Posted on by Lydia du Bois

Joyful lesson planning

Want a lesson plan that gets you through the week, covers all subjects, works for a range of ages and grades, and involves shrieking dinosaur babies living in a public park? Here’s a guide to creating a lesson plan that will give you freedom as a teacher and give your student a sense of purpose and meaning. A lofty goal, but now you’re intrigued…

Step 1: Inspiration

Here’s where the screaming dinosaur babies come in. I live in Vancouver, BC. Stanley Park is home to a heron sanctuary, where hundreds of herons raise new families every spring. Right now, public parks are harder to access, but the internet has come to the rescue with a Stanley Park heron cam. (This link may be a lot less exciting once the nesting season is over, but the point stands: inspiration!)

You can pick just about anything as inspiration. Find a local museum or a 1950s movie, a paper clip or a shoe. Gallery websites, library websites, and social media accounts for nature conservatories or orchestras or Antarctic dinner menus – they’re all a place to start. I challenge you and your student(s) to get a magnificent week of learning out of whatever you find.

Step 2: Curiosity

Build a learning project around some core questions:

  • Did you know? (Did you know that dinosaurs live among us? If your family is comfortable with some salty (but kindhearted) language try the Plumology episode of the Ologies podcast.)
  • Where? When? Who? How? Why? Where?
  • What can I find? What’s available?
  • Who is involved? How can I get involved?
  • What subjects are relevant?

Step 3: Investment

It’s not your job to answer questions! It’s not even your job to ask all of the questions. If you’re a teacher or a caregiver who woke up one morning and discovered you had become a teacher (the dark magic of a global pandemic), then your job is to be lazy.

Invest some time and energy at the start and then, if all goes well, you can watch your student or your reluctant young family member grow that investment while you get on with work or child care or – and there is no judgment here at Blueberry Fig – scrolling through Instagram photos of dogs wearing clothes.

Often a lesson plan for a one-hour lesson can take 20 minutes or more: you spend 20 minutes and now you still have to teach for an hour. I would suggest putting in at least a couple of hours – maybe on a Sunday afternoon or even together with your learner(s) early in the week. If you are aiming for a solid 20 hours of learning for the week, then a 2-hour investment starts looking great, especially if your plan gives your student a lot to do and doesn’t require as much from you.

Step 3: Strategy

What subjects would normally be covered in a week? Most students take social studies, math, science, art, and language arts (these may have different names in different systems). Make it a goal to have a project related to your source of inspiration that includes as many of your student’s subjects as possible. Use your imagination and your student’s imagination.

Can we do some math inspired by herons?

Of course we can! Simple counting tasks, flight trajectories, word problems (don’t be shy to find ones online and set your student the task of first making them about herons…and then solving them!)

Can we do some science inspired by herons?

Are you kidding me?! The life cycle of birds! The amazing construction of those huge nests! The environmental problems that have led to the need for a sanctuary!

What about art or design?

Can we draw the herons? Can we design a chair or a cat toy or a stationery stand inspired by the nests?

And don’t even get me started on social studies

What’s the history of animal sanctuaries? What about the history of Stanley Park itself? What other nature cams are out there and what can we learn from them and about the people or institutions behind them?

Step 4: Vision

What are you going to have at the end of the week? A pile of worksheets and an essay in a Google Doc? I secretly hope not. I hope there’s room for dreaming big. Here are some ideas, although I know you and your student will come up with better ones:

  • pop-up book
  • website
  • YouTube video
  • musical performance (Flight of the Bumblebees Heron Babies)
  • patchwork coat
  • mural (PSA: baby-heron-themed wall art might not be renter friendly…)
  • mobile app

Step 5: Joy

What’s joyful about this project for the teacher? That initial investment and thought give you the best chance of taking a hands-off approach. You can be there for support and in case of an emergency (maybe your student needs a second pair of hands at a crucial stage in the construction of a six-foot heron-themed art installation in your hallway closet). But at every stage, it’s worth giving the gift of independence. Ask yourself: Is there a way I could do less? Ask of your student: Show me what you can do!

What’s joyful about this project for the student? If they are a little older, then they may have been part of the planning process. They can follow their imaginations, their curiosity, and their instincts. And who doesn’t love baby herons who scream like angry Tolkienesque ring wraiths when they want food?

You can do it! I believe in you!

If you try this, let me know how it goes. Send photos or a recording of what you came up with and let me know what your student thought of it.