Lesson & Reflection Template

Edited from Mini-lesson

Name: Chelsea Force Date: June 9, 2018

Pima Course: EDC 257 Instructor: Professor Safi Hemdani
Lesson Topic: Origami Crane Duration of Lesson: 15 minutes
Number of Learners: 5 Description of Learners: Age range 50-55

Instructional Objective: Must use a verb that aligns with Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy and has
at least two parts, learning and behavior.
Students will be able to create an origami.

Students will be assessed according to completion of the task and quality of the origami
produced.

Anticipatory Set: Describe how you will engage students and connect to their background
knowledge. (1-2 mins)
I will show the students an example of an origami crane and describe what origami is. I
will ask students if they have ever done origami before and have them elaborate. Then,
explain the objective to the students.

Q: Who here has ever done origami? What did you make?

Q: What is origami, and why do people make them?

A: Origami is a combination of the Japanese words oru (to fold) and kami (paper).
Over a thousand years ago origami started out as ceremonial, often for religious
reasons. But in the 1600’s, it was recognized as an art form in Japan, which was due in
part thanks to the mass production and affordability of paper.

Teaching-Input/ Modeling: Describe how the strategy/concept/skill will be introduced/modeled.

(1-3 mins)
I will model how to fold a crane for the class and provide one on one instruction as
needed. I will be folding the crane step by step with verbal instruction and encourage
students to follow along with their printed instructions while constructing their own
origami crafts.

Materials needed: At least 25 sheets of paper (8.5 x 11), 5 pairs of scissors (to create
origami paper), and 5 sheets of origami directions

Active Involvement: Describe what students will do in a short practice session to demonstrate
understanding. (5-8 mins)
Using provided materials and instructions, students will attempt to fold an origami crane.
They can follow along as I fold an origami crane or refer to their individual printed
instructions.

First, students must create a perfect square by folding a top corner to the opposite edge
until the edges match. Cut the excess, unfolded paper from the bottom.
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Second, students must fold opposite corners to one another and fold creases, but then
return paper to a flat square.

Third, students will fold the square in half in both directions, then return the paper to a
flat square.

Fourth, students fold the square in half, grab the new folded rectangle by the corners,
and bring their hands together. When students bring their hands together they will fold
one side over the other to create a kite.

With the kite shaped paper on the table, closed edge up, student will fold one side in to
the middle and then return the side flat. Repeat this step for each side of the kite front
and back, folding the top remaining triangle down and lying flat again.

Next, students will take the bottom open corner and lift it up to lie flat over the top of the
kite. Repeat for the back side.

With the new diamond shape, students take the left and right corners and bring them
together, applying force to keep them in place. Repeat on the back side.

Lastly, flip both ends up creating the wings of the crane. The remain triangles on top are
the neck and tail. Fold one tip down to create the head of the crane.

(Illustrations included in handouts)

Check for Understanding: Strategies to determine whether ALL students understood the
objectives
I will observe students as they construct their origami and allow students who are ahead
to assist their peers. The finished product will be a visual representation of their
understanding. We will also review the process in the closure.

Guided Practice: Every student demonstrates understanding by practicing new learning with
guidance
Students fold their origami under my guidance. Students can use the handout, my
modeling, or ask questions in order to receive guidance and demonstrate understanding.

Closure: Describe how you will provide an opportunity for students to share work, ideas,
review, etc. (1-2 mins)
I will ask students to share their origami with their classmates and discuss amongst
themselves what the most difficult part of forming the crane was.

Closing: Show your crane to your neighbor and compare the two. What differences do
you notice, and how do you think that happened? What was the most difficult part in
making this crane?
 Lesson & Reflection Template
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Reflection

I taught this lesson to my parents and the guardians of my best friend. My ‘students’ are

ages 50 to 59 and are all familiar with one another and myself. I evaluated the lesson’s

effectiveness on the quality of the finished product, the origami crane, and the ability of my

students to complete the steps with or without difficulty.

Overall, the lesson went well. The students responded to the activity and were focused on

creating a crane that was neat and recognizable. They were attentive to the steps included in the

printed directions and to the model that I was creating. I was surprised to see the students

engaging with one another at the end of the lesson, and actively discussing the most difficult

steps of the process and whose crane was the closest to the model.

The biggest challenge with this group was having the students take the lesson seriously.

Since we were all familiar with one another, and normally I am not instructing them, they were

hesitant to listen and take direction. However, I reminded them of the purpose of the lesson (to

complete an assignment to practice lesson planning), and they were willing to participate. I

believe this can be similar to a classroom with students that treat relationships with teachers

more like friendships instead of a friendly, but professional relationship. Those students must be

gently reminded that the purpose of the class is for instruction, not conversation, and that by

investing yourself in the lesson and in your classmates, we can also enjoy ourselves. When it

comes to the lesson itself, another challenge I faced was being attentive to all students. Some of

the adults were several steps ahead while other students were falling behind. This was especially

stressful because it made me picture a class of 30 6th graders attempting this mini lesson, and the

amount of various abilities there would be. To address this challenge, I asked those students that
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Edited from Mini-lesson

were ahead to assist their neighbors. The adults were happy to oblige and walked each other

through the steps. This highlighted the need for a classroom culture and peer relationships that

encourage students to help one another, but not do the work for them. In attempts to be helpful

many students take over the task and the student that needed help is farther behind the next time

the material is covered. In a classroom setting, the challenges I encountered can be avoided early

in the year by setting boundaries and informing students what it means to help one another.

In the future, I believe this lesson is not appropriate as a mini-lesson for my intended

grade level. There were many steps to complete in a short amount of time, and the lesson was

manageable for an adult group, but would be difficult for a middle schooler to perform well. In

addition, having students follow printed directions as well as following along as I demonstrated

could prove to be too much for younger students. Instead, it might be more effective to

demonstrate or show a video first, and then have students follow the printed instructions.

Another strategy would be to leave the video on repeat as I assisted students around the

classroom one on one.

My question about writing objectives is: which is the best method? Not only are there

behavioral and descriptive, descriptive objectives are then broken down to various approaches.

The textbook states that there is a middle ground, and that each approach has its advantages and

disadvantages. However, personally I do not see a large difference between the two. How

different will a lesson plan be if the objective is worded one way or the other? I believe I will

gain insight on this dilemma as I complete my first year of teaching and practice using the

different approaches. I found developing mini-lessons to be intuitive. The issue for me will
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always be including too much information, because I prefer a detailed lesson plan. Again, I

believe this will change with time and experience.