Hands-On Learning

Hands-on learning is a strategy that consists of the students learning something new from doing something. “It is learning by doing” (Student Learning Objectives). These hands-on activities help to stimulate different parts of the student’s brain. This teaching method could be extremely effective for all students, including those students that are bilingual learners or those that have a learning disability. This method would be used a lot during the Plants Unit when the students are making art projects as well as when they are planting. 

Learning Centers 

Learning centers is a strategy where the classroom is divided into different areas. Each area provides opportunities to learn through specific activities. These centers allow the students to learn through play. They learn different skills like taking turns, making decisions, problem solving and more. This method benefits the students because it is child-led. I would make sure a large amount of the learning centers connect to the unit in one way or another. I would use the time when the students are at the learning centers to make observations and listen to the different things the students say. 

Notebooking/Journaling

Notebooking/journaling is a strategy where the students collect and record their data and/or observations in one place. This method would benefit my students because it will allow them to stay actively engaged in their learning. It will also benefit my students because it provides an opportunity for them to further develop early writing skills and fine motor skills. I would use this method with my students by giving them all their own journals where they can draw/write about what they are observing with their plants. 

Read-Aloud

Read-aloud is a method that provides the teachers with opportunities to model literacy skills to the class. This method also helps with exposing the students to new vocabulary that is related to the unit. The read-aloud method will benefit my students because the books chosen for the read-alouds could be used as another source of information for them. I intend on picking a number of books that relate to plants, planting, our environment, and other topics related to our unit in order to support learning amongst my students.