In this small group activity I worked with four students who struggle with decoding words. I created a visual of a bee and the sea for students to decode and sort words that have the long e sound spelled with ee and ea. Students took a moment to decode the word and think about where the word would go and one student would be given the chance to put it into the correct category. This activity was specifically for my students who struggle with decoding words and understanding combinations of phonemes to create a sound. We focused in on the skill for that week by creating visuals and working with words that would correspond with the pictures. I added this artifact because it shows that I approached a group of students with a style of learning that appeals to them visually and adapted my lesson for this small group activity which shows my understanding of Principle 3 (Diverse Learners).
The "e" in Bee Word Sort
In this measurement activity students used their prior knowledge of measuring with unconventional objects to take the measurement of different sized animals using materials such as geometric blocks, cubes, bears, pom-poms, cars, and buttons. Students had to use the same size of the object they chose to measure with and used a recording sheet to write how many objects long their animal was. They then compared their measurement to the measurements of their shoulder partner to see the difference in how many units it took depending on the object they used. This lesson was highly engaging for students because they enjoyed using items to measure with that were colorful, silly, and different than what they had been using which were paperclips and cubes. They were motivated to complete their entire checklist of animals with different measuring materials and became full of wonder when their shoulder partners had a different number of measuring units than they did. I chose this lesson because It was filled with great motivation, social interaction, and engagement for every student and exemplified Principle 6 (Learning Environments) with these qualities. It also addresses Principle 8 (assessments) with the exit ticket I used at the end of the lesson.
Measurement
This lesson revolved around President Lincoln and President Washington. I had talked with the class about why we celebrated President's Day, read a book about the holiday and the men we honor. The part of the lesson students really were involved in was the SMARTboard incorporation. There were informational slides about President Lincoln and Washington, a sorting game for students to do in collaborative groups on their own, and a class sort that we did altogether on the SMARTboard. Students had the chance to come up and move the correct informational item to President Lincoln and President Washington. Students really enjoyed working together to figure out which items belonged to who and coming back as a class to use the SMARTboard to finish the sorting of the Presidents as a whole group. This lesson ties in perfectly with Principle 7 (Communication) because I used technology as a whole group to further the learning and engagement for students in this activity.
The Best Pet is...
For this activity I used Curriculum Engine to plan out the lesson with the standard for first grade students to be able to give an opinion within their writing. The story the students were reading that week was A Bed Full of Cats and I read several other books about having a pet. On Thursday we discussed what pet they thought would be best, a dog, a cat, or a fish. Students discussed within their groups and then the whole class why they thought one pet was the best. Students then got the chance to write their reason into a complete sentence on a post-it note and add it to the class chart. The next day we came back to the sentences they wrote and students used a starter sentence to give three reasons why their pet was best. By using curriculum engine I was able to add the standard to my lesson that I was addressing and was able to look back and unwrap the standard to make sure each student met the expectations which shows my understanding of Principle 4.
Mad About Learning!
Principle 3 (Diverse Learners): The COE graduate knows and understands how individuals differ in their approaches to learning and creates opportunities that are equitable and adaptable to the needs of diverse learners. They demonstrate dispositions that reflect a caring nature toward their clients.
Principle 6 (Learning Environments): The COE graduate knows and understands individual and group motivation and behavior and creates a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation. They create enriched learning environments.
Principle 7 (Communication): The COE graduate knows and understands effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques and other forms of symbolic representation and can foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supporting interactions. They use technology to facilitate student learning.
Principle 4 (Planning Processes): The COE graduate understands planning processes based upon knowledge of content, learners characteristics, the community, and curriculum goals and standards. They are active participants in the local k-12 education system.
I incorporated learning about insects with an author study I was doing with my class about Eric Carle. We looked at all of his books about insects and added to the knowledge about them by reading other informational text. One of the activities that my class had the opportunity to do as a formative assessment was to create their own Eric Carle inspired insect that labeled the parts we had been learning about. Students were able to create an Eric Carle art project as well as show me visually if they understood the parts of an insect. I walked around and watched students put their insects together and they would tell me why they were putting it together a certain way. For students who had a part of the insect confused once the lesson was over I went back and did a mini-lesson the next day with them to further reinforce the information. I chose this lesson to be apart of my e-portfolio because it was a great hands on activity that was engaging to the students and also gave me an informal way to assess their knowledge about creating a picture with words to label for observable characteristics of an insect. Principle 8 (assessments)
Principle 8 (Assessments): The COE graduate understands and promotes formal and informal assessment strategies and evaluates the learner's continuous intellectual, social, and physical development. They develop fair assessments of student achievement.
Insects
President's Day
I have included my most used Lemov strategies that i have found most useful in the classroom. All of the strategies are ones that I have used repeatedly throughout my internship and that I feel as though will be the most helpful going forward in my teaching profession. The use of Lemov strategies also shows my understanding of Principle 5 (Strategies and Methods). I actively use these to make lessons less disruptive so students can think and work without being disturbed (seat signals), to show that they have understanding (exit ticket), and move from one activity to another quickly to not lose instructional time (tight transitions) as well as many others.
Principle 5 (Strategies and Methods): The COE graduate knows and understands and can employ a variety of strategies and methods and encourages the development of critical thinking, problem solving, decision-making, and performance skills. They create lessons that promote student achievement.
Top 10 Lemov Strategies