For Tara and James this is their first time teaching a full class so I was looking forward to seeing them teach! They started their direct instruction lesson by going over the class rules. I like how they asked the students to repeat the rules so it stuck with them. Next the teachers explained the teacher vs class game and the students were very excited to play it once again. What I thought was funny was that the students asked if the teachers had prizes for them because my group gave them prizes when they won. Next the teachers explained that they had the thumbs up and thumbs down popsicles and the students were to use them to show how well they understood the lesson. After explaining this the teachers explained what a life cycle was and went through the different types of them such as the plant and flower life cycle. Every time the teachers wanted the students to write something down on their note sheet, they had a worm on the board that they named Walter. I thought this was such a cute idea and the students really loved it. I liked how organized the teachers were. They handed out folders that had the students note sheets and independent practice worksheet. The teachers kept asking students questions throughout the lesson to check for their understanding and I thought that was really great. They explained what worms are and how they use their compost for nutrients. The check for understanding that I really loved was the “what worms DO eat what worms DONT eat” chart.
The teachers asked the students to come to the board and place the food the teachers printed out under the correct column. This was a great way to get students involved and got them to critically think. I wish the teachers checked with the whole class after a student placed their answer. It’s important to make sure everyone in the class is on the same page because if not you know you have to go back and reteach. For the guided practice the students were asked to come to the board and match the word with the correct definition. Here the teachers could have asked the students to use their thumbs up and down popsicles to see if they agree. The independent practice consisted of a worksheet where the students had to fill in the stages of the plant and worm life cycle. At the end of the lesson Dr. Smirnova’s husband came in to talk to the students about gardening which I thought was really cool!! The students seemed to really enjoy this lesson and the teachers were really confident and knew all the information they were teaching. The powerpoint was very colorful and engaging.
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