Tammie Rae Yazzie
EDUC 330L-Ferris
November 24, 2008
Practicum Journal Reflections
October 15th 2008—Read Aloud Lesson
I have been working in a third grade classroom completing my practicum for all my classes. I have had amazing support from the students and classroom teacher, Mrs. Rhoads. I presented my read aloud lesson plan to Mrs. Rhoads and she approved of the content for her class. I selected, The Goat in the Rug by Geraldine as it was retold to Charles L.
Blood and Martin Link. I was able to do my lesson during their regular literature
time at 9:15 a.m. I enjoyed being able to carry out my lesson plan as it was
written. It was amazing practice and I have to admit that I was not all that
nervous. She appreciated the lesson plans that I provided for her to review before
the lesson. The students had taken their seats after returning from a morning
assembly. I could tell that they were still a little jittery from their time
out of class. They were very interested in the book because I introduced the
book by selling them on the cover of the book. It was a book that none of the
students were familiar with. I then moved to a discussion on animals and whether
they would consider them family. They were very vocal on this prompt question. It was a clear consensus that animals were part of their family. I did not even have to embellish on that idea.
Many
already ran with the idea of sharing ways they considered them family. One student
said that she feeds her cat just as her mom feeds her. One boy added that his
dog sleeps with him in his bed. It was nice that they were able to make the connection
of activities they share with animals without me having to touch on it. I nicely
made a transition from that conversation to the next question that I had on getting some background knowledge on other animal
stories they have read. I quickly was flooded with the response of, “Sounder”
coming from nearly every student in the room. I should have known I remember
reading that book when I had Mrs. Rhoads’ class years back. Others included
Old Yeller, the True Story of the Three Little Pigs, and various Disney character books. Every student was engaged in the discussion and those that were least vocal I called on and they were able
to voice their answer. I noticed that they were drowned out by the other students
who were excitedly sharing their answers or were simply shy to draw attention to them.
I
began reading the story to the students which I did with great enthusiasm. They
were attentive and I was comfortable with the environment I was in. Therefore
I was able to tell that they were feeling the same way. As I read the book they
were very interested in the book and the pictures. Many of the pages made them
laugh and it was nice to hear their comments as the story continued. The vocabulary
words that I had listed on my lesson plan were definitely ones to consider but there were a few others they did not recognize. However they were really nice about letting me finish before asking. I wish they had done so while I was reading to them but I enjoyed the feedback. I felt that I did a great job and I was able to assess myself because of the way the students related to
the story. I welcomed questions and definitely did my best to answer their questions
with confidence. However I have read this book numerous times to my son so I
felt prepared for this the read aloud lesson. I also love the story so I was
able to personalize it as well.
October 17th 2008
Today was a great day to work on independent reading and mini lesson unit that I had worked on about reading
with emotion. Children really enjoyed this lesson and I chose to do it this day
because this is the regular day that the students are scheduled for conferencing. I
read Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by V.L. Brown because of the vivid characters.
The students caught on quickly and began noticing that if you read a book a certain way it makes the book more interesting. I began to talk to the students by first reading the first few pages of the book in
a ridiculously obvious monotone voice. It made several of the students look at
me strangely. I asked them if that was interesting to them. One student said that it was weird. I asked why. Another student raised their hand to answer that it did not sound right.
I then added what if everyone read this way would you want to read again. I
was flooded with responses of no! From that point I announced that we would be
moving on to independent reading while students would meet for conferencing. During
the conferencing of the students with Mrs. Rhoads I was able to direct the students into reading their books independently. At this time the students were reading Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan. There were mixed emotions as I announced that they would be reading this book independently
as Mrs. Rhoads met with other students. I simply observed the students as they
read their books independently for fifteen minutes. There was little interaction at this time.
October 21st 2008
Today’s lesson was about working on phonics and word study.
It was quite easy to designate groups for this lesson because there are twenty students and four groups of five. I started off by asking if any students were familiar with games such as Boggle and
Junior Scrabble. Every student was familiar with the games because they are present
in the classroom. I was happy to hear that and was prepared because I presented
my lesson plan in advance to Mrs. Rhoads. There were more than enough letters
to distribute to each group and I did not do so until I had explained the objective to the students. The students were allowed to draw six letters from the Kleenex box and were timed for to make a list of
words that they could find with the letters they retrieved from the box. I provided
them with tips to make their searching easier. I notified them that I would be
their time keeper and they should select someone to record words they find. We
were able to play enough times for each student in the group to have their chance to record words for their group.
There were not many complications during this activity because of the prior knowledge the students had. They were already given high frequency word lists that they were able to utilize because
of the accessibility in the classroom. The word list was given in September therefore
I just placed emphasis on words they were learning about and they were given bonus points for finding words that were not
found on the list. The assessment was given based on the list they were able
to produce and participation that was observed while in their groups. I did have
a supplement al activity that was on my lesson plan however I was unable to complete it due to time constraints. A good thing about this working in this classroom is that the teacher whom I work with is incredibly supportive. She carried on this lesson the next day by keeping their word lists and making copies
for each student of their group’s word list to work from. The supplemental
activity was to create a story with the words they found or to make sentences for each individual word which ever they preferred. I just liked the idea of presenting them with choices to make it more personal. The lesson was great and the only barrier would have to be the students that only
speak Spanish. This was not too bad because the teacher was on hand to translate
for me. They all did an amazing job and participated just as I hoped they would. I would have to say that I wish that for that day I had more time so that I was able
to get to my supplemental activity to follow my lesson. I was still grateful
to have the opportunity to put the lesson plan I created into action.
October 27th 2008
The guided reading lesson would have to be my favorite lesson that I was able to carry out for the practicum. I was able to obtain four copies of Bernie’s Lunch from a teacher I knew
at Kirtland and I have my own copy. It is a cute story by Val Roberts that is
a dual language story in English and Navajo. I was able to work with a group
of students who were at a relatively average reading level. I introduced the
book by completing a picture walk through the book by beginning with the cover. They
were able to generate predictions by reading the title and looking at the pictures.
I would have to say that I was completely happy with the participation that I was receiving from the students. However I have been working with them for quite some time so I felt that they were
comfortable enough to do so. I liked how they commented on how real the pictures
looked. I was able to build on their prior knowledge by asking if there was ever
a time they felt hungry but their parents were too busy to and they could not wait.
I then prompted them on what they would do in that particular situation. Many
said they would eat something that was simple like an apple which needed no preparation.
One boy stated that he would make a steak. That was interesting to hear.
At that point we went over vocabulary words that could be found in the book and we made connections of
those words. A student mentioned that they had a shed where their dad stored
his tools. I felt that was excellent.
The only word they had a little difficulty making a connection with was
wonder. We talked about the word and read through the page it was found on to
see if they were able to define it by surrounding words. It took a while
but they were able to make that connection once they put it in their own words. They
best associated it with thinking. Each student read red robin style and I used
cueing systems to prompt their reading. This was a great way to ensure they comprehended
what they were reading. I touched on word work by having the students select
action words from the book. They were really quick to find these words and even
made their own observations from the text. Each student was able to complete
a small writing portion on creating their own snack book. They did not take much
time working on it and did comment that they felt hungry. That made me laugh
and I am glad that lunch was less than an hour away. They spent about five minutes
working on their books. They were comparing what one another had in their book
citing similarities and differences. We discussed what they were wondering as
they read the book. It was a little more difficult to get answers for this question. Maybe I should have worded it differently. As
the wrap up I had the students retell the story and it was interesting because every student had something different to add. It was the way that I assessed them for the work that they completed while I worked
with them. I was grateful to do a complete lesson and I was incredibly happy
with the time the teacher set aside for me to work with the students.
November 4th 2008
Today I worked with Mrs. Rhoads’ third grade students on shared reading. I chose to work on the Colors of the Navajo by Emily Abbink because they were beginning their history
unit on Native Americans and I felt it was convenient. This lesson enabled students
to learn about the Navajo culture and make connections by creating their own page for this book. I read the book to the students and pointed out several words that I knew they may have difficulty understanding. They were great about raising their hands and asking questions they had about the
book. I have been working with this class pretty much since school had started. It has been a great experience watching them as they transitioned over the semester. I remember at first they were unable to remain focused and were very inquisitive. I find asking questions to be fine because that is just another way for me to assess
them for comprehension. I initially start off every lesson reminding them that
asking questions is perfectly fine. I loved observing them and it was an easy
way to tell who knew what was going on by watching their expressions I was able to pick up on their interests.
November 6th 2008
Today I was able to work on the last component of my journal. Mrs.
Rhoads has appreciated my lesson plans that I have submitted before beginning my lesson.
She has even helped me think of other ideas to write lesson plans. I came
in first thing in the morning to complete this lesson. It was actually the earliest
I have ever visited her classroom. I sensed how excited the students were to
see me that early and surprised. I was greeted with a lot of good mornings and
questions of what we would be working on. I jumped right into my lesson because
everything first thing in the morning is moving at a fast pace. I began by asking
the students if they ever felt confused by something because of unclear directions.
Most of the students answered with, “Yes!” which I was looking for.
I brought in all the items that one would need to make a peanut butter sandwich as a hint I laid them out on the front
table. I brought in a loaf of bread, jar of jelly, jar of peanut butter, a plate
and a butter knife. I then asked them if they have ever made a peanut
butter sandwich and I heard a few yeses. I also heard a few no’s and proceeded to add that if they never have made one
had they seen someone make one before. Nobody answered with a no as I saw heads
nodding and hands rising. I told them that our morning writing activity was to
write our own instructions on how to make a peanut butter sandwich. It was nice
to see many grins first thing in the morning. Naturally one student asked if
they would be eating any. I then answered by telling the students that they could
do so at home if they shared what they wrote with their family. They seemed okay
with that suggestion and we proceeding to begin writing. I told them that they
would have ten minutes to write their instructions before we shared them with one another.
Each student worked quietly and thought about what they would write. A
few of them would glance at the items and write. Others did not even bother to
look up but wrote continuously. I noticed the different ways that they were writing
their directions as I walked around the desks. I could definitely see who was
organized and who put a lot of thought into what they were writing. One student
wrote a numbered list of what to do and another student drew little pictures to accompany their set of instructions. I noticed that nearly half of the students finished within half of the time. I encouraged them to review their writing to make sure it was to their liking. That prompted all but three to make alterations to their papers. I was happy with the end results. I asked for several volunteers
who would not mind sharing their papers with everyone. As the student read their
instructions to the class I followed them as they were written. The students
laughed as I put the jelly on top of the jam without opening and scooping any out. It
was a great way to visualize how someone could misinterpret what you actually mean if it is not written correctly. Assessment was based on participation and observation of what they completed that morning. I could tell that they were having a great time because after every set of instructions we discussed what
would have made the directions more clear so that one was able to successfully make a peanut butter sandwich.
