Minilesson/teaching aid

   Today's class was really fun. We finished up our mini lessons and presented some of the teaching aids. For the mini lesson, Rhea read a book called "From head to toe", which was about the different movements you can do with your body. We then named all the body parts that were mentioned in the story. After writing all the parts on the board, Rhea gave us each four pictures to match with the words on the board. She then passed out a worksheet where we had to write and draw what we can do with our body parts.  I thought Rhea’s mini lesson was very effective and her activities were something that I think students will really enjoy. Next was Jessilyn’s mini lesson and her focus was on adjectives. She started off by asking us if we knew what an adjective is, then we did examples on the board. Then she gave us each a bag with an item inside and without looking inside, we had to use all our senses and write down three adjectives to describe the item.  After we wrote three adjectives, we had to create a sentence using one of the adjectives that we wrote down and from there, we each had to guess what our items were. I liked how her activity involved the use of all your senses, which made learning about adjectives even more fun.

   I thought all the teaching aids were very cool, simple, and very effective. Rachel’s bookmark buddy was awesome. Students can use it for so many things and I can definitely see myself using this with my future students one day. Rheas write and wipe board was something I have never heard of and it just seems very cool to use in the classroom and to really engage the students. Jessilyn’s fiddle stick game was really interesting as well. It reinforces the students reading and vocabulary skills and I would like to use this teaching aid with my students someday.

   Today’s class gave me a lot of ideas and it really opened my eyes to all the different lessons and the different ways you can teach those lessons. I thought everyone did a great job and hopefully you’ll enjoy my teaching aid next Thursday!

Mini Lesson/ Teaching Aid

Today, I was very nervous because I presented my Mini Lesson and Teaching Aid. My mini lesson was on Adjectives and my teaching aid was Fiddle Sticks.

We started with our mini lesson, Rhea went first and she taught us about our body parts. She first read us a story and at the end of the story she asked us what body parts did we see the character using in the story. She then wrote them up on the board and had us repeat each word after her. We then played a matching game, which we were given pictures of different body parts and we had to match it to the word on the board. Lastly, we were given an assignment where we had to write a sentence using one of the words on the board and we had to draw a picture about our sentence.

I presented my mini lesson next. I started out by asking what was the item that I as holding up and then asked them to describe it. I wrote the words that they mentioned on the board using a t-chart. I used the words "What" and "Describe" for the top of the t-chart. After we were done writing the two items that I brought in and the description of it. I then told the class that the word "What" is also the "Noun" and the word "Describe" is also the "Adjective". For my activity, I had them play a "What am I" game. I had 3 bags with something in it and I had the write down at least 3 adjectives that describe the item in there bag but they could not look into it. They could smell and touch it but they could not look into it. After, they said there words aloud and had the class guess what their object were. I ended it with having them use one of there adjectives in a sentence to describe there object in there bag.

After the mini lesson we presented our Teaching Aids. Rachel's teaching aid was a Bookmark Buddy and Compound Creation Cards. I really liked her teaching aids because they are great teaching tools for reading and I would definitely use them in my future classroom. Rhea teahing aid was a Write and Wipe binder. I really liked this as well because it can be reused over and over again. I presented my teaching aid last. My teaching aid is called Fiddle Stickes. Fiddle sticks is a game that could be used for reading vocabulary words, adjectives, compound words, etc.

Overall, today was a very educating day for me. I learned many ideas on how to better my teaching and materials used in the classroom.

Mini Lessons/Teaching Aids

Today''s class session started off with Angela and Rhea performing Act II of their play, which included them dancing and rapping. It was very fun and entertaining to watch! We then finished the remaking mini lessons.
In my group, Amanda had a lesson that involved two short passages, both describing autumn, but with different words and descriptions. The purpose of her lesson was to stress how important adjectives are in literature and in everyday life, it is what we use to describe and imagine things. Angela's lesson was really fun! She had us describe the pictures she had provided, leading us to the actual vocabulary word. We then created a vocabulary foldable, which I think is a wonderful activity to use in the classroom.
There were three teaching aid presentations today. Rachel was first with her bookmark buddy, that can be used by students in various ways, such as listing unfamiliar words and also to be used as a reading log. Rhea's aid was a write and wipe ABC book. that is used for student to practice writing the alphabet, words, and can also be used as a drawing board. It is a great alternative to a white board! Jessilyn had an aid she called Fiddle Sticks. It is a bag of popsicle sticks that she wrote site words on. Students will pick out a stick and say the word. This is done until one student picks out a stick with a marking that means to put all the sticks back I to the bag and start again.
I really enjoyed the mini lessons and teaching aids today. There are a lot of ideas and activities that I would love to use personally and cannot wait to try!

Learning is FUN!!

   In today's class we went a bunch of great ideas. Before class started Angela and I did our skit which was fun but scary at the same time. But I am happy I did it because I do love my rap. After I had a chance to do my mini lesson on From Head to Toe by Eric Carle. I really enjoyed reading the story to my group and loved the interaction. After everyone who signed up to do their teacher aid presented their great ideas. Rachel showed us two awesome tools. The book mark buddy and the compound words deck of cards. I thought the book mark was a great school to home connection tool. It was simple and creative. The deck of cards can be used in so many ways and depending on your age of students you can decide how many to give your students. I introduced my write and wipe ABC book. I really enjoyed coming up with the idea and like how I can change the pages whenever I change lessons. Jesselyn showed us her fiddle sticks, which is also something great to use in a class. We can change it according to grade level and add or lessen sticks since the marker helps keep the game going.

   Today was full of fun. I really love how time flies when we are learning and doing what we love at the same time. I was able to get some great ideas and enjoy my classmates thoughts. I loved all the things that were shared to day. But the BROWN BAGS idea is just fun and mysterious at the same time. Now I have ideas all over the place. Great job everyone.

A Very Productive Day

Today in class we accomplished a lot. We had the play, read aloud, mini lessons, and teaching aids. I love how we had so much going on today. I really enjoyed the play. Rhea and Angela did a terrific job. It was great way to start out the class (with some laughs and smiles). I liked doing to read aloud, most especially because Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is one all my all time favorite childhood books. Angela's mini lesson was so helpful. I definitely plan on adapting the vocabulary foldable in my class. The way she introduced the vocabulary was very fresh. She used pictures and asked students to describe it. Last but not least the teaching aid presentations. Rachel, Rhea and Jessilyn all had great teaching aids. I loved the bookmark buddies, because its so versatile, and it spans through all grade levels. Rhea's wipe binder was original. I had a moment of "OMG how neat is that!" It's so cost efficient I absolutely love it! Jessilyn's fiddle sticks were very catchy and child friendly. I can hear children saying oh fiddle sticks. Its definitely an aid that students will enjoy. What I love about the fiddle sticks is that you can integrate with any content being taught in the class.

Great job everyone! I love all your ideas. I wish we could create our own Teacher Resource book, so I'll be able to remember everyone's ideas.

Lessons and Teaching Aids

What a fun class session! First, we had the chance to see Rhea and Angela act out a scene of their play. Good job ladies! Then, Amanda did a short read aloud of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. She kept us engaged and interested....awesome! The mini lessons were then presented. I thought both Rhea and Jessilyn had such wonderful ideas and strategies. The picture matching was great for the age level of her lesson and Jessilyn made her lesson fun by using concrete items. We also shared our teaching aids to the class. I am glad everyone liked my "Bookmark Buddy." Rhea's write and wipe binder is such an excellent idea. I definitely plan to use that in my class. I like Jessilyn's fiddle sticks. It is a fun way to get students focused and interested in vocabulary and word recognition. I look forward to next week's class, when more teaching aids will be presented! I will email all of you my teaching aid templates and descriptions so that you can add to your resource collection.

Mini-Lesson Experience

      Today’s presentation of mini-lessons in class was a fun and exciting way of learning how to teach vocabulary. Our class was divided into two groups for the mini-lesson. My group consisted of Rachel, Jen, and Jessilyn. Rachel and Jen were the first presenters and they did an excellent job in implementing their lesson.  Rachel and Jen had activities that I thought were very creative and made learning fun. 

     I liked how they introduce vocabulary words on the board before reading the story, because in a student’s perspective it is important to let them know what new words to expect in the book. I liked how Rachel engaged us with questions after the story (i.e., she asked if we notice any of the words in board that were mentioned in the story). I also liked the activity that Rachel used to end her mini-lesson, which she gave us an index card with a word and we had to draw it. The activity was a great way to use our artistic skills. Rachel’s mini-lesson is a great and fun way to teach students new vocabulary.

     Just like Rachel’s mini-lesson, Jen’s mini-lesson was fun and creative. I liked how she incorporated different activities that engaged us in learning the vocabulary words. One of the activities that I found creative was the lollipops she made. The lollipops she made had the word and definition on it and I thought that was a great way to engage us in learning vocabulary. I also liked how she incorporated a story using the vocabulary words on the board. The last activity that Jen did in her mini lesson was fun, because we had to make up a silly sentence using the words on the board and draw it. 

     Rachel and Jen did an amazing job with their mini-lessons. I had fun and learned several approaches to teaching vocabulary by their mini-lessons. They are a great way to teach children vocabulary. Good job Rachel and Jen!