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missemilymeddock-blog · 7 years

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Week 5

Wednesday:

Paul Bunyan Lesson during reading time. This was my first time teaching my own lesson. I am starting to work on my action research project and my co-teacher Natalie let me integrate a social studies unit into reading time. This week our students are learning the short o sound. They read the book The Big Blue Ox. This allowed me to build on that knowledge of fact or fake. We watched Disney’s Paul Bunyan video so they could learn about the folk tale. Afterwards we discussed what could really happen and what was fake. Can we make mountains by playing? No. Could we move a river with an ox? No. Can a person be bigger than the school? No. Can an ox be blue? No, yes. This open discussion lead to the conversation about the blue ox, which got them thinking critically. They talked to each other and found some ways to create a blue ox; food coloring, paint, markers, hair dye. I was very pleased with this overall discussion. Paul Bunyan is supposed to be huge, but in the video and the research I have conducted, he is only 6 ft 3”, which is not overly tall. I decided to show them how tall that is using yard sticks. I had a student help me hold them together and as a class we decided that is not tall like they showed in the video. They did a fill in the blank worksheet with me as a whole class. It told the story of Paul Bunyan and using the knowledge they learned from the video they were able to complete it with me. Natalie helped me put in on the smartboard so they could see me writing also.

TBT meeting during special 10:05-10:50 This is a meeting that happens every few weeks to allow teachers and administrators to talk and see if they need to change anything in the curriculum. I learned that most of the teachers feel rushed and overwhelmed. It was nice to know that I’m not the only one that feels that way at times. They will use Google drive for this and I am able to view the file myself. I really like that they are making me feel so welcome and equal with the other teachers.

All first grade, Mr. Harr, and Mrs. Conley.

Thursday:

My field supervisor came to observe 8:30- 9:00 Oh my goodness, was I nervous. This is an awkward time in the classroom with breakfast, announcements, AR reading tests, and trying to start the day off. She was not able to see how involved I typically am in the classroom during lessons. My students reviewed high frequency words, and did the phonics dance. Then read from our pocket chart, It Is Hot. At this time for the lesson it was mostly one teach one observe. My students behaved well and asked me about 100 times why my teacher was there. I had to explain that I too, am a student. I also told them that they help me learn too, this was really exciting to them.

Reading centers 9;00-10:05 Centers computer, big blue ox setting page, sight words, word search. Natalie sat at the reading table to read individually with students. This is something I will begin to do soon when the students know center process. Right now I walk around from table to table to students who need my help.

Writing 11:00-11:50 They wrote in their journals. As a whole group we talked about grow and glow. Grow is when they still have to work and improve in writing. Glow is the good things they do like punctions and capitals in sentences.

Inside recess. Wow, was that a mess. This is a crazy time in the room. Students get out toys and play all around the room. A lot of students like to play teacher, that was adorable. We had talked about spiders in a brief conversation this morning, and I happened to have a remote control spider in my car. They played with that during recess sharing their knowledge of spiders.

Math quiz after recess. They had a few minutes to complete a paper with plus ones. Natalie told me they love the timed tests, which is something we both hated in school. This reminded me that each class is different and just because I didn’t like it does not mean they will too. After that they were so wild we could not try to start another math lesson. We both saw this as a good time for me to teach my science lessons.

Science lessons 1:30-2:20 Diaper & Water lesson.

This freed up Natalie to finish up the AR tests from the morning. I want to start integrating science and social studies into our curriculum but also need to know where my students are starting at. Mrs. Koch taught an awesome lesson in math/ science class so I brought that into my own class. I had two diapers, 3 solo cups, two water bottles. In the morning they asked why I had diapers. My response every time was, “Idk, why do you think I have diapers?” I wanted to get them thinking about it. Questioning what we could do with diapers. By the end of the day I had a lot of interesting answers. I started off asking how many bottles (I didn’t have a measuring cup) could the diaper hold. I had guesses from 0-10 bottles. I wrote every child’s guess down. I talked to them about a hypothesis and explained that it was an educated guess. Meaning, we thought about it, questioned it, and this is what I think. I really liked saying the word hypothesis. I asked now that we have made a hypothesis, what should we do? Who is correct? Many of them answered “Test it.” So we did. I asked for two volunteers to hold the diaper. Student AD & Student AM. They held it up over the trashcan as I slowly poured water in it. The students could see the changes and how big the diaper was getting to be. After one bottle, I asked if I should pour in the second. Of course it was a yes. We discovered that one diaper can hold 1 whole bottle and ¾ of the second. Student AD guessed 1 bottle and 6 ½ of the second. I then realized that my first graders were somewhat understanding the concepts of fractions. I was amazed by this and cannot wait to explore this concept in future lessons. They were so excited to see the diaper, feel the squishy part inside. One student JF asked if we could see the inside of the diaper so we ripped it open and felt the gel texture inside. My students really seemed to enjoy the hands on aspect of the lesson, this is something we both have in common. Hands on, minds on. By allowing them to ask questions, do an experiment, take chances, and feel it, they are learning to think critically.

Cheeto bee pollen lesson and game.

Student LS asked on Wednesday about bees while outside at recess. He wanted to learn about them and what they do. So I thought of the pollen lesson with cheetos. We first discussed what we know about bees. They sting, they fly, buzz, and they give us food. I talked a little bit about how they go from plant to plant. Student AD said they give us honey. Another student AS said they get the nectar from the flowers. I put a bag of cheetos in a bowl and said I was a flower. Here is my pollen (pointing to the bowl) and I want to grow flowers in three other spots. I placed white paper on three tables in the room. Divided the students into three bee teams and sent them to the spot with white paper. Student LS wanted to hold the bowl so he was the main flower. They had to fly to the cheeto bowl grab some and transfer the pollen (cheeto dust) onto the white paper so the main flower could grow there. This continued for a few minutes and then we compared who had the most pollen on their paper. They really seemed to enjoy moving around the room, working with one another on their team, and of course the snack.

At the end of the day they packed up their stuff and sat on the carpet. I thanked them for their good behavior while my teacher was in the room and the continued good behavior during both science lessons. I gave them a mini chocolate bar to reward them.

Every week gets better and better. I really appreciate Natalie working with me and incorporating my lessons into her schedule.

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