The first Annenberg video that I chose to watch was a mathematics lesson called “Valentine Exchange.” This was a fourth grade bilingual classroom in Tuscon, Arizona taught by Lilia Olivas. Lilia used valentines to help teach a lesson about patterns and functions. Miss Olivas introduced the problem using a smaller number of students exchanging valentines. She used visual help by having some students come to the front of the classroom and make exchanges. This way, the students could check their own understanding of the situation. She then asked the students how many exchanges there would be in their class of 24 students. The students broke up into groups and were given a variety of manipulatives to help them solve the problem. They were able to discuss their strategies within their groups as Miss Olivas went around the room to help guide her students’ understanding. In the end of the lesson, the students had a large group discussion to talk about their strategies and conclsions. This helped make connections between students. This very much follows Cognitively Guided Instruction. I believe that this strategy is excellent for this age group of students. It helps provide the social discussion and physical movement for the students. It also helps students try things out and come up with their own conclusions based on the connections that they make. I was in an assignment last year preparing 6th grade students for the achievement tests in mathematics and reading. I tried to use this strategy much of the time. I was on the assignment for about three months. Unfortunately, the students were not used to this type of activity and it did not work well at first. Toward the end of my assignment, the students began to understand what I was doing and actually excited about learning this way. Still, this type of functional pattern idea was difficult for most of my 6th grade students to understand. I believe that this type of strategy is much needed in a regular classroom experience to help students grasp a better understanding of mathematical concepts and ideas.
The second video that I chose was a Social Studies lesson called “Understanding Stereotypes.” This was from a fourth and fifth grade classroom in Seattle, Washington taught by Libby Sinclair. Ms. Sinclair does a wonderful job introducing stereotypes by allowing the students to think and write about what they think about stereotypes before discussing this subject. This is a difficult idea to understand. I see many adults confusing stereotype and prejudice as well as confusing actions with the actual stereotypes as Ms. Sinclair describes in the video. The students were able to discuss their own experiences with stereotypes. Later, the students worked in groups to come up with stereotypes they found in literature that they read in the classroom as well as describing the actions that came with these stereotypes. This helped the students to differentiate between the stereotypes and the actions involved. Afterwards, the students came together as a group to discuss these experiences. Ms. Sinclair asked her students why they think they need to talk about this issue. The students realized that they want to consider stereotypes when making decisions in life. She uses this discussion to bring up that materials did not mention the Negro Leagues for their research. This propelled the assigment for a pursuasive letter to the publishers of the searches to include this information in their materials. The students were able to discuss what should be included in the letter to help come up with a guideline. The students were able to share some of their rough draftswith the class to discuss good points and some points that students might wish to change. Ms. Sinclair also showed that the high school students did a similar assignment and actually were able to get the post office to include a stamp with a player from the Negro Leagues. The students told how excited they would be if the publishers would make changes in their materials due to their letters. Again, group work is great for this level of students. I loved how the teacher brought students together at the end of an activity to make further connections. I think that it was great to include the experience that the high school students had to help show the students that they can have a voice in the community and help make changes happen. This even motivated the students further!
