Friday, April 6, 2012

Lesson- The Giving Tree

  My partner Alexis and I did a lesson about The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. I have always enjoyed this book since I was younger and always felt the book had such a meaningful message. The main theme of the story was sharing. To prepare for our lesson, Alexis and I decided that I would be in charge of the disciplinary procedure for the lesson and she would create the mock bulletin board for our lesson.
  The main objectives were for the students to grasp the ideas of sharing and be able to express their understanding using writing, drawing and speaking. To assess the students we walked around while the class was working to read over their work in a more personal one-on-one approach.
  The lesson for the most part was executed the same way it was planned. The only adjustments made were done toward the end of the lesson. The changes made had to be done because we  estimated for more time for the students to share their projects.
  Overall, the most important thing we aimed to teach the students was about sharing with others. We really stressed this throughout all aspects of our lesson. I felt comfortable with how the lesson went and surprised that we did not have many, if any really major disciplinary issues. To change the lesson I would have used more arts and crafts projects to really keep the students engaged throughout the lesson.
Yet, in the end I was happy with how the lesson turned out and would keep the same plan if I were to teach the story in the future. I really felt my partner and I worked well together. Also, I was really happy to be able to incorporate my glogster and the SMARTboard into the lesson. I truly enjoyed being about to see how useful the technology we have been learning about could be integrated into a lesson.