// ADAPTING to ELA \\

My experience within my internship has allowed me to fully take over the classroom. Even though I’ve taken over, I’ve only had formal observations in math and science. Because I want to get as much feedback as possible within every aspect of my teaching ability, I chose to have my last formal observation in English Language Arts (ELA). Since the school that I’m at is an ERT school, due to the letter grade they received last year, the lessons that we teach within the classroom has to come straight from–or pretty close to–the curriculum guide given by the district. This ELA lesson was structured by the book “Red Eyes or Blue Feathers” by Patricia Stockland. This was an informational text in which was being used to reach the goal of identifying the main idea and key terms within the text by using support from the text. The text that was chosen was all about color adaptions that animals do to survive.

During my lesson there were some positives that I could take away, but I do feel as though there could have been a lot of improvements in how the information was presented and taught. Some of the things that I thought went well was the beginning portion when defining the vocabulary. From my perspective, I thought some of the terms were a little challenging for kindergarteners so I had to reword and use guiding questions to support their thinking. According to the standard for this lesson, using support and prompting questions is in line with the student outcome. For example, when defining prey I had to reword a lot to get that they are what predators hunt. Another thing I thought went well was the assessment choices I had given the students. When setting up the choices I initially thought no body would actually chose the acting out form of assessment because it was a new concept introduced to them. However, to my surprise one of my students did choose this option and preformed it flawlessly. She gave what animal she chose (red-eyed tree frog) and she then acted out the adaption while explaining her actions. To me, this showed that although I may have a preconception about my students, they know their ability and what they are good at. Even though introducing something may be challenging at first, giving students options to show their mastery is always worth it.

With every lesson, after reflection, there can always be improvements. In this lesson, I had planned on starting the lesson with a video to engage the students. The video was going to show the students how a chameleon adapts by changing color. However, unfortunately technology got the best of this aspect of my lesson because after ensuring the video worked in the morning, when I turned it on for my lesson, it was blocked. I was a little disappointed about this because I really wanted to show the students how an animal adapts in real life since adaptations is a challenging concept to understand without some sort of visual. While teaching the lesson, I saw how hard it really is to conceptualize because it’s not really a concrete topic, it’s more abstract. According to Piaget (1936), students aren’t in the developmental level to start understanding abstract material until the end of the concrete operational stage (age 7-11).

The teaching method I used in this lesson could have been better in my opinion. As I said I had to follow the curriculum guide, and I’ve noticed many times that their teaching methods are a bit dry. I did incorporate some movement opportunities in the lesson so they weren’t sitting on the carpet the whole time. When playing (or tying to play) the video the students were in their seats. Then the read-aloud took place on the carpet, and when completing their assessment they went back to their seats. This was a connection to my inquiry that I’ve been studying this year about movement transitions and their engagement. The read-aloud that I used had colorful images that kept the students entertained and intrigued. The questions that I asked throughout the book also kept the students involved and actively participating.

A student that I noticed had difficulty during the lesson was one that always likes to raise her hand when I ask questions even when she doesn’t have an answer or know the question for that matter. When I call on her and she doesn’t know the question then she takes a long time answering because she has to think about it. Thus getting the rest of the students distracted and loosing focus because of the extended wait time. The only thing I could do to solve this would be to just reword or repeat the question for her and after 10 seconds of time, tell her I would come back to her.

My next steps after this lesson would be to use a new book and focus on the same standard to see if students could take what they learned and apply it to a new book and topic. This would show me if they have mastered the concept of identifying the main idea and key ideas. I would also plan to explicitly explain to the students how to take information from the text and relate it to supporting their answers. This gives them the foundation of being able to cite text, in which they will need to know as they get older.

To explain the assessment specifically, this is where my differentiation for my variety of learners came into play. This includes students who display their knowledge better by writing, or drawing, or acting out. For ELL students who needed support with language they could have drawn a picture or acted out one of the animal adaptions. After the students were supported with their assessment choice, we all shared what we said so that we could view how each of us learned. The differentiation for the assessment gave the students 3 choices, they could either write two sentences about one of the animals and how it adapts, draw a picture and label an animal adapting to its surrounds, or write what down what animal and its adaption they were going to act out for the class. I will definitely be incorporating these options in my future classroom, because all of the students were then able to feel confident about how they displayed their knowledge.

Inquiry Blog Post 5

Since the last post, there has been two weeks that have transpired. These two weeks have been the beginning of using my new reworked inquiry wondering of: how does movement transitions impact time usage and student engagement in the lessons that follow? From the last post, I was wanting to try different variations within the transitions that occur in my classroom. Within this my first action was to see how using no movement in the transition impacted the engagement of the students verses using movement. Seeing the difference between how no movement influences the students engagement would allow me to compare the data to how their engagement was when using movement. I did this though making observational notes to see how students react. In addition to the notes, I added to my time-engagement chart which would allow me to see the pattern of the time usage in combination with the engagement ratio.  Additionally, I was curious if there was any influence in the way the students reacted during the transitions when different types of activities were used in the lesson. Implementing different activities after the movement transition gave me the ability to observe the influence that it could be having on my data. Observing if there is any difference would allow me to see if the engagement and time usage is truly from the transition.

The implementation of the different after transition activities showed me that although the students were a little more talkative with the activity that wasn’t as hands-on and “exciting”. One of the lessons I had made observational notes in was during a hands-on shape sort. In this lesson, the students were sorting food that was shaped as different 3-D shapes. When the students came in from being outside and were going to the carpet to wait for instruction, they noticed the food on the table and were a little distracted from that. However, once getting to the carpet they perked up and were awaiting me instruction quietly. After my review of 3-D shapes we had been learning about we began the next transition. The transition from the carpet to the tables was quick and quiet. The students were ready to begin the lesson within 1 minute. They were engaged and focused on me to give the next instruction. There weren’t any students that slowed down the transition or didn’t follow directions. I was thinking that this was due to the food activity that they would be doing. However, the following days’ math lessons proved me wrong. The next set of observational notes was on the following day, in which the students were doing a far less exciting math lesson. This lesson was using coloring paired with the math concept of 3-D shapes. On this day, I didn’t have much of a voice so I was a little concerned my expectations wouldn’t be as clear, thus leaving the students in a hectic state of mind when transitioning. When the students came in from being outside, they went straight to the carpet. Unlike the prior day, the students weren’t distracted by anything on their tables when coming into the room. Even though they weren’t as attentive as yesterday and I had to ask two students to clip down this was before I was able to give instruction for the math lesson. Once I had given instruction to get out four of their favorite colors then give me a thumbs up and sent the students on to transitioning to their tables, the total time of the transition took about 2 minutes. This 2 minute time did include a reminder that it doesn’t involve talking. After looking at the two sets of observation notes, I did see a difference in the engagement and time, however, the time difference and the engagement seems like such a minute difference that I don’t think the type of activity after the transition makes that big of a difference in the impact of the engagement and time usage. Knowing this I can focus more on just the transition rather than what the students would be doing after the transition. I won’t be worried about the data I will be collecting on the students engagement and time usage when doing movement transitions being skewed because of this variable. It seems as though the data that I will be collecting is solely due to the transition, which is beneficial for when I go to make claims in my inquiry.

Another set of data that I collected was observation notes of when I used no movement to transition from one activity to the next. This difference was in between lunch and science. During this time we normally transition and move to the carpet to read a book (if time permits) then line up for lunch. In this particular day I still was lacking a voice and decided to just have the students clean their science materials up and return to their seats. Since there was still time, I played a myon book instead of reading one on the carpet. After the book, the students remained in their seats and the lunch helper called the names to line up for lunch. The students were loud and not engaged to the point where my CT had to yell and remind the students the expectations. Normally when we’re on the carpet, the students may move around, but they listen and don’t normally need vocal repercussion. This set of data I think was shows a key factor into understanding my wondering. The difference in the students behavior and their ability to be engaged enough to listen to the lunch helper call names shows that the movement within the transition does impact the students. In this case, the students were antsy to move and get their energy out in one way, which turned to a room full of talkative students disregarding the expectations. This learning was important in my inquiry because it gives me the ability to establish a claim through the collection of more data focusing on this.

The next actions that I will be taking over the next couple of weeks that remain in my internship include collecting more data focusing on the no movement concept that I observed this week. Also I would like to start implementing different “switching activities” that I learned about while researching my wondering topic (Sainato, 1990, p. 290). This strategy consists of requiring the students to complete a task of some sort as a preparation for the next lesson or activity. For example, having the students go to the carpet in between lessons would be considered a switching activity. However, instead of the carpet switching activity, I will be using something inc combination or instead of. After conducting my research, this was one of the actions I was excited to implement because I think I some good claims could derive from them. From the data I have collected, I still wonder what the students will think about the different “switching activities” and using no movement when transitioning. I think this may be the last action that I plan to end with for my inquiry.

References:

Sainato, D. M. (1990). Classroom transitions: Organizing environments to promote independent performance in preschool children with disabilities. Education and Treatment of Children, 13(4), 288-297.

// Finding Shapes in Food \\

While planning this lesson on 3-D shapes, I was excited because I knew I wanted to use a strategy that would engage my students. They had been writing and working in their math books the entire week while learning about 3-D shapes. Instead of using the book, I wanted the kids to use their hands. Especially since their final assessment was coming up and they needed the practice. The strategy I used was using food. This would keep the kids engaged because I used the food as an incentive. If they did their work they would get to eat the food. Additionally, I knew from looking at what would be on their final assessment that they would need to know specific attributes and names of 3-D shapes. This gave me the idea of using a sorting activity with the food.

The day of my lesson, I had planned on starting quickly after coming in from outside time. However, just as in anything, unexpected things can happen. The fire alarm went off just as we were lining up to go inside. Luckily, my CT has set up a pretty structured management system that made this unexpectency go smoothly. When the students came back in, they followed the routine they normally do when coming in from outside. I gave brief time to get water, then began, leaving limited time to get distracted. I started with a brief review so that it would engage the students and start their minds off the right way. Since these students need explicit instruction, I used the rest of the engaging time to tell them the instructions of the activity. This allowed me to express my expectations for the lesson and their behavior.

If I had to teach this lesson again there are a couple of things I would do differently. When doing the shape sort, I would have the students write down or sketch within their Venn diagram. This would allow me to remember their learning and understanding of 3-D shapes as I look back over them. Additionally, this keeps them accountable in the assessment. I would also like to incorporate some moving opportunity into the lesson. I think movement is important in student learning, especially for the younger students. It keeps their minds engaged and active. I’m just not sure how I would use movement in it, this is where I would have to brainstorm. Another thing I’d like to look into doing differently is the type of assessment I did. I’d like to give every student the opportunity to find success, so showing mastery only through writing doesn’t give this opportunity. One assessment I could use is acting out. With acting out through a skit, I’m not sure how they would do this besides a student becoming a “shape character” that explains the attributes of that shape.

Something that surprised me was how well behaved and engaged the students were. They followed directions entirely and I didn’t have to get onto them once. I had expected I had to redirect students at some point to not eat the food. However, with that initial set of expectations that I set in the beginning and the desire to eat all their snacks must have kept their motivation. Towards the beginning of this semester, I had set the goal of becoming better at explaining my directions and expectations because the students within my class had a difficult time with that when I first started. From this lesson, I can see the growth that I have made with my expectation explanation ability. Another thing that surprised me in this lesson was the students who did well. I had a wide variety of students who did really well in this lesson and I really think that’s tied to my differentiation that I used. One of my students who is below level normally gives up pretty early in on a lesson because the content is to fast paced for him. However the sorting worksheet that I made was at the readiness level appropriate for him. This allowed him to follow along and still learn at the same time as the rest of the class. He stayed on task the whole time, even to the end when they were working independently. I also think that working with his hands was another factor that kept his engagement. He is one of those students who needs to have something in front of him to learn. Working in a work book just doesn’t work for him, and that’s okay. It then just becomes the teacher’s job to accommodate for their learning needs. On the opposite end, one of my students who is above level normally gets so bored with a lesson because he knows the content and it doesn’t challenge him. The differentiation that I did on his sorting worksheet required him to follow along and listen to the lesson because he had to fill in things as we went. He wouldn’t be just a present body in the room, he had a task that kept him accountable and engaged throughout. From the amount of student success that I had with this lesson, I would definitely use my differentiated sorting worksheets again.

The connections that I can make to my course work is in my teaching math course. In this course we learned the multiple ways that math content could be taught. They gave examples and explanations as to why math should be taught through more than a work book. They articulated how fully understanding a math concept can be seen when a student is given a problem and is able to apply their learning in another way (Van de Walle, Karp, & Bay-Williams, 2013). For example, since the students had been using their math work book the previous week, they were able to use what they learned in that and apply it to the food shape sort. Anther connection that I made was within my planning instruction class. In our textbook they explained how important the concept of “one size doesn’t fit all” was within education. This quote was the starting point of explaining why differentiation is so essential in the classroom and the difference that it can make. After this lesson and a few other lessons I have taught where I have really differentiated, I completely understand the significance. As I’ve gone through this education program, I have heard the word differentiation so many times, but the impact that it actually has on students justifies the prevalence of the word.

My next steps after this lesson is to give the students their summative final assessment to view their learning and ensure understanding. From the assessment that I used in this lesson, I see that the majority of the students were able to master the concepts that were focused on. The summative assessment is in a much easier format because it is all multiple choice. Knowing that I am confident my students are prepared for the final assessment. After giving the summative assessment, I will then truly be able to see what students got it and what students didn’t. If there are students that might have missed a concept on the summative, I can always pull a small group while my CT is teaching to re-teach and re-establish the material.

The ELL accommodations that I made in this lesson were how I structured my teaching and visual cues. The structure of my lesson was done in the “I Do, We Do, You Do” fashion. I modeled what the students would be doing first, then I did a sort with them as a class, then after I felt the students were competent and understanding the material, I allowed them to work independently. The visual cues were apart of my differentiation on my sorting worksheets. For students who may need more support with the names of the 3-D shapes, I included images of that shape next to the word. This allowed them to match that image with the word and then with the food item.

After completing this lesson I learned that students do well with hands on activities where there are incentives involved. I have used hands on activities before with counters and cubes, however, this lesson went a lot more smoothly than prior ones. I know that when students are engaged and actively learning there are less behavior problems, so knowing how food creates that engagement will guide me as I plan other reviews with students. Review is a significant lesson for any grade because it gives students the ability to apply their knowledge they have been learning about before the test. This lesson has shown me how using food can benefit the students learning within a review.

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Reference:

Van de Walle J.A., Karp, K., & Bay-Williams, J. M. (2013). Elementary and middle school mathematics: Teaching developmentally (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.