Level IV CT Observation #3

Jessica Garcia
Apr 19, 2016
3 min read

The objective of my lesson was for students to learn how the Great Depression affected people in Florida. Aside from learning about the challenges that Floridians faced, students also practiced closely reading the text and analyzing pictures to make inferences. After looking at student work on the exit ticket, I can see that students were knowledgeable on what challenges people faced and some even made some personal connections as to how they would feel if they would have lost everything in the Great Depression.

I also saw evidence of student learning throughout the whole lesson through the utilization of turn and talks and through whole-class discussion in general. I did two or three turn and talks and during each I walked around and listened to the students’ conversations. They were on task and were engaging in accountable talk. The students were asked about four higher-order thinking questions either about the text or the pictures in the text. When the students gave me answers to my questions, I made sure to provide them with immediate feedback and if their answers weren’t completely developed, to guide them. For example at 7:22 in the video, I asked the students why they think people borrowed money they did not have to invest in stock. I made sure to provide them with immediate feedback.

One thing that went well was the turn and talks. At the very beginning of my lesson (2:15 in the video), I asked a question to hook them and introduce them to the topic. I had them turn and talk with their partner to discuss how they would have felt if they went to the bank to take out money that they had been saving up and it was all gone. As I walked around, I heard the students say they would be angry, sad, shocked, and worried. If doing this lesson again I would most definitely do the turn and talks again because it is important for students to discuss their thoughts and bounce ideas off of each other. One of the turn and talks involved making an inference from a picture which is a great higher-order thinking skill.

Another thing that went well was the jeopardy game. I am so glad that I had already created the teams because that saved me time. Another thing I created was roles. Only one person was allowed to hit the bell and answer the question. So, I had them choose this person once they got in their teams. Also, I assigned one of my students the job of mediator because he has trouble staying in one spot and not calling out. I explained to him that it was his job to help me see and hear who hit the bells first and to mediate any calling out. He loved having an important job! If doing the jeopardy game again, I would try and see if the media center could loan me some buzzers because with the bell it was hard to hear who had hit it first.

Based on student learning of the objectives, my next step is to continue off of this lesson. The students understood the challenges people faced and were overall very engaged. So, I plan on looking into a connected lesson on the Great Depression or just using task cards about the Great Depression for guided reading groups. There are probably some videos I can find those students who are visual learners so they can see what life was like back then in the Great Depression.

As I reflect on my lessons, I am always learning something new about my teaching. One thing I am getting much better at is keeping my students focused. For example, at 5:46 in the video, one of my students makes a comment about the Dust Bowl. Before, I used to not know what to answer. Now I do though. What I said to her was that we were going to stay focused on the Great Depression but that later on we might learn about the Dust Bowl. Also, sometimes the students are asking silly questions and I make sure to stop and tell them that they can only ask serious questions because this is our learning time. Lastly, I have gotten much better with asking higher-order questions. This lesson had at least about five or six higher-order thinking questions which I am very proud of.