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!

Day 2: Sentences

 

Today was the second day we visited our cooperating teacher’s class. Today, the setup was a little different; instead of the three-to-four students per group desks, the desks were set up in rows. We discovered that on days known as “Day 5s”, our cooperating teacher has RTI, a time where students take tests and complete English language arts assignments. Today, her classes consisted of seventh grade students. The day began with them reciting some historical poems they created in pairs, however, most of them read their poems during another day.

Later, they went over vocabulary from the text they are reading called A Retrieved Reformation. Using the assigned vocabulary in the text, students were asked to create some sample sentences of their own. It was apparent that the students understood the meaning of the word, as each word was used correctly in their sentence. However, as joey and I discovered, some of their sentence structure was a little off or needed some work. They also had difficulties “proving” they knew the word; none of them provided context clues in their sentences. They were continuously asked to provide examples, or to change the word in the sentence to see if the sentence still made sense.

For example: “Santa Clause was unperceived by the children”. Was Santa kidnapped by the children? Was Santa seen by the children? They needed supporting details in the sentence, such as “Santa clause was unperceived by the sleeping children” indicating some sort of inability to see Santa.

I was able to travel around the room and see some of their sentences and even assist them in correcting a few. One girl, as I noticed, had a fragment sentence and was pleased when I read it aloud for her. By hearing me say the sentence, she noticed her mistake and went to change it. She did not seem upset or displeased, rather grateful. I think that was the highlight of my experience that day.

We were able to spend some prep time with our cooperating teacher to discuss how we will be assisting in co-teaching and teaching lessons of our own in the upcoming weeks. However, our time was slightly cut short by an evacuation. Nothing appeared to be wrong, and, to be honest, this was an interesting experience. I am glad I experienced an event like this now instead of panicked later on in my career.

Today was an overall productive day and I eagerly await tomorrow.