Group 4

   I genuinely enjoyed group four's lesson; I think that it was extremely engaging and fun for all of the students. They used the same technique that group two used in their direct lesson where the had symbols appear on the board when the students had to write something down. It's a good way to let the students know, as well as a good reminder for the teachers to remember when the students had to write something down. I think that my group should have done that since a couple of the group members kept forgetting to refer to our notes sheet. I also like that the teachers used a booklet instead of just a note sheet because it just makes it look like more fun. The students had many opportunities to participate in the lesson and the teachers had the students actually vote on which ice cream flavor they like better, so they can see how voting works. I think that it was a great way to show the students how what they're learning could be applied to their everyday lives. I also liked their use of vokis to demonstrate what an active and inactive citizen is, but the inactive citizen's dialogue seemed a little too obvious and unnecessary. The vokis should've also been open and ready to go before the students show up since they had a little trouble getting it started. Some of the checks for understanding were a little too much too; at one point, they had the students spin if they agreed with what was being said and some students fell.
   The inquiry lesson started out a little rocky; the students weren't understanding what the teacher was asking, so I think the questions could've been asked differently or the teacher should've figured out a way to make it clearer once she saw that the students weren't understanding it. Besides that, I loved the inquiry lesson! Having the students vote on who would be the best principal and actually ask the candidates questions that they found important was excellent! It showed them how a real election works, especially because they had to go in a voting booth. Some students actually asked who their friends voted for and they wouldn't tell each other because they understood how voting works. One recommendation that I have is that the teachers should have had the candidates' answers typed into the chart, so the students didn't have to spend so much time writing it.
   The cooperative lesson was very short; the students had to create a poster for the candidate that they thought was the best. I think that this wasn't the best idea since not everyone in the group voted for the same person, so there were arguments over who the poster should be based on. There was also no modeling of what was expected of the students. The students seemed to have fun and create great posters though, so I guess the lesson ended up having a good outcome.