Day 5

Day 5: Vocabulary and Ellis Island

Wow! Today was really energetic. Today, our cooperating teacher let us teach the class their vocabulary. It was a BLAST! The students were very energetic though, so it was a good opportunity to work on keeping the class calm cool and collected. I also got to use my teacher voice again.  The cooperating teacher was impressed by how I was able to quiet down the classroom. I have a nice technique that I used when I was working at a summer camp. Students either see you first or hear you first (usually the first). So, you have to use a method that incorporates both. What I do is I raise my hand and slowly lower it while “shh”ing, as if I was lowering the volume of a car radio, and it usually works (not always). This technique has also worked on adults.

For vocabulary, they first look up the words in the text and write the definitions down. We ask them to say the words aloud as well as the definition before writing it. One of us also writes the definitions on the overhead projector. After, they each volunteer to compose a sentence using one of the vocabulary words. After, we try to make it “better” by adding to the sentence; in other words, we ask them to provide context clues in the sentence. The students write the sentences on the board.

The first sixth grade class did not finish so their only work was to create a sentence for the last word and bring it in for next class.

The other class was able to finish, and we had five minutes to conduct an experiment. We noticed that students today were very wired, full of energy. Our cooperating teacher showed concern that maybe the students needed a time where they could just relax. So, before class ended, they all put their heads on their desks, did not talk, turned the lights off, and rested in silence. It was a whole different classroom. One student approached us once class was over and asked if they could do that again sometime. All the students said they felt a little calmer and a little more refreshed. In all honesty, I really think they needed it…

After that, we had the seventh grade class come in. They went to the library to begin looking up information about Ellis Island and immigration to America. The goal is to get them some information about people and opinions for and against immigration during the 1800s and early 1900s. They were finding some awesome information right away. We were blown away by the sources they were able to find. Even with limited technology provided in their school, these students know how to use technology!