There are several
differences between a WBT lesson plan, like the Day One: Sentence Five Step
Lesson Plan and one taught in a traditional classroom. First, many
teachers do not introduce their lessons with a question and answer.
Sometimes, the teacher doesn't even tell the students what they are going
to be learning. They just start teaching. I think it is a
great idea to always tell the class what they are going to be learning, and
asking a question and supplying the answer is a neat way to introduce lessons.
Gestures are rarely used in a traditional classroom. The Five Step
Sentence Lesson Plan gave a gesture that clearly defined a sentence.
Typically, students would be sitting at their desks trying to focus on
the teacher but idle and not participating. In most cases, a traditional
lesson would be a 15-30 minute lecture involving the teacher presenting
information about sentences to students. Occasionally, they might use a
textbook, document camera, video, or other handouts to keep students on-task,
listening, and engaged. But again, there is still very little active
involvement by the students.
In comparison, the sentence
lesson, like all other WBT lessons, use active involvement with students
through a micro-lecture type format. Students are active participants,
often gesturing along with the teacher, during 30-45 second teaching sessions.
Then, unlike traditional lessons, students teach each other what the
teacher just taught them. Everyone is actively participating and not just
listening to the teacher talk, talk, talk. There are many, many examples
given, too. A regular lesson, in many instances, does not provide enough
examples nor do they test student comprehension. After their lecture,
teachers hand out a worksheet or assign homework that is used to determine
student comprehension. A graded quiz might even be given at the end of
the class. During a WBT lesson, like the Five Step Sentence Lesson,
questions are prepared in advance, and students participate in an evaluation to
check for understanding of material. Yes/No Way involves whole group
participation, while Thumbs up/Thumbs down Quick Test (QT) is individualized.
Both of these tests were used in the lesson plan on sentences. This
type of evaluation is fun, active, and non-intimidating. There are many
options for this quick check, but if 90% of students do not master these two
evaluations, the material is presented again in a different way. A traditional classroom has a sink or
swim approach. In many classrooms, if the child does not understand, the
teacher may never know, so they go on with class and on to the next topic.
Finally, a traditional
classroom does not always end with a critical thinking activity. In many
cases, worksheets, textbook work, drawings/diagrams, group work, or some other
type of seatwork is assigned. WBT lessons always include some type of
critical thinking writing task. These tasks can be divided into low,
middle, and high groups, but often involve comparing and contrasting, writing
"because" sentences, and WBT Braintoys. WBT lessons, like the
sentence lesson and the other lessons found in Chapter 32, involve student
mastery of the concept and not just presenting information and assigning tasks.
And, unlike traditional lessons, "weave the golden thread of
fun" throughout each lesson step!
