Before:
As I prepared for my lesson this week I was trying to think of another engaging way to get students writing and thinking about poetry. This week I chose to use another form of nonsense poetry. Using work by the U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate Jack Prelutsky we will look at rhyme scheme and create our own poems. I think this will be an engaging lesson because I really like the Scranimal series of poems and I think the students will like creating their own version of these poems.
During:
This lesson went really well, the students seemed engaged and had a few “a-ha” moments as we were discussing and creating. I felt like I came in really knowing my stuff but I tried to switch things up a bit and not use a prezi- as I was working my way through the lesson I realized that if I’m not going to use lessons without a prezi or power point that I really need to write my lesson plans in a more specific way that I can follow along.
After:
I think that while I was teaching the lesson I was more critical of myself than I needed to be. There were a couple moments where I felt like I strayed from my ideal lesson plan but when I spoke with Anne and Rachelle after they said it was great. I think that is good. Sometimes when you are your own worst critic is good to hear that no one noticed. I think that I am still really happy with this lesson and that although I might tweak it a little it was a good starting point.
For Next Week:
It is hard to believe but next week will be our final week at Lakeview and the end of our first pre-internship. For our last week Anne and I decided to try and do a large team teaching Arts Education collective. We’re going to try and create a bit of an inquiry/exploratory lesson that the students can then use their own chosen Arts Education strand to respond to the inquiry question. It’s a lofty goal but it could be a fun way to finish.
What went well- I think the students were engaged and that the work they did was really great. They all wrote some great poems and created some great Scranimals. There was a lot of sharing and collaboration as students tried to create their Scranimals. It was fun to watch them describe to each other what they had so far. I also enjoyed the sharing and guessing during the lesson closure because everyone had a lot of fun.
What didn’t work- I think that although the lesson went well if I were to teach it again I would take time to create a presentation with more visuals to go along with the lesson or I would rewrite the lesson plan for myself so that it was easier to follow while I was teaching.
Will Whitten 