Student Teaching
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world".
- Nelson Mandela
Tie-Dye Milk Experiment
This science experiment was a fun, interactive lesson I conducted in my first grade class at Scholls Heights Elementary. Students prepared for their experiment by forming hypotheses about how milk, dye, and soap might interact with each other. During the experiment, we shared our experiment observations and excitement with classmates. After clean up, we gathered together to analyze which hypotheses were correct and why we thought these ingredients acted the way they did.
Good Reading Habits
As our first graders learn to read, my mentor teacher and I follow Lucy Calkins' Units of Study to teach different reading habits. During our first lesson, we read a book to our students and modeled each of the following bad habits that readers should avoid:
The Freeze - When students stop reading as soon as they encounter a word they don't know.
The Mumble - When students mumble over a word they don't know and continue reading.
The Tell Me - When students ask for help with a word they don't know, without trying to sound out the word on their own first.
The Blooper - When students quickly guess a word they don't know, without trying to sound out the word on their own first.
During the following lesson, we read a book to our students while demonstrating good reading habits that could use when reading on their own. All these habits encourage our students to be confident, self efficient readers!
Reading Buddies
During my literature course at Pacific, we partnered with the Early Learning Community to work with one reading buddy for four weeks. Over the course of our sessions I had the pleasure of working with Cadel, a second grade boy. The goal of this partnership was to get to know him as a reader. I was able to use my learned literacy analysis techniques to determine Cadel's strengths and weaknesses, and encourage his love of reading. One technique I used to promote Cadel's interest in reading was to assist him in writing his own language experience story. This was a book about Lego people that Cadel dictated and illustrated all by himself, I just facilitated the physical product. We had a blast working on this together and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience!
Expressive Arts Training
As part of my courses at Pacific University, I had the opportunity to experience and practice a variety of subjects. My favorite, of course, was Expressive Arts. Below are images from some of our culture lessons on aboriginal rock art and mask making!
Measurement Unit
At Scholls Heights, we use Engage NY math curriculum, which aligns with Oregon's Common Core State Standards.
One of the kids' favorite units this Spring has been measurement. In these photos, you can see partners focused on measuring various classroom supplies with centimeter cubes!
