Launching the BizWorld Project

This week began the adventures in the BizWorld Project in the second grade at Bishop Dunn Memorial School. Although it was a little stressful and difficult to plan our lessons, given the time we had, I enjoyed my fieldwork experience very much. My partner Megan and I planned and implemented three different lesson plans: direct instruction, inquiry, and collaborative. For the direct instruction lesson, we presented a power point presentation about business vocabulary, we lectured about what a business was, and we lectured about what makes a good company. We engaged the students by asking questions and I was happy to learn that most of the students had a pretty good grasp on the business vocabulary and what a  makes a  good company. We did a whole-class worksheet to check the students' understanding; the one thing I would change is to not allow the students to read the questions aloud because it took some time away and we had to rush through our conclusion of the lesson. For the inquiry lesson, we created an exploration activity where each group had to figure out, through the scientific method, the mystery company presented to them. Each group had a paper bag filled with products from a specific company; the students had to predict, collect the data, analyze the data, and draw a conclusion. Most of the students did well with the activity, but some were a little challenged by it. Each group presented their findings and although it was good to have the students participate this way, our time ran short. The lesson turn out fine though because we were able to present our conclusion in a timely manner. We presented a power point presentation explaining all of different jobs in a company, from here the students filled out a job application which states why they are right for the job they chose. For the cooperative lesson, student job applications were reviewed and jobs were appointed. Some groups had difficulty agreeing on the jobs that were to be given to them and needed reminding that they were a company now a had to cooperate in order to be productive. The students participated in an activity which they needed to name their company and design a logo. After agreeing on the name and logo, they needed to incorporate their companies which was a bit confusing for the students. If I could do this part of the lesson again, I would have tried to explain and model it better and left more time for this part of the lesson.