When working with pre-school and kindergarten age students, one of my favorite thematic units to teach was that of the fall season. I think one of the reasons for this is because the school year is just starting and everyone is excited and ready to go. Also, living in New York State, there are significant changes that occur from season to season. Besides back to school, the fall season provides some interesting additional topics to discover such as: elections, the weather, field trips, fire safety week and pizza and pasta month. With the fall thematic unit in mind, my ideas for transfer of knowledge are:
Positive transfer of learning: create a lesson about the weather and how weather patterns change based on the four seasons. Students are already familiar with weather basics, so it makes sense to teach them which seasons are associated with which weather patterns.
Near transfer of learning: create a lesson that demonstrates that, just as the weather changes season by season, different fruits and vegetables are harvested during the different seasons or grow better in specific climate conditions.
Far transfer of learning: create a lesson that teaches students about elections or fire prevention. While the students may realize that moving into the fall season often brings changes in the weather, they may not realize that the season is also a time when other traditions occur, many of which may be new to them.
Preventing negative transfer of learning: Going back to the weather lesson plan, use a calendar to teach the children which months are a part of which season. Explain that while the weather in the fall and the spring can feel similar, there are differences in what is happening during both seasons.
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