Megan and I taught our preschool lesson this past week. We
were continuing with the 5 senses theme and did a very, very brief review of
what sense we talked about last time. The problem with this is that we were not
the ones with them the previous week so we could not make a full recap. Our
sense we covered with them was the sense of hearing. I feel like this is a
tough topic for the students because they cannot see it happening.
To introduce our lesson we listened to a YouTube video of
Dr. Seuss “The Ear Book” and talked about what our ears do for us. Megan and I brainstormed some different
activities to do with the students. We decided that we would do three centers
since we would have the help of four of our classmates. After some research we
decided that we would do a paper phone activity, instrument exploration and an
activity with plastic eggs. Our paper phone activity had to do with testing how
sound traveled. The instruments we used were from around the country and small
enough for the kids to handle on their own. The eggs were filled with four
different materials, that all made a different sound. The students would be
prompted to shake a specific color of egg and guess what material on the
sorting mat that it matched. The
students broke into three groups and went with the aides while we roamed the
room. We gave the aids an info sheet on what each station was and a sheet to
write down the student’s comments to help us with our formative assessment
project. Our aids really stepped up and helped where we needed it. We could not
have not done this lesson without their help. I think that having aids in the
room with us is good practice for us. Depending on the setting in which we are
hired we might be working in a co teaching setting or have aids in the room.
I feel that our lesson had a few strengths. I feel like we
did a nice job planning activities that would allow the students to learn about
sounds and hearing in a fun, engaging and hands on way. We took extra care in
being sure we had enough planned. In case one station were to get done early we
had coloring sheets prepared for each center. Thankful we used a timer to keep
us on track which allowed time for each students to get to spend an equal
amount of time with each station. Instead of having the students move each time
we were ready to switch we had the teachers rotate. This helped save us time in
explaining how to rotate and transition to the students and possibly go against
something the classroom teachers had taught the kids. I knew that this was
successful because we didn’t have to spend time working getting the students
back on task after moving.
One area that I feel we can improve on is getting the
background on what the co teachers taught the week before us. As teachers we
know the importance of drawing on the student’s prior knowledge. With the
nature of our clinical it was not possible for us to observe or even see the
lesson that the co-teachers taught the week before us. Something I would change
for next time would be touching base with the co teachers from the previous
weeks to make sure we are using the same academic language. When we opened the
language we could not really say for sure what the kids learned last week and
they are not at an age where they can tell us. I should say they can tell us,
but we might not understand how they are able to tell us. Communication is a
big barrier in the Pre-K room. I would say there were only two students that I was
able to understand. For part of our assessment we recorded their names. Our assistants
did a great job getting names from students the best they could. Andrea is also
a strong Spanish speaker. She worked with one little boy in English and Spanish
and finally decided that he was talking too softly to be able to understand
him. I also think they are very shy. I do not blame them, there are a lot of us
that come into their room and it is not consistent.
I feel we did a good job motivating our students during the
lesson. This was part to the activities we planned. There was a way for
students to apply what we had discussed briefly in a fun, exciting way. If we
would have sat on the rug with them and let them watch us play instruments,
that would not have been an effective lesson for that age group. Since we broke
into small groups and allowed them hands on activities we allowed them to
explore sounds at their own pace.
Part of keeping us as teachers organized was time management.
I used a timer on my iPad to keep the
stations on time and ensure we were able to have a solid closing portion of our
lesson. This also made sure that the students were not losing focus on
activities that were too long for their small attention spam. Each of the co
teachers that helped us had their materials in order and a clipboard when
questions to ask the students as they went through the station.
Our objective was that the students would be able to identify sounds of objects in each station
with teaching prompting and students will be able to discuss their
understandings with a partner. They did
get a chance to discuss the activities has they were happening and our assistants
did an awesome job of recording all the little comments that the students said.
To close our lesson we brought the students back together on the rug to briefly
mention what we learned at each station. The students had some good answers,
but mostly wanted to just talk and be heard. That is completely normal for this
age and was something we were prepared for. Overall I am extremely happy to
have a co teaching lesson under my belt going into student teaching. This can
only help me become a better teacher in the end.
We found our lesson ideas here: http://www.teachpreschool.org/2012/10/an-exploration-of-sound/
http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5243530_paper-cup-phone-work_.html
Exceeds: I went
over the word count and included the links to where we got our ideas.
No comments:
Post a Comment