Day 2 11.5.13

11/5/13

·         What students learned and which students struggled with the lesson

The students learned about the meaning and use of the Latin roots bene- and gratus-. They also learned about the use of symbolism as a writing technique.

The students who struggled during this lesson did so while writing the thank you letter. They again struggled as we revisited action and linking verbs.

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·         What are alternate reads of your students’ performance or products?

I have a very good idea of why the students struggled during the writing of the thank you letter. I provided very little framework and instruction other than telling the students to include two vocabulary words in their letter. I believe students struggled with creating this letter because they did not know who they wanted to write to or why. The amount of detail and structure of the letter was also unspecified leaving the students to make a large amount of decisions in their writing. Very few students were able to draft a meaningful letter within the time allotted.

·         What did you learn about your students’ literacy practices that extend beyond your objectives?

The comfort and desire to read to the whole class was displayed again and I am learning that this could be the optimal choice for reading selections designed for the whole class. I also am learning about the students’ creative writing ability. As I introduced the thank you letter, I suggested the students write to their parents or a teacher, but many of the students wanted to choose famous or important people to write a thank you letter to.

·         When and how will you re-teach the material to students who need additional support?

Tomorrow, I will revisit the action and linking verb practice sheet students completed. We will go problem by problem, first attempting to discover the verb being used in the sentence and then whether it is an action or linking verb. To further the investigation into verbs, we will create sentences focusing first on very simple subjects and predicates. Then, students will develop more complex sentences again focusing on subject and predicate.

·         If you were to teach this same lesson again, what would you do differently and how do you think the changes would improve students’ learning?

I would explore the meaning of symbolism in writing more. This is a very interesting part of literature and deserves more time being examined. I feel if I included studying symbolism a few days or for a whole week, the students would understand what a character, plot, setting, and other features of a story symbolize. Devoting time to analyzing symbolism and then writing a short story using symbolism would be a great way to help improve the understanding of students.

·         What did you learn so far about implementing your ‘core practice’ and what do you need to do to continue your professional learning?

I should devote time each day to allow students to research vocabulary and also to free write while trying to incorporate their new vocabulary in their personal writing. I need to learn how to fit in time for exploration and creation for the students during the day because they spend the majority of their day following strict instruction.