Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Derivational Patterns - Class 5


Erin, Bethany, Josh & Melinda

20 comments:

LindsC said...

Your overview and definitions made the lesson very clear. Great hook to make it fun and engaging. It was great that you always stepped out of the teacher role to tell us why or when you would do this with a class. It was very practical and helpful.

Jami said...

Having fun and getting excited about what you are teaching is definitely what it’s all about; you sure demonstrated this. It was also great how you demonstrated the importance of personal connections as that definitely makes students want to be more involved with whatever subject they are learning.

brenda perusse said...

You all did such a great job on this lesson. I loved your hook. Music is so engaging to students, and it addresses a learning style that isn’t often addressed. This is a lesson that could be modified for any grade level. This would be beneficial to struggling learners because it gives them one more strategy to pronunciation and word meaning. You addressed several of the learning styles-kinesthetic, linguistic, visual, musical, logical, interpersonal, and intrapersonal (if the students went on and created their own riddles).

justyna said...

Your lesson presentation was fantastic, with all that energy, role-playing, costumes, guitar and food on the top of it. Aha I have forgotten, with all that fun we have been learning as well.
But since there is always room for improvement I have caught two things that I would watch for in the future. Reading to students is never as appealing as explaining something with your own words. And also please do not implant fear of math to the young minds!!!
Percents are not scary; they are exciting, but if not they are just challenging.

Denise said...

Josh, Bethany, Melinda, and Erin’s lesson on derivational word patterns got me really excited about looking at word roots. I’ve always found this to be such an effective reading strategy that often gets overlooked in school. I couldn’t help but immediately think of ‘My Bit Fat Greek Wedding’ in which the Greek father wants to link all English words to Greek ones. I think the great insight with this lesson was in just how ubiquitous word roots are in the text around us. The group did such a great job of demonstrating how you can teach through song. Although I don’t personally feel confident in my own singing ability, the lesson inspired me to consider this possibility more seriously.

Chantel said...

What an amazing presentation!!! I really enjoyed that you guys had so much fun with the lesson, the song was a wonderful idea. I loved the idea of altering the song with the students ideas and work, what a great way to give them a sense of accomplishment and success. I really liked this strategy, its one that could carry students right through to high school.

Carmen said...

This was lots of fun—thanks for your enthusiasm! The topic was one I haven’t really thought about before, and I gleaned a lot of tips that I can use when teaching it to my students (and I can definitely see the value in a unit like this). The song was especially inspiring and it got me thinking of all the different ways I could link music to other parts of the curriculum.

Ackie said...

You presented an all around sensory experience in your lesson!! It reminded me how important it was for us as teachers to create experiences for students that reach all senses so that they can remember the concepts of that lesson in a fun and interactive way. The use of food, music, costumes really enhanced the concepts you were presenting. It also triggered the imagination of your audience as if they were really in Greece, and they were at the origins of these root words (as if traveling through time with words). The idea that Josh used during his practicum of creating songs for each unit was brilliant. Again, it incorporates multiple intelligences in which I am a strong believer. Although most of us had read about derivational patterns from the textbook, this presentation really clarified many questions I had. Thank you for presenting it in such a creative manner!

Heather said...

HA HA HA HA HA - your presentation was soo funny. I was laughing so hard. I was really engaged and I LOVED the song. I also enjoyed that you were so enthusiastic and bubbly - when students see that the teacher is having fun and interested in the subject being presented, then they are more likely to become invested and enjoy an activity - very beneficial for students who learn through music/sound and gives the students opportunities to be creative in constructing their own words to put into the song.
:) GREAT JOB

Lindsay G. said...

I really enjoyed the creativity you used in creating a theme that reflected on the roots of derivatoinal patterns. The song was amazing and definitely engaged me in wanting to learn more about dp's. Students can be actively involved in using the patterns to figure out vocabulary as well as create their own riddles, which is very fun and motivational for them. I find that sometimes what you learn in school stays in the classroom, but I became intrigued to figure out more patterns in everyday life. Great job at making this lesson relevant to real life situations.

Hamid said...

Having a great hook is so important and your group hooked me the moment I saw the costumes. They were not only cool costumes but they were costumes that the students could definitely relate to and understand. I think that’s such an important aspect of a hook, do the kids already have some sort of knowledge about the hook, if they do, then they can get into the topic that much more. I also loved the song. The whole lesson was put together in a way that made you feel like you weren’t even learning but I came out of it having learned so much. I think what you did as a group was awesome because it taught the students a new concept without even making it seem like they did. Isn’t that the most difficult thing to do as teachers? Also, with the food being passed around, the captivation was all over the place and I was so into your lesson. Just one suggestion, less garlic in the tzatziki next time!

Dave said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dave said...

Your presentation on "The Origins Of Words - Derivational Word Patterns" was exciting and engaging. The use of food, costumes, and music created an inspirational learning environment. Josh's song was definitely awesome and is another method of accounting for multiple intelligences in the classroom. This lesson reminded me of how ubiquitous word roots are and inpired me to consider this more during my teaching practices and in my own life. It also clearly demonstrated that the vitality that the teacher portrays is often a key factor in setting the tone of the class as the students play into and off of the sources of energy in the classroom.

Gareth said...

Derivational word patterns exist in so much of our English language. I find it useful to see where our words come from, because I think it tells us something important about our history. Good work in opening up the class and making us not afraid to sing :)

neha said...

It clearly shows that you put a lot of hard work and enthusiasm into your lesson and that made the learning very engaging and fun. You had an amazing hook through the costumes you put on and the food you brought to class. I was really into your lesson before it even started. Very creative! I thought you all did a good job of showing us how derivations can be seen in our everyday language and it is a very interesting topic to teach students. I think they would be equally as curious as I was to see where words came from (the roots). Your enactment of Socrates and Plato was very imaginative in relating derivational words to the Greek language. The song was really amazing and you clearly had a well planned out lesson with the hook, lead in, and activity.

Laura said...

Wow! Your presentation on Derivational Word Patterns was so entertaining! While I am not sure that I could replicate the sing along experience, perhaps a future colleague could, so it was fantastic to see how such an exercise could help develop decoding skills. I also liked the way that you emphasized to your students HOW derivational patterns can help them and the way you introduced to us how children might go about creating their own riddles instead of just working to answer ones that were pre made.

You accessed prior knowledge in your students and connected the activity to their unit on Greece. Your fantastic hook, costumes and enthusiastic attitudes made for a stellar lesson! I would seriously consider making a video series!

Thank you!

Christina A. said...

I really liked how clearly this lesson was set up. You had a great explanation of what your lesson was about and why you were teaching the lesson. What a great hook to the lesson by having the "teachers" wear costumes to get the students involved. Kudos to Josh for being brave enough to stand in front of a group of peers and sing a silly song! I know I would have problems doing that in front of a group of 6 year olds, let alone a groupd of my peers!! Overall it was a fun and interesting lesson!

Christine said...

What can I say but what an amazing job as a group you did. It was clear, to the point,fun, and best of all you bribed us with food!! Your presentation just emphasized how important it is to have a great hook and well I bet a few of us had that song in our heads for awhile :-) Thanks for the Greek root lesson and revealing a few secrets as to how to approach teaching students and making them more actively involved.

Tracy said...

Great presentation! I loved the class involvement and the excitement you showed about what you were teaching. I think the teaching of roots is so important for setting a base for students to build on the vocabulary. This is something that will continue throughout highschool and adult years that can be used in decoding words.

Jennifer Bumby said...

Derivational Patterns – Josh, Bethany, Melinda, Erin
Have you ever wondered why the alphabet song was put to music? I have. I think it is because when words are placed to song they become easier to remember and internalize. I don’t think that I will readily forget Josh and Bethany all dressed up talking about how word derivations can help students to learn the meaning of the word and the meaning of a sentence. I like how each member of the group played a role in presenting the topic and how they included the whole class in the sing of the song. Food was also very great, and related to the topic!