3rd gradedeweyreflection
- 1. 3rd Grade Dewey Decimal Lesson Reflection Monday, February 25th 3rd graders began the Dewey decimal lesson I created for them. I planned on doing 5 stations they would rotate through – today and in future weeks based on how long it takes to hit all the stations. It became obvious in the first few minutes that 15 minutes was going to be cutting it tight for time. I needed to do the focusing event, divide them into five groups and explain what each group would be doing. I was worried that this would be the case, but wanted to go ahead with the lesson as planned so that I could learn for myself what I would need to do/what circumstances would need to be present for this to be successful. I think a 30- minute class period would be sufficient to introduce the lesson and make it through one rotation the first week. It was very hard to manage all of the different groups of activities I had set up. Physically, the students were too spread out for me to attend to all of them without the help of at least one other adult (and maybe more)! Tuesday, February 26 Today was Pass #2 at the 3rd grade Dewey lesson. I made some changes from yesterday’s lesson in the hopes of having things run more smoothly. I wanted to change just one or two things to see how that helped (or not) the lesson: Prior to the students arriving, I put them into five groups so I could read their names and put them at a table. I had them all sitting for the instructions and took more time to explain what they would be doing at each station. I eliminated one of the stations that seemed too difficult (and also not as fun) for the students. I only had the expectation that the students would make it through one station today – and that they would complete the others in the next few weeks I do think some of the changes I made helped a bit, but ultimately, I think it creates too much chaos to have the students moving around the library when they still need as much help as they do with finding, ordering, etc. the books in Dewey order. Perhaps when they are more proficient with this activity, they could be expected to work independently and away from the rest of their classmates and librarian. Thursday, February 28 I continued my Dewey lesson with 3rd graders. The modifications I made from day 1 to today definitely helped, but we have not quite found the “perfect” fit – if that is even possible. Today I cut out several of the stations – specifically the stations where they need to go on their own to the shelves – and am having them all focus on two stations (split into 6 different work areas). I had them still working mostly alone today and that is something I will change for tomorrow’s lesson. Some of them still just are nowhere near getting the concept and to work alone is like leaving them with nothing to do or no guidance for 15 minutes. Better to be working with a
- 2. partner to either figure it out together OR at least have the chance to observe a partner who does understand how to do the activity and learn a bit from them. Friday, March 1 I did see my last 3rd grade class for the final Dewey Decimal lesson. While it wasn’t perfect, I think I finally got it to a point where the kids had fun, were not overly frustrated by the challenge, stayed on task, and felt a sense of accomplishment when the lesson was completed. Working in partners was a big help for the students – it made the activity more fun and their mastery of the challenges seemed more manageable and achievable. As a final thought, it would be beneficial to me or the librarian doing this activity, to have it set up in a way that groups could check each other’s work while I walk around, supervise and help those who are struggling. This would actually give groups extra practice as they check someone else’s work and may also give them the benefit of teaching or sharing some of their knowledge if they were checking a student who was having trouble.