Almost Done!

Group 4 - Indirect Lesson

Again this was another good lesson put together by group 4, especially working with some undesirable conditions. During this lesson the 2nd grade teacher informed the group that there was going to be a fire drill about 15 minutes into the lesson. Knowing this the group started a little bit early to make up for possible loss of time. Though there did not end up being a fire drill, the group did a great job working during the stressful situation. Again their were several parts of this lesson that I really enjoyed.

One aspect of the lesson that I thought was done well was during their presentation the projector overheated. This was very inconveniencing because their lesson was all on a PowerPoint, but this did not stop them. Group 4 simply went on with lesson and taught from memory. They made sure to give students all the information they needed to move on with the lesson. 

Another aspect of the lesson that I really enjoyed was that they used the artifact bag activity that we had learned about in class earlier in the semester. I liked being able to see this method done in an elementary setting. I thought it was great that all groups had different artifacts in their bags, but they all related back to the idea of Native Americans and how they used these items and how the item they had could be traded. I really think the students were very excited about this activity. 

One final aspect of the lesson that I thought was done well was students were given jobs and told exactly what they needed to do. For the most part I feel like the students stuck with their jobs and at the end the final product turned out nicely. 

If I had to change one aspect of this lesson I might not have used the SOAPS idea or might have focused more time on teaching it to the students. This idea seemed hard for many students to understand and they really did not fully understand what it was used for. I do think that it would work much better in a classroom with slightly older students, because I do think it is a good tool that could be very beneficial. 

Final Group!

Group 4 - Direct Lesson

Group 4 had the topic of trading and transporting goods. I think they did a wonderful job teaching. Being the last group they had a lot of time to prepare and were able to listen and use the feedback that was given to the previous groups. This group really gave off a great energy and really put together some great lessons. There were several aspects of the lesson that I really enjoyed. 

One aspect that I really enjoyed was that the group gave the students a story to go with. They called themselves the Happy Traders and they were a band that had been on tour. I think this was a great way to grab the students attention.

I also liked how the group made and sang a song for the students. The song was all about trading and it was easy for students to join in and sing. 

One final aspect of the lesson that I thought was done very well was the vocabulary was taught and reviewed a lot. Students were given definitions, examples, and were asked to repeat definitions. This really helped to reinforce the new vocabulary and I really think it helped the students remember the new words and there meanings. 

If I had to change one aspect of the lesson I would not have given the students the Popsicle sticks. Each student was given a Popsicle stick with form of transportation on it. They were used to identify the groups and for students to use when they agreed or disagreed with something. I noticed that these sticks were very distracting for most students. They were playing with the sticks instead of focusing on the lesson. 

Overall Group 4 did a great job! I really enjoyed the lesson and look forward to observing their indirect lesson. 

Let's Watch Once More!

Group 3 - Cooperative Lesson

This was Group 3's last lesson and it was one of my favorites. Students had the chance to make their own businesses. They had to make decisions, work with money, and create a final poster with all their information. 

One aspect of the lesson that I enjoyed was that they reviewed all the jobs that students need to do. They also assigned students their jobs which sped up the process because student's were not arguing about who would do what. 

I also liked how groups were practicing what they were going to say before they went up in front of the whole class. This helped the students be more prepared when they had to present. 

One final thing that I really enjoyed was that the students had a chance to evaluate how they worked in their groups. They were given a sheet of paper and they had to identify things they did well and thing they could have improved on. 

If I had to change one aspect of the lesson I would have tried to enforce student jobs a bit more. I noticed that some students were doing other student jobs or some jobs were not being done. For example the timekeeper, this was a hard job to do without a timer. The use of a timer on the board would have been very helpful, but this was something that other groups could have done as well. 

Great Job Group 3! I really enjoyed observing your lessons, they were all very well done!! 

Let's Watch Again!

Group 3 - Indirect Lesson

Group 3 did a great job with their indirect lesson.  

One aspect of the lesson that I really enjoyed was the skits that Group 3 did during their introduction. They used these skits to reinforce the vocabulary they had learned in the previous lesson. Students were able to share what they thought was being shown in the skits. 

Another aspect of the lesson that I enjoyed was the Voki. They used George Washington as the Voki character. I like how they used Washington in their first lesson and were now bringing him back for the second lesson. He is somebody that the students have heard of and I think that made it more exciting for the students. 

One final aspect that I like was that they modeled the Inquiry process for the students. This is a very important thing to do during and indirect lesson. This helped students know what they were expected to do. It made the lesson move much smoother. 

If I had to change one aspect of the lesson I would have changed some of the terms used when doing the inquiry process. Some of these words were hard for students to say and I am not sure if they really knew what some of the words meant. This made it difficult for them to present the information that they came up with to the class. 

Overall this was another successful lesson. I really enjoyed observing this lesson because again I was able to see a successful indirect lesson, which was something my group struggled with!

Let's Watch!

Group 3 - Direct Lesson

Group 3 focused on the topic of trip to the bank. They had a lot of creative ideas, and there were many things that I enjoyed. The lesson were put together very well and I really enjoyed observing. 

One thing I really enjoyed about the lesson was the money boxes. Each group of students received a box and whenever the group was listening, paying attention, or answering questions they were rewarded money in their box. Also if students were miss behaving money was taken out of their box. This was a great way to keep students on task because they want to earn as much money as possible. I think Group 3 had the most control over the class because of this fun and creative method!

Another aspect of the lesson that I enjoyed was the video that went over all the new vocabulary terms. The topic of trip to the bank included a lot of vocabulary words that students needed to know, so I think that the video was fun and helped to reinforce the new words. Students seemed interested the whole time and really seemed to enjoy the video!

One final aspect of the lesson that I enjoyed was the activity where each student received a bag with picture and a sheet of paper and the students had to put the different pictured in sequence. I think the students really enjoyed this activity because it was hands on.

If I had to change one aspect of the lesson I would have tried to have students engaged at all times. during some of the activities after the group finished they began fooling around and getting noisy. Maybe students could have been given a fun activity sheet or something to keep them busy while other groups finished up. 

Overall you did a great job group 3! I loved your lesson and I really think the students did as well. I look forward to observing your indirect lesson.

Stepping Back Again!

Group 2 - Indirect Lesson

Group 2 did a great job with their indirect lesson plan! I was eager to see this lesson because it is the lesson that my group had the most trouble with. There were some many things that I enjoyed about this lesson. From beginning to end I thought it was done very well.

I liked that they used a Voki to get the attention of the students. They did not just used the Voki in the beginning they also constantly referred back to it during their lesson. This kept the students thinking about the message and what they needed to do. They also had a follow up message, which should students that their hard work was appreciated. 

I like how they went through the inquiry process with the students. They modeled for the students on the board before having them work in groups. During this time they showed students how they should be thinking and what steps they need to take. They also went over a hypothesis. They emphasized that your hypothesis might not always be right and that's okay. I thought it was great that they showed an example where their hypothesis was wrong, this really helped to reinforce the idea for the students. 

One final aspect of the lesson that I really liked was that they went over all the different jobs that need to be in a group. They also assigned students specific jobs rather then having them choose their own. Some students did not like this at first, but they quickly got over it and did a great job with the job they were given. 

I thought this was a great lesson, but if I had to change one thing I would say next time when doing the Voki instead of using the website voice try recording your own voice. I think this would have made the Voki seem more really for the students. 

Stepping Back to Watch!

Group 2 - Direct Lesson

Group 2 introduced the class to the topic of goods from the factory to you. They did a great job putting together their lesson and there were several aspects of the lesson that I enjoyed. 

The first thing I really enjoyed about the lesson was the Verizon skit the group did to introduce the lesson. This was a great way to get the students interested in the lesson. It was different and fun for the students. 

Another part of the lesson that I thought was very good was that they went over the new vocabulary in several different ways. Students were hearing several different new words, such as producer, consumer, advertisement etc. Group 2 did several different activities to reinforce these new words. They first had a PowerPoint presentation with all the new words, then a SMARTBoard activity, and also a worksheet.

One other aspect of the lesson that I enjoyed was the video about how crayons are made. I like how it showed the crayons being made in the factory. Students all paid close attention to the video, I think they like it because it was a product that they are very familiar with. I thought the video was a great idea!

If I had to change one aspect of the lesson, I might have collected the Popsicle sticks when the students no longer needed them. The Popsicle sticks had a green and red side, students used them to agree or disagree. I really like the idea, I just noticed that students began to play with them instead of paying attention to what they needed to do.  

Overall great job group 2! I really enjoyed observing your lesson and look forward to seeing what you have planned for lesson 2.