Welcome!
My name is Cynthia Ferguson. I am pleased to be at South Cumberland Elementary for a second year teaching Science and Social Studies with the 4th grade class.
I have taught STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) at Brown and Martin Elementary for 3 years. I have lived in Tennessee since 2008.
Before that I lived in Southern California. Most of my life has been in California. I grew up there and then raised my children there. I taught public school for 13 years there as well. Part of my time as an educator in California I was the founder of a public charter school in which I planned, developed, implemented and operated for 6 years. As well as being an educator I was also an administator. I split my time as an educator and an administrator each day.
After moving to Tennessee my husband and I invested in alpacas. We currently have 12 alpacas, 7 ducks, 7 dogs and 4 cats. 6 of the dogs are our "children" and they share our home with us. They range from 5 pounds to 120 pounds. 4 little dogs and 2 medium to large dogs (the largest being a great dane).
I also have 3 grown children whom all live here in Tennessee. I have 12 grandchildren. The age range of grandchildren is 4 months to 13 years.
I am pleased to be a member of the South Cumberland Elementary School family and am glad to have the priviledge to teach your child in Science and Social Studies.
LessonPlans
Week of May 08, 2016
Monday - Objective:
To introduce students to each other and the teacher. Students practice their writing skills learned from last year.
Lesson:
Introductions, Student introduce themselves with answers to the following questions:
Name, # of siblings, # years at South, Kinds of pets, Favorite subject and why
Teacher shares:
# children, # grandchildren, Kinds of pets, Why I am a teacher
Students are to write a paragraph of the best thing they did during the summer. The students will share their writings.
Tuesday - Objective:
To build students together as a team. Teaching behavior expectations.
Lesson:
Students are to write a paragraph of the best thing they did during the summer. The students will share their writings.
T - Together
E - Everyone
A - Achieves
M - More
Discuss with the students that they are part of a team. Team 4A, B or C and Team 4th grade. Have students get in a circle and hold hands. Two students will touch an electrical ball that will beep when the circuit is connected. Disconnect the circuit the connection is lost. As long as we work as a team we can light up the ball.
Discuss some of the other sayings in the room:
Buck stops here, Success, Strive NOT to be a SUCCESS but rather to be of VALUE - Albert Einstein
Behavior expectations : Hall, classroom, playground, cafeteria, bathroom, computer labs,
Explain the sticks on the wall.
Go to the bathroom to show what is expected and what is not expected. Practice walking in the hall way in two straight lines.
Review Work expectations - Trying your best and never stop trying.
Textbook Assignment, curriculum (SS and Sci), Take home folder every week, Cursive folder.
Wednesday - Objective:
Introduce the textbooks to students through scavenger hunt activities.
Lesson:
"Do your work, or do not participate", Do your part as part of the class, You get what you put in.
Students work in pairs to complete the SS textbook scavenger hunt.
Class discusses the answers and where they located the information.
Review the vocabulary for this section on page 2. Begin reading "What is History?". Read the caption and assess the pictures on page 3. Have a discussion with the students their thoughts of the pictures.
Where do we find History? Identify where stories come from to provide information about our pasts. Read and discuss pages 4-7. Discuss where history comes from on pages 4 & 5. Discuss how we can think like a historian.
Formative Assessment: Complete questions of What is History.
Thursday - Objective:
Introduce the textbooks to students through scavenger hunt activities. Teach the how to read and build a timeline.
Lesson:
Students work in pairs to complete the Science text book scavenger hunt. Class discussion and review the answers of where the answers were located.
Review Fact and Opinion with students. Students will assess fact or opinion on a variety of statements. Continue with recognizing fictional and informational text.
Cause and Effect. Bubble map on Cause and Effect.
Timelines. Why timelines are important.
HW: Construct a timeline of your life.
Introduce time periods to students. Look at a timeline and identify names of certain time periods. Discuss with the students what past, present and future represent in regards to a timeline. Students will then develop a timeline of their life beginning with their birth.
Friday - Objective:
Assessing student prior knowledge
Lesson:
Students are to take the science pretest (which is the last year end of the year assessment test)
Students are to take the social studies pretest (which is the last year end of the year assessment test
Links
More about Me - Click this link: http://cferguson.educatorpages.com/pages/about-me
Contact me by clicking this link: http://cferguson.educatorpages.com/pages/contact-me
BrainPop http://Brainpop.com