School Visit Year 2

For my last few school visits, I was able to observe and interact with a year 2 class, or American 1st grade. They start the day off with reception, as the students sit in the front of the classroom, the teacher greets each child individually for attendance. Most of the US classes I have been in, the teacher simply looks at the desks to see who is missing or call out role as quickly as they can. It seems as though in the UK schools, the environment is much friendlier and much less rushed. The teacher show an interest in each student and works to have each of them participate in the morning routine. After attendance, the teacher asks each student if they want school dinners or if they have a packed lunch. At Wood Farm and many other public schools the younger students are given free lunches so each student/ family gets to decide if they want to bring their lunch or get free lunch at school. At US public school, students are not given free lunches unless they are a part of the free and reduced lunch program (students whose families are low income). 

https://sites.google.com/a/clintonville.k12.wi.us/title-1-math/

After the morning reception comes a short math practice before assembly. The students were practicing counting forwards and backwards by tens starting at various numbers. After tens they moved to fives. In North Carolina, students are required to be able to count like this by the end of Kindergarten (age 5/6) and a lot of emphasis is placed on these mathematical skills. The students then moved on to geometry, mainly classification of shapes. Again in the United States, this is a beginning of the year standard for kindergarten or the grade below the United Kingdom. The lesson started with the teacher describing a shape and the students guessed. Then the students had a turn at describing. One interesting thing was the slight difference in the names of the shapes. For example, a rectangular prism is called a cuboid in the United Kingdom. After the guessing game it was on to sorting shapes on their own and in groups. First the class did a sample sorting of shapes with curved sides and shapes with straight sides. Next they moved to their math books and made their own categories and practice alone and in groups.

https://www.musclemixes.com/home.php?cat=22

After Math it was time for assembly. This is rather different than the United States. All of the students in stage 1, Kindergarten and 1st grade (The British Educational System), got together to practice winter songs. In the United States, students go to music class with a different teacher. In the United Kingdom, the regular education teacher provides the music and everyone gets together once a week to prepare for the assembly for the parents at the end of the quarter. Most of the songs were different than those we learned in the United States around Christmas season. The songs that were the same were My Favorite Things and Winter Wonderland. I really enjoyed watching the singing, the students all practice sitting sensibly and trying to pay attention.

After singing the students went out for a short 15 minute break. Before break each student was given a piece of fruit provided by the school. Another vast difference to the United States. Students in the United States are normally only allowed one break during the day and that is 30 minutes after lunch. In the United Kingdom, the students are allowed a morning break, and afternoon break and lunch break. It is a requirement for students to get a certain amount of outdoor time each day (Health and Safety). The games and activities that the students were very similar if not the same as those in the United States mainly jump rope and soccer (football). 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/jamesgrebey/i-went-to-fashion-week-dressed-as-waldo

After break came literacy. Literacy in the United Kingdom surpasses literacy in the United States. The students were working on using the word marvelous. Definitely not something I would have learned in the first grade! As a group the students then played another round of guessing. This time with a favorite book character. Three of which were Wally (Waldo), Cinderella, and Ariel. The next part of the lesson was working on a poem about fireworks for the 5th of November celebration. The students were taking turns finding Onomatopoeia and Alliteration. This is not in the United States curriculum until around third grade (year 4). The students then took the poem and in their work books rewrote the poem in their own words and ideas using onomatopoeia and alliteration. I have never seen a class do this. In school we had to write poems, but they would have to be the students' ideas and words. The United States tend to be more focused on plagiarism and avoiding activities of this nature.

It seems as though my time is always cut short when I visit the school, but I had to leave before the students headed off to lunch so that I could get back to class. Overall yet another great experience that has given me many ideas for my future classes.

Reference

Health and Safety Advice on Legal Duties and Powers. (2014, February 1). Retrieved December 1, 2014, from https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/335111/DfE_Health_and_Safety_Advice_06_02_14.pdf

Read the Standards. (2014, January 1). Retrieved December 1, 2014, from http://www.corestandards.org/read-the-standards/

The British Education System - HMC. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2014, from http://www.hmc.org.uk/about-hmc/projects/the-british-education-system/