acquired from a variety of valid sources, including electronic technology. The student is expected to: (B) Obtain information about a topic using a variety of valid visual sources such as pictures, symbols, electronic media, print material, and artifacts (15) Social studies skills. The student communicates in oral and visual forms. The student is expected to: (A) Express ideas orally based on knowledge and experiences; and(B) Create and interpret visuals, including pictures and maps. B. Thinking Skills: Using visuals, students will learn about different types of rabbits around Texas. Students will be able to listen to information on different types of rabbits. Students will express their own experiences and knowledge about rabbits orally. Students will use fine motor skills to create their own rabbit.

12. V. Procedure: • Explain to the students that they will be learning about four species of rabbit, the Swamp rabbit, Desert cottontail, Eastern Cottontail, and Black-tailed jackrabbit. • Provide the students with information about four types of rabbits using pictures. • Inform the students that these rabbits live in different parts of Texas. • Illustrate the different habitats, diets, and special features of each rabbit. • Inquire what type of experiences the students have had with rabbits. • Give the students the opportunity to describe their own experience and knowledge about rabbits. • Introduce the activity to the students on how to create their own rabbit. • Hand out materials to the students and show them what they are going to create with those materials. • Have students make their own rabbit using a blown up balloon. • Guide and assist students with constructing their rabbit • End the lesson with a small discussion of what they have learned about different species and the four types of rabbits that were mentioned.

13. VI. Evaluation: How did you measure if your objectives were met? I measured my objectives through oral assessment. Toward the end of the activity I asked the students what they learned about rabbits. I asked them if they remembered what species is and we went over some examples. I also asked the students if they could tell me what is Texas and went over some information about Texas. How effective was your lesson? My lesson wasn’t as effective as I thought it would be. Most of the students could not understand the definition of species. It took me a while to explain to them that there were different types of rabbits in Texas. I tried to use dogs as an example and the students got of track of the lesson and started to talk about their dogs. I was surprise that several students did know what is Texas and that they live in Texas. I became enthusiastic toward the end of the lesson when several of the students did remember some of the information we discussed on the different types of rabbits. In the activity part of the lesson it went better than I though. Most of the students were engaged in the activity. Only three students seemed more entertained by the balloon itself than the actual activity. What worked and what didn’t work in your lesson? It seemed that my visuals worked for my lesson. As soon as the students sat at my table they saw the pictures I had of rabbits and began to ask questions about the rabbits in the pictures. I also think I picked an activity that caught the student’s interest. The students seem excited and engaged in making their balloon rabbits. What didn’t work was using the word species as a vocabulary word. Students seemed confused when I would say species. After my third group I modified the definition and just say different families of rabbits. Also during my activity I should have used stickers of eyes, nose, ears and tail instead of glue to create the rabbits. The glue was messy and some students were getting frustrated with the glue. What was the outcome of your lesson? The overall of my lesson went well. Most of the students staid in task during the activity and were discussing their own experiences and knowledge about rabbits. During the assessment of my lesson the majority of students did give feedback and were able to orally answer some questions about the lesson. If I had to do this again I would modify the vocabulary to be more age appropriate and would be more confident on redirecting the students to stay on the topic of the lesson. I would also stay away from glue and use other materials for the activity.

14. University of Texas at El PasoECED 4353 Play Development in Early Childhood Spring 2014Lizeth Garcia Art Center Lesson Plan“Shapes and Patters”

15. Title: Shapes and Patterns (Art Center Activity). Behavioral Objectives/Thinking Skills • Thinking Skills (TS) • 1. The children will develop an understanding for shapes and patterns. • 2. The children will acquire an appreciation for different Easter symbols. • 3. The children will design an Easter’s egg using a variety of decoration materials. • 4. The children will be challenged to stick and glue on different pre-drawn sections • of an Easter’s egg. • 5. The children will use fine-motor skills and imagination by following shapes and patterns. • TEKS Objectives (Pre-kindergarten guidelines): • I Social and Emotional Development • I.A.1 Child is aware of where own body is in space, respects personal boundaries • I.A.3 Child shows reasonable opinion of his own abilities and limitations. • I.B.1.b Child takes care of and manages classroom materials. • VIII Fine Arts Domain VIII.A.1. Child uses a variety of art materials and activities for sensory experience and exploration. • VIII.A.2. Child uses art as a form of creative self‐expression and representation. • IX. Physical Development Domain (Fine-Motor Skills) • IX.B.1. Child shows control of tasks that require small-muscle strength and control. • IX.B.2. Child shows increasing control of tasks that require eye-hand coordination.

16. C. Reference: TEA: file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Fernanda/My%20Documents/Downloads/PKG_Final_%20(1).pdf • III. Materials • Supplies • Easter foam stickers • PomPom balls • Feathers • Glue • Popsicle sticks • Cardboard eggs cutouts • Lesson’s poster board (Teacher only). • IV. Introduction • Guidelines • 1. Welcome the children as they come to the center. • 2. Introduce myself and have the children to introduce themselves. • 3. Ask how their day is going and let them talk about what they learned and did at other centers.

17. V. Procedure • 1. After greeting the children (introduction) and use of the lesson plan poster board, explain what different shapes are used on Easter and have them to identify all of them. (TEKS VIII.A.1 and TS.1) • 2. Introduce the children to different patterns for decoration. (TS.1) • 3. Provide a pre-made Easter egg cutout to each child. Hand the material one at the time, and show them how to use them. (TEKS I.B.1.b and IX.B.2) • 4.Show to the children how to use all of the materials provided. TEKS IX.B.1 • 5. Children will be pasting and sticking the materials given to create different patterns by identifying shapes. Let your students use their imagination. (TEKS VIII.A.2 and TS.4) • 6. Explain the importance of sharing materials and respect others. (TEKS I.A.1) • 7. Ask questions related to the topic (shapes and patterns) while children are working. Let the children to express themselves by sharing what they are doing and asking questions. • 8.Interact with the children at all times. Guide and show interest in their work. (TEKS I.A.3) • 9. Plan ahead accommodations for your students as needed. When working with more advanced children, ask for specific patterns of decorations; that way slower children can work peacefully and complete the activity.

18. VI. Evaluation • How did you measure if your objectives were met? • My objectives were partially met. Children were supposed to learn about shapes and patters. When I taught shapes they were participating and showing interest but when I started teaching patterns, they got out of focus. I understood that shapes are a concept easy for pre-kindergarteners and pattern is a concept only some of them could understand. • How effective was your lesson? • My lesson was effective since children understood what different shapes we see in Easter decorations. It was effective when the activity kept children interested and participating. I can also say that even patterns was a concept most of them could not understand, some children did learn about patterns and applied their learning in the egg cutouts that I provided. Other sign of effectiveness can be that some children kept coming back to the art center. • What worked and what did not work in your lesson? • Trying to give them a lesson didn’t work. Children did not pay attention to my poster board when I was teaching, and only did it when we talked about shapes. I had to change the teaching part for a more informal way to teach them about shapes and patterns. What worked the best; it was to greet and receive them as a friend does. They loved to talk to me about the things they like and after all I had a great connection to them because I played with them. I enjoyed it more than I thought.