Teaching strategies
Within my curriculum unit spanning the course of three weeks, I plan to do a myriad of tasks centered on the picture books I have chosen. There will be an hour devoted to the stories in the morning Language Arts block (a total of 15 days), and 30-45 minutes in the Social Studies block every other day (a total of 7-8 days). In this section, I will outline how I will move through each of the three units, describe planned activities for each unit, and emphasize general questions that will be asked throughout to meet both the Virginia State Standards of Learning for second grade and, more importantly, my own objectives. Throughout the unit, I will be using the method outlined in Guided Listening by Lisa Donohue 11.
Throughout this unit, there will be a variety of learning strategies that will be used:
Cooperative groups
At times, students will learn in small groups of 3-4. They will each be encouraged to have a voice in the conversation. Roles may be assigned to each of the students in the group, such as a leader who helps facilitate the group, a recorder who will take notes, someone to clean up the area when the task is complete, and someone who is elected to be the only student to approach the teacher during the cooperative learning time.
Paired Learning
Students often learn best when they are placed in pairs. With only two in the group, each child has a better chance of participating. Students can be paired with someone at a different learning level, but frequently it is more beneficial to pair students with those who are at the same learning level. If necessary, the teacher should be available to work with the lower-level students to provide them with more guidance.
Guided Listening
The purpose of guided listening is to teach important comprehension skills while students listen to a text being read aloud. The students focus on one skill during the reading by filling out a graphic organizer based on the focus skill while listening to the text being read aloud. As mentioned above, the teacher may present and teach a specific skill at the beginning of the lesson in order to focus the instruction on that skill.
Vocabulary Instruction
When teaching specific vocabulary words in this unit such as "culture" or "tradition," I will do the following. First, I will state the word and ask them to repeat it. This can be done 2-3 times depending on the word. Second, I will give the definition of the word. Third, I will put the word in a sentence that explains its meaning. Fourth, I will ask the students to think of a sentence with the word in it and share it with a partner. Fifth, I will chose 2-3 students to share their sentences with me. Finally, I will draw a picture if it helps to do so. My students will complete a vocabulary word page in their interactive notebooks that reflects this process (see Appendix B)
Cultural Sensitivity
It will be important to emphasize the desire of many American Indians to keep up their heritage and traditions. We will take time to review some of the traditions that certain members of the tribes have kept, such as Powwow, storytelling, weaving, clay art, their native language, and horseback riding, as well as others we encounter in the picture books.
Comments: