Yes I am aware it is 10:30 on a Friday night, and I should be out having fun, but alas, I have a teaching licensure test tomorrow morning at 7:30 AM so I will be hitting the sack early tonight :) But of course, I needed to update the world with the happenings in the 6th grade this week because I know you are all DYING to know about the engaging lessons we taught. Well, it is for people like you that I write for. So here goes!
First off, teacher outfits for the week.
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday (This was the only day I wore a black bottom, to prove that YES, I do own something besides black pants!! Hint hint, Danielle Fuller :)
The topics of teaching this week were propaganda, bias/stereotyping, and number line math mini lessons. Yes, some good topics :)
On Tuesday we taught about propaganda. This was a new term to most of the kids, so we had to work hard to help them grasp the concept (I'm not going to lie, I too needed to to a little research as well to freshen up on the definition :) We began with a non-fiction EyeWitness book about Media and Communication (it wasn't the most engaging start to a lesson, but we needed to do a non-fiction book to meet one of our literacy requirements, so this was the lesson to do it!) We showed the kids how communication and advertising have changed over the years, and then showed them a few video clips to introduce the term "propaganda" into their vocabulary. We first watched Britney Spears' "Pepsi" commercial which they all LOVED. The YouTube clip we used can be found here. Then we showed them the "Messy Marvin" clip, introducing the no mess Hershey's syrup bottle, the link can be found here. They took some notes over the audience and message the advertisement was trying to give off. After getting a grasp on the term propaganda, the kids created their own advertisement posters to "sell us" a product. We got some creative ones including a Picture Frame business with "the clearest pictures in town" and also a fish business with the words "healthiest fish you'll ever eat." They grasped the concept and had fun with it at the same time...success!!
On Wednesday we began talking about Bias/Stereotyping which I was a little nervous to talk about if you want to know the truth. They are at that age where they are beginning to change and they are more aware of the social issues and stereotypes that exist. Although I was nervous, the lesson ended up being one of our best yet! We used a big sticky to form a class definition of "Stereotyping" and then we used some real life stereotypes to get the kids starting to think about it.
These were the stereotypes the kids came up with for celebrities, kids, and football players. I love the word "graceful" to describe kids..haha
After using some real life examples, we told the kids stereotyping was seen everywhere, even in Disney movies! (Of course, they started cheering at this point, knowing we were going to show them some Disney movie clips..it doesn't get much better than that!) We used the following clips to show a specific stereotype:
As we watched the clips, the kids had a table they were filling out with things they observed and stereotypes that were seen.
After watching some clips and getting a better grasp on what stereotyping really was, we did the unthinkable...a Socratic circle! Only one kid in the class had heard of it before, so we had to scaffold a lot for them to understand how it was done, but it ended up being hugely successful!!
These aren't my kiddos, but it is an example of how a Socratic circle would look.
A Socratic circle is a method for students to discuss a topic to better understand a concept, or to form opinions about a selected topic. This is a great tactic to use starting in 4th grade (probably) and can go up through high school. To see an actual Socratic circle functioning in a 4th grade classroom, click here.
On Thursday we did some math mini lessons with the kids and of course, incorporated competition which they LOVE! I am warming up to these kids more and more, and although I have not had a change of heart enough to want to be a full time 6th grade teacher, these kids have started to change my mind about the negative "stereotype" of their age level :)
Stay tuned, this week we are teaching a bunch of our Economics unit, ending in our Business Share Fair with the kids!!
Until then,
Brittany
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