Day 4

Day 4: Test Day

 

Both grades six and seven took quizzes on the last reading they did. For grade six, this was the story of The Dog of Pompeii and for grade seven, A Retrieved Reformation. Before the quiz began the students went over directions for the quiz. Some of them seemed to have some difficulty understanding the questions despite how much clarity the teacher provided. It reminded me of when our Practicum class was playing Apples to Apples, and how we sometimes had to restate some of the rules or give directions more than once.

The two days before their quiz, the classes reviewed the questions through a Jeopardy game. Our cooperating teacher has told us that the students enjoy this kind of activity and that it seems to help. The teams were boys vs. girls (since almost half of the class is boys and almost half are girls) and the winners got two extra points on their quiz. Also, each student’s names are already on their quiz before they get it, so no one has a nameless quiz. I thought it was a brilliant idea and one I may use if I work with younger students.

When Joey and I first arrived, we were unsure if we were going to be of any assistance, since they were only taking a test. We could not have been more wrong. Even during a quiz, the students need to have questions answered, someone needs to restate a question, and most of them need help in organizing their thoughts so they can write it down.  Almost all the students knew the answers for comprehension, but many of them had a difficult time wording their responses. So, the three of us helped students to the best of our ability.

This is where I noticed where students are struggling. They struggle with composing their thoughts and also with providing context clues when writing sentences. Part of their requirement for vocabulary is creating sentences with context clues. Most, if not all, seem to know how to use the word but not prove how they know it.

Joey and I agreed that most of our time there will be to help them master this skill. Our cooperating teacher agreed and we began going over some lesson plan ideas. We contemplated on creating Mad Libs or even letting the students compose their own sentences on a frequent basis. We also plan to have them read the text as a class together, so they can hear one another say the vocabulary words, in use, as they go through the text.

For the seventh grade class, who experience similar struggles, we thought that the students could compose a story about a fictional character who is an immigrant. The story will be based off a character from the graphic novel The Arrival (or another character if we can think of another). Each group will have to use about two vocabulary words in their story.

We are also trying to incorporate more pictures in the curriculum! Pictures are wonderful tools!