Curriculum Materials
• Weather – Seymour Simon
Standards
The elementary school at which I am student-teaching is a public
school of the Philadelphia School District that follows the
Common Core Standards. I have included the common core
standards and unit objectives below this chart.
Who? Knowledge of particular students &
contexts
• 3rd grade, public school in the School district of
Philadelphia
• 26 students
• Majority of students are of families from Puerto
Rico and the Dominican Republic
• A couple of students have come recently
from one of these islands
• Students are of varying English Language
Learning (ELL) levels
• Wide range of academic abilities
Teaching Methods
• Access points for connecting prior knowledge
• Scholastic - Informational books on Puerto Rico
and Dominican Republic to reference climate;
Online teacher resources
• HMH Science Dimensions
• On the Same Day in March – Marilyn Linger
• Classroom Mentor
• The Teaching Guide - Tina Blyth
See more resources on the annotated list below…
How
What Weather
Why
Educational Philosophy and Beliefs
• Appreciating each student for their full complex
selves
• Appreciating demographic backgrounds of
students and community
• Various mediums of learning and differentiation
(recognizing diverse learning styles, current
skills, and needs)
through students’ experiences
• Daily-seasonal experience here in
Philadelphia
• families’ experiences in the various places
(PR, DR, here in the US)
• Read alouds
• Shared reading
• Observation and experiments
• Prompts for independent reflection and writing
• Group work/student collaboration, turn and talks
Theories of Learning and Teaching
Jean Piaget –
• Schema: Connecting new knowledge to what
children already know (their existing schema)
• Constructivism: Students learn by doing, not just
being told
Lev Vygotsky –
• Sociocultural development: children developing
and learning through interactions with others
Capitalizing on this in an educational context
through class norms and collaboration
• Scaffolding : Varying levels of support to meet the
abilities of students and opportunities to learn
Culturally Responsive Pedagogy