This morning, I taught a Language lesson based on what we did in Art class last week. They students made a garbage bag penguin in groups, so today I asked them to write a procedural piece on how they made the penguin. Before we began, I read them a book called “The Life of a Water Bottle”, written by my colleague, another student teacher’s Grade 6 class in Cedarwood Public School. They were impressed that 30 people worked together to create the big picture book. So I told them that each group was responsible for one of the pages, just like how our class has worked on the penguins in groups, dividing up the work within the groups. I believe that it is very important to give students positive feedbacks and encouragement when they did something good, because they need to know it. They are beginning learners who are experimenting and testing out limits all the time, and we as teachers must work together with them to ensure their learning.
Most students did really well in their writing, and I am very impressed. They seemed to enjoy it a lot and they showed me that they really did learn something!
In the afternoon, I did a Math lesson with the class. I divided them into two groups, one group wearing blue hats and the other wearing yellow hats. I made the hats before class, with a number from one to ten written on each hat. One problem that arose was that the students kept pulling on their hats, which were made out of construction papers, so some of them broke before the game started. Ms. Carson had to help them tape the hats so that I could move on.
I explained to the students that I was going to call out a number, and they had to work as a group to decide which numbers would add up to the number that I wanted. For example, if I called out 6, the students with the number 3 and 2 would stand at the middle of the carpet. The group who was faster and got the correct answer would get a point. Some issues arose when they were too excited in the game. One student was making fun of the other group because they had less points. To solve the problem, Ms. Carson helped me out and suggested that the group who yells would get a point deducted.
When I began to call out bigger numbers, I thought that they would try to get more people to stand in the middle, but they didn’t. So I would say something like, “I want 3 people to make the number 15.” Then they would start thinking how to make a sum with three numbers. Overall, the game went well, and I am pleased with how well they did!
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Mar.19, 07
Today, I read the story "Little Whistle's Dinner Party" to the students. I noticed that no matter how much they like to talk to each other during lessons, they are always attentive during read-alouds. They want to listen to the story, participate on predicting what might happen next, and they love to know what's on the next page. Therefore, it is important to engage them with quality learning. It is also a good way to hear them think aloud.
After reading the story, I told the students that they will be writing creative stories about their own toys. They can make up anything they want. They loved that! We brainstormed the potential ideas to place in the 5 Ws. However, they didn't have time to start their writing right away, because they had to go to gym. After they came back from gym, one student said to me, "It's too bad that we didn't get to write the story." I was surprised that she made this comment, and I also felt happy that she was interested and engaged.
After recess, they were off to write on their own. I was surprised by a few of the students who tend to trouble writing. Some of them wrote really creative stories! As teachers, we should try different topics to see what our students are interested in. In this case, I wouldn't know their creative talents if I didn't assign this writing assignment. A few students were confused and wrote a retell of the story. Although they were on the wrong track, their ability to retell the story showed me that they have improved in that area. Their writing was clear, and the pieces would have been fabulous retelling pieces.
Before lunch recess, I was walking to the office to photocopy something when I saw an elderly Chinese man standing at the stair case. I saw him about 2 weeks ago, and I've asked him in Chinese if he needed any help, but I found out that he was just waiting for his grand child to come down to get the lunch. Today when I saw him again, he waved at me. I felt really warm from the inside.
After lunch, I taught the students an Art lesson on recycling. I brought in garbage bags, newspapers, and scrap papers to show them how to make a "garbage bag penguin". They worked in groups, and I could tell that they were having a lot of fun! Group work is sometimes hard because they would start arguments and there would be problems in sharing, but I believe that if the work is fun, then they would be able to handle it.
After reading the story, I told the students that they will be writing creative stories about their own toys. They can make up anything they want. They loved that! We brainstormed the potential ideas to place in the 5 Ws. However, they didn't have time to start their writing right away, because they had to go to gym. After they came back from gym, one student said to me, "It's too bad that we didn't get to write the story." I was surprised that she made this comment, and I also felt happy that she was interested and engaged.
After recess, they were off to write on their own. I was surprised by a few of the students who tend to trouble writing. Some of them wrote really creative stories! As teachers, we should try different topics to see what our students are interested in. In this case, I wouldn't know their creative talents if I didn't assign this writing assignment. A few students were confused and wrote a retell of the story. Although they were on the wrong track, their ability to retell the story showed me that they have improved in that area. Their writing was clear, and the pieces would have been fabulous retelling pieces.
Before lunch recess, I was walking to the office to photocopy something when I saw an elderly Chinese man standing at the stair case. I saw him about 2 weeks ago, and I've asked him in Chinese if he needed any help, but I found out that he was just waiting for his grand child to come down to get the lunch. Today when I saw him again, he waved at me. I felt really warm from the inside.
After lunch, I taught the students an Art lesson on recycling. I brought in garbage bags, newspapers, and scrap papers to show them how to make a "garbage bag penguin". They worked in groups, and I could tell that they were having a lot of fun! Group work is sometimes hard because they would start arguments and there would be problems in sharing, but I believe that if the work is fun, then they would be able to handle it.
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