Professional Knowledge
Standard 1: Know students and how they learn

A sequence of lessons in a Maths unit plan on the topic of ‘Time’, designed for mixed ability kindergarten students in my final placement, learning to tell time in hours.

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I planned a unit on ‘Time’ with one of the main outcomes as telling time in hours using analog clocks. The unit was aligned with my knowledge of stages of cognitive development. I sequenced the unit keeping in mind the age group (pre-operational stage), gradually progressing from the concept of ‘sequencing’ and ‘duration’ of events to reading time in hours. The progression allowed students to transfer their knowledge of telling time to real observed situations through class discussions, and to plan their day effectively by being mindful of the duration and sequence of events. A gradual introduction of concepts allowed them enough time to make meaningful connections with the content. Specifically, for telling time to the hour, I further divided the unit into two more lessons, the first on the concept of hands and its use in reading time and the other focused on the positions of numbers on the clock face to allow students to assimilate new knowledge effectively, employing the ‘equilibration process’ effortlessly without being limited by ‘centration’, as highlighted by Piaget (cited in Woolfolk & Margetts 2013), i.e. the ability to focus on one aspect of a thing at a time.