Other Lessons and Experiences

Field trip to meyer science center

During student teaching, I worked with one of the Professors at Wheaton's Science Center to plan a field trip for all of the fourth grade classes at Lincoln Elementary.

Because we had over 75 students on the field trip, we divided each of the three classrooms into two groups so we could fill six stations in the building. The first three stations consisted of a lecture about the Wheaton mastadon, a scavenger hunt throughout the rock and mineral room, and a seismograph experiment. The others contained guided, hands-on research about more rocks and minerals, an interactive topographic sandbox, and a water table demonstration to display the effects of weathering and erosion on the Earth's surface.

Comparing Decimals (Days 1 & 2)

More Math Work

While observing in the Spring before my student teaching semester, I was asked to lead a math lesson on comparing decimals. We had not yet implemented the Illustrative Math curriculum at Lincoln, so this plan was created prior to the new ones.

I developed these slides to lead my students through the lesson. They were kept simple in order to help introduce this concept to the class and provide space for me to ask questions and allow for conversation between students.

Morning Meeting

For most morning meetings, we did a variety of introductory math or reading activities that coinsided with our lessons for that day. However, I also developed multiple other activities for social-emotional learning development in our fourth grade classroom.

Team-Building activities

For one of our morning meetings, the students were given various materials and were challenged to create the tallest tower possible with their table. We then had a class conversation about listening skills, teamwork, and how to be engaged in class.

gratitude jar

We began every Friday morning by each writing down one thing that we were thankful for and putting them into our "Gratitude Jar". Each week, I chose a different theme, such as a person, place, sound, smell, or memory that they loved. Before Thanksgiving, we read them aloud together.

google form check-ins

After filling out their Gratitude Jar slips, the students logged onto Google Classroom to complete the new form that I had created for them. The questions ranged from questions about how they were feeling to providing space for them to ask important questions.

topographic map-making

While learning about the regions of the Earth and how weather has affected the Earth's surface over time, the students worked with salt dough to mold the shape of the US. They used one topographic map and one labeled map to guide their thinking.

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