When Monday came around, I was a little nervous. Although I have been going into this 5th grade class since the beginning of the semester, this was my first real, planned lesson. I started the lesson with a stomp/clap attention-getter to bring the class together. I instructed them to get their materials, and open to blank page in their reading notebook. First, I had a student read-aloud the performance task that they were supposed to be able to answer by the end of the unit. (The first time I read this performance task, I was shocked by the amount of information they were responsible for learning! This looked like a daunting task, and I even questioned my ability to answer all of the parts of the task.) I explained that this was the big day, the day that they were going to answer the performance task. We also reviewed the T-Chart and the rubric that they will be graded on. After reviewing the rubric, I asked them to turn to the article that they read on the first day of the LDC, where they learned about the components of a scientific article. I asked the students to call out the components to refresh their memory and to write them down because they will use them to help pull information for their performance task. After that, we went over what a plan was. I asked the students to turn and talk about what the difference between a plan and a rough draft was. Most of the students had a good grasp on what the difference was, with most of them saying that the plan was where you get your ideas out for your paper and the rough draft is where you write your actual paper. I explained that the plan was the road map, or the guide to the paper, where you mention what you are going to write about and jot down your ideas for each section. After this, the students were allowed 30 minutes to plan for their performance task.
Although I have been visiting 5th grade for a good amount of time, their independence level still surprises me. When I asked them to begin working, they did just that, with very minimal talking, if any. I am still not used to just walking around an monitoring the students, with an occasional question. I am used to going around to my students and asking them how they are progressing, and looking at their work and asking them to explain their thinking constantly. I understand that with 5th grade I have to do this as well, but just at a different level. I am still working on adjusting to this. I am also getting used to the types of questions that have to be asked. I have to learn how to ask questions that extend their thinking, causing them to think about the reasons behind the concept, rather than to explain the concept. As I am seeing, I still have a lot to learn about 5th grade and how to adjust my instruction and the way I word things for 5th grade students.
After giving them 30 minutes to plan, I asked one student if I could share her plan with the class.I explained that there are many ways to plan,and this is just one way. I went over each section of the plan and how she had the different sections that she was going to talk about and the ideas that went with that section. After sharing her plan, we talked about the correct way to make citations in the text when they are using text evidence.We talked a little about the format of the paper and then I gave them an hour to write their rough draft.
Overall, I think this lesson went well,although there is always something to work on. For me, these things are my words when I explain a concept, and adjusting my questions for 5th grade.