It’s the time of year when lesson planning is, once again, on every teacher’s mind. And we at All Kinds of Minds are thinking about lesson plans, too – that is, “Learning about Learning” lesson plans!
We believe that it is critical to empower students to find success. Educators can promote and support this goal in many ways. One way is to help students understand the different components of learning, gain insight into their strengths and weaknesses, and employ targeted strategies to achieve success.
With this in mind, we wanted to share a sample “Learning about Learning” lesson for you to try in your classroom. The objective of this lesson is for students to develop an awareness of temporal-sequential ordering and the importance of following directions in the right order.
“Temporal-sequential ordering” refers to the process of organizing information by putting things in order and understanding time. It includes:
- Understanding order of steps, events, or other sequences
- Generating products arranged in a meaningful order
- Organizing time and schedules
LESSON PLAN: Ordering with Origami*
*Adapted from a lesson plan submitted by several teachers at Nolan Catholic High School in Fort Worth, TX.
Grade Levels: This lesson can be taught in an elementary, middle, or high school setting, with the complexity of the origami figure based on the grade level.
Objective: Students will develop an awareness of temporal-sequential ordering and the importance of following directions in the right order.
Estimated time: 20-30 minutes, depending on complexity of origami figure and depth of debrief
Preparation:
- Find instructions online for creating an origami figure (e.g., www.origami-instructions.com or www.origami-fun.com).
- Optional: Make a copy of the steps for each student (see Lesson Procedure, Step 3).
Materials: Paper square for each student
Lesson Procedure:
- Tell students that they will be creating an origami figure. Do not reveal what the final product will be.
- Tell students that this activity is designed to help them explore an aspect of how they learn.
- Convey the steps in one of the following ways: (1) Distribute handouts with the steps listed (either through pictures/diagrams or words), (2) Write the steps on a white board as you proceed through the figure, or (3) Demonstrate the steps while reading them.
Debrief (use all prompts or just a few):
- Discuss the mode in which directions were given. Ask students whether they think another mode would have been more effective for them, which mode, and why.
- Ask students whether they would have preferred to know what the final product was going to be before they began. If so, how would that have helped them achieve the result?
- Briefly explain temporal-sequential ordering. Points you may want to cover include how sequences and memory or sequences and language work together, how time is a sequence, how getting organized with time often involves organizing sequences, etc. Discuss the importance of sequencing and what can occur if the correct order is not followed.
- Ask students to brainstorm areas in which sequencing is important (e.g., understanding how time works, order of events in history or in a story, cause-effect relationships in science, problem-solving in math, etc.).
- As a class (or in pairs or small groups), ask students to come up with a few strategies they can try if they have difficulty with sequencing. See below for some suggested strategies to get your students started!
Feel free to adapt this lesson – play with it!
Sequencing strategies:
For students:
- Break sequences into small chunks.
- Repeat a sequence quietly to oneself (subvocalization).
For teachers:
- Regularly repeat, review, and summarize key points of the sequence. Students will benefit from paraphrasing directions in their own words. Have students discuss whether they agree or disagree with each other’s summaries of the directions.
- Provide checklists for sequential procedures, temporal order, and scheduling. Encourage students to refer to them often. Students may benefit from recording how well they use each step in the process.
- Provide concrete visual representations of sequential information that is delivered verbally. Represent multistep or complex sequences by drawing diagrams and flowcharts, and writing timelines on the board. Give handouts to refer to during class instruction and discussion.
What activities have you used to help your students understand sequencing? How might you adapt this leson? Do you have any great strategies for helping students improve their abilities in sequencing? Share your ideas with us by leaving a comment below!
For more information about temporal-sequential ordering, see:
