Artifact Five: Continent Study
This continent study was conducted
in the Spring of 2005 in my classroom. As part of a seven person team, I
taught one of the continents to 153 second grade students. It represents a
part of the 2nd grade Standard Course of Study for North Carolina.
Context:
This continent study was conducted to instruct students in the learning of the 7 continents to make them more aware of the world around them. We discussed habitats, culture, inhabitants and geographic location. The students were not formally tested on the information, but had to apply their learning in different ways within each learning environment. In my room, after the students learned the information and were lead in a discussion of the learning, we had to write in a journal about our experience and learning of the continent. The journal was modeled after the Flat Stanley book so that the students were able to make a text-to-world connection. In addition, the students created a penguin that provided them with pertinent vocabulary that was needed in the learning of Antarctica.
Standards:
● Standard A: Instructional Expertise
After studying Antarctica myself, I choose an appropriate book, The Emporer's Egg, to read aloud to the children so that they would understand a bit about how a penguin is born and what the roles of the parents are in this important event. After we read the story, we compared and contrasted the penguin lifestyle to our lifestyle and made some good points about each of the habitats. The students were completely engaged in the discussion and the activities that followed. They were impressed with the role that the father penguin played in the chick's hatching and first few months of life.
● Standard B: Knowledge of the Learners
Instructing seven different groups gave me the opportunity to restructure my lesson in order to accommodate the different learning styles that were present. What worked with one group was not necessarily what worked with all of the other groups. The view of the different children made it possible to remind me of all of the ways a learner processes information. The topic was on target for this age of learner. The students were very comfortable with the information and were easily able to process it.
In preparation for teaching this unit, I went online many times to make sure that I was aware of the important facts that would be helpful for the students. I also borrowed information from other teachers that had taught about Antarctica in the past. Bringing in stuffed penguins was very helpful as children were able to relate to the stuffed animals and want to learn about what they represented. I also went to the school library and the public library to check out as many resources for myself and also for the students to read.
● Standard D: Content Knowledge
Once I had studied the many resources about Antarctica, I felt confident in the instruction that I was presenting to the students. When a student offered a question, I was able to give the students the resource so they would be able to search the text to learn about the area. In small group, we answered the questions that were posed on a daily basis. This empowered the students with text-to-self learning.