Yael Kurganoff

Yael Kurganoff Student Butler University

Mrs. Johnson Director, Loving Care Central Elementary Pike Township

October 26th, 2011

Dear Mrs. Johnson,

First of all, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to work with five fantastic 1st graders. We spent our four sessions teaching them about Dinosaurs. We started with an overview of specific dinosaurs to see what the students already knew. On the first day we also had them start their “Dino Books” which we used as interactive learning tools. We then moved into learning how the dinosaur names are split up and allowing the students to get experience putting together dinosaur names. This was a good way for the students to use their creative energy, as well as to solidify different vocabulary into their brains. On the third and fourth day, we led the students in more activities that could also be brought back to them, as humans. We did a dinosaur dig, where we talked about different bones, and where they were both in the human body as well as the dinosaur body. We also incorporated math on the last day, when we practiced measurement. It was good for the students to be able to see what a real life Dinosaur was in comparison to something they see every day, like a swing set. Each student was able to apply his or her own knowledge and skills to each lesson. Each student also had his or her own way of taking in what they were learning. We found out early on that Tia and Joseph were both on the quieter side than the rest of the group. When we were working on creating our own dinosaurs, it helped to work individually with Tia and Joseph. In a smaller setting, Joseph was able to bring out his thoughts without being bombarded by answers from his fellow classmates. He also seemed to be more confident in his own, then in the whole group. During the Dinosaur Dig, Issys became a great group leader. She was working with Tia on finding bones and they would work together to figure out what each bone was. She was very consistent in her work throughout the whole time we had enrichment. She was very engaged and interested in learning about dinosaurs. She was also meticulous on her Dino Diary when we worked on it. Parker also excelled throughout our sessions. He was a very active and immersed student. When we did the Dinosaur Dig, he asked his mom if he could stay for it instead of leave right then. He was also very good at remembering concepts and vocabulary we had talked about in previous sessions. Ella was a little quite, but still, knew exactly what was going on. When we did the puppet show at the very end, and had them explain what their dinosaur was, their favorite dinosaur and what the names meant, she was spot on with all her information. She was a joy to work with. Thank you again so much for the opportunity to work with these students. Sincerely,

Yael Kurganoff