Hannah Fore

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Social Studies IMB Direct Instruction Whole Group Lesson Reflection

After discussing with my coordinating teacher for my clinical IMB field experiences, Ms.

Toni Johnson, I was able to understand that due to high-stakes testing, social studies is not highly

considered during the lesson planning process. Therefore, social studies is integrated alongside

reading instruction and unfortunately takes the back seat frequently. After informing her of the

requirements and expectations for the IMB experience, especially ELED 3223, she was willing

to integrate social studies into her reading block. After participating in the lesson plan planning

meeting at Parkside Elementary School with the third grade reading instructors, the principal,

and the assistant principal they began to discuss the new curriculum of reading the childrens

novel, I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic by Lauren Tarshis. Therefore, me and Ms. Johnson

collaborated and came to the conclusion that it would be best if my social studies lesson

integrated a component of the novel that they are currently reading, to allow students to receive

additional information about the historical events.

After reading the childrens novel myself and gaining a better understanding of the text, I

was able to understand that the story had several characters with various traits. The following

week Ms. Johnson informed me that she was going to be teaching the class about character traits

and how to make inferences about a characters traits based off of the text. In addition, she told

me she wanted the class to focus on Thomas Andrews, the architect of the Titanic. Therefore, it

was clear to me that it was appropriate to plan a lesson regarding Thomas Andrews and

identifying his character traits based off of a biography. Ms. Johnson agreed and I began to plan

the lesson. Due to the aid of Ms. Johnson throughout the lesson planning process, I was able to

create a critical thinking lesson plan that taught students not only who Thomas Andrews was but
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how to identify his character traits using inferences based off of a biography. My goal for the

lesson was for students to gain an understanding of using text to support inferences, who Thomas

Andrews was, and making connections between real world historical events and text. My

rationale for this lesson was that children need to learn about key figures in history. In addition,

they need to be able to connect text to real world events. Students need to understand how to use

text to support and make inferences about people and events.

I taught this social studies lesson about Thomas Andrews, his character traits, and his

impact on the building of the Titanic on March 1st, 2017. With this being only my third ever

lesson teaching whole-group, I was very nervous to say the least. However, I do believe that

overall this lesson was very successful and engaging for the class. Through analyzing the text

about Thomas Andrews by modeling it to the class first, doing it together, and then them

practicing on their own during Independent Practice students were able to understand the

character traits of Thomas Andrews, his impact, and how to make inferences about a character

and using evidence from the text as support. Students were engaged throughout this lesson

through: asking questions, responding when prompted, making high-level inferences about

Thomas Andrews, and working very well on their own during their independent work. One thing

that helped aid this lesson and allow for more student understanding, was the fact that I provided

the students with multiple opportunities to turn and talk to their triad groups and make

inferences about Thomas Andrews using the text as support. I believe that this educational talk

was healthy, because it allowed for students to be engaged and communicate with their peers

during the lesson about the topic without being punished or scolded. In addition, by walking

around during the lesson and helping struggling students I believe that they were able to gain a

better understanding of the activity and be successful.

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Although this lesson was very successful in Ms. Johnsons third grade class, there are still

some things to keep in mind and that I would change. Prior to this lesson, I had no idea that the

students had not read the article beforehand so they did not have an extensive background

knowledge of Thomas Andrews. It was my understanding that they were going to read the article

ahead of time and then I was going to re-read the article with them, focusing on the specific

character traits of Thomas Andrews and evidence from the text. However, this was not the case.

Therefore, I would change that and read the beginning the article with students all the way

through to help them build background and allow them to make more profound inferences.

Another thing that I would revise is that at the end of the lesson, I gave students a clear must

do on what was expected of them during Independent Practice. However, as students began to

finish early I did not have a may do for them to complete leaving them disengaged and not on-

task when they finished which distracted the rest of the class. Although I included this on my

lesson plan template, I did not make this clear to students and will definitely do this in the future

to allow early-finishers with an on-task assignment for them to complete.

Despite the changes I would make to this lesson and the experience, I believe that overall

it was definitely successful and students were very educated on a key historical figure, as well as

making inferences and connections based on evidence from a non-fiction text. As a growing

educator, I am very thankful for this opportunity to extend my knowledge of education and gain

a better understanding on how to teach and meet the needs of all students.