Today was a wonderful day inside the classroom. We did our daily calendar routine followed by a book read by me about Halloween. The students are all very excited about Halloween and are all planning on dressing in costumes for school. I am excited that the first day of my two week practicum starts on Halloween so I can participate in all the fun!
After the book, the students learned about patterns. I thought it was such a great idea that the teacher used the students to demonstrate patterns. She had one student stand, then the next one kneel, and the final student sit. Then the next student stood and she asked the class what would the next student do. The child that answered got to be part of the pattern and she continued this until everyone was a part of the pattern. Next, she showed them how to make patterns out of different coloured/ shaped blocks. Each student had to make their own pattern and show it to us. Most students understood the concept although a few struggled. Students then had to create their own pattern (A,B pattern or A,B,C pattern) with Halloween themed pieces of paper at their desk.
After lunch, we participated in outdoor education and the students were tasked with making a skeleton out of nature. In the classroom we discussed the different parts of a skeleton (head, body, arms, legs). Then we went around the playground and the children collected materials they wanted to use to construct their skeleton. After collecting materials from a few different areas the students all settled in one spot and started building their skeletons. Some chose to build their creation on a picnic table and others on the ground. As we started building our skeletons it started pouring. This was unfortunate timing as not all the children had rain coats with hoods. My teacher has spare rain boots and rain ponchos in the classroom but it was not raining when we first went outside. We continued our creation anyways and the students did not seem to mind the rain.
It was interesting to see the different skeleton creations (see below for photos). The students used different materials to make the same body parts and every creation was unique. I thought this was a great hands on activity for the students and I would definitely use this activity in my classroom. The only problem was that some of them did not know what a skeleton was suppose to look like. This caused us to work one on one with a quite a few students guiding them towards the various parts of a skeleton. I think it would be better to discuss in further detail the parts of a skeleton before going outside. Maybe have a life size paper skeleton in the classroom that the students can stick parts to it to complete the entire figure. This way they would learn the names of the body parts and where they are located.
Today, I learned a lot about how to teach various subjects and keep the students engaged. I cannot wait for next Thursday!
It sounds like you are in a rich environment and learning a lot!