Week 5 in E339 - Mini-Lessons

In class this week we did a unit of study on a subject and did a mini-lesson to go along with that unit.  I did my unit of study on ABC books with Sami.  I thought it was a great assignment and good to think through how we would do a mini-lesson to connect to a picture book in the classroom.  However, it was much different presenting a mini-lesson to a group of college students whose knowledge far surpassed that of a group of second graders. Their attention span also probably was a little longer than a group of little ones.  For my mini lesson I began by asking the class an array of questions that discussed what made up ABC books and ideas for their own ABC books.  I then gave students a chance to look at different examples of ABC books and read an ABC book to them aloud.  Then, I was going to have my students create their own ABC book using an adjective that begins with each letter of the alphabet.   And with those adjectives, they would create sentences that gave examples of how to use those adjectives.  Finally, they would create a final draft of their ABC book including the sentences they used and a picture to represent that adjective.  Overall, I really liked this assignment because we were able to create our own mini-lesson that was centered around a picture book.  There are a lot of lessons that can be created from a simple picture book, especially older children, which we often think picture books are too old for.  Since we have been reading about min-lessons the past couple of weeks, it was good to get our own experience in creating our own!

Take 2 at University School

Today was our second day at University Elementary School! I actually think that it was a lot more successful and productive than last week.   Now that we knew what we were doing this time, it was easier to focus on what the kids where actually doing and observe them.  I started off in gym class and that was very interesting because I have not seen an elementary gym class in a long time! Watching the kids get competitive playing football and speedball was a real treat. Then we transitioned inside to work on writers’ workshop.  It was great to listen to the children read and show off their comprehension skills.  I was actually very surprised at most of the student’s abilities that I worked with.  There was only a few times where I had to correct them or give them a little push.  Overall, it was a very successful day and I think I’m really going to learn a lot over the next couple of weeks. 

First day at University Elementary School

Overall, I would say that today went very smoothly.  The hardest part of the day was getting up at 6:45. I haven't gotten up that early for a very long time. However, I'm sure it will get easier as the weeks go on.  Upon arriving at University Elementary I knew it was going to be a very positive experience.  It’s a very high achieving school with very dedicated teachers.  Right away I couldn’t wait to get in the classroom and have some one on one work time with students.  Since I was in a 5th grade classroom for my previous field experience I was a little disappointed to be placed in 4th grade this semester just because I wanted to get a little variety.  However, as I entered the classroom all that disappointment quickly went away, and I became extremely excited to work with my 4th grade class.  The teacher I am placed with seems to be a wonderful teacher and I honestly think I will gain a ton of knowledge from her.  She already had so much great advice to give.  I look forward to the weeks to come and to really gain some great experience.

Our second class

During our second E339 meeting, we really got a lot done.  I really feel like I'm starting to get the hang of all my classes and it is getting much easier. My favorite part of the day was decorating our writers notebooks.  Even though I couldn't really find a lot of things that really represented me in the magazines, I did manage to find some things! I also found it extremely interesting to see what other people put on their writers notebooks to help learn more about them.  I also thought that the spelling articles were very interesting because I personally have always had problems with spelling.  It was very helpful to read more about ideas for spelling because that is something I really want to help my students with. The video we watched where the lady was sounding out all the words was very annoying but it really did present a good point.   Sounding out words and breaking them down really does work for a lot of people.

My First Blog

      After my first week of classes, I was a bit overwhelmed and confused with everything that had to be done, especially with E339.  Also, having 2 hour and 45 minute classes are really hard for me to sit through because I just get distracted and fidgety.  However, I think I am actually getting most of my classes smoothed out and on track finally. After looking over the syllabus for this class, I am really excited about a lot of the things we will be doing.  I think the writer's notebook will be something that will be really good for me and something I will be able to keep and continue writing in.

       The idea of a blog also definitely intrigued me. This is my first experience using a blog in a class, and I am actually kind of excited about it.  Since I am on the computer so much anyways working on papers, checking email, and using oncourse, it really works out nicely to have a blog. I had some experience with a blog in my W200 class.  We worked together in groups on our blogs, however my teacher didn't speak much English and I had trouble following what she was saying about it. I really think it will be nice to have my own blog to keep track of my progress. I look forward to making advancements in my writing and my reading to become a more effective teacher.