This lesson plan is for a first grade special education class learning the months of the year. It incorporates artwork, music and movement, quick games, and group collaboration.

1. Months of the Year
ASSURE LessonPlan by:Autumn Booton
Analyze the Learners
My first grade, special education class is made up of 10 boys and seven girls. 70% of
my class is white, 20% are African American, and 10% Hispanic. Seven of my students
have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Although a few students are familiar with
the months of the year, most have a remedial understanding. Since some of my
students have learning disabilities, and most struggle, I will incorporate activities that
engage students with lots of learning styles.
State Objectives
My first grade, special education students will name the months of the year, order them
chronologically, and classify the season where each month belongs with 75% accuracy
by the end of the week. The learners will make a class calendar. This will be a
weeklong project that involves designing seasonal scenery and a poster of each month,
and having a photo shoot with seasonal props—all to be brought together as a class
calendar. At the end of the week, I will unveil to the students their calendar. Finally I
will hold a Month-Olympics with games that that will require them to name and order the
months of the year, as well as sort them by seasons. I will reinforce their learning
through music and movement by teaching them the months of the year Macarena. I will
use varied art supplies including poster boards and sheets to make the backdrops, a
camera and computer to take and edit our photos, seasonal props like mittens, sleds,
umbrellas, flowers, beach balls, jackets, and rakes for our photos, and index cards,
clothes pins, and paper plates for our Olympics. I want my workstations to be prepared
each day before students enter my class so they can focus.
SelectMethods,Media,and Materials
My school will have the camera, computer and art supplies (other than the sheets and
poster board which I will provide) as well as a smart board. I will also bring in additional
supplies the students can manipulate on their posters or back drop like sticks, fake
green, orange, and red leaves, silk flowers, cotton and cotton balls. I am going to draw
the outline of a tree on each of the four sheets, and have each month written separately
on each poster board. Although I will bring in some seasonal props for our photo shoot,
I want to leave it open for my students to bring in their own props that they associate
with each season. I will write the names of each month on clothes’ pins and use paper
plates labeled with each season for one game and the months written on index cards for
another game. I will use the beach ball from our photo shoot for an additional game. I
will also provide an anchor chart which students can reference for the order and spelling
of the months. I will make sure I have a white board cleared for our class discussions.

2. Utilize the Media and Materials
The previously mentioned supplies are all that are necessary for this project. However,
I will also print each student the calendar we made to keep. I will prepare the sheets
and posters as well as the supplies for the games as previously mentioned. I will divide
the students into three groups of four and one group of five. Each group will be a
season and I will set their seating arrangement into pods of these groups. I will not
divide the art supplies or props between each group because I want students to
determine which are appropriate to use for their assigned months and seasons. I will
place the anchor chart at the front of the room, and leave it up as a reference point
every day of the week, except Friday.
Require LearnerParticipation
Each day, we will begin our lesson by singing the months of the year Macarena and
doing the Macarena along with our song. The first day, I will lead them in singing and
dancing and go through pointing out each month on the anchor chart, but on all other
days I will ask for student volunteers who want to take the lead singing and dancing and
volunteers for pointing out each month (although I will continue to guide and assist them
as needed).
On Monday we will discuss each month, the season that each month is in, and
what the weather is like. Then I will explain we are going to make a class calendar and
that each pod of desks are a season. Finally, we will make a graphic organizer on the
white board. I will write the students’ months under each appropriate season, and
finally I will write in what the students associate with each time of the year into the
graphic organizer. We will talk about what we do and wear during each month and
season and I will encourage students to bring these type of items. I will send home a
letter to the parents about our class project and our plan for the week. The letter will
explain what I want the children to bring in and to encourage them to discuss these
items with their child and to send them in to our class.
On Tuesday, I will hand out my month posters to the appropriate groups. We will
review and add things that happen each month to our graphic organizer. Then students
will draw things related to the assigned months on the appropriate poster. I will also lay
out the seasonal art supplies and explain that they should use their imagination and
include it on their poster. For example cotton balls could be clouds or snow.
On Wednesday, we will play a quick game. I will start with the ball and say,
“January!” I will toss the ball to a student who should say, “February!” The game will
continue like that until every student has had at least one turn and we have went
through the months twice. Then we will spread out our four sheets with trees already
drawn on them and discuss how a tree changes each season through a year. We will
look at pictures of trees and talk about our experiences outside in each season. Finally,
I will tell the students to work in their groups to decorate their tree to correlate with the
months and seasons they were assigned and based on how a tree looks during that
time of the year. During our discussion, I will continue to include their ideas on our
graphic organizer.

3. On Thursday, we will organize the items my students and I brought from home
and what they’re used for each season. We will sort them to their appropriate groups I
will explain we are going to take a picture for each month dressed in our seasonal
clothes with our seasonal items. Then, I will hang up the backdrops the students made
while they decide what they are going to do in their pictures. Finally, each group will
take three pictures (one for each month they were assigned) while holding the
appropriate month poster they made in front of the backdrop that they constructed.
Students who do not want to be featured in pictures can take the pictures or students
can take turns operating the camera.
On Friday, I will have taken down my anchor chart and graphic organizer. I will
hand out the calendars that I made with their pictures the night before and display a
digital one on the Smart Board. I will ask students why groups other than their own
chose to decorate their backdrops and posters the way they did and why the used the
different props in their pictures on their calendar. Finally we will play two games. In the
first game, each group will be given a stack of index cards with the months written on
them. Then the groups will race to correctly order the months and receive points based
on the place they finish in. Then, the second game students will have a relay race. I
will hang up a set of paper plates across the room with the name of each season on
separate plates. Each group will have a set of clothes’ pins with the months written on
them. The children will be on the separate side of the room as the plates. The first
student from each group will take one clothes’ pin and clip it to the appropriate plate and
then return to their group so another member can do the same. This will continue until
each group has correctly clipped their plates. Groups will receive points based on the
order that they finish. The group with the most points at the end of the games will
receive some sort of reward.
Evaluate and Revise
I will constantly evaluate how much the students are learning by observing who wants to
lead our Months Macarena and by noting who contributes to our discussions and the
quality of what they contribute. I will also move between groups and ask them why they
are decorating their backdrops and posters they way they are. Finally, I will be able to
asses who knows their months in order during our midweek game on Wednesday and
our first game Friday, and I will see who can classify the months by season during our
game on Friday.
Although I expect the majority of my students to understand, I will continue to
review the seasons and months the rest of the year as we talk about the date and the
weather during our morning meeting. I will also make a point to display our class’s
calendar and the month anchor chart. Our class will also do the Month Macarena on a
regular basis.
I will watch out to see if this project is too difficult or too easy for my students,
and if the project is maintaining their interest. I will also be aware that this project
requires time management and will help my students budget their time and balance
their teamwork, so they can finish on time and be satisfied with their work.