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Thatcher Elementary School Observation

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I am working in Thatcher Elementary School in the town of Thatcher located in Southeastern Arizona. Historically, the rural community was settled by Mormon pioneers who farmed cotton. Many of the students are still rooted in farming and are descendants of these early settlers. The students who come from these ancestors tend to take leadership roles in the school similar to their parents in the community. In my observation, some students of other religious minorities and those who do not attend an organized church struggle to know where they fit in.
There is a strong population of students who attend the Catholic Church, too. The school cooperates with the catechism program by providing a location where leaders can pick up children for the after school program. The Boys and Girls Club also picks up students from the school campus for after school care. This cooperation between the school and extra-curricular programs suggests that there are many families where both parents work, and some students live in single parent households. In general, there is high parent involvement at the school and students are supported from these outside sources.
The community has many sports programs that run throughout the year including football, baseball, basketball, soccer, and swim …show more content…

The teacher has designed her own unit assessments based on the tests in the curriculum resource section. I have designed a multiple choice pre-assessment with the help of my mentor teacher to check for understanding at the beginning of the unit. While these tests are often overused, I know it is one of the easiest ways to gather information about prior knowledge quickly. The mentor teacher told me three of the students studied Early American History in the after school gifted program last year. I expect their pre-test scores will reflect this prior

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