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Once again the original lesson was modified to accommodate a third grade class. The lesson is the dramatization of a poem ‘Life of a Plant’. Originally it was planned for eight speaking parts, but instead I divided the class into groups of two and or three students. The students were given time to read the poem and practice their interpretation of it. So that all the students could participate in the dramatization, I read or another teacher read the poem as they performed it. I used a digital camera to capture some of the students as they performed. The students appeared to thoroughly enjoy acting out the poem. I only had one student who would not participate in the activity.

I modified this lesson for the new class. My new teacher has been very accommodating, and she gave me some time to review plants with her class so I could use some of my unit plan. I reviewed parts of plants and their functions with the students. The teacher wanted me to cover the plant life cycle, and since I was able to find a computer program on Inspiration to do this, the students and I scheduled time in the computer lab. This was a learning experience for all of us. Using the diagram function in this program we each built our own plant life cycle. We started off together step by step, but some students quickly mastered the program and we off and running. Of course, other students experienced some problems, and we worked through them.

The lesson was for students to explore plants by way of a nature walk. It rained on this day. However when I moved over to another grade, the class was scheduled for a field trip to a nature reserve so the students got to explore nature up close. We walked along trails and we learned how the availability of specific plants affect animal populations. Students even got to hug a tree. They were blindfolded and walked to a tree then they were walked around to disorient them. When the blindfold was removed the student was asked to find the tree. The students had fun on this trip and learned a lot about nature.

My IT experience did not go as planned. As instructed I gave lesson plans and a weekly schedule to my teacher, who handed them back to me without comment. Prior to IT I realized that giving up control of her class was going to be an issue with my teacher, and it was. After the first day I could tell things were not going well. She apparently didn’t think I was following her schedule, even though the time slots on my weekly schedule mirrored her’s.  The first day was the only day she stayed out of the room, for the rest of the first week she was in the room. In addition, she wanted me to do things her way. She uses worksheets and would pull them out and ’suggest’ I use them. One day I put morning work out for the students, and she replaced it with something else. The student’s in this class are difficult to control at the best of time, and this situation didn’t help. After one week I talked with my teacher (coordinated with UF) and at the conclusion of the conversation I had the impression that we had come to a mutally agreeable arrangement. The next day my UF, teacher and I met and confirmed the arrangement. But, nothing changed. She continued to stay in the room. She could not give up control of the class. By the end of the second week, I’d had enough of this situation, and I requested to be moved out of this class. So, at the end of the third week I was moved to a new class and different grade. Now I’m trying to modify some of the lessons I’d planned for the lower grade for this class. At least I’ve had the opportunity to use some technology with them. And, although I’m only teaching a few lesson to the students in this class, its a so much better than my original class.

Day two was a little rough. Several of the students in the class are routinely disruptive, and today was no exception. Way too much time of my time was spent correcting behavior. There are few routines in the class, and nothing I’ve seen reflects a classroom community. The students are constantly bickering among themselves or tattling on each other. Consequently, getting them settled down and ready to learn took time away from I had planned for the lesson. I turned on the Smartboard and the Discover Streaming Video (Plant Parts and Their Uses). After the students watched the video, we sang the song, Parts of a Plant to the tune of ‘The Wheels on the Bus’. A number of the students can’t follow directions, so getting them to find a space so that they weren’t touching each other took for ever, and then I had bench a couple of students because they wouldn’t stay in one place. What should have taken 20 minutes, took 40 minutes.

The first lesson went well and the students were very enthusiastic about doing hands on science. Initially,I planned on reading the students a story before starting with the hands on part of the lesson, but as I’ve learned from working with the students in this class, everything takes much more time than I expect. Instead of reading the story before the lesson, I read it earlier in the day, but I read Miss Rumphius instead of Johnny Appleseed.  Part of the lesson involved using the Smartboard and showing the students a  short video about seeds. When I did the science part the students really enjoyed using the magnifying glass to look at the parts of the seed, and other things they found in and around their desks. I’d soaked the seeds ahead of time, so they were able to take the seed coat off and open it up. After looking at the seed, I gave them each two seeds and they ‘planted’ them in their prepared plastic bag. This was done the week prior to spring break, so when Friday arrived I told the students to take them home, and record what they see in their plant book. None of the plants came back after the break. Some students said their seeds died, and others had been thrown away. Only a few students actually took care of the seeds, and planted them when they developed shoots. If I did this again, I would not ‘plant’ unless I had a least 2 weeks for the students to observe the seed growth.  For this lesson the students were fine, but subsequent lessons didn’t go so well.

As a new teacher I realize that while I may have a basic foundation in teaching, I still have a lot to learn, and I believe the real learning will take place when I’m faced with a roomful of children. I recognize that I can learn alot from experienced teachers, and I am hopeful that in establishing a good working relationship with them that they will be willing to share their knowledge and experience with me. I need their support, guidance and honest constructive criticism, because without it how do I improve. I may not always agree with a particular approach to teaching, but I believe that one can disagree without being disagreeable. Respect is the basis of any good working relationship.

Plants – Day 5

                                                                                                  Grade Level:  1

                                                                                                  Date: April, 2009

I.          Objective

• Students will be able to assume a role and perform it in a classroom dramatization.

            VA Science SOL:

            SOL: 1.1 The student will conduct investigations in which

            a)  differences in physical properties are observed using the senses

            b)  simple tools are used to enhance observations;

            d)  observations and data are communicated orally and with simple graphs, pictures,                                          written statements, and numbers;

            e)  length, mass, and volume are measured using standard and nonstandard units

            National Arts Standard: Dance K-4

            Content Standard: 1 Identifying and demonstrating movement elements and skills in performing dance.

            National Arts Standard: Drama K-4

            Content Standard: 2 Acting by assuming roles and interacting in improvisations

II.        Materials

• 12 copies of Risa Jordan’s poem Life of a Plant.  Each copy will have the student readers name on it and their lines will be highlighted. They will be numbered in order of reading.
• 1 copy of Joan M. Daniels short story It’s Me – a Seed!
• Students’ masks or puppets
• Video recorder
• 25 1” tiles

III        Procedure

• Teacher will gather students together on the carpet and explain that today we will be performing our Readers Theatre poem Life of a Plant, but before that we will all learn what we do in a theatre.
• Teacher will establish the rules.
• Teacher will act out the rules. For example, listening quietly and sitting still in the chair during the reading, except for when the reader mentions the part of the plant that matches the mask or puppet the student made earlier in the week. The teacher will model holding up a mask or puppet.
• Teacher will ask the Readers Theatre group to read the poem, and while they are reading she models how she wants the audience to respond before, during and after the reading. ( 3 min)
• Teacher will ask the students who are reading the poem to move to the rear of the room and practice.
• Teacher will allow time for questions/clarification of instructions.( 2 min)
• Teacher will give the students their puppets or masks.
• Teacher asks the students to listen to the poem as she reads it and hold up their puppet/mask when they hear the part of the plant that matches it.
• Teacher will repeat reading the poem and the students will respond with their puppets/masks. ( 2 min)
• Teacher will call readers back to the group, and have them practice with the other students. When the readers and students understand what each are to do then we will have our performance.  (12 min)
• Using a video camera the teacher will record the performance.
• At the end of the Readers Theatre performance the teacher will allow time for questions/comments from the audience.( 1 min)
• Teacher will then have the students find their space (remind them how to do this).
• When all the students are in place, the teacher will ask them to sit on the floor, close their eyes and listen to the story.
• At the end of the story she will ask them to imagine that they are the seed in the story and to act out what is happening to it. ( 3 min)
• Rules and expectations will be addressed. Students who cannot control their behavior will not be allowed to participate in the activity. They will sit at the front table and complete a worksheet activity instead.
• Teacher will read a little of the story and model acting like the seed.
• Teacher will allow time for questions/clarifications.(2 min)
• Teacher will read the story. (3 min)
• At the end of the story, the teacher will ask the student what they thought about pretending to be a seed.
• Teacher will allow time for discussion/comments.(2 min)
• Teacher will summarize the lesson, and students will return to their seats.
• Time permitting, students will be allowed to observe and record the development of their seed experiment in their Plant notebook.

IV        Assessment

• Teacher will use both the video recording and observation of the students’ interpretive performance of the story “It’s Me – a Seed!”

V.        Differentiation

• Limited and none English speakers will be paired with English speaking students who have the same plant part for the Readers Theatre.
• Teacher will record the story in Spanish and alternate playing it with reading the English version. 

VI.       Extension

• In addition to reading the lines of the poem Life of a Plant, students will act it out, or sing it to a known tune.

Plants – Day 4

                                                                                                 Grade Level:  1

                                                                                                  Date: April, 2009

I.       Objective

• Students will be able to explain how plants are classified by certain characteristics.

            VA Science SOL:

            SOL: 1.1 The student will conduct investigations in which

            a)  differences in physical properties are observed using the senses

            b)  simple tools are used to enhance observations;

            d)  observations and data are communicated orally and with simple graphs, pictures,                                          written statements, and numbers;

            e)  length, mass, and volume are measured using standard and nonstandard units

            SOL: 1.4 The student will investigate and understand that plants have life needs and functional                   parts and can be classified according to certain characteristics. Key concepts include

            b) parts (seeds, roots, stems, leaves, blossoms, fruits)

            c) objects or events are classified and arranged according to attributes or properties

            VA Math Standard:

            SOL: 1.12 The student will use nonstandard units to measure length and weight.

VA Language Arts Standards:

SOL: 1.1 The student will continue to demonstrate growth in the use of oral language.

            a)  Listen and respond to a variety of media, including books, audiotapes, videos, and other age- appropriate materials.

            SOL: 1.11 The student will print legibly.

            a) Form letters.

            b) Space words and sentences.

            SOL: 1.12 The student will write to communicate ideas.

            b) Focus on one topic.

            c) Use descriptive words when writing about people, places, things, and events.

            National Arts Standard: Dance K-4

            Content Standard: 1 Identifying and demonstrating movement elements and skills in performing dance.

II.      Materials

• Book: The Reason for a Flower by Ruth Heller
• 25 1 inch tiles for measuring
• Smartboard
• Powerpoint plant sort game
• Students plant notebooks

III     Procedure

• Teacher will gather students on the carpet and explain that today we will review what we have learned about plants and briefly talk about how we sort plants. We will then play a plant sort game on the Smartboard. Finally, we will form small groups and each person in a group will pretend to be part of a plant. This game is called “You Can’t Take Me.”
• Teacher will explain that when we get to the final game more instructions will be given.
• Teacher will quickly review what we know about plants: parts of seeds, parts of plants and their functions, and how seeds are dispersed. Teacher will explain that today part of the lesson will be about how we sort plants. Some plants have flowers, some do not. Some plants we can eat – teacher will remind students about the first day when we had some fruits and vegetables- and some we cannot. Finally, some plants have no leaves in the winter and some plants do have leaves. Teacher will introduce words to describe these plants -deciduous and evergreen.
• Teacher will read aloud the book, The Reason for a Flower by Ruth Heller.
• Teacher will allow time for comments/discussion.( 10 min)
• Teacher will have PowerPoint picture game ready.
• Teacher will turn on Smartboard.
• Teacher will allow time for students to play the game.( 10 min)
• At the end of the work time teacher will allow students time for questions/clarification.(2min)
• Teacher will ask students to return to their table.
• Teacher will have students count off one through four. Teacher will review each group to make sure that students with limited English are not all in one group. Groups will be of mixed English language ability. The one none English speaking student will be placed with her friend who is a proficient English speaker.
• Teacher will ask each group of four students to choose a part of a plant: root, stem, leaf, or seed.
• Teacher will describe the game of “You Can’t Take Me.” Each part of the plant is important, so if you take that away then the plant won’t survive.
• The students will pretend to be a plant and the teacher will go from plant to plant and select a student to ‘take’. The student will have to respond by telling the teacher why they cannot be taken because of the function of that part of the plant. For example: If the teacher wants to take the student who is the leaf, the student will respond by telling the teacher, “You can’t take me because I am a leaf and I make food for the rest of the plant. The plant won’t live without me.”
• Teacher will allow time for questions/clarification about the game. (3 min)
• Rules and expectation will be addressed. Students who cannot work with their group will be removed from the group and placed at the table at the front of the room where they will be given review worksheets.   
• Teacher will allow time for the game. ( 10 min) 
• At the end of the time the teacher will direct the students back to their tables.
• While students are moving back to their tables, the teacher will pass out the students’ seed experiments and a 1” tile.
• Teacher will ask students to observe their plant and record their observations. The tile is to measure growth of shoots or roots on the seed.
• Teacher will allow time for measuring and observation.( 8 min)
• Teacher will collect student experiments and tiles.
• The teacher will summarize the lesson on parts of the plant and their functions, and on how we sort plants. For example: loosing their leaves in the fall, being edible or not, and if they have flowers or not. ( 2 min)

IV.    Assessment

• The teacher will use anecdotal record of students’ performance on the Power point plant sort game.

V.    Differentiation

• ESOL students will be grouped in heterogeneous groups, so that a proficient English speaker is available within their group to translate instructions, questions, and responses.

VI.   Extension

• Students who finish early can choose to:

            a) If they have a reading part in the Readers Theatre they can practice reading their part of the poem.

            b) Can select a book on plants and/or seeds to read.

Plants – Day 3

                                                                                                 Grade Level:  1

                                                                                                 Date: April, 2009

I.      Objective

• Students will be able to explain how seeds travel.

          The purpose of taking the students on a nature walk is for them to see plants growing in nature. They need to see actual plant roots, stems, leaves and flowers to help them understand how each part helps the plant grow and survive. I’ll take pictures of the plants that the students identify as interesting. I’m using the technology I have a level of comfort using.

VA Language Arts Standards:

SOL: 1.1 The student will continue to demonstrate growth in the use of oral language.

            a)  Listen and respond to a variety of media, including books, audiotapes, videos, and other age-appropriate materials.

            SOL: 1.11 The student will print legibly.

            a) Form letters.

            b) Space words and sentences.

            SOL: 1.12 The student will write to communicate ideas.

            b) Focus on one topic.

            c) Use descriptive words when writing about people, places, things, and events.

            VA Math Standard:

            SOL: 1.12 The student will use nonstandard units to measure length and weight.

            VA Science Standards:

            SOL: 1.1 The student will conduct investigations in which

            a)  differences in physical properties are observed using the senses

            b)  simple tools are used to enhance observations

            d)  observations and data are communicated orally and with simple graphs,pictures, written statements, and numbers.

            SOL: 1.4 The student will investigate and understand that plants have life needs and functional parts and can be classified according to certain characteristics. Key concepts include:

            b) parts (seeds, roots, stems, leaves, blossoms, fruits)

            SOL: 1.7 The student will investigate and understand the relationship of seasonal change and weather to the activities and life processes of plants and animals. Key concepts include how temperature, light, and precipitation bring about changes in

            a) plants (growth, budding, falling leaves, and wilting).

II      Materials

• Book: The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
• 25 Magnifying glasses
• small gardening trowel
• 25 1 inch tiles for measuring
• Digital camera
• Plant notebooks
• 25 Pencils
• 3 Clipboards
• Folder with worksheets
• Whistle
• Watch
• Smartboard

III    Procedure

• Teacher will gather students together and explain that for the lesson today we will read a book about how seeds travel and then we will walk around the school grounds and, using magnifying glasses, look at plants and record what we see (write/draw) in our plant notebooks.
• Rules and expectation will be address. Students who run, don’t listen, or are not doing as they’re supposed to be doing will not be able to continue working with the group. These students will spend the time on a bench completing work sheets.

• Weather permitting the teacher will take the students outside and gather them together and ask them what they know about how seeds travel.
• Teacher will allow time for comments/questions (2 min)
• Teacher will explain to students that Mother Nature has adapted plants in many ways to ensure that seeds can travel and new plants can grow.
• Teacher will show the students the book The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle and then read it. ( 7 min)
• After reading the teacher will allow time for questions/comments.(3 min)
• Teacher will specify the area in which the students must stay.
• Teacher will allow students to self select groups of 4 or 5 assuming they are not all low English language ability students within the group.
• Teacher will give each student a magnifying glass and their notebook and pencil.
• Teacher will take students outside and ask them to identify the plant parts.( 4 min)
• Teacher will allow students to work in groups and will circulate among them taking digital pictures of some of the plant parts the students identify.
• Teacher will allow students 15 minutes to explore plants.
• Teacher will gather the students and return inside to the carpet. ( 4min)
• Teacher will ask for student volunteers to share what they observed.
• Teacher will allow time for sharing.
• Teacher will pose a question: “The principal doesn’t have someone put the seeds in the ground so these plants grow, so how do you think they get there?” Teacher will remind students about the book we read The Tiny Seed.
• Teacher will write down the students’ responses. (5 min)
• Teacher will summarize, and ask the students to return to their tables.
• Teacher will distribute the students’ bean experiments.
• Teacher will ask students to observe their bean seed and record what’s happening in their Plant notebook, and to measure any growth in the bean shoots and roots using a l” tile (these will be passed out a the same time as the experiments).
• Teacher will give students time to record their observations.( 5 min)
• While students are working teacher will upload pictures from camera to computer, turn on Smartboard and then show the photographs to the students.
• Teacher will gather up the bean experiments, and again quickly summarize the day’ activity.( 1 min)

IV    Assessment

• Teacher will use anecdotal records to note interest and activity of students outside and their responses to the question about how seeds travel.

V     Differentiation

• Low ESOL students will be mixed during this activity with students who are higher level English language speakers.

VI   Extension

• Gifted students can take samples of plants from the nature walk and perform research to find out information about the plant.
• Start a plant book. Press plant specimens into a student made book, and record data about the plant alongside the plant specimen. Decorate the book cover.