Taylor's Lesson Reflection

Reflection 10/23/2012

Lesson Objective:  In a small group discussion of the novel, Arthur, For the Very First Time, students will respond to the text by sharing a text-to-self connection that they made while reading the book.  The initial text-to-self connection will be recorded on a sticky note that the student places in the book.  The text-to-self connection can be in relation to the character, theme, setting, or event in a story.

• What students learned and which students struggled with the lesson. 

In this lesson, students learned why it is important to monitor one’s response to a text.  Their homework from the night before had been to record five self to text connections on sticky notes.  Four out of the six book club members came to the meeting prepared with sticky notes; one was absent and one felt that he could not make connections to the text.  The students who did make connections with the text said that it was easy to connect to the main character.  The student who struggled to make connections to the text said that he did not feel like he related to the main character at all.  However, when the entire group shared their connections and thoughts about using sticky notes the student who did not make connections tended to agree with what his peers said about the text. 

• What are alternate reads (interpretations) of your students' performance or products?

I think that Tyler struggled to recognize his connections because he is so involved in the reading.  As the meeting progressed, he revealed that he had actually read up to chapter five when he was only supposed to read to chapter one.  I also observed that he was able to quote directly from the text, including a page number, without opening his book. I think that he becomes so absorbed in what he is reading that it does not occur to him to pause and think about how he is responding to the text, he just continues to read because he knows that he understands. 

• What did you learn about your students' literacy practices that extend beyond your objectives?

I learned that one of the book club members is able to recognize that she can connect to a story by being different from the character or by having an experience in a different way than the character.  Morgan explained that she likes the character, Arthur, because she does not have the same problems that he does.  She said that she like, “reading what he does because she has never done things like stay in a strange house or kept a journal of observations.” Morgan’s understanding of this type of connection will help her later on in the book club when I introduce different ways to monitor comprehension, other than a connection of agreement.  

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

I will introduce the idea of connecting through differences to my group over the next two meetings.  This form of participation will hopefully be easier for Tyler, who finds it difficult to recognize the ways that he is similar or has similar experiences to the characters and events in the text.  

• 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?

If I were to reteach this lesson, I would have my students focus on two text elements to make connections to.  All of the group members who were present and completed the homework made many connections to the main character, Arthur.  I was happy to discover that they are able to relate to him however, I also want them to understand that they can connect to themes, settings, events, and more elements of a text.  This recognition will improve their understanding of how they can connect literature to real life.

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

Implementing my core practices, explicit instruction and responding to reading, was more challenging than I thought it would be.  Explicit instruction sounds like it would be very obvious to your students, the point that you are trying to make in the discussion.  However, it is very difficult to explicitly show an individual how to respond to a text. I struggled to help one student find a way to respond to the text:  he did not feel that he had connections to characters, events in the text, or themes in the text.  I also tried to help him voice the ways that he was different from the text.  However, despite his inability to recognize connections between himself and what he was reading, he was still able to identify why discussion of books is important and how it helps a good reader become a better reader. 

I am already very proud of the way that my students are participating in book club.  Almost all of them have completed their homework so far and they are following the participation rubric that they helped to create.  One thing that I would like to add to the book club for future sessions is more peer to peer instruction. I want my students to explain to each other how they made a connection or how they recognized a difference between themselves and something in the text.  I think that fostering an environment where peers can safely offer each other their thoughts and ideas will help all of them learn.  I also think that more peer interaction will help Tyler to see the ways that he could recognize similarities between himself and various parts of the text.