MaritaUndergraduate
Exceptional Education |
MaritaUndergraduate
Exceptional Education |
This week I did a lot of teaching. We have finished the book we were reading in class and have moved on to the poetry unit. Within this unit the students are learning about the different types of poetry and the figurative language used in poetry. On Monday, for UOI, we watched a clip from the Broadway performance of The Lion King. The students took notes on the costumes and makeup, two of the five elements of theater. After taking notes we discussed the students' observations as a whole class. The second task was for them to create a costume for a character in the Lion King. They drew a picture, wrote a description, and listed the materials they would need to make this costume. This activity is to get them thinking about what materials they may want or need to create their own costumes for their own performances at the end of the unit. The students very much enjoyed discussing the costumes and creating their own. This first day of the new poetry unit, Tuesday, went very well. All these students have done a poetry unit in the past so I did not need to do a long introduction to what poetry is. On this first day we also learned about the many different types of poetry such as limericks, free verse, or haiku. After we went over the different types of poetry the students had the chance to write their own poems using one of the formats we discussed. Most students opted for an acrostic poem but each different format was tried at least once by the students. The bell rang while they were finishing. When we had a little extra time at the end of the day the students requested they read their poems to the class, they were all very proud of their work. Day one of poetry went very well. Wednesday was not as successful as day one. This was the first day I introduced figurative language. I taught them about personification, metaphors, and similes. They listened to me while I taught from a PowerPoint all engaged but they all had a mildly confused look in their eyes. I asked the students to raise their hands to give me an example of one of three types of figurative language we had discussed. The first few students gave incorrect examples. If I were to teach this lesson again, I would not have let so many students give wrong examples. The wrong examples seemed to confuse the student more. I reexplained the concept and had a few more students attempt to give examples, this time only about 50% of examples given were correct examples, an improvement but they were still struggling with coming up with their own examples. We then moved into doing a Kahoot. In the Kahoot, the students were given a sentence that was either personification, metaphor, or simile. I read the sentence aloud and the students picked their answers on their iPads. This class really loves to play Kahoot. I reviewed the Kahoot data after the lesson. Almost all students answered with 60% accuracy. A few had scored slightly higher. This data told me that this was a concept that was both tricky for the students but that I also had not effectively taught the lesson. Knowing this, I planned on reviewing these concepts in the next day's lesson. For the remainder of the day, I would point out personification, metaphors, and similes when they came up in readings or conversation. Two students correctly pointed out similes in conversation unprompted. Abstract concepts like figurative language are difficult to explain to young people in a way they can understand. Before teaching more types of figurative language or abstract concepts, I need to research the best practices to convey these ideas. For Language on Thursday, we learned about adverbs, why we use them, and how to use them properly. We started by review what we had learned so far in our poetry unit, with emphasis on personification, metaphors, and similes. The students who I had called on for the review were all able to correctly tell me what each word means and give me an example. The focus of the lesson, adverbs, is not a new concept to these students. I taught them with a PowerPoint before giving them an activity to do independently. They were all able to complete the worksheet alone with an average of 80% accuracy. A few of the students who struggle in English needed to make some corrections. Friday went well. The students read through a script together as a class before I gave them an activity. I had the students go to a script treasure hut. They had to circle the list of characters in one color, underline the scene in another color, and box in the setting in another. This was in depth script study where they had to read the script thoroughly and identify each aspect of the script. With some guidance all students were able to complete the task nearly perfectly. Here are some examples of the student worksheets I made and they filled out for language and the Unit of Inquiry. Each week, PYP has an assembly were grades 2-6th all meet. In this assembly there may be a musical presenter, a read aloud, a lesson on internet safely, etc. During this time one student is also recognized for their good work for the week with a certificate. On Thursday, each student writes a name of a student that has shown one of the IB characteristics during the week. These characteristics include; being open minded, a communicator, a risk taker, kind, etc. The teacher reads the name and reasoning aloud for the class and that student gets their name on the board and a point. As the names are read aloud students earn me points. The student with the most points, or votes, will be recognized at the assembly. Teachers, normal, can not be voted for, however, my students found a loophole. I am a STUDENT-teacher, and therefore a student and they could vote for me. When all the votes were tallied I had the most votes! The students wanted to recognize me for being caring and a risk taker by taking over more and more of the teaching duties. All the students celebrated and they all ran up to give me a hug once the votes were counted. They were so happy to have voted for me. I thought I would be taking the opportunity away from a student but my mentor teacher liked that they all were willing to recognize a teacher's hard work and when a teacher shows these characteristics. At the assembly, the kids had made me my own award and all signed the back with sweet messages. At the end of the assembly they all came rushing up to me to say congratulations and ask if I had read their message on the back. This group of students are some of the most supportive students I have worked with. They are excellent at celebrating each other's accomplishments and holding each other accountable. I really enjoy working in this supportive environment. Here is my award. I am the beast teacher. Earlier this week, my host brother had a big group of friends over to watch an important soccer game. He introduced me to all of his friends and a few spoke English well and wanted to chat further with me. The one friend and I spoke for a few minutes, in our conversation he asked me how I like Italy and what the US was like among other typical conversations I have with people I have just met here. He also informed me that I was incredibly lucky to have my host family, and that there is not a better pair to be living with. He told me his host brother is the best guy he knows and that I am seriously very lucky to have him. This was incredibly sweet to hear. I knew I was lucky to have such a great host family, but it was great to hear someone who knows them better and for a long time tell me how lucky I am.
And here is your weekly photo of Meowleena!
1 Comment
Dr. Awilda Ramos Zagarrigo
4/23/2023 10:17:06 pm
Hello Marita,
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AuthorHi! I'm Marita Miller an exceptional education student at Buffalo State student teaching in Siena Italy. Follow my journey! Archives
May 2023
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