Lesson 2, Instructional Decisions/Teaching

During the implementation process, I began by asking students tricks that help them remember the names of all the states. After they provided me with some examples of useful tips, I showed them the Youtube video "Fifty Nifty States" to help them more effectively remember all of the state names. Afterwards, I put a labeled map of the United States on the Smartboard and pointed to each of the twenty-five states that I was focusing on for this lesson. As I pointed to each state, I taught my students one fact about each of those states. Then, I had my students practice labeling their own blank map, which we went over together after they finished filling out their worksheet. Finally, I displayed the rubric for the brochure that the students were expected to create as a guide and gave them time to decide which state they wanted to research. For the rest of the lesson, the students were given time to create their state brochure.

While teaching this lesson, I learned that it is difficult to point to things on the Smartboard without the Smartboard activating other programs and links. Something that I could work on is pointing without touching the board so that I do not take time away from the lesson by fixing things that I accidentally activated.

Next, the alignment to the goals and objectives was maintained since the students were able to properly label most of the states on the blank U.S. map and research a state that interested them. One of the students even properly used her organization and research skills to create three inside panels of the brochure. These panels contained various facts that appropriately correlated with the rubric, while also giving me an idea of her interests and creativity.

I did not have to make any modifications for individual needs during this lesson, however, one modification that I could have made was providing more time for students to finish their brochures. The students seemed to be researching as fast as they could, but they did not end up having nearly enough time to finish their product. Therefore, in an actual fifth grade classroom, I could give the students an extra social studies period to finish their projects so that they could have more time to finish their assignment to the best of their ability.