Justin M. Boucher
Lesson for Objective 2 and 3: The Anatomy of the Senses
Goal: To orient the students to the anatomy of the senses and the process of anatomical description.
Objectives:
As a result of this lesson, the students will be able to:
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1. Create an anatomical diagram of one of the senses.
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2. Describe the biology and mechanics of one of the senses.
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3. Discuss the process of describing biological processes in writing.
Materials:
Board, marker, notebooks, pens, textbooks.
Anticipatory Set:
At the beginning of the class the students answer the following question: "How are each of the senses unique?"
Procedure:
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1. The teacher begins class by answering any questions that the students have regarding the reading on the senses from the night before. In this way the students are allowed to fill in gaps in their understanding of the material.
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2. When all of the questions have been answered, the students are each assigned one of the five senses, of which they will then draw an anatomical diagram.
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3. When this is complete, each student is responsible for answering the writing prompt "What makes the sense you diagrammed unique?" The students will only have about twenty minutes to complete their description.
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4. When the time is up, the students are tasked with finding a partner who dealt with the same sense that they did and comparing their diagram to that of their partner.
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5. The teacher will gather the class together with ten minutes remaining.
Closure: Day 1
The teacher wraps up class by leading the students in discussing the process of describing their diagrams. The teacher must be sure to remind the students of the goals of the unit and, if necessary, explain how this lesson furthered those goals
Homework:
For homework the students will be asked to read the section of their text that deals with perception.
Lesson for Objectives 4: Illusions and their Effect on Perception
Goal: To orient the students to the basic concepts of perception through the study of illusions.
Objectives:
As a result of this lesson the students will be able to:
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1. Assess the information that illusions provide about perception.
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2. Discuss the Necker cube.
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3. Analyze the failures of perception demonstrated by illusions.
Materials:
Board, marker, notebooks, pens, textbooks.
Anticipatory Set:
Students begin class by answering the question "What factors contribute to our forming a perception from sensations?"
Procedure:
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1. The teacher begins the lesson by leading the students in a brief discussion of the anticipatory set.
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2. When this is complete, the teacher answers any questions the students have about the readings on perception in order to fill in whatever gaps may exist in their understanding.
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3. The teacher then draws the Necker cube on the board, leading the students in brainstorming the information it provides about our perceptual processes.
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4. When the class has finished brainstorming, the teacher notes the similarities between the process of brainstorming and the process of perception.
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5. When this is complete the students are given thirty minutes to answer the following question in one to two pages, "What do these illusions tell us about how we perceive the world?"
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6. The teacher then leads the students in debriefing their work through a discussion of the steps they took and the logic they followed to reach their conclusions.
Closure:
The teacher wraps up class by briefly reminding the students of the goals of the unit and assessing their progress toward meeting them.
Homework:
For homework the students will read the section of the text devoted to theoretical explanations of perception.
Lesson for Objective 7 & 8: Evaluating the Process of Writing and Thinking.
Goal: To allow the students to solidify their understanding of the relationship between writing and cognition as well as offer an opportunity to evaluate human sensation and perception.
Objectives:
As a result of this lesson the students will be able to:
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Evaluate human beings' ability to understand the world around them.
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2.
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Discuss and evaluate the reciprocal nature of the relationship of seeing, knowing and writing to sensation, perception and cognition.
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Materials:
Board, marker, notebooks, pens, textbooks.
Anticipatory Set:
The students begin class by answering the question "How is the writing process similar to cognition?"
Procedure:
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1. The teacher begins the lesson by discussing the anticipatory set with the students, without explaining that writing is a form of cognition and without the students making that point first (this will come later if it does not come naturally).
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2. At this point students are broken into small groups of two to four in which they will create a brief outline of the unit thus far. Outlines should include the parallel tracts of the writing process and the psychological material presented so far. They should also include all the relevant steps covered by the unit.
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3. When this is complete, the teacher leads the class in going over their outlines, clearly mentioning each of the steps in the perceptual and writing processes.
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4. Each student then responds to the following prompt: "Evaluate human beings' ability to understand their experiences and convey that understanding to others through writing."
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5. The teacher circulates while the students are writing and offers help if necessary. This exercise will likely require the remainder of the class, so the discussion to review the unit may extend to another day.
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6. When this part of the assignment has been completed (or on the next day of class, with the assignment having been completed for homework), the teacher leads the students in reviewing the content of the entire unit, including the parallels between psychology and writing. If necessary, the teacher should also explain (though ideally the students will have come to this realization on their own) that writing is a form of cognition and that understanding the psychology of it will make them better writers.
Closure:
The teacher wraps up class by answering any final questions the students have.
Homework:
For homework the students will study for the unit test.