So I observed for the first 2 days of my practicum (which was great because I also got sick the night before Halloween and lost my voice - so it is slowly returning). Today, I taught my first class - grade 4 science - focussing on "sound". I started with a community circle which I think worked out really well and the children seemed to really like it. I told them we'd be having one each week while I was with them. I taught them the 4 tribes agreements and we definitely have to work on "Attentive Listening" :) I love the class and I'm getting to know the kids better and better with each day. When I started the science lesson, I played a game with them - I recorded many sounds (some at their school and in their classroom; some at my home) and they had to guess what they were. Many of the sounds were unusual instruments that we have in our home - and lots of them are from the Middle East, India. One girl in the class (from Yemen) seemed very excited about this because she was one of the few students (maybe the only one) who had actually heard and recognized many of these instruments and was proudly telling everyone about them. I'll be doing my "All about me" on Monday, where I'll bring a lot of the instruments in so they can see what they look like and sound like - and I'll tie it in the medieval times (which they study in grade for) and the Golden Age of Islam in Andalusia (between the 8 and 14th century) - and the connection between that and Medieval Europe.
I also figured out a plan of how I'm going to teach my 38 grade 4 French students for the next month. I am going to teach them an autumn poem, a lovely song (a round), and I'm going to work on one of Aesop's Fables with them in French (The Wind and the Sun) which I will get them to eventually act out. I'm hoping that towards the end of my practicum we can have a soiree francaise and invite the parents and eat croissants and cheese (maybe we can do a performance for some of the classes in the school, as well).
I'm enjoying the practicum so far, but I do look forward to the weekend so that I can hopefully get my voice back in full working order :)
Maryem! It looks like you were able to seamlessly integrate music into your French teaching - AMAZING!
ReplyDeleteI wish I had been in your sounds lesson. I used to love little games like that. I'm sure the girl from Yemen also felt really special because she could identify so many. So wonderful!