Over the course of my two years in the education program at Michigan and in my two years of teaching experience, I have written and enacted many lessons in all subjects. Here are a few!
COMMUNITY IN OUR BACKYARD
In this two-week unit, my first-grade students learn about their community and the power their voices have. The principal came to us and asked for our help with the planters outside of the school. We learned about community, power, and plants' needs while developing a plan to improve the planters. We connected with community members to help us and successfully revamped and planted in the spring!
BLACK HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATION
For the month of March, my 2nd grade students learned about a different , influential black artist, scientist, inventor, leader, activist (you name it!) each day. Students engaged in discussions about each figure, read biographies and picture books about them and compared the types of texts they read, wrote paragraphs about the figures, and contribute to our shared timelines. Although Black History Month is only March, I continue to use slides and activities like these to engage my students in discussions about different cultures throughout the year.
CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE STORY
As a part of our ELA curriculum in 4th grade, my students learned about effective and reliable research. They used this knowledge and research to write an both an informative essay and a narrative story about their selected animal and their natural defenses. To guide students through these tasks, I created templates, graphic organizers, and utilized a workshop model.
Check back soon for a link to student work samples.