EDUC 336 Bloom Ball Project: Focuses on Grade 6 Solar System unit that promotes higher-level thinking. The main focus is for students to reflect on their learning through application, synthesis, comprehension, analysis, and evaluation.
EDUC 336 Lesson Plan on Grade 6 Core French: The lesson plan included a land-based activity, storytime, and making maple syrup candies. Information was provided regarding the characteristics, needs, and strengths of the students in the perceived class as well as a discussion on adaptations made for students with individual exceptionalities. For the land-based activity, we created worksheets for a scavenger hunt in which students went outside and found French words on various objects. Students were asked to write down the French word next to the corresponding image(s). The worksheet for students with individual exceptionalities included an answer key. The maple syrup candy activity included the use of hot plates and various ingredients. Students got to make their own and enjoy their treat while listening to my classmate read a children’s book in French!
EDUC 346 Aboriginal and Indigenous Education Chapter 8 Presentation: Chapter 8 focuses on the transition program for Indigenous students to provide guidance for those that are transitioning from elementary to high school. The chapter discussed various factors that contribute to the intense transition. These factors include students having more teachers than they are used to, more classrooms, and fears of not building student-teacher relationships. The goals of the transition programs include creating a sense of belonging and enhancing the student-teacher relationship. This presentation was demonstrated through a PowerPoint and land-based activity. The land-based activity included a scavenger hunt which differed between groups. One group had items that were easy to locate outside while the other group had items that were harder to find outside. This activity worked as an analogy to represent the inequalities and gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students in what they have for guidance and support within education.
EDUC 394: Pedagogy, Curriculum, and Teaching IGNITE Project: This individualized project included the various philosophies that I resonate with and the explanations of how I teach, what I teach, and why I teach. During the creation of this poster, I was able to reflect back on my own experiences as an elementary school student and as a volunteer for various youth programs. The core question that I answer is “why teaching?” This allowed me to think of all the reasons why I want to be a teacher. Reasons include my love for learning and my desire to make a difference.
EDUC 391: Experiential Practicum (Kindergarten – Annunciation School, Prince Rupert, BC) Life Cycle of a Chicken: Students were learning about the chicken life cycle and focusing on the process of hatching. Guest Kiara Page, brought in her chicken, Betty to introduce students to a live female chicken. Students are hatching their own eggs using an incubator, although it is a process, students are observing the egg every day to note any observations that they may see. Kiara demonstrated egg candling to show students the inside of the egg while it is in the incubator. Eggs are expected to hatch the last week of March.
EDUC 391: Experiential Practicum (Kindergarten – Annunciation School, Prince Rupert, BC) K is for Kite, V is for Volcano, and Y is for Yoda: During my practicum, I’ve been introduced to more interdisciplinary lessons that I had decided to create some lesson of my own incorporating various subject areas. In Kindergarten, students are introduced to new letters and the sounds of those specific letters. First, we focused on the letter “K”, students mentioned words that they are familiar with that start with the letter “K” and created the sound of the letter “K” as a class. They then created their own kites using brown paper lunch bags and various art materials. Secondly, I decided to incorporate science and literacy when learning about the letter ‘V”. Students mixed baking soda and vinegar to create their own volcano’s outside. Lastly, students learned about the letter “Y” through literacy and fine arts. Using different colored construction paper pieces, they made their own Yoda’s.
EDUC 391: Experiential Practicum (Kindergarten – Annunciation School, Prince Rupert, BC) Buckets of Kindness: For Pink Shirt Day, I made a lesson that incorporated acts of kindness through fine arts and literacy. Students were engaged while I read aloud the book, Have You Filled a Bucket Today? to learn about the concept of kindness and the different ways that we can be kind to our friends, families, teachers, and communities. After storytime, students created their own buckets using various art materials and had to write kind words or draw pictures of kind acts to put in their classmate’s buckets.
EDUC 391: Experiential Practicum (Kindergarten – Annunciation School, Prince Rupert, BC) 100th Day of Learning: During this special day, students engaged in an interdisciplinary lesson that incorporated mathematics and fine arts. Students created their own Froot Loops cereal necklaces by counting out 100 Froot Loops and designing their own necklaces focusing on colour schemes. As for the 100th Day crowns, students had 100 art materials (stickers, jewels, and papers) to decorate their own crowns.
EDUC 490: Formative Practicum (Grade 4/5 – Lax Kxeen, Prince Rupert, BC) Story Stones: The Grade 4/5s learned about the different elements in stories and how to write a story when given a writing prompt. Students were given the opportunity to paint their own rocks and then write a story about them. Their painting had to include a setting and a character; however, it had to be both a setting and a character from their own imagination. Once their stories were completed, students shared their stories with their peers and teachers.
EDUC 490: Formative Practicum (Grade 4/5 – Lax Kxeen, Prince Rupert, BC) The Chain Race: Students were put into groups of 4 and had to build a chain using one piece of paper, two pairs of scissors, and two glue sticks. Whichever group built the longest chain – won! Students were put into groups to work on their communication and teamwork skills. They had to work together to come up with different strategies to ensure that their chain was the longest. These strategies included – cutting thin strips of paper so that there were a lot of chains or cutting thick strips of paper so that the chain was bigger. This hands-on activity was engaging for all students and every group used a different strategy.
EDUC 490: Formative Practicum (Grade 4/5, Lax Kxeen, Prince Rupert, BC) Biomes: Students learned about the different biomes and ecosystems around our world. This unit consisted of students creating a PowerPoint on a Canadian animal of their choice and describing the biome and ecosystem they live in. As a year-end project, students created those biomes as a diorama and describe them to their peers and teachers.
EDUC 490 Formative Practicum (Grade 4/5, Lax Kxeen, Prince Rupert, BC) Tessellations: This lesson was cross-curricular with mathematics and art. Students were given the option to choose their own templates and design to express their own creativity. Students also learned the history of tessellations and their connection to Indigenous artwork.