Good Ideas

While playing on the internet a little, I found a website with some great lesson plan resources. I like to read lesson plans and keep ones that I like in a file and on my blog so that I have something to draw from my first years of teaching- one can never be too prepared.
Sometimes the plans I read just inspire lots of great ideas (thank you to experienced contributers who post those to share:). One that I viewed on this site tied in to the theme of community building that I have been thinking about a lot lately. The plan was intended to help young students become more familiar with their environment in the first days of school. The lesson was to introduce mapping skills while going through the rules and procedures important in those first couple days of school.
The idea led me to think of all kinds of variations on this idea that could serve as fun icebreakers as well as the introduction to the classroom community, reading, and map skills. It also reminds me of how important map skills are, even in our GPS; Mapquest, Google Earth society. In fact I almost think that they are more important because of that, children are not exposed to the same natural learning experiences- technology although fantastic in may ways also puts us in a weakened position when expected to survive with out it. I think kids of this technological generation are at a real disadvantage in that respect.
The lesson plan had children mark important spots on a simplified map of the school, as they toured the building and received instruction on rules bathroom use, library etiquette, cafeteria use, ect. I think the same concept could be used when introducing students to the setup and use of classroom resources. Re-enforcement to the use and procedures of the classroom can be turned into an icebreaker scavenger hunt, where kids are placed in groups and work as a team to find items on a list according to their use and storage in the room and then have to recite, write and/or discuss the procedure for use with their group.
Another really great lesson plan I read on this site is for older students as a year end culmination to the studies in history- whats great about this lesson is that it can incorporate several different components that build upon one another and also allows for integration into other subject areas such as research, writing, art and math. There is also the opportunity for independent work and collaboration. One of the things I might do is have students research and complete a portion of a timeline as a small group and then have them exchange their materials with another group and use the information gathered by the other group to create a diorama or theatrical re-enactment.