Stephanie's Lesson #4

Date of Lesson:  First Thursday
Teacher:  Stephanie Voight
Grade Level:  Kindergarten
Subject Area:  Social Studies
Time Needed:  20 minutes in the morning, 30 minutes in the afternoon
Topic:  What is home-schooling?


What School of Education standard/s did you try to address in this lesson?
Standard #3 - Demonstrates Sophisticated Curricular Knowledge
By bringing in guest speakers, I am effectively asking students to review their assumptions and which is an important component of social students.

NCSS Standards:
·   help learners to understand the various forms institutions take, their functions, their relationships to one another and how they develop and change over time
·   enable learners to assess the importance of cultural unity and diversity within and across groups

MMSD Standards:
·   identify similarities and differences in peoples (i.e., actions, feelings, appearance, abilities)
·   exhibit an awareness that children grow up in different parts of the world with similar and different experiences

Materials Needed:
·   I Am a Home Schooler by Julie Voetberg
·   M&Ms
·   White board, markers

Objectives:
·   SWBAT make connections between their school and Jeremiah's school.
·   SWBAT conduct a constructive interview in order to learn more about their world.

Lesson Context:
After thinking about kindergarten classrooms, we will delve into a kindergarten experience outside of a classroom.

Lesson Opening:
When we are gathered around the carpet for morning meeting, I will ask the students where and when they are learning.  We will brainstorm ideas on the white board.  If students struggle with the vagueness of the question, I will provide them with prompts.  What about at the zoo?  What kinds of things do you learn at the zoo?  What about at a grandparent's house?  What about at home?

Procedures:
-> As students discern whether or not they are learning at home, I will ask them if they remember our friend Jeremiah.  Jeremiah left our class earlier in the semester to be home-schooled.  We will talk about why he went home and what he does there.  I will tell the students that, as they already know, Jeremiah and his mom are coming to visit today.  We will be able to ask them questions.
-> On the whiteboard, we will brainstorm questions that we want to ask Jeremiah.  I will tell the students that,
      o    Do you like learning at home?
      o    Do you do science?
      o    Do you have gym class?
      o    How long do you learn?
      o    What does your brother do while you learn?
      o    Where do you get the books?
      o    Etc
-> We will divide up the questions for students that want to be able to ask Jeremiah the questions.  If there are some left over, I will ask them.  (I will write the questions down on individual pieces of paper for the children to hold before the interview.)  We will review good interviewing and listening schools.  Students have already had some experience with interviews as I have interviewed them about various things in the past so this is not a new concept.
-> Later in the day, when Jeremiah and his mom come, we will first do an icebreaker so that we can feel more comfortable with each other so that Jeremiah's transition back into the classroom feels smooth.  When we are sitting in a circle, I will give each person a couple of M&Ms.  Each color of M&M will stand for a question that needs to be answered.  (For example, a person with a red M&M will need to say their favorite flavor of ice cream.)
-> Next Jeremiah and his mom will sit in the front with the students facing them.  Students will take turns asking questions, and Jeremiah and his mom will answer them, depending on who the question was directed to.  When we are finished asking questions, we will have a snack and then choice time so that students can informally play with their friend Jeremiah again.

Closure:
As closure, we will talk about our new, overarching understanding of home-schooling.  On the board, we will make two columns for comparison. One column will say "same" and the other column will say "different".  Students will throw out ideas and, in this way, we will document our learning.  The next day, I will read I Am a Homeschooler during our literacy block, and we will have a short discussion to connect this student's experience to Jeremiah's experience.

Special Considerations:         
Jeremiah might feel uncomfortable and shy at first.  I will talk to him before the students ask him questions to get a feeling for any tension.  I will also make sure that Aidan sits near him during the question-asking portion since they are best friends and know each other outside of school.

Assessment:
I will pay careful attention to our discussion and documentation of the comparison/contrast of our school and home-schooling.  In my opinion, it is most important to discover the similarities between these two types of schooling because currently students believe that Jeremiah's schooling at home is so different.

What personal goal (teaching strategy) are you working on in this lesson?
I hope to seamlessly incorporate special guests into our learning.