Friday, February 5, 2010
Artifacts and Characteristics of the Novice Teacher # 6
For characteristic # 6, in-depth knowledge of content, I chose my America Unit that I am teaching from my mentor teacher's lesson plans. This unit applies to kindergarten. In this unit we explore several themes, such as America, the flag, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and the Presidents and voting. Students are actively engaged in these lessons and are encouraged to participate in all activities. We have begun learning The Star Spangled Banner, which has proven to be difficult for some students, but they understand that it is our national anthem and that we must show respect for our country when singing it. Students are still struggling with the concept of what the name of our country is, but we talk about it each day and discuss how we live in the United States and in our country we have 5o states and we live in one of those states. We have also been talking about how our flag has changed over the years and that our country wasn't always as big as it is today. Each day of the unit, builds on each other. For example, we talked about how we must show respect to our flag, just like we show respect for our country by singing the national anthem. Also, we talked about how our flag represents our country, just like the national anthem does. Students seem to understand these concepts as they build upon each other because we refer to them constantly. By doing this unit, I feel as if I am understanding more and more of how students in kindergarten learn and how repetition is key in developing these concepts. Also, it is essential to get students interacting with each lesson and this is what I have been doing. Each day, we have a song that we sing that has to do with our theme and we talk about how these songs reinforce what we have been talking about. Because most of these songs are catchy and easy for students to learn, I often hear them singing them at stations. Many of the concepts discussed in this unit, such as justice, respect, and caring, are all character traits that students have learned about. These students are able to relate these concepts to what is being taught to them in the America Unit.
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Social studies is a content area in which I am very passionate about. I believe that often teachers feel that students at young ages are not able to comprehend social studies concepts, which I feel is an incorrect assumption. Social studies concepts can be taught to students of all ages, but educators need to present the information in age appropriate ways. I really like the idea of the United States and the basics such as how many states we have, our national anthem, and colors of the flag. These are all basic ideas that the students are using in other parts of the curriculum that can can be transferred to social studies concepts. Students in kindergarten are learning the day or the weeks and months using a song, so the idea of practicing the national anthem which they are to recite everyday is a great activity. Also students at this age are getting tested on their colors and color words, therefore they can take these concepts and relate them to the American flags colors. This sounds like such a great unit Jen, I wish I would have had it in kindergarten last semester!
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