The British Are Coming

British Are Here

This is our third time coming to Bishop Dunn, but this time we are learning about how the colonists became free. Group three consisted of: Elizabeth, Melissa, Emily, Keilani, and Kim. This group was responsible for teaching the second graders about the important facts that follow along with the colonists. Before starting the lesson, Melissa asked questions that required the students to tap into their prior knowledge. This gave a good evaluation to see what the students knew and what the students didn't know. It also gave an opportunity for the students to see what they will be learning within this lesson. After the review the group decided to use an interactive song that sang the 13 colonies for the students. I noticed with this group they love to sing songs and it is easier for them to remember the material that way. The song that this group implemented within the lesson was an excellent idea. Every student was actively paying attention and singing the lyrics by the end. It is important to keep in mind that everyone has different learning styles. Having them singing this song allowed them to have a different approach to teaching. The transition from the introduction to the development was smooth and precise. Each student was supplied with a worksheet which had fill in the blanks and a timeline on the side. The timeline was a good idea, but they did not give the students enough space to write down the important event. Also providing them a visual either on the White Board or Smart Board would have helped them out significantly. Group 3 did use a Poster board for their timeline, but wasted too much time filling it out. Using this timeline was a great idea for the students to follow along in sequential order. It was noticeable that each teacher candidate in this group was knowledgeable of the content they had to teach. When teachers are knowledgeable of the content it allows students to open up to learning as well by asking questions. I noticed that this group was asked the most questions and the answers were precise and quick from each teacher candidate. Another aspect that I really enjoyed through this lesson was the storytelling. Keilani did an engaging storytelling with the students. As a student storytelling is an active listening portion, but I could tell all the students were engaged within this story and the enthusiasm that burst through Keilani's body language was noticed by not only the other teacher candidates, but by the students. The last aspect that I also really enjoyed through the development was the different signals. Having the students follow by different signals definitely kept them on their toes and helped them pay attention a little more. The last attribute that Group 3 used was a booklet for the guided practice. During this section, the students were given a booklet of questions that they had to answer based off of what they just learned through the direct lesson. It helped that the teacher candidates put the questions on the board because the students could follow along easier and helped them spell an complex vocabulary words. With the independent practice Group 3 asked the students to answer a few multiple choice questions based on what they learned and discovered. At this time everything seemed a little rushed, but they all still managed to answer their questions to their fullest capabilities.

Gaining Independence Through Inquiry and Cooperative 

A week after Group 3 presented two other portions of their lesson plan. It was now time for them to present their inquiry and cooperative lesson. As usual the group started off with review questions based off of the Direct lesson. This was a quick review for the students to get their "minds going" before their inquiry lesson. The problem for this lesson was shown through a Voki video and they used Steve from the first group which was good for the students to make previous connections. After the Voki was done the students were taught the process of the inquiry method. I think it is challenging for the students to learn and master the inquiry method because it is such a complex idea for them to understand, but this group did an excellent job explaining the steps. After discussing the methods, the group modeled how they were going to do the artifact bags. Melissa and Emily did a great job modeling how the students will be working together in groups. Modeling is an important process for the students to see because it helps them realize the roles that they have within their group. When Melissa and Emily were done modeling their artifact bags it was the students turn to complete this task. Watching the students look through the artifact bags made me realize that hands on activities really help the students learn. Each group was going through the inquiry method with the help of their classmates. The only suggestion I have for this section is to make sure that the teachers have little impact on helping the students. If the students are not doing the steps right let them think about the steps by themselves and have them make the discoveries on their own. Group 3 managed to hit all of the 5 E's within this lesson which then helped the student become experts on the material. The independent practice that they assigned the students was to write a letter to the first graders. This was an excellent idea, but the students did not have enough time to write their entire letter. My suggestion would be to assign this writing for homework or during any free time they might have throughout the day. This will help you save time and will everyone moving onto the cooperative lesson. During the cooperative lesson, the students were a little rowdy because they were excited for the next activity. The teacher candidates explained the directions for this section and had the students start working on the poster. Each group was assigned a few letters from the word "Independence." They were asked to write an acrostic poem for this specific word. Looking through the 5 PIGS this group did hit many of the aspects. One aspect that I observed was no clear roles during this section. In the inquiry section their were distinct roles, but not during this lesson. There was no individual accountability throughout this lesson, but the good thing is all the students seemed to work on the poster. Each group was asked to brainstorm ideas and eventually a teacher candidate wrote down all the words from each group on a big poster board. At the end of completing this poster board, Melissa read each letter going down. The only suggestion I have for that is to have each group read their own words that they made. Overall I think all three lessons went really well and I can't wait to see your group grow from this experience. I look forward to the last group presenting their topic. Until next time bloggers :)