Title: Making Choices
Content Area: Social Studies I chose this lesson because the students were very engaged. This lesson is an example of how I used a observation and discussion in an interesting way. This is an example of a unique formative assessment.
Title: The Kindest Family
Content Area: Guided Reading I chose this lesson because it was a great example of differentiation. In this lesson, I worked with a 4th grade student and a 6th grade student who is on alternate curriculum. The students are reading at the same reading level, but their needs are very different. |
This lesson was taught at the beginning of the school year. Students were introduced to the concept of making choices. The main idea of making choices is that they have to pick one thing and give up the other. In this lesson, the students were engaged in a movement activity where they walked to one side of the room or the other to make a choice between two things.
Reflection: In my opinion, this lesson went very well. Together, we discussed the vocabulary words and what the students thought the words meant. For each word, I had the students did a think-pair-share. The students really enjoyed this because it gave them a chance to communicate with their peers. After reading, I discussed with the students what is means to make choices. I noted that when the students made choices, they were picking one thing and giving up the other thing.After the lesson, I asked the students what the purpose of the activity was and most of them understood that it was to practice making choices. A few students even made the connection that when they made a choice, the second option was no longer available. If I could change anything about this lesson, I would have the students start giving the choices to make it more meaningful for them. This lesson was taught in early November. The two students in this guided reading group are in different grades but are reading at the same reading level (Fountas and Pinnell Level K). The 4th grade student is identified with a specific learning disability and the 6th grade student is on alternate curriculum for an intellectual disability. In the lesson, the book is introduced and the students do a picture walk. While reading, the students are focusing on reading to understand the events of the story. Each student will read a part of the book aloud and will read to self. After reading, the students will discuss the events of the story by answering within, beyond, and about the text questions.
Reflection: This lesson was successful because both students showed progress on the learning objective to read to understand the events of the story. Sequencing and comprehension are skills that both students need to work on. The 4th grade student reads at a very fast pace. With her, I focused on slowing down and reading for meaning. We looked at the moral of the story and what she could learn from the story. With the 6th grade student, I worked on page by page comprehension because she struggles to remember and make connections with the text. When discussing with the 4th grade student, I had the 6th grade student join the conversation because she can learn from the other student and add on to her thoughts. I think comprehension is easier for her when she can be guided. If I could change something about this lesson and teach it again, I would ask the 4th grader about other fables that she has read to help her make text to text connections. I would also encourage her to use text to world and text to self connections when answering because that is a skill that she will need for her 4th grade assessments and for her future success. |
Title: Weather
Content Area: Science I chose this lesson because the students were highly engaged and excited about learning throughout this entire lesson. This lesson was my favorite lesson from student teaching.
Title: Chapter 2 Opener
Content Area: Social Studies I chose this lesson because it was highly engaging to the students. I incorporated a lot of technology into the lesson to make it more meaningful to the students. |
This lesson was taught in early October. Students were introduced to weather and how it connects with air. In the beginning of the lesson, the students discussed what they had been learning about air and how that could connect to weather. The students then went outside to experience weather and make observations using their five senses. At the end of the lesson, the students shared their observations.
Reflection: This lesson was extremely successful for the students. They were highly engaged and loved the activity. Instead of keeping the students inside and having them only share their background knowledge on weather, I took the students outside so they could experience the weather first hand. The students brought their science notebooks outside with them so that they could write down or draw pictures of what they saw, heard, smelled, and felt. I really tried to get the students to focus on their five senses so that the lesson was more meaningful to them. After the lesson, I brought the students back inside and allowed them to share their observations. I encouraged them to connect their observations to what we had been learning about air. The students were using their air vocabulary as they shared. If I were to change anything about this lesson and teach it again, I would have the students sit in one place for a while and then move them to another area to observe the weather a second time. The purpose would be to see if the students' observations changed between the two locations. This lesson was taught in the middle of September. Students were introduced to the concepts of needs and wants; goods and services; and buying and selling. To learn about these concepts, the students participated in a technology activity where they matched the vocabulary words to their definitions. The students also watched a 1 minute video of other first grade students answering the question how do I get what I need? The other parts of the lesson included a song and an activity where students matched a concept from the chapter to a picture that demonstrated that concept. Reflection: This lesson was successful because the students loved the integration of technology into the lesson. In the social studies chapter openers, the students have the opportunity to watch a video and listen to a song that introduces what they would be learning about. There were also activities that I used to help the students begin to work hands-on with the material. To make participation fair, I pulled students' sticks and also called on the students who were using their body basics. The students began discussing what the vocabulary words meant and what they thought they would learn in the chapter. I think this lesson was great for getting students to think about how the content could be meaningful to them and why we were learning about the topics. If I could change anything about this lesson, I would do the activities as a class once and then release the students into partners with iPads to go through the activities a second time. I think this would help the students to apply what they learned whole group to partner work and it would push the students to really think about the material. |