daniellerobertson | Danielle Robertson's ePortfolio

Lingering Question

After my practicum was completed I still struggled with how to teach literacy to children. What was the best approach? Was it top-down or bottom-up? Do I start with phonics? Do I have literacy centres that require all morning? I would love to start to explore these avenues of questions that all point to the most effective way to promote literacy in children. There are multiple ways I will begin to address this question. The first approach is through literature. I can start reading “The Daily 5” by Gail Boushey. …read more

UBC Inquiry Project

Abstract Grouping our students in the most effective way is extremely important for their learning. However, many teachers either do not understand the importance of this or do not have enough support to make the most effective groups. We need to place our students in groups of 3-4 students with mixed ability and equal gender mix. This will provide the highest quality of educational experience for the students. Additionally, we need to be flexible in the changing of our groups based on the task the students have to complete. Educators…read more

Final Day

Today was our final day of practicum. It is a bitter sweet moment. I am saying goodbye to my first class but at the same time I am so excited to leave for Gold River and bring my knowledge there. These past months have taught me so much and I am so lucky to have had the experience that I did. I will always cherish these memories. The four KIPP teacher candidates. The last look at my classroom. A tree of all our fingerprints.

Gravity

A unit I started near the end of my practicum was force and motion. My school advisor wished for me to start the unit and she would continue it to the end of the year. One particular lesson to note was the lesson on gravity. I had the special person hold one end of a string. I attached the other end of the string high on the wall. I pulled a basket up to the top of the string. I let the basket go. I asked the students what happened…read more

Coffee Filter Butterfly

As an end to our plant unit we create coffee filter butterflies. Materials: 23 coffee filters A permanent marker Washable markers Red solo cups Water Scissors Instructions: I coloured the “body” of the butterflies prior to the activity because the bodies needed to be coloured in permanent marker. I coloured both sides of the coffee filter on the seam. Then I gave the filters to the students to colour chunks of different colours that would “seep” throughout the coffee filter making different patterns. I pour about a cm of water…read more

TOC Day

During my practicum I had the opportunity to participate in a TOC day. This was a day in which I switched practicum classrooms with another teacher candidate from my cohort. I was able to completely switch grades and school districts. My practicum was in a North Vancouver school in a grade 1 classroom. My TOC day was in a Vancouver school in a grade 3 classroom. The teacher candidate left a detailed plan for me and her SA gave me the most authentic experience by leaving the classroom completely while…read more

Track and Field

As part of an attempt to fully integrate myself into the school community I helped coach the intermediate track and field team. Myself, along with another teacher candidate, were in charge of coaching the grade 5 track team. It was a new experience for both myself and the other teacher candidate as we had never coached before. However, it was amazing experience to learn how to build teams and coordinate practices. This experience also allowed me to get to know students in the older grades. My practicum placement was in…read more

Caterpillars

During my practicum we had Painted Lady butterflies caterpillars delivered to our classroom. They were given to us in a container that have enough food for them to eat until they built and entered their chrysalis’. We received them at the end of our plant unit where we had touched upon butterflies. The students have been extremely engaged in watching the caterpillars grow larger and start to build their chrysalis’. It was an excellent idea to have the students get to watch the life cycle of a caterpillar first hand. We…read more

Fairy Tale Drama

Posted by daniellerobertson in Language Arts, Practicum

My class has been studying fairy tales for the past few weeks. We have looked closely at Cinderella, The Three Little Pigs, Golidlocks and the Three Bears, and Little Red Riding Hood. Recently students were assigned to Reader’s Theatre groups. Each student was asked to create a character map of the character that they will performing. The students were asked to draw what the character looked like on the outside. On the inside the students were asked to write three words describing the personality, values, or beliefs of their characters….read more