I can't believe it's been four weeks already! To catch you up, here are my lessons and reflections from all my weeks. I wrote the reflections the week after they were completed, not now. I'm making notes now with stars:
Week 1:
Objective: "Be" verb - Present Tense
Materials: Visual Lesson Plan, My Dinosaur Stuffed Animal, Drawn "Pictures" of his parents
Activity: Introduce myself, my family, St. Louis, and my home using my Visual Lesson Plan. Use forms of "be" verb as much as possible. Then introduce my friend, Goober, the stuffed animal and his family. Create a story about him and check for understanding by asking questions using the "be" verb in question form to the entire class. Then ask students to pair up and talk about their families to each other. If time allows, ask students if any would like to share with the class. At the end of the class, go over my rules for the class.
Materials: Visual Lesson Plan, My Dinosaur Stuffed Animal, Drawn "Pictures" of his parents
Activity: Introduce myself, my family, St. Louis, and my home using my Visual Lesson Plan. Use forms of "be" verb as much as possible. Then introduce my friend, Goober, the stuffed animal and his family. Create a story about him and check for understanding by asking questions using the "be" verb in question form to the entire class. Then ask students to pair up and talk about their families to each other. If time allows, ask students if any would like to share with the class. At the end of the class, go over my rules for the class.
Reflection: I think that my visual lesson plan went pretty well this first week. It gave me insight into the various grade levels and their English proficiency. The 2nd, 4th, and 6th graders are all very different from one another. My lesson ended up not being so much about "to be" but rather about the vocabulary associated with family and homes.
With the younger two graders, I had decided to take my "likes and dislikes" out of my original lesson plan, so I could really focus on the family vocabulary. While teaching, I found that was what they were most interested in, so I stuck with it. Turns out that most students have never used "mom" or "dad." I explained that most people in America use those terms instead of "mother" and "father." Then I had the students talk about their families and homes to each other.
With the younger two graders, I had decided to take my "likes and dislikes" out of my original lesson plan, so I could really focus on the family vocabulary. While teaching, I found that was what they were most interested in, so I stuck with it. Turns out that most students have never used "mom" or "dad." I explained that most people in America use those terms instead of "mother" and "father." Then I had the students talk about their families and homes to each other.
For the 6th graders, I used my original visual lesson plan. I had the the students first write about their family, their likes, and dislikes, then share in small groups. I was pleased to see how well they could write! They knew the vocabulary pretty well. My challenge with them will be to get them to talk in class. I noticed that when I asked for volunteers, the younger students were much more willing to get up and speak, while the older students seemed more shy.
At the end of each class, I asked the students if they had any questions for me and what they wanted to learn in English. The reoccuring topics were colors and animals (younger grades only), and fruits, vegetables, jobs, sports, and America.
At the end of each class, I asked the students if they had any questions for me and what they wanted to learn in English. The reoccuring topics were colors and animals (younger grades only), and fruits, vegetables, jobs, sports, and America.
**I remember I was SOO nervous that first week! I couldn't even eat. I had no clue what I was doing and I was trying to make it through each 40 minute period. That was understandably my worst lesson.
Week 2:
Grade 2 Objective: To teach students basic colors (red, blue, green, yellow, orange, black, white, and brown) in English.
Grade 4 & 6 Objective: To teach students the days of the week in English.
Materials: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, large cards with colors (Grade 2), cards with the different foods the caterpillar ate on each day (Grade 4 & 6), music CD with days of the week song.
Materials: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, large cards with colors (Grade 2), cards with the different foods the caterpillar ate on each day (Grade 4 & 6), music CD with days of the week song.
Activity: Read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, emphasizing the concept needing to be taught depending on the grade. For Grade 2, hold up the large color cards and ask students what color it is. After the students understand the colors and know how to say the names, go around the room and have students pick one article of clothing they are wearing and say, "I am wearing (color) (clothing item)." For Grade 4 & 6, review the days of the week and write them on the board. Hand out cards (one per pair of students). Have each pair of students say what day of the week the caterpillar ate that food. Ex. if they have a card that says "one apple" the pair would say, "The very hungry caterpillar ate one apple on Monday." If time permits and students behave well, play the days of the week song CD as a treat.
Reflection: I always find ways to tweak and improve my lessons as I am teaching them. Here are the changes I made for this week's lesson.
Grade 2:
There was a miscommunication in translation for the first 2nd grade classroom. I wanted each student to tell me what color he or she was wearing. Instead, I think the Chinese teacher thought I wanted them to talk among themselves. This worked out well, since they were talking to each other in English, and I could go around talking and listening to the students. Then, I held up each color card and students who were wearing that color raised their hands. They really got into that and were holding up their books, pens, pencil carriers, etc., that had that color. In one of the 2nd grade classes, I found that I had a lot of time left, so I talked about the days of the week as well. I didn't use the cards, but I did just write the names of the week on the board and have the students repeat them.
Grade 4 & 6:
For the first class, I did as I had originally written in my lesson plan - I handed out the cards and went around the room, asking what day of the week. I noticed that the other students were distracted. So, for the next class, I broke the class into four teams and had each student come up, draw a card, and tell me the day of the week based on the foods. I found that the rest of the class was much more engaged, since the fate of the team was on the line! Students from the same team would call out answers, and students from opposing teams would call out the wrong answer. There was much more enthusiasm and participation by doing the game. The winning team got a sticker. I realized that I need to plan lessons that are active and get all the students involved.
Grade 2:
There was a miscommunication in translation for the first 2nd grade classroom. I wanted each student to tell me what color he or she was wearing. Instead, I think the Chinese teacher thought I wanted them to talk among themselves. This worked out well, since they were talking to each other in English, and I could go around talking and listening to the students. Then, I held up each color card and students who were wearing that color raised their hands. They really got into that and were holding up their books, pens, pencil carriers, etc., that had that color. In one of the 2nd grade classes, I found that I had a lot of time left, so I talked about the days of the week as well. I didn't use the cards, but I did just write the names of the week on the board and have the students repeat them.
Grade 4 & 6:
For the first class, I did as I had originally written in my lesson plan - I handed out the cards and went around the room, asking what day of the week. I noticed that the other students were distracted. So, for the next class, I broke the class into four teams and had each student come up, draw a card, and tell me the day of the week based on the foods. I found that the rest of the class was much more engaged, since the fate of the team was on the line! Students from the same team would call out answers, and students from opposing teams would call out the wrong answer. There was much more enthusiasm and participation by doing the game. The winning team got a sticker. I realized that I need to plan lessons that are active and get all the students involved.
**Again, thinking back, I don't think this lesson went so well. I think I just wasn't comfortable with the 6th graders.
Week 3:
Objective: To introduce students to the American supermarket and teach the following categories of foods: meat, seafood, bakery, deli, produce, grocery, dairy, frozen, beverage, and everyday essentials.
Reflection: I think overall, the lesson was a big hit! For one, the students LOVED looking at the papers. They got so excited when I handed out the papers. It got them immediately involved. They really liked looking at the American foods. Some of the classes weren't so interested in my scavenger hunt, so I let them go on their own instead. Some of the classes were so interested, that I extended that activity and did not have them write down a shopping list.
The second reason I believe my lesson worked well was because I started my classroom management plan this week. On one poster board, I wrote down my rules. On a second poster board, I made a "Reward Chart" with each classroom listed. I explained my rules to each class, then explained that if they got three strikes, they did not get a square filled in on the Reward Chart. They would get a strike if I would have to tell them twice (second time by pointing to my rules) to quiet down. Once they got five squares filled in, they would get a reward from me. It worked really well! As soon as I pointed to my rules, they quieted down. Most of the classes did really well and earned a square colored in. Only three classes did not. I was a little lenient this week because I feel like seeing a square colored in demonstrates more than no square. I'm also hoping that by having all of the classes listed on one chart, it will create some competition and motivate the less well-behaved classes to do better!
I also realized this week that I do not like the "home teachers" in the class while I am teaching. The students really afraid of their "home teachers" and do not really participate when they are in there. The "home teachers" also don't really let the students talk among themselves. I really liked it when the students got excited about the papers and started talking. However, the "home teacher" in one of the third grade classes made them all stop talking, which I feel killed their excitement.
Week 4:
Objective: The students will learn famous American cities (St. Louis, Washington D.C., New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami) and the song "This Land is Your Land."
Materials: U.S. Map, magnets, Powerpoint of images from different American cities and the song lyrics
Activity: Hang up the U.S. map on the board. Explain to the students that we are going to "tour" America today. Use the Powerpoint to show images of the different cities in America. Use a magnet as a marker on the map to show the location of the city. Explain the significance of the city/what people like to do in the city. Ask students what city they would like to visit and why. Teach students the song "This Land is Your Land" first with the lyrics on the board. Then have them sing it without the lyrics.
Activity: Hang up the U.S. map on the board. Explain to the students that we are going to "tour" America today. Use the Powerpoint to show images of the different cities in America. Use a magnet as a marker on the map to show the location of the city. Explain the significance of the city/what people like to do in the city. Ask students what city they would like to visit and why. Teach students the song "This Land is Your Land" first with the lyrics on the board. Then have them sing it without the lyrics.
Reflection: This lesson went really well. I don't think the students were as enthusiastic about learning the song as I hoped, since from the culture I've sensed they love to sing! They really liked hearing me sing it for the first time, but they didn't seem as interested in learning it themselves. I guess some of the students really got in to it, but the majority were just indifferent to it. Maybe it was too hard?
The students really liked looking at the pictures of the different cities. One thing that went really well was me acting out what people liked doing in the city. For example, for Miami, I would say, "People in Miami love to dance (and start dancing) and people in Miami love to swim (and do a swimming motion)." This really got the vocabulary across, even to those students who might not have understood when I just said it.
When I asked the students which city they would like to visit, I gave them an example of my own, because of course all I would get at first is blank stares. I would say, "I would like to go to New York because I like to go shopping." or "I would like to go to Washington D.C. to see the President's house. Where would you like to go?" There would always be one or two brave souls in each of my classes who would answer the question. I would then pull out my stickers and give one to the students who answered. Then of course, I would have more volunteers because they all wanted a sticker. I think it worked really well. I also think my classroom management plan is working well too. ::sigh:: I never wanted to so heavily rely on behaviorist strategies, but I guess it's all I have work with since I don't see these students enough to form strong relationships.
Lisa sent me an email about this week's lesson. It said:
Hi, Margi,
Today you did a good job. your class is perfect. you are welcomed by your students. The intraction is good, you show your enthusiasm in your class.
Lisa
That makes me happy!
Lisa sent me an email about this week's lesson. It said:
Hi, Margi,
Today you did a good job. your class is perfect. you are welcomed by your students. The intraction is good, you show your enthusiasm in your class.
Lisa
That makes me happy!
Hi Margi! It sounds like you are doing some great work! I can only imagine that it is difficult to bridge the culture/language gap and plan lessons across differing grade levels. I'm anxious to see what methods you develop. I'm also really glad to hear that you are getting some experience in a preschool, I'm sure that's awesome.
ReplyDeleteTake care! Enjoy the experience!! -Jill McDuffee