I am loving it! I have learned so much working with Miss Baer's 4th grade class the past couple of weeks. The students have been so willing to do whatever I have asked. They have great behavior and that has made teaching my lessons so much easier. Miss Baer has been wonderful to work with, she is willing to answer any questions that I have. She has set up her class in such an organized manner it is easy to pick up where she leaves off. My partner Kirsten has been a lifesaver through it all.
We have been teaching all about mountain men. We taught why they came to Utah, We talked all about what they wore, ate, how they lived, etc. We even had a whole lesson on mountain men vocabulary. The kids really enjoyed when we talked about Jedediah Smith and Jim Bridger. We were able to show our digital story at this point, because we created our story based off the life of Jedediah Smith. The students loved it. They learned so much, and they thought their teachers were so cool because we could make movies. I did not expect our movie to be that effective, but I was wrong. They learned so much.
Throughout our unit on mountain men the students have been able to earn beaver pelts to spend at our class rendezvous. This was the reward system we used for behavior as well as work completion. They really loved this. Positive reinforcement is the way to go. The rendezvous was a great chance for the kids to experience what is was like to be a mountain man. They got to eat cornbread, trade for equipment, leg wrestle, make necklaces, and more. The principal even stopped by for the event. The teepee Kirsten brought was a nice touch. The kids loved reading tall tales inside of it.
For our technology lesson we decided to create a Keynote Presentation with hyperlinks, so they could do a scavenger hunt about mountain men online. It took a very long time to get the presentation on each computer and that was frustrating. However, once we got the ball rolling the kids loved it. Miss Baer was impressed as well. The technology use, really engaged the students and increased their love of learning about mountain men.
I cant wait to get back and hear about everyone's experiences.
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3 comments:
Wow Amber a teepee, tell Kirsten i would love to see it.
I am so glad you both are learning so much. I would love to hear about your lesson on the Mountain men more. We will have to share our lesson plans when we get back to school. Our students did get to do their collages and they were awesome. I am also surprised at how much the students retained from our Digital story and lessons we have taught. I am sad to go but excited to see everyone.
take care, Terry
Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun. And have a great understanding of technology you will have to show us had to do a keynote. I think its interesting how technology is integrated so that kids could learn more. It sure would of helped when i was in elementary school well see you back at school.
Sounds like you had a great week. I'm glad the technology worked. Did you put the program on before the kids went to the lab?
See you tonight
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