Michelle Loomis

EDU 379 Write-Up

Language Arts Class Write-Up

In this English lesson the students were introduced to a new unit on American Literature. The lesson started off by having the students write in their journal about what they think of America. The students wrote things about what they knew about the government, the country, and anything that reminded them of America. The lesson continued by the class singing, “This Land is Your Land”. The teacher played the guitar and all the students were excited to jump in a sing along.

The students were then given a map of the world and were told to look at other countries other than America. The teacher then asked if anyone knew their family history and what country their family came from. Some students knew, but most had no idea. The teacher facilitated this by giving the students options, and some students found the words such as, “Irish”, “Italian” to be familiar. The teacher then read a story out loud to the class about a person coming to the US and going through Ellis Island. This was followed by a brief discussion on immigration. The students seemed interested in the topic and had many questions.

The focus of the lesson was then turned to a discussion about Mexico. The teacher called on students and asked if they knew where most plants come from, and who works in the fields to pick those plants. Some of the students knew that the teacher was talking about Mexican workers, or migrant workers.

The students then listened to the book, “Tomas and the Library Lady” on tape. Most students paid attention well, but there was one who was asked to leave for being disruptive. There were three aids in the class during this time and they helped to keep some individual students on track while the tape was being played.

After the book was read the students were asked several questions. However, there was little participation by the class. After, the teacher asked more questions, some easier, and the students began to participate better. The lesson ended by the students writing the answer to some of the questions in their journal.

Overall this was a very well rounded lesson. During ELA time the students are usually broke up into small groups based on their literacy level. However, this lesson was taught whole group, which was a good change. However, I do think that some students would have benefited better if this lesson occurred in small groups. I believe this because of the lack of participation by the students. I believe they are so use to a great deal of attention during literacy activities that they do not know how to act in large group settings. Therefore, it was great to switch things up.

If I taught this lesson in my own classroom I would keep a lot the same. I loved all the activities done leading up to the main activity and therefore would keep all of them. I especially loved the class song. Seeing the student’s reaction and the way they talked about it all day long convinced me that adding a song was a great way to start the lesson. I also liked the talk about immigration. The students were instructed to talk to their families that night about their heritage, and therefore there was a connection to the student’s home-life.

The one part of the lesson I would change was when they read the book about Tomas. I believe that the students should be broken up into smaller groups because their comprehension level would be better. Also, the students were working in a whole group for the lesson up until this point and a change in the atmosphere would be good. I know that the students need to work on their whole group skills but I do not believe this was the time for it.

Overall, I really enjoyed this lesson. I also believe the students enjoyed it too. It was a great way to start a unit and I believed it got their attention towards American Literature.