Running head: CONCEPT ATTAINMENT LESSON PLAN
Concept Attainment Lesson Plan
JT Schill
University of Montevallo
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CONCEPT ATTAINMENT LESSON PLAN
COS – Student Typed
Standards
AL.ALEX.2010.ELA.8.36.b Explain the function of verbals (gerunds, participles, infinitives) in
general and their function in particular sentences.
Lesson Plan Details
Instructional Objectives and Assessments
TSW recognize gerund phrases in a guided classroom setting.
TSW recognize and construct gerund phrases in a homework worksheet.
Concurrent Skills
Critical Thinking
Testing Hypotheses
Collaboration
Lesson Planning Model
Concept Attainment
Instructional Procedures (Designating Set and Closure)
Phase I: Presenting the Data and Identifying the Concept
SET: TSW create a list of their favorite activities.
TTW present a list of example sentences with gerund phrases against a list of clarifying
nonexamples. For instance:
Positive Examples
Negative Examples
Running in the park is a good way to get
I was looking for you at the mall.
exercise.
Breaking a world record is very hard.
He isn’t talking very much today.
I don’t like running after my dog when she gets Running late, I forgot to grab my wallet.
out.
Talking while chewing gum is impolite.
Is somebody playing the drums?
I’m very good at playing Candy Crush.
Looking at the pictures, Steve thought about
his vacation.
TTW ask students to consider the attributes of the positive examples.
TSW create and hypotheses about the gerund phrases, with probing and prompting from the
teacher, such as:
- Which verb phrases look like adjectives? Adverbs? Nouns? “Running after my dog”
looks like a noun.”
- Are any verb phrases the subject of the sentence? “Running in the park looks like the
subject.”
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CONCEPT ATTAINMENT LESSON PLAN
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Are any verb phrases the object of the sentence? “Running after my dog could be an
object.”
- What is different about the verb phrases opening the sentence in the positive column and
the negative column? “There is a comma after the verb phrase opening the sentence in the
negative column.”
TSW share their hypotheses by writing them on the SmartBoard.
TTW provide encouragement for students to share their hypothesis but not guide or influence
their hypotheses at this stage.
-
Phase II: Testing Student Attainment of the concept
TTW provide unlabeled positive and negative examples.
TSW use the poll function of the SmartBoard to label examples as containing a gerund or not
containing a gerund (1).
TTW continue to probe and prompt as necessary as students develop their hypothesis, with
examples such as:
- Do all of the positive examples follow this statement? “One of them doesn’t seem to fit.”
- Do any of the negative examples follow this statement? “This statement works for all the
negative examples.”
- Could any of these statements be reworded to be more specific? “We could combine two
of these statements.”
TSW review their hypotheses listed on the SmartBoard and review or alter their hypotheses as
necessary.
TTW prompt and probe as students review their hypotheses such as:
- Did we see any examples that go against this hypothesis? “Opening the sentence with a
verb phrase may not be important.”
- Could we combine two of these to get a better hypothesis? “We could add these two
together two apply to all the examples.”
- Can you think of any example that would prove this hypothesis wrong? “One negative
sentence has an –ing verb that doesn’t fit the hypothesis.”
Phase III: Rehearsing the Concept
CLOSURE: TSW share some of their favorite activities by writing them on the SmartBoard
TSW categorize these activities as containing a gerund phrase or not containing a gerund phrase
(1).
TSW reflect on the thought process, with teacher probing and prompting such as:
- What were some clues you used to develop the hypothesis? “I noticed a lot of the verbs
had the –ing ending.”
- Was there anything you focused on that was not a part of the concept? “Where the verb
phrase was didn’t end up being important.”
- When did the concept start to make sense? “Once I saw a verb phrase as the object of
another verb.”
TSW complete an assignment on gerunds for homework (2).
Materials/Resources
SmartBoard
Homework worksheet (see attached)
CONCEPT ATTAINMENT LESSON PLAN
Accommodations
TTW review IEPs for students and adhere to accommodations or modifications in the IEP.
TTW provide translations of materials for ELs if appropriate.
Technology Integration
AL-ALEX-2009.TE.9-12.6 Utilize advanced features of multimedia software, including image,
video, and audio editing.
TSW use the Promethean Board to organize hypotheses during the lesson.
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CONCEPT ATTAINMENT LESSON PLAN
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Gerund Homework
Write a short story (at least ten sentences long) summarizing an event in your life, such as
a memorable weekend, a vacation, or a holiday. In five of your sentences, use gerunds or gerund
phrases. Circle the gerund or gerund phrase. In two of your sentences, use a verb ending in –ing
that does NOT function as a gerund or gerund phrase. Underline these –ing verbs that do NOT
function as a gerund or gerund phrase.