In speaking with the chemistry teachers at Esquimalt it is clear that he struggles to include Indigenous knowledge in his class. Additionally, I don’t really like how he structures his classes (he is the only chemistry teacher at Esquimalt). He focuses on lectures and worksheets which many of the students don’t like (I asked them).

After speaking with one of the general science teachers, it is clear that student engagement is the most important. Students don’t enjoy having a forty-minute lecture followed by twenty minutes of worksheets. They would much prefer a video, activity, group work, demonstration, etc.

In this blog, I will organize how the lesson will be laid out

I would like to use the lesson plan template introduced in my social studies methods course for my chemistry lesson while using engagement strategies employed by the general science teacher at Esquimalt.

Lesson plan template idea form EDCI 773 Graeme Mitchell

Hook: 5 mins – something that grabs the students’ attention

Define what success looks like for this lesson: 5 mins – clearly define what success for the class looks like and explain any assessment there will be.

Content: two lectures – 12 mins each with a brain break in between – this is where I will talk about the content and where the PowerPoint will be.

Brain Break: 5 mins

• Go on phone for 5 mins
• Kahoot
• Video
• Chat with classmates
• Think-Pair-Share
• Content question to class
• Random question to class (favourite season, colour, etc)
• Science demonstration
• Others…?

Deep Practice: 20 mins – this is where the consolidation of learning will happen. This could be an assignment, worksheet, reflection, quiz, etc, depending on what the content was.

Summary: 5-10 mins – the question ‘did we achieve success’ will be answered. Additionally, this is where a quick review of the important concepts will happen as well as a brief introduction to what the next class will look like.

Following this template will hopefully provide a more entertaining and engaging learning environment for the students, and where deeper learning will occur.