May 5, 2010-Observation 8

Today I watched the first grade music presentation with the class I am observing. The students behaved very well and did not pay attention to the special needs child making noises in the back of the auditorium. Very proud of them. CRITICAL MOMENT- One of the students has taken to repeatedly counting things over the past month. I was able to specifically observe this behavior during the concert while he counted about everything in the auditorium. CRITICAL MOMENT 2- Mentor teacher pointed out a student who is able to tell you what day your birthday will fall on five years from now- very impressive. In the classroom I presented my guided reading presentation. We discuss bibliographies and their characteristics as well as how to recognize a text feature and why they are important in text.

April 28, 2010- Observation 7

While observing, the students discussed their "Scientist Biographies." Each student is to research and then play the part of a famous Scientist for their end of the year project. Today, the class discussed Benjamin Franklin and electricity. The class talk about what they knew about electricity, and how Benjamin Franklin originally harnessed electricity as well as the invention of the lightening rod. The students then viewed a short narration which explained the events pre and post Benjamin Franklin's discovery. The students then discussed Thomas Edison, and his invention- the light bulb. Today I was also able to teach my Social Studies lesson to the students. The lesson was to begin with the students listening to and then learning the state song, "Maryland my Maryland." I was unable to pull up the audio for the song because the school did not have the software need to play the music. Instead, I had the students start by humming together the tune of "Maryland My Maryland," which is the same as "O Christmas Tree." CRITICAL MOMENT: I did not inform the students that the tune was the same as "O Christmas Tree" because some of the students did not celebrate Christmas. Knowing this, I felt that it would be inappropriate to assume that all the students knew the tune. This would exclude and alienate the students that did not celebrate Christmas. Instead, I taught the students the tune and they followed along well. The students enjoyed learning the song and were able to quickly match the words with the tune. Next, the students were each assigned a different state symbol or fact. Each student researched their symbol and wrote a brief paragraph stating three interesting facts about their topic. The students wrote a rough draft and then a final copy after review. After completing the writing portion of the activity, the students drew a picture that would visually express their State symbol. I will compile all of the students work to create a "My Maryland Quilt" to be displayed in the classroom.

April 21, 2010- Observation 5

During this visit to the school, I was able to teach the students my lesson on finding equivalent fractions. The lesson took about an hour to complete, although I only estimated it to be a 30-45 minute lesson. I was not bothered that the lesson took longer to complete (neither was the teacher) because this was a new concept for the students. They had worked on fractions the previous week but the concept of "equivalent" fractions had not yet been addressed. We discussed the mathematical vocabulary surrounding fractions and students responded to well to the new terms. We discussed the meaning of the word "equivalent." Students broke the word down and used "equi" as a clue that meant "equal." The class determined that "equivalent" must have something to do with things being equal because the two words sounded similar. As we worked through the activity, the students appeared to not only be learning the material, but having fun as well! This is why it did not bother me that the activity took longer than expected. I was so happy to see the students having fun with math and retaining new concepts.

April 14, 2010 Observation 5

Today the class I observed worked on fraction, creative writing, and researched facts about Maryland. The class used a pizza model to represent fractions. They “sliced” their pizza 4 or 8 times (depending on skill level) and then shaded in the slices they “ate.” The students used this visual model to describe what fraction of the pizza they ate. Students wrote out how they determined their answer and used the acronym “D.A.W.N.” D.A.W.N stands for Definition, Answer, Why, and Number Sentence. When writing their answer, the students must include a definition of what mathematical skill they are using (fractions), the answer to the problem, why or how they found their answer, and a number sentence showing the mathematical proof. Most of the students did well during this activity, I think that because the students had a visual model (pizza) they were better able to understand the concept of fractions. Because they knew you took pieces away from a pizza when you ate them, they were able to say they ate 2 of the 8 pieces, or 2/8. It seems that the more students are able to use manipulatives the better they understand the mathematical topic.
The students practiced their creative writing by answering the question from the prompt “30 years from now I will be famous because.” The students enjoyed this activity because they were able to write about being whatever they wanted to be. The students took about 15 minutes to write their story. I was able to work with two of the students who have a more difficult time constructing sentences. I helped the students organize their thoughts and clearly express them in a way that made sense. One of the two students did not need my help much, she only needed help with some of her spelling. Her sentence structure was very good, the only main difficulty she had was starting out her writing. The other student need a great amount of help and was barely able to clearly speak her thoughts clearly let alone write them out. It was difficult helping her write out the prompt because I wanted some of it to be in her own words. She was ready to let me tell her exactly what to write and at first if I did not tell her what to say, she did not know what to do. She improved her independence as the time went on, but it was very difficult to make sense of what she was trying to convey.
For their Social Studies lesson, the students researched facts about Maryland. The facts they were looking for was the state flower, insect, dog, crustacean, etc. The students used a worksheet to guide their research and then worked as a whole class to fill out the worksheet in its entirety. The main problem that occurred was that some of the books handed out did not have all of the facts that were needed to finish the worksheet. This problem was resolve when the class went over the answers to the worksheet together.

April 7, 2010 - Observation 4

This week I was able to teach my science lesson on recycling. For my "Engage" the students shared what they knew and thought about recycling. It was interesting to learn how much they knew about recycling! We created a classroom "Mind-Map" so we could all see how the ideas linked together. During the "Exploration" students received material with facts about how to recycle different materials. For the "Explanation" students talked with their groups about the recycling facts they received. We discussed as a class the importance of recycling and what would happen if we did not re-use anything. During the "Elaboration" students worked with their groups to create an informative poster about recycling their material (glass, paper, plastic, aluminum). For the "Evaluation" each group presented their posters and shared what they learned with the class.
The students seemed to really enjoy this activity! I had a great time teaching it, but I think that is mostly because of the students enthusiasm to participate. By using the 5 "E's" I was able to prepare and present a quality science lesson that was enjoyable yet educational.

March 31, 2010-Observation 3

During the science lesson the students discussed living and non-living objects in nature. The students predicted natural objects that they believed were either living or non-living. The teacher had the students give examples of what qualifications an object had to have in order for it to be living. Many students believed plants were non-living objects. The class discussed how plants were actually living objects because they needed air and water. The students worked together in pair to make their predictions. After the class discussion, the students were able to go on a "nature walk" to observe living and non-living objects. The class discussed what it meant to "observe" and we discussed the rules on being outside. The teacher went over the importance of not touching anything that is living, especially animals. The students had to make a list of ten living objects and ten non-living objects. The class enjoyed their science "nature walk" and enjoyed debating whether or not an object was living or non-living. This was a great activity because it sparked a lot of discussion between the students and challenged them to really consider what they knew about living and non-living objects.

March 24, 2010 - Observation 2

The science lesson I observed today was also integrated with the English lesson. During the English portion of the lesson the teacher was present, but for the second science portion the teacher had to leave the classroom and a substitute taught the lesson. The class discussed dinosaurs and shared what they knew about them. First the class read a fiction (fantasy) story about cavemen and pet dinosaurs then they read a non-fiction exerpt about dinousaurs. The class compared the two pieces of literature and discussed how they knew which was non-fiction and which was fantasy fiction. They discussed "genre" as well as story elements and also completed as "story walk" before reading to brainstorm what the literature would be about. After the students completed their English portion of the lesson, they popcorn read a list of facts about dinosaurs and then discussed what they think happened to cause the extinction of the dinosaurs.
During a portion of the science lesson, I was able to work with three students to complete a "science conversation" about recycling. The conversation was excellent. The students were more than happy to talk about recycling, pollution, and the environment and had a number of thoughts and ideas on the topics. It was surprising to find just how much these students knew about recycling and how passionate they were at such a young age about the importance of recycling. I will be teaching a lesson on the environment and recycling on the week of Earth Day, so now I feel I am better prepared to create a lesson that will inspire the class in opposition to teaching a lesson at a level they are already familiar with. The teacher had me talk with one student above target level, one at target level, and one below target level. By doing this, I feel the teacher helped to give me a better idea of what the class as a whole will understand because I was able to get the ideas and opinions of students from each learning level.
Unfortunately, as interesting as my conversation was, the recorder did not tape any of the conversation. Thankfully, we completed a "mind map" while were discussing recycling and pollution so I was able to record the statements of the students. I am planning to refer to this "mind map" when creating my lesson for the class.