1st week in practicum

This was my first week in the classroom, so while I didn't see any technology used, I could already see some of the attitudes related to technology flourish. The students are scheduled to work in the computer lab once a week; but this week they were behind in reading so they skipped their lab appointment. I actually won't even be teaching anything till Monday so I haven't, or won't have anytime this week, an opportunity to teach w/ technology. But I know the students are compiling a book of published stories for halloween; I was thinking that if it wouldn't be too expensive, I could scan in their stories in a computer and read them together as a class. I'll talk it over with my mentor teacher and find out the possibilities .

Report on others

While observing some of the others tours I really liked the idea about mapping expeditions across the continent. I really think this will help students know what happened.

Google Map Tour

I made a google map tour! It is directed to teach:
Science - 5th Grade, Objective 2 Explain how volcanoes, earthquakes, and uplift affect Earth’s surface

B. Give examples of different landforms that are formed by volcanoes, earthquakes, and uplift (e.g., mountains, valleys, new lakes, canyons).
C. Describe how volcanoes, earthquakes, and uplift change landforms.

Basically showing the difference between cinder cones, composite volcanoes(stratovolcano), shield volcanoes, and lava domes.

Google Earth

Today I learned alot of cool features of Google earth. I learned that all .kmz files are google earth files and are great for giving tours of landmarks you might be studying (i.e. Revolutionary War) or look at locations for historical books or historical fiction. Due to the funding problem for fieldtrips, I think this is a great opportunity to virtually take students to places only seen in imagination.

I liked this site for the 5th grade curriculum about the Revolutionary War sites @
http://crssa.rutgers.edu/projects/special/revwar/gallery/google_earth/revwarnj_alldata__advgeo2007.kmz

Video Watching

The first video I got to watch was Michelle Calls. It was so cute I nearly wanted to hurl. :) But it was good and it had a surprise ending when they all talked together at the end.
Then I watched Juliet’s. I never thought about presenting a song as a movie; or even making a movie w/ the class using a song they know.
I finished by watching Nicole’s. No comment. :)

The Sound of Silence

Reflection

I found that this assignment was much easier than I thought it would be and I really feel that 5th grades could do it.

Storyboard template

Language Arts - 5th Grade , Standard 6, Objective 3:Use structural analysis and context clues to determine meanings of words.

Students will demonstrate their meanings to poetic lyrics of a song through taking pictures of their ideas and creating a movie to go with it.

This is my interpretation, through photography, of Simon and Garfunkle's The Sound of Silence.





Hello darkness, my old friend,













I’ve come to talk with you again,














Because a vision softly creeping,













Left its seeds while I was sleeping,















And the vision that was planted in my brain














Still remains

Within the sound of silence.