Week 7

During my last field experience I was first in the 6th grade classroom. All of the 5th graders were gone on their trip to Bradford woods, which I think sounds like a great experience! My elementary school never went on a trip like that!

After we arrived to the classroom, we found out that the students were studying Greek characters as well as Eric Carle's art. The students learned that Carle creates his illustrations using tissue paper he has painted and then cuts them out to form his characters. So the class project for these two units was to paint the tissue paper and then later they will cut out the different patterns and colors to form one of the Greek Gods, Goddesses, or monsters they have been studying.

We all went outside to begin painting! This was actually really fun and it was cool to see how creative the students were! The teacher also seemed like she really needed out help since there were so many students and so many supplies to distribute. We hung up the student's art work on the fence when they were done and they all looked great! We went back inside after everyone had painted 2 or 3. There was a little problem with this project. A lot of the student's papers kept ripping when they painted them because the tissue paper was so thin. This is just something to keep in mind inc case I ever decide to do a project like this. I hope to see the finished projects next week!

After we went back inside, the teacher had the students read silently to calm them down from the excitement of being outside. After everyone was settled, the teacher started a PowerPoint on Eric Carle and some of his paintings. She would have students talk in pairs about their feelings for each of the painting that she posted and there was also a short class discussion.

Then it was time to go observe the writers workshop! We all went into the 4th grade classroom and paired up with a student. My student was very shy. I would be interested in finding out more about her. We talked about the first time she remembered doing something and the last time she remembered doing something. She came up with some good answers and she wrote them down in her writers notebook. The teachers also had a mini-lecture/lesson to help guide the students with their writing. It was cool to be able to see how the writers workshop was run and to interact one on one with another student.