Reflection

=Reflection =

 Social Studies Reflection #1 Date: 11-3-09 Time: 30 minutes Grade: 2nd Topic: Maps/Pennsylvania

Content of the lesson: The second grade students had a quick review regarding characteristics of a map. New content was taught based on Pennsylvania and the counties in the state. Major instruction: Direct instruction, teacher used an overhead as well as a read aloud. Students were involved during map activity. Technology used: Overhead projector. Student’s reactions: Students were involved during the read aloud of __K is for Keystone__ and were excited when they were able to connect their prior knowledge to a part in the text. The students were also connected during the map activity and enjoyed locating the different counties. Effectiveness of instruction: Students were engaged during the activity; I am unsure of the effectiveness of the lesson. The district does not have Social Studies in their curriculum so they are not revisiting the information very often. The students seemed to grasp the characteristics of a map, but the lesson may have been a nice way to start to teach them more about Pennsylvania. Strength of instruction: I felt the teacher did a great job with connecting to their background knowledge, and having various pieces of instruction through a read aloud and interactive map activity. Things you would suggest for improvement: If I could make one suggestion for the lesson, I would include more information about the main cities of Pennsylvania so that students can connect more easily to the information being taught. How would you do it differently? If I were to teach this lesson differently, I would have reviewed the map characteristics similarly to what the teacher did and then I would have read the __K is for Keystone.__ After reading, I would have had an activity regarding the book and then probably would have saved the other activity for a separate day so I could spend more time on it.

Social Studies Reflection #2 Date: 11-10-09 Time: 30 minutes Grade: 1st Topic: Thanksgiving Content of the lesson: This lesson was to help the students point out differences between the ways we celebrate Thanksgiving today versus the way that it was celebrated many years ago. Major instruction: Read-aloud Technology used: N/A Student’s reactions: Students were engaged during the read aloud and enjoyed the story very much. After reading the story, the teacher had the students fill out a graphic organizer comparing the way the pilgrims celebrated Thanksgiving and the way they celebrate Thanksgiving. Students were excited and had a lot of great ideas! Effectiveness of instruction: I felt this was a very grade appropriate lesson and the students seemed to grasp the teacher’s goal. They were able to fill out the graphic organizer with minimal support which helped to show me that she did a great job! Strength of instruction: The instruction was very good! The teacher did a great job of previewing the text, reading the text, stopping and talking about it as she read, and then concluding with a graphic organizer. Things you would suggest for improvement: Based on the grade level of the students, I feel that the teacher did a great job during this lesson. How would you do it differently? If I were to teach this lesson, I would have the students participate in a very similar lesson with a read aloud and a graphic organizer. I also would think about having a quick writing activity to sum the lesson up. 