Eled 3226 Entry 1 - Focus Practice

Entry #1 Observation of a Focus Practice

Focus Practice Reflection The focus lesson I observed was a whole group read aloud lesson and discussion. For this read aloud and discussion the third-grade students in my clinical class were all seated on the carpet. My clinical teacher displayed the article titled “Bangkok, Thailand” on the smart board. Before reading the article, my clinical teacher told the students that while they read to think about what personal connections they have to the article. The connections could be anything they have heard, seen, learned, or done that relates to the article. She also activated their prior knowledge before reading the article by displaying a picture from the article on the smart board. Students shared aloud their connections with this picture before reading the article. I thought this was a great way to not only activate their prior knowledge but also capture their interest in finding out what the article is about. During the read aloud my clinical teacher frequently stopped and restated/summarized the sentences she read. This was one of my “look fors”, and I think she accomplished this successfully. As she stopped to restate what she read, she presented the information in ways that made more sense to students. When she stopped to restate she would also ask students questions and facilitate a discussion. One quote stood out to me that she stated which was, “turn and talk with your neighbor about any connections you have with what we have read so far.” The students received a minute to discuss with their partners and then had a discussion based on their connections. It was amazing to see how their prior knowledge and connections were activated through the discussion. Students related the article of boats in Thailand to their former social studies lessons as well as their country culture projects.

While the students were discussing their connections, my clinical teacher asked them deeper questions to elicit thinking and probe for understanding. This was one of my “look fors” as well. Her questions required students to explain in detail their answers and exactly how they connected with the text. The two main strategies my teacher used during this lesson were whole group discussion and turn and talk. It would have been beneficial to see other strategies, possibly writing, incorporated throughout or as an exit ticket. The students did a majority of verbal thinking in this discussion which was great for making connections but allowing the students to write or take some form of notes during the discussion would have been another strategy and opportunity to meet students’ academic needs. Throughout the lesson my clinical teacher was extremely clear with the student learning objective and purpose of reading the article. She told students, “Starting today we are going to begin reading an article a day and discuss the article as a class. These daily articles are short and they will not be graded. We are reading these articles to learn new information, make connections to our background and prior knowledge, have discussions and learn new vocabulary.” After observing the lesson this objective was definitely met. Students were able to make connections from the article to their lives and past experiences. They also used their text features such as pictures and captions and referred to the text for support of their answers. My clinical teacher closed the lesson by explaining how the discussion and text features can help the students understand the article better and connect it to their prior knowledge. All of the articles my teacher is going to use for these discussions can be found at ReadWorks.org. This is a great sight that is also FREE. There are multiple articles leveled for students’ needs. The articles also have vocabulary and comprehension questions presented along with them. Not only is her class going to use these articles for whole group discussions, but they

are going to use them in their reading rotations as well. At the end of the lesson the students state how the read aloud and discussion was “fun” and “interesting.” Because of the student engagement and enjoyment, I would love to incorporate these kinds of articles into my classroom the same why my clinical teacher did. I liked how she did not take the reading article as a real graded assignment because it relieves pressure off of students and they were able to freely participate in the discussion without fear of a bad grade. Ultimately, I would use these articles in my classroom to promote a love of reading amongst my students.