CT Observation #2 Reflection

Read alouds are a fun, interactive way for students to listen to their reading curriculum while still staying engaged. When teachers stay engaged and dramatize the different character’s voices, the students feel a part of the story too. When my CT reads to her students, she always has good voice inflection and enthusiasm. She also makes sure to slowly go through the book, and has good stopping points to make sure all students are following along with her. These stopping points help her recap what she just read so the students can really understand it all. My CT brings up guiding questions to the students to help guide their thinking. These guiding questions help spark discussion among the students. She loves discussion and always encourages students to have them own insight about details from a text.

My plan for this read aloud is to read the students a story from Grimm’s Fairy Tales. I chose a fairy tale out of this book because my CT has read Cinderella and Jack and the Bean Stalk from this book to her students before. The fairy tale I chose was The Pink. I chose this story because it was new to the students, but it still came from a familiar book. My after reading assessment for this lesson was an open discussion with the class. The main objective was for the students to find the theme and support their answer using details from the text. I implemented stopping points in my reading for the students to have a recap, turn and talks with partners to discuss what they have learned already, and then an open discussion with the class to discuss what theme they have decided on.

Overall, the lesson went well. The students all participated in the think pair shares, and the open discussion. They listened attentively, and when one student was not paying attention, I used a nonverbal intervention. I based the lesson on state-adopted standards (FEAP 1a). The standard that I based my lesson plan on was LAFS.4.RL.1.2 “Determine the theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.” In the beginning of the lesson, I gave clear oral directions to the students to remain seated and listen attentively while participating (FEAP 2c). I also set my expectations for the behavior in the classroom to remain positive while I was reading (FEAP 2e). I positively praised those who were sitting quietly waiting for me to begin. I also positively praised those who were attentive and answered my guiding questions during the stopping points in the reading. I managed my time well throughout the lesson by planning time for the think pair share and for the open discussion (FEAP 2a). I managed class behaviors by redirecting the attention of a student who was not paying attention (FEAP 2b). The overall behavior of the classroom was very positive.

My CT gave me advice after the read aloud lesson was over. She told me that I was an excellent model for the students as I read. She noticed my guiding questions for the students that kept them engaged. Near the end I had less stopping points in the reading. This got some students confused and they were less engaged than others near the end. My CT suggested that I make more guiding questions to be consistent throughout my reading. She also suggested to pick a text that is more formal to the students to keep their engagement levels up because the fairy tale I chose was written in older English. Her feedback was very helpful and I used it to apply to my second read aloud I did later in the semester.

During the read aloud, one student was not as engaged as the others. Even when I praised those for were sitting quietly, and were attentive to the story, he still sat there and did not participate. I had to use a nonverbal intervention to get him back on task. A nonverbal intervention corrects off-task behavior silently without disrupting the rest of the class (Levin & Nolan, 2014). Most of the time these interventions can be done without the class even realizing. At 7:02, in my observation video, this student was playing with the carpet and staring down at the ground. Before this moment he had still not answered any of my guiding questions at the stopping points, or even raised his hand to attempt to answer. Right after this time, I used a signal interference to tap in front of him to get him to realize I was noticing his lack of participation. He immediately looked up and focused his attention back on me and the story.

The task met the developmental needs of my students because I gave them clear directions, and the lesson involved group discussion. Students at this age work well in all kinds of groups (Clayton & Forton, 2001). In 15:02 of my observation video, I initiated the group discussion after the think pair share. I started by saying “Okay let’s come back together and discuss what we talked about”. The students all had great points to add to the conversation. Some students said that the theme was about coming of age because the main character had to grow up and become who he was meant to be. Other students added that the theme was about justice because the main character brought the main antagonist to justice. As a class, we discussed why these themes fit within the fairy tale.

Before I complete another read aloud, I will apply the feedback given to me from my CT. She gave me excellent advice to plan my next steps for the following read aloud. I will pick a text that is more familiar to the students, and written in a more familiar way to help the students better understand. I will apply more guiding questions to keep students engaged the entire time, instead of having a lot in the beginning and not as many near the end. I will also implement a way to take notes about the text with the students to help guide their thinking.

Lesson Plan: