Lesson # 6 Reflection

 

This was the final lesson that Grace and I taught together for this unit. In this lesson, we focused on advocacy. Before introducing the topic, the students played a Blooket review game that covered all of the topics we learned throughout the unit. After the game, we introduced the key terms for the week: advocacy, activism, social justice, biography, and empathy. Students learned these words by reading the terms and definitions aloud and pasting corresponding pictures into their notebooks.

Our next activity was introducing our celebrity for the lesson: Shohei Ohtani. We presented him through a read-aloud biography. Since the biography was a chapter book, I selected a few chapters and read the first paragraph of each. Afterward, the students participated in a cause-and-effect activity. I had several causes written on the board, and the students had to determine the effects. All of the causes and effects were centered around Shohei Ohtani.

Once we finished the cause-and-effect activity, we moved on to creating advocacy posters. Students were instructed to work either with a partner or independently to create a poster about ways they can be kind. They worked very hard on this project, and their effort was clearly reflected in their work. After completing their posters, they shared them with the rest of the class. We then ran out of time, so we began cleaning up and getting ready to leave. Before we left, we returned the students’ pencil cases and notebooks that they had used each week. The students were sad to see us go, and we were sad to leave them.

There were many strengths in this lesson. We created an engaging experience for all students, and they really enjoyed making the advocacy posters. This activity allowed them to showcase their creativity. A weakness of the lesson was our time management; we were unable to get to our wax museum activity because we had planned too many activities for one session.

Once again, all of the students met the learning objectives we were able to address in this lesson. The first objective stated, “Students will be able to identify a problem and its impact by completing a cause and effect chart.” All of the students participated and contributed during this activity, demonstrating a solid understanding of cause and effect. The second objective stated, “Students will be able to plan and create a solution by brainstorming ideas in pairs and working with peers to create their invention to solve the problem.” The students exceeded this objective; they were incredibly creative and produced wonderful posters. The final objective stated, “Students will be able to role-play as a public figure from Japan by conducting research and making props that align with their chosen person.” We did not get to this activity due to time constraints, so this objective was not applicable when assessing student achievement.

I learned so much from this experience. I discovered that teaching social studies can be extremely hands-on. When I was in school, social studies mostly consisted of worksheets, readings, and boring videos. I was surprised by how many interactive elements we were able to incorporate into one lesson. Having students analyze primary sources was far more engaging than I expected—they were able to examine the sources and discuss them in a meaningful way, without the activity feeling dull.

This experience will influence my professional identity by motivating me to advocate for social studies instruction in schools. I want to advocate for elementary students who do not receive social studies and for teachers who are not allowed to teach it. This experience will also shape how I plan future lessons by encouraging me to include more hands-on activities across all subjects. When teaching, I will incorporate more visuals and provide opportunities for students to collaborate. I will continue to use formative assessments because they are low-pressure for students while still allowing them to demonstrate their learning.

Overall, this was an incredible experience. I feel so fortunate to have worked with this group of students. They were always engaged and eager to learn. Week after week, they proved that they are enthusiastic learners who always try their best. I am so grateful for this opportunity, as it reaffirmed my dream of becoming a teacher.