Week One

I observed Ms. Abdus-Shokur's third grade general education classroom at the New Vision school on October 6, 2008. Due to Ms. Abdus-Shokur being absent a permanent substitute teacher taught the class. We were told earlier that the students were all very comfortable with the substitute because she had been in the school for three years already. The students were very well behaved and listened to the substitute teacher throughout the lessons.

Classroom Information and Setup:
There are 23 students in the class with 22 present on this day. There are 9 girls and 13 boys. The majority of students are Spanish and African American with only about 4 white Caucasian students. The desks are arranged in tables, 6 at each, however there seems to be no pattern to how the students are placed. Possibly they are seated alphabetically? The blackboard at the front of the room is covered in posters. There is one poster that the students filled out earlier in the year that says "what would you like to learn this year". There are also a few "aim" posters with "how do we..." questions. There is an alphabet chart in script above the blackboard as well as a list of class rules. The class rules are to 1. listen to one another, 2. help each other, 3. complete and hand in all work on time, 4. share your thinking, 5. follow the High-5-rules. The High-5-rules are the rules the entire school follows that I have yet to find out.

In the back of the room there are three computers with individual headphones for students to work at as well as a reading corner. The reading corner has 2 bookshelves full of different reading level books. This is the class library where I assume students not only choose books to read individually but the class gathers to read books together (there is a smart board with markers in the reading corner).

Lessons:

The first lesson of the day is brief where students distinguish the difference between a period and a question mark. The teacher has students read sentences aloud and then asks them "are you telling me or asking me"? She then asks "what mark belongs there"? This lesson seems to be a review of what was possibly done the week before.

The second lesson the students listen to a tape of story and read along in their Trophies textbooks. Some students use their fingers to follow along throughout the story. The story is called Pepita Talks Twice. It is about a girl named Pepita who speaks both English and Spanish and is tired of speaking Spanish and translating for people. She decides to speak only English. Throughout the story she learns a few lessons and comes to realize how helpful speaking Spanish and English can be. The teacher stops the tape throughout the story to ask questions like "what is Pepita felling right now"? At one point in the story she tries to relate what Pepita is going through to the students by asking them how many of them have to translate for people at home. It is surprising because 90% of the students raise their hands. One student mentions Hebrew, another sign language and many speak Spanish at home. The students are then asked to make a prediction for the story. The Trophies textbook has words highlighted throughout the book which is actually the students vocabulary for the week. At the end of the story the students answer "Think and Respond" questions and state whether their predictions were right.

The third lesson takes place after all but 4 students leave to go to different resource rooms. The students together with the teacher gather at one of the tables to go over NY State Testing Program-Language Arts (2007) booklet. They then take turns reading the story. They sound out words that they can not immediately recognize and the teacher explains the unfamiliar words they don't understand (plow, tractor, acre). At the end of the story there are 6 questions to be answered. The students box the key words that will help them answer the questions. In the story the students underline key points of information. The students also learn how to eliminate bad answers to find the most likely choice.

The last lesson before lunch is a spelling review sheet. The words this week are "words with short i-o-u" sounds. The students are to match their spelling words to other vocab words by filling in the blanks. The teacher does the first one with the class together to demonstrate. The sheet only takes about a half hour to do. The teacher walks around during this time to help and encourage the students. If students are finished early they are told to take out a quiet book to read.

Overall the field observation was interesting. It was nice to see the setup of the classroom and talk to a few of the students at the end of our visit. They were all so well behaved. I am looking forward to the upcoming weeks where we can find out more details on what students need what resources and what they do in the specific resource rooms. It will be great to deal with students one-on-one and interact in upcoming visits as well.