4th Grade Lesson Plan

Our assignment this week is to make a lesson plan for fourth grade and explain why it is age appropriate.  According to the USOE Rainbow Chart under the Refine/Contribute column, fourth graders are able to take simple shapes and make a pattern out of them covering the whole page.  My lesson plan involves such a thing.  It is called the Zillij Pattern (from Crayola.com) and is made by drawing a simple shape in the center of the paper and going out from that using other shapes.  This is an age appropriate activity because although it is made only with crayons and a pencil, it is challenging enough for the students and it can also be tied into a Social Studies lesson (the Zillij Pattern is used in Muslim Mosques' stained windows).  It is also a good thing for this age group because the student does not need to know about complex shapes and it allows for a lot of freedom in creating this.  Color, shapes, patterns, and even size can all be determined by the student.