Constructvist Approach Theory

For this activity, I used my lesson plan that I did for my Urban Multicultural lesson plan over shapes. The lesson was for first grade students who are asked to identify different types of shapes and understand the difference between them.

As a teacher, I will bring in various shapes and explain what these shapes are and how some can slide, roll, stack, and their corners or rounded edges. I will ask them to observe them and see what characteristics of the shapes are similar and what are different.

To make this activity a constuctivist approach, I will ask the children to take their prior knowledge of what they know about the shapes to mold more of an understanding of them. Where have they seen these shapes before? How were these shapes used? The students will use hands-on activities to master the knowledge of the shapes. If they have seen the shape of a circle on a car (tires) I can ask them why do they think circles are the most effective shape to use for this particular object.  The hands-on activities will also make it a constructivist approach and will be helpful for the students. 

According to Concept to Classroom, there are other ways to help students learn using the constructivist approach. They include:

• prompt students to formulate their own questions (inquiry)
• allow multiple interpretations and expressions of learning (multiple intelligences)
• encourage group work and the use of peers as resources (collaborative learning) 

All of these examples are useful for students to learn about more materials.