End of Semester wrap up!

I learned so much in this semester’s field experience. I learned a lot from the teacher and a lot from the students and their interest as fourth graders. My teacher did a great job getting me involved with the classroom. During reading groups I worked with the mid leveled readers. It was great to see how their skills improved over the two months that I was there and as they got into more author studies it was nice to see them really get involved with the story. My teacher allowed me to grade a lot of the student’s work which allowed me to see just what the students were getting wrong on tests and how they were set up. In the beginning a lot of students did poorly on their unit tests, but my last day they took one and it was awesome to see the kids work so hard. Many of them came up to me and showed me how much they wrote on the open ended questions and were excited to tell me what they wrote about for the story question. Most of the kids used the entire time to take the test and check it over before turning it in. You could tell that when they turned it in they were confident and proud of the work they had done on it. I was not able to see what grades they got, but I am sure that most of them did very well on this exam! I think that a student being proud and confident in their work is half the battle for teachers. We all know that they can do it, but it’s getting them to take pride and really working their hardest. I think that this classroom of fourth graders is on the right track to accomplishing a lot of great things. I learned a lot about lesson planning and organizing the week from my teacher. You must be flexible and organized enough that you can change something in the schedule just like that because you never know if the students are going to need more time on something or if they become really interested in something and want to take more time on a subject. If you put in the right amount of time before or after school it will make your day go so much smoother. It does not have to be a ton of time, just a little to sit down and get things organized for the day. I really enjoyed this semester and my teacher and the class. On the last day I gave the kids a chapter book to read for Christmas and they were so excited about reading it. My hope is that they all take the time to read and discuss with their classmates what is going on in this book. I think that discussion can build more classroom connections and confidence in the classroom. I am looking forward to seeing how this class does in the semester after Christmas break! I will be sure to take a day and stop in to see them!

Artifacts activity

The artifacts activity was one of my favorites because it was something that I could think of that represents our great country. While thinking about the artifacts the first thing I thought up was the American Flag because it represents who we are as a nation. All states are represented as well as the 13 original colonies that formed our country. When I think of things across our country being left behind I think of our interstate system. There is nothing like it in this world and it has made our country what it is today. We can travel pretty much anywhere at a rapid speed on the ground. The interstate system opened our entire country up for business and tourism. If we were to suddenly be buried and discovered hundreds of years down the road I think our interstate system would be something that gives great insight into who we were as a nation.  I also brought in some old newspaper clippings because those tell stories of the events that shaped us as a nation. Many people save newspapers and if those were found hundreds of years from now they would tell the story of what was going on in a certain time period of our country.  Some of us brought in a Bible for this activity because that shows that we were a God fearing nation that has religious roots. Those religious beliefs helped build our nation strong and make it our democracy a light for the world to see and come to in times of need. I think the United States has played in important role in making the whole world a better place for everyone. This activity is a powerful one to get students to think about where they come from and what they believe we are as a Nation. Students have to think about what the United States means to them and to the rest of the world and this is a great activity to help get that process started. 

Salt dough projects

We made salt dough maps in class of any state that we wanted. I of course chose the great state of Wisconsin! Mine turned out really good! I had never made anything with salt dough so this was a new experience for me. I made the salt dough at home and it turned out really good! I really enjoyed this lesson with the states because it is a fun way for students to research the geography of a state as well as learning how to place those features on a map. These are simple projects that really do not create that big of a mess if the dough is made properly. The project can be done in the classroom at the student’s desk. The school that I did my field placement in used salt dough to create snakes that went with a character from a book they were reading. I liked that idea as well and it really shows that salt dough can be used for many different projects.  I liked all of the hands on projects we did in this class and they got me thinking of ways to incorporate them into my classroom one day. It is fun to be creative and I think students can be a big part in the process of choosing a project and how they want to do it. Students will enjoy doing craft projects and they can really open up new ways of teaching and learning for students. 

Shoe box activity

The shoebox activity is one that I would have not of thought of before this class! I really enjoyed this activity because it gets students thinking about what really is important to them. It also relates to history on many different levels. There have been so many events throughout the history of man that humans are forced to pack up what they can carry and leave. We have since discussed that many activities can be changed to pocket activities because many times people were not even able to carry anything at all and what they took was in their pockets.  If I were teaching a lesson on World War 2 I would ask students to do a shoebox activity. I would ask students to present their shoe box items to the class and then I would tell them that they must give all the items to me. Many times Jewish people were forced from their homes to ghettos but they were able to take some items from home. Once the Jews were transferred from the ghettos to concentration camps they were forced to leave all their goods and the Germans tore through everything and used what they wanted and discarded the rest. Taking the kids shoebox’s from them would represent how the Jewish people felt when the Germans took everything from them. I think this activity is very deep and it can get students to really think about the struggles they went through during World War 2. I like these hands on activities that really get students to relate to others struggles. It is important for them to feel, even if just a little bit, how millions of people have felt throughout the history or man. 

Trade Fair Activity

We did an activity this semester called a trade fair. We were asked to bring something in and we would set all items out for everyone to see and then we would trade whatever we brought for something else that we wanted. This activity got us to think about how people used to trade in the early days of our country. I made a pear pie to take to the share fair and I knew it would get the attention of other students in my class because of the smell and appeal of the pie. I made sure to bake it right before class so it still smelled warm. I knew that this would make others in my class want to trade something to get the pie so I had the opportunity to pick and choose what I wanted. Carrisa had brought in an apple pie that looked just as good as my pie and I was hungry! Our class meets at 530 pm and most of us work during the day so by the time we make it to class we are hungry! I was definitely hungry and I decided that I wanted her pie! Luckily she was interested in my pie too so we were able to make the trade! Others in the class traded for the items that they wanted and some got what they wanted and some did not. Those who did not offer items appealing to others were not as successful in the trade fair activity. This activity would be a lot of fun to do in a classroom. Children could take a week to make something or think of something to bring in to trade with other students. This gets them thinking about the way that Indians and pioneers had to trade to get things they needed or wanted. It is important to note that if you want to trade up for something you are likely to have to trade away something that you like. I would do this activity for a 4^th or 5^th grade class to get them thinking about the value or trade and how trade impacted people in the early days of this country.  

Games around the World

For a class this semester we all chose a country the week before and did some research to find games that are popular with those countries children. I really enjoyed this activity and I thought it was very interesting how so many of the games were similar even in different parts around the world. Different cultures have games that are similar in the way they are played but have different names. All of the games were creative and used materials that are found in the country they came from. This is an excellent activity for teachers to use for entertainment and for lesson.  Games like this can bring students in the class together as well as teach them about other cultures. I will definitely be using games to help my students learn about different countries and their culture. The games are something children can relate to and it is something fun that they can do to get up out of their seats and actively learn.