Ms. Kimball's Class

I am observing a second grade class and I absolutely love the teacher I observe. She is not only an excellent teacher, but she is a great friend and role model for the students. I have been to her class during the reading and writing workshops. She is always there to guide their students, but she allows the students to do their own work at their own pace.

Reading Workshop: This was a workshop on inferring. She read aloud to the students and they had to listen for words that they didn't know. After the story was over she called on students to come up and write the words they didn't know. Then they had to use context clues, pictures, and their schema to gather a meaning of the word. And for each word she called on three different students to hear what their interpretation of the word was. Then after "circle time" they went into pairs. In the pairs they had to read to each other and while one was reading the other one had to come up with questions. The trick was that the questions had to be "burning questions". This allowed her the opportunity to observe each student individually.

Writing Workshop: During my visit she had the students write a poem on a topic of their choice. But, they had to use the 5W's, what, who, where, when, and why. Then after they wrote their poem they shared with the class.

This class is amazing because the energy is so high and the students are very well behaved. Each time I have been there the students did not sit at their desks and they were always moving around. And surprisingly they got their work done in a speedy manner and they were in an envirnoment that they personally feel comfortable in!