Civics Lesson 3 Reflection

 Lesson three focused on Civics, continuing our learning on the country France. Miss. Karlie and I started the lesson off with an icebreaker activity to get the students moving and ready to learn. We brought in dice for the students to roll and there was a printed directions sheet placed in the middle of the table they were learning at. Based on what number the student landed on they would answer the corresponding question examples: What is your favorite holiday? What is your favorite sport? What is your favorite TV show? Miss. Karlie and I decided to let the students take two turns each because they all enjoyed this activity a lot. We then went over the list of behavior expectations that we created as a group in lesson one. The vocabulary words for this week were a little more complex than prior weeks so we decided to create a visual and have the students match pictures to the definitions. Along with the matching activity we also provided the students with the words and definitions on their word-chain in their suitcases. The matching activity went extremely well and the students stayed engaged throughout the entire activity. Following the hands-on vocabulary activity we then did a mock election with the group, voting on which type of brain break they wanted to do. The students took this activity very seriously as we had them show the passports that Miss. Karlie and I created. After showing us their passports we then had the students sign a paper as if they would sign in to register to vote. This mock election activity took a little longer than expected but the students were satisfied with the activity and asked to do it again next week. Next, Miss. Karlie and I introduced a primary source photograph from 1945 of women voting for the first time in France. When showing the students the primary source we incorporated an activity using our five senses. We had asked the students "If you were in this picture what would you see, hear, taste, smell, and feel?" The students gave plenty of input during this activity. One student said "I would feel the paper and pen when writing." Another student stated "I would see the people around me and hear them talking." I've noticed when including an activity like the five senses the students engage deeply in the primary source. We then did the brain break activity that won the votes in the mock election. The students gathered on the carpet in the front of the room and participated in a would you rather exercise activity. The students definitely needed this brain break when it came to this point in the lesson. Once the video was over we then went back to our table to complete a journal entry. The compelling question that the students answered in their journals was What rights and responsibilities do we have?  The students took about five minutes to write a response to this question in their journals. Miss. Karlie then read a non-fiction book on France, the students followed along and kept focus while the book was being read to the them. After the read aloud we did a stop and jot activity focused on the three branches of government. The students listened to the statements that Miss. Karlie and I read to them and then they had a couple minutes to stop and jot down which branch they thought it was and drew a picture to go along with it. To make it fair we ended the lesson by doing another brain break, the one that got the least votes during the mock election, which was charades. An area of weakness during this lesson would be that we did not get to start the last activity that we had for them. We had another non-fiction read for them to listen to but time had run out. 

All of the students in the group met the learning objectives put in place for this lesson. They each were able to identify and describe the three branches of government by participating in the stop and jot activity. Some of the students wrote and drew more than others but they all put forth a deep amount of effort. The students were also able to provide different examples of rules and laws in their compelling question journal entries. Students were also able to recognize and explain the implications of current and past events on the world through the mock election and primary source analysis. There weren't any students that did not meet the learning objectives for this lesson.

As a teacher candidate, I have learned from this experience that incorporating visuals and hands-on activities are important. The vocabulary word wall that was created with the students when completing the sorting activity is a great way for the students to learn. Aside from materials, I have also learned and reflected on the importance of analyzing primary sources. This lesson had a significant impact on my professional identity and how I will go about planning, teaching, and assessing in the future. When planning lessons for the students, I will continue to plan with the intent of using many visuals and including activities that impact student learning. Student engagement and participation is what I use to assess students and what they have learned after each of these lessons.

Brain Break Video:

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPlbwY3yEMc

Primary Source: 

  • https://docs.google.com/document/d/15PiKvg3hgvTKQncFk_xR037wdFOgN3-Q1dwhVFrPDB8/edit?tab=t.0 

Non-Fiction Read Aloud

  • Countries of the World: France by Rebecca Sabelko




           





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