Projects
Here you will find projects that I have undertaken and created during my third field experience in grade one. I have always had the students’ interests in mind and developed and took over them because of the group of students that I had.
The Shoebox Project
My grade one students were very interested and curious about the world. They also were very eager to help others. I knew about a program called “Operation Christmas Child” and I found out that the school had been involved in it for over ten years. This year however, no one could run it so I offered to do it. I therefore ran the project for the entire school. I brought in a guest speaker for the students and provided all the materials. My students were very excited about it so I decided to make a unit of it. I taught them about the different lifestyles and cultures. They then made lists of what they would like to send the children in their shoebox. Towards the end of the unit, they each wrote and decorated a card for the child they were sending their shoebox in. They absolutely loved it and felt proud to be helping out someone else. It gave them a sense of humanity and generosity. I would definitely like to do this again with my future students!
Pictures
Pictures
The Fishing Game
One of my grade one students named Samuel has trouble recognizing his sight words. He also lacks motivation to practice them. He easily gets distracted. Something needs to be very interesting and fun for him to be concentrated and even then it is hard to keep him focused. Through the many conversations that I have undertaken with him I have discovered that he absolutely loves fishing. That is pretty much all he talks about. Numerous are the times that I have heard him say “I really like fishing; it’s the only thing that I really love to do”. I therefore wanted to bring in his passion to help motivate him to practice his flashcards. I then got a great idea! I would create a “fishing game” where he would have to “go fish” for his words.
That night, I went on the internet and found a clip art of a fish. I blew them up and photocopied them on five different coloured papers. I then wrote a sight word on each fish and plasticised them. The last step for the fish was to place a paperclip at the mouth of each fish. For the fishing pole my CT had a wooden pole that we used. We tied a string at the end and attached it to a magnet. The magnet would them pick up the fish through the paperclip.
When I first introduced this game to Samuel he was very excited. I showed it to him during lunch. He didn’t want to stop playing. After that first time, he never wanted to go outside. All he wanted to do was play the fishing game. It came to a point where my CT and I had to force him to go outside. He wanted to do well in the game so he practiced his flashcards at home. It therefore helped him a lot and he ended up getting a perfect score on his test. The fishing game was therefore a great success and I will definitely use it again.
Pictures
That night, I went on the internet and found a clip art of a fish. I blew them up and photocopied them on five different coloured papers. I then wrote a sight word on each fish and plasticised them. The last step for the fish was to place a paperclip at the mouth of each fish. For the fishing pole my CT had a wooden pole that we used. We tied a string at the end and attached it to a magnet. The magnet would them pick up the fish through the paperclip.
When I first introduced this game to Samuel he was very excited. I showed it to him during lunch. He didn’t want to stop playing. After that first time, he never wanted to go outside. All he wanted to do was play the fishing game. It came to a point where my CT and I had to force him to go outside. He wanted to do well in the game so he practiced his flashcards at home. It therefore helped him a lot and he ended up getting a perfect score on his test. The fishing game was therefore a great success and I will definitely use it again.
Pictures
