USE THINKING ORGANIZER
- Part 1 of 4
- In my lesson I demonstrated mutual respect for students through attentively listening to what they had to say without interrupting them. I encouraged them to ask questions, I welcomed their answers and did not make them feel like they were “wrong”. I provided the support needed through prompting questions to help them when their answers were not related to what we were discussing. I affirmed their ideas and thanked them for participating. I treated all students equally and how I want to be treated. I did this through allowing each student who raised their hand a chance to share their ideas of what was similar/different in our classroom and the one in the book.
- I demonstrated rapport with students through attentively listening to what they had to say and responding to what they had to say. I responded through nodding my head in agreeance, saying “Yes! I like how you identified that both classrooms have water tables, good job paying attention to the details!” or “You’re right, Lisa! We don’t have any animals in our classroom, but they did have animals in their classroom in the book we read!”. If the student was trying to answer and didn’t remember what they wanted to say. I provided helpful prompts to aid them in answering the question, for example “Joey, what is something that both classrooms play with on the play ground?”. I made students feel safe to answer by not shutting them down or ignoring what they had to say. I strive to make the students feel like I understood them and valued what they had to say by listening and responding to them in a loving, caring way.
- I was responsive to students’ needs through observing them and watching their nonverbal body language, or their verbal language. I had one student who couldn’t see the book because they were to far back. I made a spot for them to come up closer on the rug and told the students I would leave the book up on the easel if they wanted to read it or do a picture walk later. I tried to respond to students questions throughout. I had a child need to go to the bathroom. I responded by telling them they could go to the bathroom, they just needed to come right back. I was aware of who I had called on and who hadn’t had a turn yet.
- Challenging students to engage in learning. I did this through allowing all children to have equal opportunities to share their ideas or thoughts. I gave the more “challenging students warnings and reminded them of the expectations when needed. I had students switch spots with a friend if they were being disruptive, to allow students a more focused learning time. The lesson was applicable to the students lives and allowed them to relate the information to their classroom, which engaged them in the learning.
Refer to examples from the teaching event in your explanations. Explain how your instruction engaged students in meeting the objectives of the lesson.
- My objective was, the student will listen attentively to the book and be able to respond appropriately. My instruction prepared my students for the objective through actively asking questions and discussing elements of the book throughout the reading of it. While I was reading the book I asked students prompting questions that encouraged them to respond to the literature through comparing and contrasting their classroom with the one in the book. I also made the instruction applicable and relevant to their lives through comparing the literature to their classroom.This also allowed the students respond appropriately because they were engaged with what was being taught because they could relate to it. This also The students were able to respond appropriately after reading the book because I had prepared them throughout the reading. They had heard plenty of examples from me as well as their peers throughout the reading of the book of responding appropriately to the literature.
Describe how your instruction linked students’ prior learning and personal, cultural, and community assets with new learning.
- My lesson was linked to the students prior knowledge through the comparing and contrasting elements. The students had been practicing this in previous lessons and were building their ability to pay attention to the details that aid in comparing and contrasting. This lesson had them compare and contrast elements in the book to elements in their classroom. i.e. both classrooms have water tables. The classroom in the book has class pets, we do not in our classroom. The instruction was linked to the students personally through having them compare elements of their classroom to the literature. They were able to pick out things in their classroom that are special to them and see if a different classroom has those same items. Cultural and community elements were tied in through the literature. The book provided examples of diverse cultures through the children and details in classroom. In this lesson I brought culture and community together by talking about similarities and difference. Yet, regardless of the differences how we could all be friends and respect one another. Some of my student commented how they would like to be friends with the children in the book. This provided opportunity to discuss how we can be kind to our friends, through sharing and taking turns, which builds strong community.
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TEACHER FEEDBACK
Abigail,
What is your literacy strategy and requisite skill you’re teaching in the lesson? Make sure you explicitly state it in your commentary.
Good post. I want to make sure you understand assets. Assets are what people value, so how to you use what the students, community and culture value in your lesson?
Part 3 of 4
Refer to examples from the teaching event in your explanations. Explain how you elicited student responses to promote thinking.
- Throughout my lesson I provided the students ample opportunities to respond to the text. One of the main goals of the lesson was having the students compare and contrast elements of the story to elements in their own classroom. I elicited student responses to promote thinking through asking prompting questions that aided the students in digging deeper into the details of the classroom in the book and their own classroom. For example; “Jenny, you said we don’t have a water table in our classroom, but they have one in their classroom. What is something in our classroom that could be used as a water table?” or “Melinda, you said we share with our friends just like the friends do in the book. Can you give me an example of how you share with your friends?”. Through asking and answering questions about the literature, this allowed the students to comprehend the material in deeper ways compared to if it was just read to them. The book didn’t explicitly list all of the elements that made up their play ground. So, I had my students list the elements that make up their playground and come up with some ideas of what else could be in the other classroom’s play ground. Students were encouraged to look around in their classroom and think of things in their classroom that were not in the classroom in the story. The students were able to think through more details when provided with this opportunity. They noticed the posters/pictures on the wall that were in their classroom that weren’t in the classroom in the book we read.
Explain how you modeled the literacy strategy and supported students as they practiced and applied the literacy strategy in a meaning-based context.- I modeled print directionality through following along under the words with my finger as a read. I also showed the students how literature carries meaning through relating, comparing and contrasting the elements in the literature to the students own classroom. I asked questions like “What do they have in their classroom that is on this page that we don’t have in our classroom. The students applied this same strategy through noting details that were absent in their classroom such as classroom pets, that were present in the classroom in the literature. We had open discussion comparing and contrasting our classroom with the one in the book which supported the students ability to relate meaning to literature.
TEACHER FEEDBACKAbigail,
Nice job giving specific examples and using the vocabulary in prompt one. Make sure the modeling is about compare/contrast, if that is what your strategy is, which it seemed like it was in the first prompt.
PART 4 of 4
Refer to examples from the video clip/teaching event in your explanations. How did your instruction support learning for the whole class as well as for students who needed greater support or challenge?
- My instruction supported the students learning through building on their poor knowledge of what comparing and contrasting it. I had a time for review before I began instruction to explain what comparing and contrasting elements in literature might look like. I also encouraged engagement from the students to also provide examples of their own. Though I had no students in my classroom that required additional support of an IEP or 504 plans. I did have two students who struggle paying attention. In order to support their learning, I made sure they were sitting where they were able to see the book that was being read and where I could easily watch them and provide support as needed. By moving the students to places where they are able to clearly see what is occurring will aid through engaging their attention while instruction is taking place.
What changes would you make to your instruction to better support student learning of the central focus (e.g., missed opportunities)?
- Instead of just verbally discussing how the classroom in the book and our classroom were similar or different. I think it would have been extremely beneficial to incorporate visual aids. I wish I would have drawn a large venn diagram to be a visual representation of what we were doing. I would have also had the students each holding their own white board and have them draw the picture of the word we were talking about. For example: We’re talking about how our classroom has a rug and their classroom does not, I want you do draw the rug that we have in our classroom. OR Linda said that we have a turtle table in our classroom and the classroom in the book has a water table, can you draw these two pictures and the difference between them? When students had a new idea of similarities or differences, that is when I would have the students visually represent the ideas with pictures. After the children are done drawing their visual representation, we would discuss the details that made up the similarities/differences. Then I would record our findings onto our Venn diagram.
Why do you think these changes would improve student learning? Support your explanation with evidence of student learning and principles from theory and/or research as appropriate. Format your sources with APA citations.
- I think this would improve the students learning because I would be using more than one mode of learning. Instead of basing everything off of verbal/auditory learning. Through visual representations and having the children draw their own pictures to represent what we’re talking about, it would be reaching more learners. I would be utilizing Gardner’s theory of Multiple intelligences. “By using the multiple intelligences approach in your classroom, you will provide opportunities for authentic learning based on your students’ needs, interests, and talents. The multiple intelligences classroom acts like the “real’ world. For example, the author and the illustrator of a book or the actor and the set builder in a play are equally valuable creators. Students become more active, involved learners” (Lunenburg, F. 2014, November 1). Through making the changes I have previously listed, I would not only be reaching different types of learners, but it would help the learners be making deeper connections. Through drawing visual representations, students are thinking of the color, and detail that make up that element. If they merely say; we have a turtle table and the other class as a water table. They are missing the details that make these items different or similar. Through making these changes in my lesson, I hope deepen students connections to the material through recognizing details. As well as, make the material more applicable, engaging and interesting to a wider range of learners.
-Source-
Lunenburg, F. (2014, November 1). Applying Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom: A Fresh Look at Teaching Writing. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCHOLARLY ACADEMIC INTELLECTUAL DIVERSITY, 16, 1-14. Retrieved from http://www.nationalforum.com/Electronic Journal Volumes/Lunenburg, Fred C Applying Multiple Intelligences IJSAID V16 N1 2014.pdf
TEACHER FEEDBACK
Abigail,
Your response to what you’d change is very well written. Great job of giving specific examples.
How would they make deeper connections? Excellent, you answered it in your next sentence! Don’t state you “hope”. “Through making these changes in my lesson, my students would have a deeper connection with the material by recognizing details. As well as….” You should also include the word comprehension in here, since that is your focus, you need to bring it back to what really matters.
Great post Abigail.