We started out our lesson with a discussion of teamwork. I gave examples of times that I had been involved in teamwork. After giving them examples and wait time, the the students were able to give me some examples of their own from times when they participated in teamwork. Next we read a nonfiction book about teamwork. The students were able to empathize with the people/animals in the book and they were able to tell me, without any prompting that the teammates felt proud of each other.
When we were sounding and spelling out our spelling words, I continually had to remind students to look up at the Promethean Board so they knew what sounds to say and how to spell the word. Since this was only our first day with the words, the students did not yet know how to spell them. They were having a hard time looking at the Board. I had to remind them and remind them and then I had to tell students that they all needed to be participating. So, going over our spelling words took a long time this first day.
I learned that my students need a lot of practice when something new is introduced. In my lesson, I introduced final blends. In the beginning, the students had a hard time separating the sounds in the final blends. Instead of saying /n/ /t/ they would say /nt/. But we practiced and practiced. I started out by modeling for them, then I did it with them and eventually they were able to say the sounds separately. I also learned that the students learned our sight words for the week easily. Once we went over them and we said them each a couple times, I was able to randomly point the the words and the students were able to say the words out loud.
For those students who need more practice, I will bring them to the big table during center time and work in a small group setting with them. We are always taking groups to that table during centers for reading groups, so it won't be out of the ordinary and it won't be a distraction. This will just give those students more practice and I will be able to help them individually with what they are struggling with.
One thing that was a bit of a problem throughout my lesson, was that the same students kept raising their hands to answer. When I realized that this kept happening, I gave the students more wait time and then I used the popsicle sticks to call on students. Because I had to follow the Basal, my lesson was mostly teacher dictated. If I could do this lesson or any of the literacy lessons over again, I would like to try to get the students involved more. I did when I could, such as having them say sounds with me and having them come up to write on the Promethean Board, but it would be nice to be able to get the students up and moving throughout the bulk of the lesson. I think this would improve the lesson and the students' learning because they would be able to get some energy out and they would probably be able to pay attention better. I think the lesson would have gone quicker too, because we might not have had to spend as much time on each thing.
Overall, my students were able to grasp the information given to them and they were able to produce the sounds and letters so that I knew they understood the final blends. They were also able to read their sight words. And finally, in centers, the students were able to write me a story about teamwork. The students really grasped the information, even though I had to remind them to pay attention and keep their attention. The lesson went well overall!
I am so glad to hear that your lesson went well. I relate to a lot of things you mentioned about how you teach and how your students learn. I especially relate to what you said that it often takes a long time for students to get used to something newly introduced. I have had the same experience with my class.
ReplyDeleteI taught the math lesson which was focused on group work. My first graders were not used to group work yet (they are used to having small groups at stations, but not used to working together to get a project done).I always like the idea of group work and appreciate its significant impact for students' future life such as working with people. It took me a lot of time and effort to design, arrange the groups, and assign the jobs to each student. I taught the lesson on the day after Halloween and some students obviously didn't get enough sleep and many were "sugared up." I was glad that the lesson went all right overall. The kids did get a taste of what it is like working in a group. The fact that this class has been having a nice supportive community really helped the group members to get along and learn better. This experience taught me a good lesson of how to handle group work with this age students. It also left me with some questions. For example, how could I really build groups from the start of the school year when I have my classroom? Especially with the basal curriculum which hasn't shown much group work other than paired works? I wonder whether paired group work is enough for this age students at this time of the school year?
Just like you reflected on your lesson, I also thought that if I ought to do it again, I would make some changes. The project was about using their different body parts to measure the classroom. One thing that I will change is the group size. I had to arrange the groups to be 4 or 5 because there wasn't enough space for more groups because the tables couldn't be moved around. When I have my own classroom, I could do it differently. I could even arrange to take them to measure places such as the library or the playground. The other thing I need to change is clearer instructions. I need to practice that more and learn from others.
I hope you and I both have a great week of teaching and learning. Good luck.