Kathy Feigenbaum Blog #4
Genius Hour Reflection
The Genius Hour that we did with a family introduction has
helped me get to know my students better and has given them an opportunity to
use their voice in describing their families. They got to choose which family
members they want to include (at least 5 people - one decided to include 18!) and
what kind of visual they want to help them remember what to say. There have
been sock puppets and popsicle stick puppets, slide shows, scrapbooks, flip
posters and plain old hard copy photos. Kids got to follow a work contract to
learn the vocabulary they would need to be able to introduce family members in
Spanish. Within the work contract they could choose from a variety of games,
creating a quizlet, and making a word cloud. We also read a short story about a Mexican
family event and used the story (with picture) to illustrate our own family
event on a personal level. We worked on a "rap" song with the vocabulary, and one boy considered rapping his presentation. (He since changed his mind.)
Students got to preview each other’s presentations and give
each other “I like” and “I wonder” feedback before presenting in front of the
class. We are still in the middle of presentations, but I am encouraged by the
work and enthusiasm demonstrated by my students.
As far as challenges, I encountered the predictable:
technology issues and a few unmotivated students. These are obstacles that we
work through with most any activity, and I am always open to suggestions. :)
Over all I think the Genius Hour had a positive
impact on my family unit, and students have learned more with the Work Contract
and presentation than they have in previous years
Hi Kathy,
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate your willingness to try out personalized learning contracts with your students as part of their genius hour projects on their families. In your Google Folder I saw the variety of projects students created during this project such as scrapbooks, tri fold poster boards, paper decorated dolls that represented their families, videos, and more. I saw how your rubric for this provided students with examples of name, ages, likes, and descriptions written in Spanish. In reviewing your work contract I appreciated the variety of activities you provided students with that included choices of games, quizlets, word clouds, etc. **If you could upload the work contract you created that you emailed to me to your folder that would provide the teachers in the class the opportunity to see it and use it as an example and possibility for their own practice too. The student products in your Google Folder and your work contract provide ample evidence for your implementation. Sincerely, Dawn