Focus Point Three - Cooperation, Discovery and Constructivist Learning

Competency 008 - The teacher provides appropriate instruction that actively engages students in the learning process.

Interpretation - The teacher uses a variety of instructional techniques and strategies to promote active student participation and learning in the classroom.

Process - Problem Solving Board©  Hand-out (Mathematics-Dr. Connell)

Summary – This is an activity sheet that gives students a blue print method to discover different ways to help them calculate different Math problems.  The students can use this sheet by placing the information requested by the questions at the top of each box and follow through with each step in the board.  Students can use this Problem Solving Board individually or in groups to help find different methods of calculating the correct answers for their Math activities.

Rationale/Reflection – I chose the Problem Solving Board© handout due to its step-by-step discovery method.  I have used it myself and like the way in which it prompts students to go through the steps required to find solutions for different Math problems.  The fact that a teacher can use it in a transparency format is another advantage.  This can be useful when teaching students to work new Math concepts or when helping students to solve a particular problem that everyone has had difficulty with in the classroom.  I feel the Problem Solving Board© will be a great advantage during my student teaching as well as in future classrooms.  This tool can be used and adapted to any grade level or any Math concept.

Product - “Inventors’ Bulletin Board” (Social Studies-Group project)

Summary – This is a Social Studies lesson plan completed by our group for a Methods class assignment.  The bulletin board is a combination of five different activities which students can choose from to learn about inventions and inventors from early Colonial days to present day America.  The bulletin board has activities that were developed for all level learners and allows the children to have fun while discovering information about American inventors and the creations they built.

Rationale/Reflection – I chose this lesson and its corresponding photographs because it represents to me what discovery in the classroom is about.  The bulletin board allows children a unique and engaging way to find out information about the previous citizens of our country and their pioneering ingenuity.  I feel children need to learn through many different avenues if you are to keep their interest in learning and build it into a lifelong habit.    

Performance - Brother Eagle/Sister Sky “read  aloud” lesson (Mrs. Cook’s 3^rd grade class)

Summary – This is a lesson created for a Language Arts assignment utilizing reading aloud to students and providing them with a corresponding activity to tie in with the literature chosen.  The student activity we chose to help bring better comprehension of Chief Seattle’s message was to create a poster about an endangered animal. The activity was done in four groups and the poster must have four facts about the animal and a student-created solution to help save the animal.  The students used teacher researched and approved Internet sites and National Wildlife Organization literature to create these posters.