EDUC 337- Week 8

Silent Sustained Reading (SSR)

In my classroom, I would love for the last 15-20 minutes of the day to consist of silent reading. I think this would be a beneficial way to end the day as well as get the kids ready to leave for the day. I would also incorporate this time as catching up on homework time. If there were any assignments students needed to catch up on, this would be their opportunity to do so.
There would also be a separate time to read aloud, which would be another time during the day.  I would also use that read aloud time as a segway into another subject. I feel like reading gets kids calm and ready to move on to the next thing.

Week 7- EDUC 337

Realistic Fiction Book List

I love the adventure all of these books bring and the sense of reality and life lessons these books teach kids.

The Adventure of Tom Sawyer

By: Mark Twain

 

Let the Children March

By: Monica Clark-Robinson

 

Weedflower

By: Cynthia Kodahata

 

Rosie and the Treasure of the Three Nuns

By: D. Boyd

White Bird

By: R. J. Palacio 

 

A Scarf for Keito

By: Ann Malaspina

 

The Story Collector

By: Kristin O’Donnell Tubb

I Am a Star

By: Inge Auerbacher

 

Imagine… The Fall of Jericho

By: Matt Koceich

 

Miranda the Great

By: Eleanor Estes

Week 6- EDUC 337

Author's Purpose: Book List

I Need My Monster: This book is about a boy who needs his monster under his bed. His current monster isn't there anymore so he is looking for another one to fill the spot.  

I Wanna Iguana: This book is about a boy who is trying to convince his parents that he needs a pet iguana. He even goes the lengths of writing his argument out to his mother.  

 



 





Rainbow Weaver: A young Mayan girl isn't allowed to use her mother's thread to weave, so with a little ingenuity, she discovers how to repurpose plastic bags to create colorful weavings. Based on an actual recycling movement in Guatemala.
 
Where Oliver Fits: Oliver has always dreamed about where he will fit. Will he be in the mane of a unicorn? The tentacle of a pirate squid? The helmet of an astronaut? When he finally goes in search of his perfect place, he finds that trying to fit in is a lot harder than he thought. But like any puzzle, a little trial and error leads to a solution, and Oliver figures out exactly where he belongs. 
 

How This Book Was Made: You may think you know how this book was made, but you don't. Sure, the author wrote many drafts, and the illustrator took a long time creating the art, but then what? How'd it get into your hands? Well, open the cover and read through these pages to find out. Just beware of the pirates and angry tiger.
 

Tower's Falling:  When her fifth-grade teacher hints that a series of lessons about home and community will culminate with one big answer about two tall towers once visible outside their classroom window, Deja can't help but feel confused. She sets off on a journey of discovery, with new friends Ben and Sabeen by her side.
 

The Most Magnificient Thing: The girl has a wonderful idea. She is going to make the most MAGNIFICENT thing! She knows just how it will look. She knows just how it will work. All she has to do is make it, and she makes things all the time. 
 

Wishtree: Red is an oak tree who is many rings old. Red is the neighborhood "wishtree"—people write their wishes on pieces of cloth and tie them to Red's branches. Along with her crow friend Bongo and other animals who seek refuge in Red's hollows, this "wishtree" watches over the neighborhood.
 

The Word Collector: In this extraordinary new tale from Peter H. Reynolds, Jerome discovers the magic of the words all around him -- short and sweet words, two-syllable treats, and multi-syllable words that sound like little songs. Words that connect, transform and empower.
 

Sick Simon: Are germs gross, or great? Sick Simon learns how to be health-conscious during cold and flu season. Simon is going to have the best week ever. Who cares if he has a cold? He goes to school anyway, and sneezes everywhere, and coughs on everyone, and touches everything.
 
 

EDUC 337 - Week 5

Lesson Plan Reflection

After sharing my lesson idea with the rest of the class, I am super excited to see what it'll actually look like one day. I always feel so prepared for teaching these lessons after sharing them and getting feedback about what should be done differently. I like getting feedback from other students and hearing new ideas that might work better. Creating lessons are fun and can be so creative. Everyone's lessons looked super engaging for the students and covered great material. 

Week 3- EDUC 337

 Making Vocab Fun!

1. My first idea of making vocabulary practice fun would be to incorporate sports. This first game would be a ball toss and whatever word it landed on, that's the word they had to give the definition to. I would let them do this in groups of 3-4 to keep the games going faster and more students would get to take a turn.

2. My second idea would be to incorporate basketball. I got this idea off Pinterest. A small basketball goal would be hanging up on the door or wall. All the words would be written on the board. The class would be split into two teams and I would read a definition. The first team to buzz in or raise their hand would get to answer and if answered correctly, they would get a chance to shoot the ball for a point.

3. I like this next idea because it makes kids think of the definition by breaking down the word itself.

4. This idea would be fun for kids who are more creative and imaginative. The students would draw a vocab word and have to to create a comic strip out of the word drawn. This could be a quick filler activity for transition times. 

5. The fifth idea consists of partnering up another student and rolling a dice. I like this idea because it allows for multiple ways in which students can learn their new vocabulary words. 

Week 2 - EDUC 337

Word Walls

I love the idea of word walls. The concept of a word wall isn't used as much as it should in the school I work at now. It's a great way to get students to think of other word choices for simple words.  I love how word walls can be categorized by subject, parts of speech and affixes. This concept can be used for most grades k-8. I'm excited to incorporate my own word wall in my future classroom. My favorite word wall example is the affixes model. It gives students the definition of what the prefix or suffix means without giving the meaning or definition. This allows for students to still use context clues to figure out words. 

EDUC 337- Class #1

Give a "glow and a grow"

In our first couple of chapters, there were a few key points that stuck out to me. The first my (which is my favorite) was give a "glow and a grow." This phrase refers to giving students honest praise along with specific direction on how to improve. An example would be:

"I love the way you used the pictures in the book to make a prediction, but what is the author trying to show us or make us aware of? What's the title of this book?"

Another key topic I enjoyed was the ways in which teachers can create an enticing classroom. This includes desk/tables efficient for natural movement; colorful boards, signs, calendars, etc; organization; and a table or area for small group work.

EDUC 337 Intro

Introducing ME!

Hello everyone! My name is Marley Winkler and I am a junior here at Columbia College. I transferred this year from Missouri Western (Fall 2018 was my first semester here at CC). I was just admitted into the TCP which is super exciting because I get to take more upper-level classes. I want to teach 3rd-5th grade in a small school somewhere. I'm also on the fence about teaching special education.

I currently work as a special education aide at Gratz Brown Elementary School in Moberly, MO. I also get to work in the behavior management classroom as well, which is a really neat experience. This is my first summer taking classes and I'm super excited.  

Lesson Plan Presentations Round 3

Good job everyone!!

First off, I am so glad that I got presenting over with! I am such a nervous speaker (even though I was talking to my computer screen). I'm really thankful for all the input and other's opinions to better the lesson I had in mind. 

Rebekah, April, and Karen all did such good jobs as well! I loved hearing the different lesson plans with all the neat ideas. Rebekah I loved the idea of the solar oven. I think your kiddos will have such a blast being a part of this! April, you're lesson is an important concept for reading comprehension. I think the way you are doing it, makes it fun and keeps the kids involved. Karen I really enjoyed your idea of introducing a contemporary song to better your kids understanding of similes. This is a great idea and good aid for the students.  

Lesson Plan Presentations Round 2

Kuddos to Everyone Who Presented!

Once again, everyone who presented did such a good job. Since I am still new to the lesson plan writing, I am learning so much just from my classmates! I really enjoyed Ali's lesson plan this week. Getting young kids involved in creative ways is such a great idea. I like the idea of giving the first graders microphones for them to be able to present. I think this will be fun and will get kids involved, even the ones who aren't always wanting too.

Lesson Plan Presentations

Kuddos to Everyone Who Presented!!

I love learning from other students when doing these lesson plans! I am such a visual learner and I enjoy listening to new ideas and seeing different tactics. Andrew, I really enjoyed your lesson plan of writing to a person in the past for a history lesson. This is such a neat idea and I hope you get to teach this some day! I know I would enjoy this as a student. I remember one time in elementary school (don't remember what grade) we wrote letters to the president and I thought that this was just the most awesome thing ever!

Desired Results From Unit Plan

What my students should know from the water cycle unit:

After completing my unit plan about the water cycle for 5th grade, I would like my students to be able to define and give examples for, precipitation, evaporation, and condensation. My students should also be able to draw pictures and know the flow/path of the water cycle. 

Lesson Plans

 

Examples From Class

I have never formally did a lesson plan assignment beforehand so I was a little nervous going into it. When approaching this assignment I wasn't really sure what to do and how to do it. After hearing Angela's and Ali's lesson plans, I feel more comfortable with what I am doing. I really appreciate people (like these ladies) who are willing to go first and get feedback, so the rest of the class can learn from what they did/didn't do. Thank you guys for doing such great examples so I can feel better about what I am doing!!

Formative Assessments vs. Performance Tasks

 

Formative Assessments

A formative assessments is something the teacher does throughout the lesson to make sure their students are understanding the concepts. After gathering this data through small checkpoints, the teacher can then go back and change the lesson plans. If half your students still aren't understanding an idea, then you should probably spend one more day on it to try and get more understanding from your students. 

Performance Tasks

A performance task is task or test the students do at the very end of a unit to show their understanding of what was being taught. This only happens once throughout a unit to ensure that the student fully understands. This one is always a tricky one to be able to identify. The task doesn't always have to be "performed" and that's what throws some people off when identifying this task. 

Think of formative assessments as the quizzes you do throughout the lessons and the performance tasks as the test you do at the very end of the unit. 

Formative Assessment Example:

"Class if you understand how to properly use a microscope, give me thumbs up. If you are unsure, put your thumb in the middle, and if you need some more practice, thumbs down."

Performance Tasks Example:

"Okay for your final task, I want you to properly use this microscope to find a single cell organism. Once you find it, keep it there, and I will be by to check."

Marzano's Nine Strategies

Non-linguistic representations

One of the Nine Strategies of Marzano's is Non-linguistic representations.  Researchers say that with this strategy..

"Students should create graphic representations, models, mental pictures, drawings, pictographs, and participate in kinesthetic (hands-on) activities in order to assimilate knowledge." 

More information here

In the classroom this could look like:

• Visual tools and manipulatives
• Problem-solution organizers
• Diagrams
• Concept maps
• Drawings, charts, thinking maps, etc.
• Act out content

I chose to talk about this strategy because I think it'll be most useful with my lesson plan I am creating. The lesson I chose was a science lesson for 5th grade, learning about the water cycle. This strategy would be most beneficial because it's always easier to explain things when you have a picture of diagram. After looking at several examples of the water cycle, the students would create their own diagram and even do hands on activities with it. I remember when I was in school learning about this, I enjoyed being able to put water in a zip lock bag and hanging it in the window. Over a few days, you would see the water level go down, and the condensation on the lining of the bag. Like I said in my last post, VISUALS ARE IMPORTANT!! :) 

Thinking Maps

Bridge Maps

So today in class, we learned about thinking maps that can be implemented in any grade, any subject. These thinking maps are so cool and can be great visuals to teach a wide variety of topics. Below are some examples of thinking maps that are commonly used (I found this on Pinterest. They have so many great examples!!)

 

The one I wanted to focus on the most was the bridge maps because for me personally, it's the hardest to understand.
Some examples for bridge maps include:
  

You can use these for language (picture 1), reading (picture 2), and math (picture 3). I am such a visual learner, so seeing these even now, would help me understand certain concepts better. Charts are fun and useful for the classroom because you can create them as a group and leave hanging up in the classroom for future reference. I love visuals so I will be using PLENTY of visuals in my classroom. 

Madeline Hunter Lesson Plan

Madeline Hunter Lesson Plan

When learning about this new idea of a lesson plan I was kind of overwhelmed at first. How is a teacher supposed to do that much planning and modifying for just ONE lesson. Teaching has always been a passion of mine and I knew from the age of 13 that I was meant to be a teacher. Both my parents are teachers and I grew up loving the idea of impacting younger people.

So was this one little piece of teaching going to intimidate me, and push me away?? Of course not! It'll be a learning process to figure out, but that's what school is for right? To learn!

The part of this lesson plan that will be the hardest for me is the Modifications under Closure. I'm not really sure about what to do if a student doesn't get what I'm saying after I've explained it a couple different ways.

The part that will be easiest, will be the Technology Used. Anymore, technology has made its way into the classroom and for sure making impacts on students' learning for the better.

The part that has the most impact on the students is the Teaching. This is where they are listening to YOU and learning from YOU! To them, you know everything, and they want to know all that they can from you!

The parts the play a lesser role is the Independent Practice. A lot of this will come from what of the lesson they understand already. If taught well, this will be an easy transition time more activities.

Writing Objectives

Are Writing Objectives Important?

Why are writing objectives important when it comes to lesson plans? These are goals of what you want your students to leave the classroom understanding the topic or subject. They are important because it tells the students what the important idea is to take away from the lesson. Allowing for students to see this objective (ex. writing it on the board, in simpler form) before actually teaching it, let's your students know what to expect and gives them a heads up for what's to come.

Example Objective

Given a towel, soap, the leash, and the hose, my brother will be able to give my dog a bath the first time I ask.