This week, I began teaching the reading portion of class. Basically, I am responsible for teaching the story of the week and any concepts that go along with that (e.g., sequencing, comparing and contrasting) as well as accompanying vocabulary. The following is part of my reflection on my first lesson.
What do you think the students learned during your lesson and how do you know?
After taking part in this particular lesson, I feel that the students were able to refresh their memories of two elements of literature: theme and setting. I say refresh rather than learn due to the fact that these elements have been introduced to students in the lower grades. However, at the beginning of the year it seems appropriate to provide brief reviews of skills and concepts already learned as a refresher. After all, if students have not been reading over the summer months, they may not be able to distinguish particular aspects of a story, or at least know what they are called. It is my belief that the students extended their knowledge of setting from the beginning of the class periods (where a piece of literature takes place) to the end (the fact that setting includes time as well as place was reiterated, and students responded well to the information). I say this because, as we worked through the “Setting of a Story” handout, the concept of both time and place were focused upon and, when I asked one last time upon completion of the exercise about what a reader wants to know if he/she asks what the setting of a story is, the answers that I received included both place and time as opposed to the beginning when I only heard place being used. In addition to reviewing the story elements of theme and setting, students also became familiar with new vocabulary words accompanying the story for the week. I knew the students were getting the idea of the word meanings when I provided real-life examples of words such as gnaw and pictures of landforms found near the ocean (ravines, headlands, and coves) students were saying “ohh..okay.”
What adjustments did you make during the lesson to address student differences and why? Provide a detailed example.
The three classes that I see throughout the day do indeed differ in their interests, abilities, and levels of motivation. For example, the first period that I see in a typical day is capable of completing work, yet, whether they are still trying to wake up or do not completely understand the material being covered, do not provide me with responses during class discussion. The second class to come in is probably at the highest level of ability as far as academic performance goes, but they can be chatty at times so it is important to keep them busy. The final class of students with whom I work demonstrates the lowest level of academic performance thus far. It is often necessary to slow things down a bit and provide additional guidance to students during independent activities.
Upon completing the “Setting of a Story” handout with my first period class, I realized that the amount of word choices was a bit large for the amount of time they were given to complete the questions/answers that were in fill-in-the-blank form (students chose words from a word bank to complete the missing parts of sentences and phrases). I noticed this as I began to go over answers with the whole group and the majority of the class had not finished the entire assignment. From here, I talked through the unfinished sections with the students, prompting them and asking for answers or best guesses as to what certain answers might be. I also tried to provide students with examples of strategies to use to assist them in making selections (e.g., marking out a word from the word bank immediately after using it, leaving fewer choices). Now knowing how students responded to the exercise, when the second class came in, I went over the first question as an example, asked them to complete the first two sections independently, checked them, and, based on performance, had them complete the last two sections by themselves as well. I have to say, this definitely cut back on the amount of time that was spent on this single activity! As I implemented this activity one last time with a lower-level class, I talked the students through the first two sections by prompting and posing questions about what they were asked to do. I then allowed this group of students to complete a smaller section independently and went over generated answers upon completion.
What went well during this lesson and what would you do differently the next time?
The aspect of this lesson that went well, in my opinion, was the implementation of pictures with new vocabulary words. Sometimes definitions can be difficult to understand even when they are broken down. In these cases, it seems as though visuals oftentimes help. I think this proved to be true with the different terms for various landforms that were touched upon. Associating an image with the words seemed to “piece it all together.” Also, I think the students in all class periods responded well to the PowerPoint of vocabulary words/activities that was implemented in the lesson. They were involved in discussion throughout its duration.
If I were to teach this lesson again, I may wait until the class has discussed the story elements of theme and setting more before completing a longer exercise like the handout. While I originally felt that the variety of examples from this handout would be helpful, I think that the amount of information accompanying a fresh topic may have been a bit much to begin. Perhaps a more appropriate exercise would have been completion of a page from the reading practice book.
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This week, I began teaching the reading portion of class. Basically, I am responsible for teaching the story of the week and any concepts that go along with that (e.g., sequencing, comparing and contrasting) as well as accompanying vocabulary. The following is part of my reflection on my first lesson.
What do you think the students learned during your lesson and how do you know?
After taking part in this particular lesson, I feel that the students were able to refresh their memories of two elements of literature: theme and setting. I say refresh rather than learn due to the fact that these elements have been introduced to students in the lower grades. However, at the beginning of the year it seems appropriate to provide brief reviews of skills and concepts already learned as a refresher. After all, if students have not been reading over the summer months, they may not be able to distinguish particular aspects of a story, or at least know what they are called. It is my belief that the students extended their knowledge of setting from the beginning of the class periods (where a piece of literature takes place) to the end (the fact that setting includes time as well as place was reiterated, and students responded well to the information). I say this because, as we worked through the “Setting of a Story” handout, the concept of both time and place were focused upon and, when I asked one last time upon completion of the exercise about what a reader wants to know if he/she asks what the setting of a story is, the answers that I received included both place and time as opposed to the beginning when I only heard place being used. In addition to reviewing the story elements of theme and setting, students also became familiar with new vocabulary words accompanying the story for the week. I knew the students were getting the idea of the word meanings when I provided real-life examples of words such as gnaw and pictures of landforms found near the ocean (ravines, headlands, and coves) students were saying “ohh..okay.”
What adjustments did you make during the lesson to address student differences and why? Provide a detailed example.
The three classes that I see throughout the day do indeed differ in their interests, abilities, and levels of motivation. For example, the first period that I see in a typical day is capable of completing work, yet, whether they are still trying to wake up or do not completely understand the material being covered, do not provide me with responses during class discussion. The second class to come in is probably at the highest level of ability as far as academic performance goes, but they can be chatty at times so it is important to keep them busy. The final class of students with whom I work demonstrates the lowest level of academic performance thus far. It is often necessary to slow things down a bit and provide additional guidance to students during independent activities.
Upon completing the “Setting of a Story” handout with my first period class, I realized that the amount of word choices was a bit large for the amount of time they were given to complete the questions/answers that were in fill-in-the-blank form (students chose words from a word bank to complete the missing parts of sentences and phrases). I noticed this as I began to go over answers with the whole group and the majority of the class had not finished the entire assignment. From here, I talked through the unfinished sections with the students, prompting them and asking for answers or best guesses as to what certain answers might be. I also tried to provide students with examples of strategies to use to assist them in making selections (e.g., marking out a word from the word bank immediately after using it, leaving fewer choices). Now knowing how students responded to the exercise, when the second class came in, I went over the first question as an example, asked them to complete the first two sections independently, checked them, and, based on performance, had them complete the last two sections by themselves as well. I have to say, this definitely cut back on the amount of time that was spent on this single activity! As I implemented this activity one last time with a lower-level class, I talked the students through the first two sections by prompting and posing questions about what they were asked to do. I then allowed this group of students to complete a smaller section independently and went over generated answers upon completion.
What went well during this lesson and what would you do differently the next time?
The aspect of this lesson that went well, in my opinion, was the implementation of pictures with new vocabulary words. Sometimes definitions can be difficult to understand even when they are broken down. In these cases, it seems as though visuals oftentimes help. I think this proved to be true with the different terms for various landforms that were touched upon. Associating an image with the words seemed to “piece it all together.” Also, I think the students in all class periods responded well to the PowerPoint of vocabulary words/activities that was implemented in the lesson. They were involved in discussion throughout its duration.
If I were to teach this lesson again, I may wait until the class has discussed the story elements of theme and setting more before completing a longer exercise like the handout. While I originally felt that the variety of examples from this handout would be helpful, I think that the amount of information accompanying a fresh topic may have been a bit much to begin. Perhaps a more appropriate exercise would have been completion of a page from the reading practice book.
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