class room observation

Josh Van CoppenolleEDU 301Social Studies MethodsMary
IandoliClassroom ObservationDate: 9-30-96Kindergarten teacher: Mrs.
DeboltFirst grade teacher: Mrs. CasteluzoLocation: Penn Yan Elementary
Carrie and I were going to observe a kindergarten classroom social
studies classthat combined their lesson with a first grade class. We were
scheduled to arrive at 2 PM. When I arrived at 1:50 PM, Carrie was
waiting outside the school and informed me thatshe had already gone in
and was told that there was going to be a fire drill in just a fewminutes.
We waited for the fire drill to finish and then went into the class. The time
wasabout 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 students backfrom the fire drill. This gave us time to look around.
The kindergarten room wasbrightly decorated with lots of posters and
student's art work. The kids were working oncolors because there was a
strip on top of the blackboard that had the colors and thingswe might see
in that color. The student's desks were arranged in two rows,
pushedtogether and facing each other. There were about twelve seats in
each group, so therewere about 24 students in the class. Apparently, the
class had just been returning from atrip to the school library when the fire
drill went off, so when they came in they werestill carrying their library
books. The students were asked to take their seats and they didso
quietly. Everyone's eyes were on Carrie and me. Mrs. Debolt asked us
to introduceourselves, which we did. She told the class that we were
learning to be teachers andthat we wanted to sit in on their social studies
class. Each student sat at a little desk withtheir name laminated on the
top. The students had laminated cards with their names onthem 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 pretty quietwhile this was going on and followed directions
well. Mrs. Debolt told the class that wewere going to have a joint lesson
with Mrs. Castiluzo's 1st grade class. She askedeveryone to come up to

the front of the room and sit quietly on their bottoms, hands intheir laps.
The two classrooms are connected by a door and soon Mrs. Castiluzo,
heraide, and the 1st graders came in. It was a tight squeeze but
everyone got a little spot onthe floor. You could tell the kids who like their
personal space because they wereuncomfortable in the tight space and
tried to wiggle and scoot. Mrs. Debolt introducedCarrie and me and then
started her lesson. She started with a story about a green bearwho 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 thegroup by questioning them about houses
and families and health. Then we talked abouthealthy bodies and how we
make healthy bodies by eating correctly. The teacher wouldask a
question and then call on someone who raised their hand. When there
was a funtask to do, the teacher would call on a student that was doing
something right, like sittingup straight. I noticed that the same students
were always raising their hands. The teachershould have tried to involve
all of the students. After the discussion of green and healthy,
Mrs. Castiluza read a poem, but thechildren had already been sitting for
15-20 minutes and were not interested in the longpoem at all. Then, Mrs.
Castiluza brought out a bag of fresh vegetables that she grew inher
garden. This got the kids interested again and we discussed how the
greens of thevegetables 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 texturesand crunchiness of the
vegetables. The lesson was evaluated as the students ate theirsalad, the
teachers informally walked around the room and spoke with the children,
butnot all of them. The kids finished, threw their paper plates away and
returned to theirseats. I stopped back at the library briefly on another day
and found there to be quite abig selection of trade books on historical
events and biographies. There was a bigselection on folk tales. I found a

section with plays that are made especially for classeswith lots of parts.
There were a lot of multicultural books on display. I think that theylooked
pretty new. There were computers available as well but I didn't go and
look atthe 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 teachershould have a way to
involve all the students in the discussion. Also, I think that all thestudents
should have been involved in making the salad. I think the idea of the
salad wasgood, hands on and a reward at the end. The students were
very well behaved and theteacher handled misbehaving matter-of-factly
without a lot of attention drawn to thedeed. I don't think that the material
was particularly challenging, but then again we aredealing with
kindergarten. The theme of the unit was "myself and my family". I think
Isee the way they were going with the green bear in his home and a
healthy diet to keepyou well. Did I mention that I want to teach 5th
grade? Seriously though, I think theselittle ones are adorable but
everytime I spend time in kindergarten, I realize that I will domuch better
with older learners.