Week 4 Mythology

 

I decided to post at the end this week instead of every day. Tuesday was observation day. That morning we taught sixth grade and, overall, I think our lesson went pretty well. We handed out their vocabulary words on a sheet and asked them to read the words and definitions out loud. What we wanted was for them to learn to pronounce the words and, collaboratively as a class, say the word and definition. Every class afterwards we would either ask to review the vocabulary or point out the words in their text. They had four vocabulary words for their reading of Ceres and Proserpina. After reviewing the words, we asked the students to construct sentences using context clues. Some students wrote their sentences on their board and the class would work together and add context clues to make the sentence as perfect as possible. Unfortunately, we did not even notice that one of the words was used out of context. This is something to remember when doing work like this.

The purpose of giving them their vocabulary instead of rewriting the words and definitions on their own was to both save them time so they can work on their sentences and so they would have a word bank when working on the crossword puzzle. They were given a crossword puzzle with sentences we created that includes context clues and (blanks) where the word would go.

Since they did not have that extra time taken, we started reading their story right away. We seemed to transition well. It is difficult to make sure every student is on task, so we try to ask a lot of higher thinking questions. The same situation occurs though where some students just do not want to participate. It is crucial not to take these things personally and do your best for your students.

They seemed to enjoy the story and, after receiving their crosswords back, seemed to get the vocabulary. Some students missed one word though. Their crossword had a repeating word, which was mentioned in the directions and joked about in one of the clue sentences. I found it more amusing and confused than anything else. These three students all missed the same clue too! 

Seventh grade gave us more of a challenge than we expected. They were reading the story of Narcissus and the original plan was they would write a paragraph, creating a myth using their vocabulary words. They had seven vocabulary words. They were also given the crossword and a vocabulary word bank. Unfortunately, they had a LOT of energy within the past couple of days. We tried our 5 minute rest exercise and it was still difficult to keep their attention. Today, however, they finished their reading and started working, in groups or solo; however they felt comfortable, and started writing. We saw a few examples of the writing and they looked good. The sixth grade worked on some writing too which I was ecstatic to see!

As with most times I teach, classroom management is always difficult, especially when you are not used to your students. Overall, we did what we could in keeping the classroom calm and collected and on task. Sometimes, you have to change your plans and work with what you have. We were not able to follow our initial lesson for seventh grade but sixth grade we had excess time. I am personally grateful that I got to experience both circumstances and learn how to deal with each one in the future. It is okay to cut a lesson down. It is okay to start on other stuff early. I know not to let kids off three minutes before the period ends. I learned that sometimes students just need five minutes to sit and calm their bodies down.

Today was fun, as we continued reading Ceres and Proserpina. With permission, we gave students fruit snacks to symbolize the pomegranate seeds in the story. Jokingly, we told them that the fruit snacks were from Pluto (Roman god of the Underworld) and that they could never leave the classroom. Their reactions were fun and they got a kick out of it.

It was sad to say bye as we move to high school. I am grateful to our cooperating teacher for the work and time she put in with assisting us. I loved the classes we got to teach. The students are taking PARCC tests soon so I hope they do well!

This was a great experience.