Josh Van Coppenolle

EDU 301
Social Studies Methods
Mary Iandoli
Classroom Observation
Date: 9-30-96
Kindergarten teacher: Mrs. Debolt
First grade teacher: Mrs. Casteluzo
Location: Penn Yan Elementary
Carrie and I were going to observe a kindergarten classroom social studi
es class
that combined their lesson with a first grade class. We were scheduled to arriv
e at 2 PM.
When I arrived at 1:50 PM, Carrie was waiting outside the school and informed
me that
she had already gone in and was told that there was going to be a fire drill in
just a few
minutes. We waited for the fire drill to finish and then went into the class.
The time was
about 2:10 at this point, so the teachers were running a little behind.
When we entered the room it was empty, we had obviously beat the student
s back
from the fire drill. This gave us time to look around. The kindergarten room w
as
brightly decorated with lots of posters and student's art work. The kids were w
orking on
colors because there was a strip on top of the blackboard that had the colors an
d things
we might see in that color. The student's desks were arranged in two rows, push
ed
together and facing each other. There were about twelve seats in each group, so
there
were about 24 students in the class. Apparently, the class had just been return
ing from a
trip to the school library when the fire drill went off, so when they came in t
hey were
still carrying their library books. The students were asked to take their seats
and they did
so quietly. Everyone's eyes were on Carrie and me. Mrs. Debolt asked us to int
roduce
ourselves, which we did.
She told the class that we were learning to be teach
ers and
that we wanted to sit in on their social studies class. Each student sat at a
little desk with
their name laminated on the top. The students had laminated cards with their na
mes on
them tied around their neck with a long piece of yarn. I think that these were
their library
cards. Mrs. Debolt asked me to collect these, which I did. The students were p
retty quiet
while this was going on and followed directions well. Mrs. Debolt told the clas
s that we
were going to have a joint lesson with Mrs. Castiluzo's 1st grade class. She as
ked
everyone to come up to the front of the room and sit quietly on their bottoms,
hands in
their laps. The two classrooms are connected by a door and soon Mrs. Castiluzo,
her

aide, and the 1st graders came in. It was a tight squeeze but everyone got a li
ttle spot on
the floor. You could tell the kids who like their personal space because they w
ere
uncomfortable in the tight space and tried to wiggle and scoot. Mrs. Debolt int
roduced
Carrie and me and then started her lesson. She started with a story about a gre
en bear
who lived in the forest. He would change the color of his house as the seasons
changed.
Before she read she assess for prior knowledge. After she finished the book she
led the
group by questioning them about houses and families and health. Then we talked a
bout
healthy bodies and how we make healthy bodies by eating correctly. The teacher
would
ask a question and then call on someone who raised their hand. When there was a
fun
task to do, the teacher would call on a student that was doing something right,
like sitting
up straight. I noticed that the same students were always raising their hands.
The teacher
should have tried to involve all of the students.
After the discussion of green and healthy, Mrs. Castiluza read a poem,
but the
children had already been sitting for 15-20 minutes and were not interested in t
he long
poem at all. Then, Mrs. Castiluza brought out a bag of fresh vegetables that sh
e grew in
her garden. This got the kids interested again and we discussed how the greens
of the
vegetables were different. Then Carrie and I got 2 helpers and cut up lettuce,
peppers,
and cucumbers to make a salad. We all ate salad and talked about the different
textures
and crunchiness of the vegetables. The lesson was evaluated as the students ate
their
salad, the teachers informally walked around the room and spoke with the childre
n, but
not all of them. The kids finished, threw their paper plates away and returned t
o their
seats. I stopped back at the library briefly on another day and found there to
be quite a
big selection of trade books on historical events and biographies. There was a
big
selection on folk tales. I found a section with plays that are made especially
for classes
with lots of parts. There were a lot of multicultural books on display. I thin
k that they
looked pretty new. There were computers available as well but I didn't go and l
ook at
the soft ware
I think that the lesson was interesting enough, although maybe a little
too long.
The teachers tried to use literature and poems to tell the lesson. I think that
the teacher
should have a way to involve all the students in the discussion. Also, I think
that all the
students should have been involved in making the salad. I think the idea of the
salad was

good, hands on and a reward at the end. The students were very well behaved and
the
teacher handled misbehaving matter-of-factly without a lot of attention drawn to
the
deed. I don't think that the material was particularly challenging, but then ag
ain we are
dealing with kindergarten. The theme of the unit was "myself and my family". I
think I
see the way they were going with the green bear in his home and a healthy diet t
o keep
you well. Did I mention that I want to teach 5th grade? Seriously though, I th
ink these
little ones are adorable but everytime I spend time in kindergarten, I realize
that I will do
much better with older learners.