Personhood Curriculum 3rd Grade

 

Making Plans

Lesson Plan

ph-g3-2 

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Teaching Goals

Making Plans.

1. Adults often make plans.
2. A plan helps you get organized.
3. A plan helps you do the tasks.
4. Asking questions and making decisions help you make plans.
5. Students practice making a plan.
6. Sometimes you have to change the plan after you have started. That is OK.

Prepare Transparency #5, "Planning to Draw a Picture - Example in Detail ".

Download a version in Rich Text Format: phtran5.rtf

 

Prepare transparency About Plans - - - phtran14.rtf

 

Prepare a numbered line transparency. - - - blankcar.rtf

 

You should continue using the Student Participation Record. Continue to use it unless directed not to in a lesson plan.

Relevancy

Planning is a very useful tool you will use as a student and as an adult. Planning helps you reach your goals. You will use it all through your life. It will make your life easier! Learning to plan moves you one step closer to having adult abilities.

Introduction / Presentation / Discussion

One of the things that adults do is to make plans for things they will be doing. Here are some examples:

• Plan what roads and freeways to use to get where they want to go.
• Plan what to cook for Thanksgiving.
• Plan what classes to take in college.
• Plan how to move to a new house.
• Plan what to write in a letter, essay, or other paper.
• In building a birdhouse, plan how it will look, and how it will be built.

Can you think of anything else that an adult might make plans for?

Cover all of transparency "About Plans" except for the first question, and then project it.

• Ask for volunteers to answer the question. Record them on Student Participation Record.
• Uncover a block of answers when it looks like no more answers are forthcoming.
• Move on to the next question.

What is a plan?

• The steps to reach the goal, written in the sequence you will do them.

 

Why do we make plans for our goals?

• To know what we will need
• To figure out how we will reach our goal
• To work faster
• To work in the correct order, or sequence
• To make fewer mistakes
• To do a better job

 

How do we go about making plans?

• Ask questions
• Answer those questions
• Think it through, as if you were doing it.

A plan doesn't have to be written on paper. If it is simple, it can just be in our head. It is best to write down your plans when you are learning to plan, when they are complicated, or will take a long time to do.

Different people are likely to make different plans for the same job, and that's OK. Often there can be several ways to do the same job, so there can be several plans.

It is very common to have to change or add to plans as you are doing them. That's OK. Things change, or you find out you have forgotten something.

As an engineer, many times it would take several days, weeks, or even months to write out my plans. Other people had to give their OK before starting to do the plan. It would take weeks or even years to do them! If I had not written them down, I would have forgotten them!

One good idea for making a plan is to ask questions and answer them. You will probably have different questions for different projects (goals). Here is a slide showing questions you might ask if you are going to draw a picture. It is an example, to show you how it is done.

TEACHER: Cover the slide below item # 1. Ask for a few different answers to each question. Uncover as you proceed.

Planning to Draw a Picture - Example in Detail

1. When will I draw it?

(In a few minutes.)

2. Where will I draw it?

(At my desk.)

3. What will I draw?

(My cat.)

4. What other things will be in the picture?

(A ball.)

5. What will it look like?

(Cat playing with ball.)

(Cat's tail up in the air.)

6. How big will it be?

(Full sheet of paper)

7. What colors will I use?

(Black, white, and orange for cat.)

(Ball is blue.)

8. What will I need?

(Pencil)

(Paper)

(Black, blue, & orange crayons)

9. Will I need help from anyone?

(No.)

10. What part should I draw first?

(Cat, because she is harder to draw.)

11. Will I have any words on the picture? What words?

("I love to play with my blue ball!")

These kinds of decisions are called planning.

It is a simple plan that we wouldn't have to write down but we will, just for practice. Our goal is to get ready to be picked up at car line. Our plan should go all the way to the point where your car drives away. I will write the steps. Just think through what we normally do. When I call on you tell me what to write next. I have written the first step."

(Use a line numbered transparency. If students leave out steps (as defined below) you should skip line numbers, then later ask what might have been forgotten in the blank spaces.)

Below is an example of what the plan might look like:

1. I say to you "It is now time for you to get ready for car line."
2. Put away things that belong someplace else in the room.
3. Put your things in your desk.
4. Push your chairs under your table.
5. Get your backpack, coat, and lunch box.
6. Line up at the door.
7. Wait for teacher to dismiss you to car line.
8. Go to the place where you wait to be picked up.
9. When your car arrives, wait for teacher to tell you to go to the car.
10. Go to car and get in.
11. Close the car door.

Discussion, practice making plans:

Let's practice the adult skill of making plans:

You have an assignment to do (whatever). Lets talk about making a plan to do it. Have students tell you what the steps should be. Take maybe 5 - 10 minutes.

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