Fun with Fieldwork

The fourth grade students that I worked with for fieldwork taught me so muc more than what a textbook or website could ever teach. I got to see the children interact in their classroom environment and put their minds to work. It was amazing seeing them interact with each other when working on assignments, projects, and homework. The children watched a video on BrainPop about magnets. This was a great anticipatory set for the teacher's lesson on magnetics.

The students loved the video about magnetics and they were so engaged in the activity that followed. After the video clip the teacher passed out magnets with little pieces of magnitite for the students to explore with. Most of the children worked well together and they all took turns using the magnets and exploring with them. The teacher gave them a worksheet about magnets to work on. There was a diagram of a magnet and the children had to label the different poles and answer ten questions. The students were allowed to work in groups for breif activities like these but four students together at the most. The teacher gave them the choice of working with others or by themselves. I noticed that three students liked to work by themselves and did work better on their own. I think that it was a really good idea that the teacher left that option up to them because not everyone can work in groups. Some children like to work better on their own or with a small group.

The teacher then showed the students a book by Chris Van Allsburg. This was a collection of pictures with a phrase or two that went with it. She explained that this was a collection of pictures that were given to him by a stranger. She showed the students the book and then had them go to their desks to get out their Writer's Workbook. She told them to pick a picture with it's phrase and then begin to draft a story about it. Some of the students were so confused because they were usually given direct topics to write about. The teacher had to explain to them that them need to use their imaginations. It's amazing that society today, considering how technologically advanced we are, has such a lack of immagination. Everything is given to us and told to us rather than having us use our minds to create it on our own.

At math time they were using their booklet for the NYS Test. They were going over multiplication problems, telling time, and three digit addition problems. Many of them had trouble with word problems. The teacher was trying to prepare them for the state tests. She explained to me that three days a week she is allowed to send 5 students from her class down to the 'Math Help' room for an hour where there are given some extra help or explanations on math. She said that she could send them or she would ask if anyone was having trouble they were allowed to go for help. I thought that the students were given a lot of options that allowed for them to succeed. I like how they were given the choices and found that it is very beneficial. When I become a teacher I will try to utilize this method in my classroom, depending on my students.