Social Studies VS Science

One semester can really make a HUGE difference. 

When I entered Science and Tech Methods, I almost died.  The pressure, amount of work, and difficulty level was overwhelming to say the least.  I never thought I would make it out alive and with as much knowledge that I had gained.  When writing my science and tech methods lessons, I was flustered, confused and overall a mess.  My group and I were frustrated with the lesson topic, the format and the overall expectations.  This was also the first time I had ever dealt with practice edTPA's, and eFolio, and two different types of lesson plans (direct and inquiry).  Because of this, everything was new to me and it was hard to grasp at first.  During the process I was just frustrated and over it.  However, the take away was amazing. 

When I entered Social Studies Methods, I expected the same crazy frustration that I experienced in Science.  I expected to have my lesson plans fall apart, my presentations completely lack the quality they needed to have, and be extremely overwhelmed.  I quickly realized that this was not the case.  I had developed such a deep understanding for the structure during Science and I didn't even know it.  When writing my lesson plans in science, the information was too much for the students, the slides were too packed, our guided practice was off and we were just unorganized.  When I created lesson plans in social studies, my group was extremely successful.  We contained classroom control, our powerpoint flowed extremely well, the students stayed engaged with us through our lessons, the activities were exciting and knowledge based, and by the end of our time, the students had master the bank concept.  I was so proud of the group I had worked with.  

Now as I am filling out my eFolio, I am able to breeze through it.  I have learned so much from my time in Science and am very thankful for that.  I survived! You can too.

Fieldwork: Group 4

Group 4 took the stage during fieldwork this week at Bishop Dunn.  This group had an extremely tough topic to teach the second graders!  They had to teach them all about international imports and exports.  The common second grader probably has no knowledge of the topic nor do they really care about it but the group did an awesome job explaining the overall topic and engaging the students.  Group 4 started the lesson with such a creative activity to show the students how many different places common products come from.  They had the students go find one object that had "Made in..." on it and share what they found.  Of course, there were several different items that came from all over the world.  I thought this was such a good opening activity to really show the students the concept of the lesson.  The group provided several different examples that the students could really understand.  When talking about imports and/or exports, they used items that the students have heard of such as coffee beans.  The students were shocked to see how many different things come from different countries.  The group provided different activities for their guided practice that worked very well with the class.  Overall, the group did a great job with the tough topic they had! 

Fieldwork: Group 3 Cooperative

For our cooperative lesson, we started the lesson with a review of the previous material.  Since this was the third session, the students have really mastered the terms of the bank and were able to quickly answer the questions that were being asked.  When we reviewed with the class, the questions kept the Spongebob theme and gave the students situations that they had to label.  This seemed to work really well and give the students a better understanding instead of just memorizing.  After the review, we went over the way group work should go while explaining different group member responsibilities.  Once we went through the rules, we broke into groups.  The groups were preassigned so we didn't have any trouble makers together.  This gave us great control of the class.  We created three centers for the students to participate in different activities.  The first activity was run by Kiera.  This group had to create a poster that sorted items that you have to save for and that you can spend money on.  The items in the saving column were all very expensive items like a Nintendo switch, and Xbox, and a skateboard.  The items in the spending column included much cheaper items like a pineapple, a pencil, and a comic book.  This really showed that the students understood the concept.  The next station was run by Shannon and I.  At this station, we had the students create a Haiku poem that talked about the bank.  The students really seemed to enjoy this and had a fun time creating it.  The final station was run by Jen and Michaela.  This station was a store.  The students created a poster with the items they bought and how the price can differ.  Each station was extremely successful.  After 10 minutes, the students went back to their desks and were getting ready to present.  Shannon went over the rules to follow while presenting and each group did an amazing job telling their classmates what they worked on.  The audience was very respectful too! 

After the presentations, the students had to write a tweet explaining their activity and how they did.  They LOVED this idea.  They were super excited to write their findings.  After they finished, they had to rate their group members and their own personal work following our rubric.  This was great for the students to really show they are accountable for the work they give to the group.  Overall, this lesson was very successful, we had extreme control of the class, and they were able to really understand the concepts that were being taught.  I am so proud of us as a group! 

Fieldwork: Group 3 Inquiry

We wanted to make sure we kept the Spongebob storyline consistent and alive during our next lesson.  The students reacted so well to this that we knew it was an important touch. 

For our inquiry lesson, the students were presented with a problem they needed to solve!  Plankton wanted to open his very own Krusty Krab so he can master the Krabby Patty.  Unfortunately, he doesn't have any money and has no idea how the bank works.  The students needed to research, solve the problem, and give the information to Plankton.  As we presented the topic, the students were confused as to why they were helping a bad guy.  Of course, we didn't expect this but Jen recovered extremely well and explained to the students that we have to help everyone.  After that, the students were excited to research! 

We explained to the students the process of problem solving and what the best approach was.  We then broke them into groups.  Kiera took her group to Bikini Bottom, Shannon and I took our group to the Krusty Krab, and Jen and Michaela took their students to Mrs. Puff's boating school.  This was a cute extra touch that kept the students excited.  Each group had a set of articles with information regarding the bank and how it works.  While researching, the students had to fill out a problem solving worksheet while learning new information for Plankton.  My group did very well taking facts out of the articles and writing them down.  At some points, Shannon and I read and reread the important facts that were represented.  This age seemed to do well with the read aloud approach.
After the students finished, they returned to their seats for the sharing portion.  I ran the closing at this time.  I went to several different students and asked what they found and how they could help Plankton with that fact.  We had many students participate and excited to share their findings.  Now it was time for the students to tell Plankton what he should do!  The students had to write a letter to Plankton giving him different options to open up his own restaurant.  Many students told him he should save his money and/or take out a loan.  I think this was a great example of the mastering process and our students' abilities.
We gave our students a writing checklist.  This was something I found on Pinterest and recreated for our class.  The checklist required students to follow certain rules while writing to Plankton.  This checklist was much easier for the students to follow instead of the Bishop Dunn rubric.  They seemed to really enjoy this and of course Spongebob was there to cheer them on!

Fieldwork: Group 3 Direct

This semester, I was blessed to work with an amazing group of ladies while creating lesson plans for a 2nd grade class at Bishop Dunn Memorial School.  Our topic was to teach the students all about the bank.  At this age, many kids have no idea about the concept of money and why you should save it.  It was our job to teach them its' importance!
We started the lesson by asking the class simple questions about the bank.  These questions included

• Has anyone ever been to a bank? 
• What is the bank like inside? 
• Does anyone know why people go to the bank? 
• Does anyone save their money in a piggy bank? 

This was a great start to our conversation.  Many students have been in the bank with a parent but didn't really know the specifics.  A lot of students knew the bank best for their free lollipops they gave out at the front desk.

To really help the information stick, we introduced Spongebob and Patrick. Every kid at this age LOVES these two characters so they were extremely excited about this.  The students were going to follow Spongebob and Patrick throughout their journey while they learned about the bank.  This was a great way to incorporate the examples throughout the lesson with things the students could relate to.  When a vocabulary word was given, there would be an example following the word that related to Spongebob and Patrick.  For example: Deposit: When Spongebob gets paid by the Krusty Krab, he brings his money to the bank and makes a deposit.  This worked so perfectly with this age group of students.  They loved the examples and were really able to develop a good understanding for the concept.   

We included very important terms throughout our lesson that are commonly heard in a bank.  We created kid-friendly definitions for the students to really master the concept.  Our vocabulary words consisted of: 

• Deposit: A Deposit is when you bring money to the bank and keep it there.  Spongebob gets paid by the Krusty Krab, he brings his money to the bank and makes a deposit. 
• A withdrawal is when you take money out of the bank.  Patrick wants to buy a present for Spongebob, but needs to take money out of the bank first.  This is called a withdrawal. 
• Spending: when you take money out of the bank and use it to pay for goods and/or services.  Plankton wants to know the secret formula of the Krabby Patty, so he has been spending all of his money at the Krusty Krab, eating Krabby Patties. 
• Saving: when you keep money inside the bank and don't use it.  Spongebob is saving his money up for a new spatula, so he has not been using his money. 
• Loan: money from the bank the you have to pay back after a certain amount of time.  Spongebob wanted to learn how to ride a boat since he was little but he knew he had to take out a loan to pay for boating school, because he didn't have enough money to pay for it on his own. 
• Taxes: money that the government takes from people.  The government needs to take taxes to keep running.  When Spongebob gets his paycheck from the Krusty Krab, he gets taxes taken out of each check. These taxes help Bikini Bottom stay fresh and clean! 
• Interest: a charge for borrowing money. 

Throughout these vocabulary words, we had brain breaks! These brain breaks included two questions that covered the words that were just taught.  This worked great for a check for understanding.  The students picked up on the material fast.  We also had two guided practice activities.  The first guided practice was a matching activity.  The slide had 4 vocabulary words across from 4 images that represented the word.  The students came up to the board and drew the line to the correct answer.  The students did well with this! Then we had a "What should Spongebob do!" The slide had 3 images on it including Spongebob's house, Spongebob's Spatula, and Plankton carrying a Krabby Patty.  The students had to tell us what method the images represented.  To buy his pineapple house, he had to borrow a loan from the bank.  To buy his brand new spatula, Spongebob had to save his money.  For Plankton to buy his Krabby Patty, he had to spend his money.  This was a fun way to bring it all together. After the final check, the students had to complete a fill in the blank worksheet for their independent practice.  Overall, this lesson was VERY successful.