Conrad Johnson 

Dr. Hoyte

Education 492 - Student Teaching II

March 10, 2013

Reflection on Social Studies Lesson

            The first lesson I taught out of my four observations was Social Studies. My lesson was aimed to have my students understand why and how do communities develop differently. My students took with them the knowledge of the kinds of communities people live in. I also had my students make text-to-self connections between urban, rural, and suburban communities. After meeting with my professor he informed me that my lesson was an interdisciplinary lesson; it overlapped with English Language Arts. During my lesson, I conducted a shared reading with my students. As we read, I stopped and ask questions throughout the reading. This gave me the opportunity to conduct an informal assessment on my students to see how they answered the questions.  In my lesson, I provided my students with a video on the three different communities. The video gave my students a visual representation so they would have a clearer knowledge of the kinds of communities people live in. I also asked my students probing questions while we were going over the vocabulary words. I made my students understood the definitions with various examples of the different communities. When I asked my students questions I made them tapped into their prior knowledge to see what they know beforehand about the three different communities. The students were able to provide me with their own understanding and content base about the ranging communities.

            After reviewing my students work, my informal assessments, my cooperation teacher and professor feedback I can say my lesson turned out good. I constructed a table (f.g. 1 below) that reflects my students’ learning as it was related to my teaching point and my lesson objectives. The information that is presented to me from my table indicates that more than half the class understood what was asked of them to complete the graphic organizer.  As I taught my lesson, I wanted to see if my students were able to make personal connections to the three different communities. Some of my students were able to provide me with great connections. One student in particular, compared his house in his community (park slope – urban) to his family house in Westhampton (Suburbs “suburbia”).  The students were able to make actual connections that showed their comprehension of the three different communities.

During my post conference with my professor I learned that I need to effectively communicate my instructions so my students understand what is asked of them to do. I need to make my questions more specific and not too broad. The video I provided my students with exposed them to new terms that I did not address that would have been helpful to my students. During my shared reading I wanted to enhance my students map skills with a map from the text. However, it would have been useful if I used the smartboard to enlarge the map so all my students could of analyze the map at a larger view. Before I made my students complete their graphic organizers I should have modeled the activity to provide them with a visual aide. As the students were broken off to complete their work independently I provided my students with ample one-on-one support. After I collaborated with my cooperating teacher she informed me that for my next lesson I should differentiate the work. I should provide work to match students who are struggling, on task, and beyond. Reflecting back on my lesson I can agree with the authors when they say “all learning activities revolve around the central theme” (1997, p.g. 173). From looking at my students works who received explemary for their work showed me that they understood the focus of the lesson. My students who have exceptional learning needs showed me that the graphic organizer was a little advanced for some of them. For my next lesson, I will have to make sure the activities I am giving my students will be differentiated based upon their flexible grouping.

f.g. 1

Reference

Wolfinger, D. M., & Stockard Jr, J. W. (1997). Elementary methods: an integrated curriculum.     White Plains, N.Y.: Longman.