1 Grade

Natalie Wood 1st grade Observation

For my first grade observation I went back to Pine Log Elementary School. The first grade class I observed was working in literacy centers. The class was divided in four separate groups the hornets, butterflies, dinosaurs, and the frogs. The literacy centers were located at each table in the classroom. At the first center the children were to read a book and write a report. The students were provided with four or five different level reading books. The students were familiar with which book they were to read. They were also provided with a piece of paper which they were to write on after they finished their reading. The paper was labeled to fill in the title of the book, what was read, and the new words they learned while reading the book. I thought this center was wonderful because it gave them a chance to read, practice writing, and forced them to reflect on any new words they learned in their reading. In the second center, the children had to practice spelling by decoding a secret number code. The children were given a list of numbers that matched up with letters that spelled out certain words. This was fun for the children and the children seemed to have fun while they were practicing spelling. The children did find the instruction to be a little confusing at first but then they understood. The teacher had a cute saying such as “ask three before me?” to eliminate interruption while she was focusing on the children who needed extra attention.

The third center focused on reading and vowel recognition. The children were to read a given poem two times and then circle all the words that began with the letter I. Once they had done that they could illustrate the poem. This was good because it gave them a chance to read, it gave them practice for I words and a chance to illustrate. The fourth center dealt with rhyming words. The students were given a clock with a picture by each number, a piece of paper numbered one to twelve, and a card that had a corresponding rhyme word. They were to write the word next to the number that rhymed with what was on the clock. It was cute watching the children say fox-cat then fox-box and realize it rhymed. This gave them a chance to write out words and practice spelling. After the children finished they could do the extra center which was the cutest one of them all. The students liked this one best. They were given a clipboard with a piece of paper labeled a in one column and i in the other column. They were to walk around the room and look for words that made that specific a or i sound and write them down in the corresponding column. This center gave the students a chance to work on phonics while at the same time they got to get up and move around the room. While all the children were busy in centers she called groups or individual to a table to work with her. I observed her doing shared and guided reading, practicing site words and phonics with the different students. The teacher definitely took a more interactive approach to teaching literacy. She used many unique teacher created materials as well as commercially published programs. She had a lot of variety in her class instruction. The students were actively involved in learning and it was wonderful.

I did not see the teacher administer assessment while I was observing. I did wonder how she kept up with the assessment and how she graded it but I did not ask either. Unlike the kindergarten class I observed, she had absolutely no paraprofessionals or parent volunteers come in and help while I was there which could have been helpful in assessing the students. The room was decorated with many displays of the alphabet and numbers. In addition, it had a calendar, a rug on the floor, a place to display who had lost a tooth, classroom rules, words labeling items around the room, number words, and a board representing books the students had read. The room had many different resources on the walls that the children could refer to in their leraning. The literacy block was a lot different than what I thought it would be like. I thought it would be taught in large group more and not small groups. I assumed they did not do centers after kindergarten but I was wrong. I can see why they use them it allows the teacher time for individuals and it meets more than one need for learning. I thought what I observed was very affective in teaching the children. The centers met a variety of needs and allowed for cooperative learning. I will definitely be practicing similar techniques in my own classroom. I will be using the center where the students had the chance to move around the room and look for words that had the right sound in them. I would probably try to be more organized in how I assess the children. I thought this teacher was very good at what she was doing.