Block I Photo Assessment Carrie L. Enger May 10, 2004.

Block IBlock IPhoto AssessmentPhoto Assessment

Block IBlock IPhoto AssessmentPhoto Assessment

Carrie L. EngerCarrie L. EngerMay 10, 2004May 10, 2004

Rutherford Elementary

• For my Block I experience I was placed in Ms. Kari Renken’s 2/3 classroom at Rutherford Elementary in Stillwater, Minnesota.

• The home group consisted of twenty-four students.

• For my eight lessons, I taught both the home group as well as a group of twenty-six third grade students.

Social Studies Lesson #1

TeachingMy social studies theme focused on the country of

Scotland. For the first lesson, I hooked the students by telling them that I recently went on a trip to a far away place. I played a piece of traditional Scottish music and asked if anyone could guess where it was that I visited.

I continued by explaining that before I share any more about my trip, I would like them to learn more about Scotland. They began by writing down two questions they had about Scotland. Then, at each of the four workstations, I set out different artifacts that represent Scottish culture. The students were instructed to read the corresponding fact sheet and then examine the artifacts for five minutes. Afterward, they wrote down one new fact or vocabulary word that they learned at that station.


Materials• Four fact sheets about

Scotland (currency, food, clans and tartans, and castles)

• Four packages of Scottish shortbread

• Examples of Scottish currency

• Examples of Scottish tartans

• Various books about Scotland

• A CD of traditional Scottish music


Student Responses

“Can I have a calculator? I want to find out how old this castle is.” -Liam

“Yum! This shortbread is good!” -Eric

“Scottish people were skirts?” -Grant

“How much is one pound worth?” -Maria


ReflectionOverall, I was very pleased with the lesson. I was completely prepared and all of my materials were well organized. As I walked around the room, I could tell that the students were excited about the hands-on manipulatives. They took turns reading the fact sheets, and were very thorough in writing down what they had learned. Most of the questions they had written down were answered in the process.


TeachingI began this lesson by addressing the group as a whole. I reviewed

what they had accomplished on the first day, and we discussed the questions that had not been answered by the work stations.

I then explained that I would show them pictures of my visit to Scotland. This led into a discussion and brainstorming session about Scottish culture. Some of the topics that were discussed included: animals of Scotland, the flag, the national flower, the capital city of Edinburgh and its castle, and other national symbols.

We then created a large chart on the whiteboard to compare what we had learned about Scotland to what we know about the United States. For example: “How are they the same? How are they different?”


Materials

•Scottish photographs, pictures, and postcards

•Large whiteboard or piece of paper to compare U.S. to Scotland


Student Responses

“They call soccer ‘football’ don’t they?” -Connor

“Ms. Enger, that was your house in Scotland?” –Isabelle

“I remember the capital city, its Edinburgh.” -Jeffrey


ReflectionBecause Ms. Renken had previously done a unit on the United Kingdom, many of the students had prior knowledge about Scotland. This, along with what they had learned during my first lesson, provided for a lengthy discussion on Scottish life and culture. Being able to share photographs and answer questions from a firsthand perspective kept the students’ attention and really got them into the lesson. I was very pleased with the comparisons they were able to make between the United States and Scotland.


TeachingFor my final social studies lesson, I introduced the

symbol of St. Andrew’s Cross. I showed the students that the Scottish flag displays this symbol and explained that they were going to create their own flag.

Students then chose one fact from their “fact sheet” and wrote it on an outline of the flag. After they had finished that, they created their own flag for Scotland by using symbols that we had discussed in the previous lesson. Some included: castles, bagpipes, a crown, sheep, and a tartan.


Materials

•Student fact sheet (from lesson #1)

•St. Andrew’s Cross (Flag of Scotland)

•Reproducible flag outline


Student Responses

“Where should I put my

name?”

-Arthur

“We are out of blues!!” -Tori

“Can I put two facts on my flag?” -Tyler

“I can’t decide which fact to write.” -Erik


ReflectionI was very impressed with the Scottish flags my students created. After they were completed, I hung them up on the wall of the locker room, displaying both the “fact” side as well as their own new flags of Scotland. Everyday, as they pass through the hallway, students look for their flag and comment on how “cool” they look.

Language Arts Lesson #1

Pre-writingIn order to integrate social studies and language arts, I decided to have the students create a cinquain poem about their cooperative groups, or “clans.”

I began by showing the students a sample cinquain poem that I had written. I asked them to tell me what type of writing it was, and they were able to tell me it was a type of poetry. We wrote down the different things they noticed about the poem, which helped us come up with a definition for cinquain poetry. I also asked the students to pick out the types of words I had used in my poem, and had them brainstorm other words that I could have used. Each student was given a “word web” where they were to use positive words to describe the characteristics of the people in their “clan.”

After the students had finished their “Word Web” they were to complete their procedural checklist for Day

One.


Materials

For each student:

•Individual student folder

•Procedural checklist

•“Word Web”

•Scotland word search


Student Responses“Ms. Enger, we can’t decide on a clan name.” -Sebastian

“Do we have to fill in every line?” -Grant

“Hey, it’s a tartan!” -Molly “Your poem uses describing

words.” -Liam


ReflectionOverall, my lesson went very well. This type of poetry

seems to fit very nicely with both student interest and ability. If I could do it again, however, there are some things I would do differently. For example, some students had a difficult time coming up with a name for their “clan.” In the future, I will spend more time explaining how to come up with a name, as well as what to do if a group couldn’t agree upon a name. Also, I had students finishing at different times. Even though I had an activity planned for those that finished early, I could have kept those that were taking longer more on task by setting a time limit for when they were coming up with their clan name.


DraftingI began my drafting lesson by handing out a cut apart

cinquain poem to each student. It was then their task to re-assemble the words into the correct form. Once this had been completed, I had two students read their poems to the class. They realized that the words could be re-arranged in different ways and still make sense!

The students were given graphic organizers to create a rough draft. They were able to use words and ideas from their “word web” to complete the graphic organizers.


Materials

For each student:



•Envelope with cut apart cinquain poem

•Graphic organizer


Student Responses“Can I share my poem?” -Briana

“Where do the commas go again?” -Lily

“Hey! You can reverse that and it would still make sense.”

-Liam


ReflectionI really enjoyed seeing the students get creative with

the cut apart poetry. I believe it allowed them to get a more concrete grasp on what a cinquain poem looks like.

The graphic organizers were very detailed, so it was difficult for the students to make any errors and they finished fairly quickly. Because of this, I had them create several drafts on separate pieces of paper. This way, they could choose their best piece of work for publishing.

Language Arts Lesson #3Revising, Editing, and PublishingIn order to introduce revising and editing, I had the

students correct a poem I had written that contained several errors. Once they returned to their tables, they completed a “Revising and Editing” checklist for their best poem, and got an “o.k.” from me to begin publishing.

I modeled the tartan publishing by showing students how to weave strips of paper and glue them down onto white construction paper. Once they had written their poem onto the tartan weaving with pencil, they finished by going over it in black marker.


MaterialsFor each student:



•Revising and Editing checklist

•Strips of multicolored construction paper

•White construction paper

•Pencil and black marker

•Scissors and a glue stick


Student Responses“Ms. Enger, my strips won’t lie down on the paper!”

-Zach

“Is this how you spell ‘asome’? –Jaci

“Look! I’m finished!”

-Karah


ReflectionNot every student finished their publishing during the

allotted time. However, they did complete their procedural checklist for the final day, and we were able to come back to it and finish the following week.

I was very happy with the outcome of the lesson. The students enjoyed creating the publishing, and it was interesting to see their personalities come out in their work! Ms. Renken even praised my decision to do tartan weaving saying, “This is a very age appropriate activity!”

Language ArtsRubric Assessment

In order to assess the cinquain poetry

created by my students, I created a

rubric. Criteria included: Organization,

Word Choice, Ideas and Development,

and Conventions. Each area was graded

on a scale of one to five points, with five

being the highest. The completed

publishing was worth twenty points.

Jack’s Published Poem

Jack is a student who does very well in language arts. However, he does not always follow directions, and his poetry reflects this. Jack failed to get my “o.k” on his rough draft, which resulted in an incorrect focus for his poem. Jack’s clan decided on the name “McFlurry.” Instead of focusing the poem on the people in his clan, Jack wrote about an actual McFlurry (the ice cream treat from McDonalds).

Jack received a score of 16/20. Although his poem was organized correctly and he didn’t have any grammatical errors, his focus was incorrect. Additionally, he used two words twice.

Megan’s Published Poem

Megan’s poetry is an example of high achievement.

It is obvious that she understands the components of cinquain poetry.

Her poem is specific to her “clan” and her word choice is unique.

Megan received a perfect score of 20/20. She clearly took time to think about the words she was going to use. When writing her four-word sentence, she pulled ideas directly from her “word web.” This set hers apart from most others.

On top of all of that, Megan’s work was neatly done!

Rubric Reflection

I found my rubric to play an integral role in assessing the work of my students. It was the first rubric I have ever created, and I feel that the time that went into its preparation resulted in easy use.

Although I felt my rubric covered everything I was looking for, there is one thing I would do differently next time. This would be to hand out the rubrics ahead of time, so students know exactly what they are going to be graded on. Regardless of this, the third graders did very well.

Final Thoughts

My experience in Ms. Renken’s 2/3 classroom at Rutherford Elementary was exceptional. After putting lots of time and energy into preparing my lessons, I was able to see them “in action.” I gained many valuable classroom management techniques, and was able to try out a variety of teaching methods.

As I walk away from this experience, I look forward to continuing on toward the completion of my degree by building upon the foundation I have created here in Block One.

Block I Photo Assessment Carrie L. Enger May 10, 2004.

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Transcript of Block I Photo Assessment Carrie L. Enger May 10, 2004.