My
first lesson planned with my students went very similar to the lesson plan I
had written out. When asking the children to predict what the story was about
they said “a cow in an air balloon and everything turns into a balloon or a cow
finds a balloon and blows it up.” These predictions made before the story help
when comparing what the children say at the end. They each took turns reading two pages and
then switching off. While they were reading I was able to do some assessments
on their reading skills as well such as strategies to figure out a unfamiliar
word or sound it out. Both of my students followed the text with their hands
which was something that surprised me for their grade level. We stopped half
way through the book and talked about their original predictions were they
correct what is happening in the story so far.
Having
the children stop and talk about what they read before getting to the end of
the story will help the students comprehend the story with more depth and
understanding. My students also talked about questions they have about the
story things they want to figure out while reading. Such as is Harvey Potter
good or bad and what is Harvey Potter going to do with his farm? This lesson
provided many opportunities for the students to connect with themselves and
their own thoughts about the story. Stopping throughout the story provided a
time for the students to summarize the main points and organize all the characters
and details about the story in their head. I also think it helped working with
a partner because when you talk out loud you realize things about the story you
may not realize reading quietly by yourself. Also your partner may notice
things you didn't think of or see.
Reflecting
on myself as a teacher I think I was able to structure the lesson in a way to
keep it open ended and mainly student directed. I sat there and asked some open
ended directing questions but then let the students discuss between themselves what
they thought of the story and what the main points were. I would not give the
answer to the students either leaving it up for them to comprehend/ process the
information in the text and create an overall idea or plot.
No comments:
Post a Comment