Most students were engaged in the lesson, following along with the reading of Jumanji and The BFG, yet some trailed during the note-taking. One student in particular had a really hard time with taking notes. I would write the notes over the Elmo, and occasionally walk around to make sure students were on task. This student had only a few words form each line written down, and was always playing with something else, or trying to have a conversation with someone when I would walk around. This isn't something new, he has attention problems, and has admitted to me that it is hard for him to work in groups, he concentrates best when it's silent. Now reflecting on the lesson, I wonder how I could have framed it to benefit him. Perhaps I could have sent him into the hall with my mentor teacher to take the notes and talk him through. If I didn't have her in the room, I could still have sent him to the hall, but I would worry that he wouldn't understand elements or be off task. In the other homebase, two students had trouble seeing the notes, so they moved up front to have a better view of them in order to copy down. I think there are benefits in writing down something vs. reading it, but perhaps for these students, having the notes already typed would be helpful.
With the comprehension questions, I expected students would write thoughtful answers and not have trouble with opinion questions. Most students wrote minimal word answers, and a handful of students had asked me what a question means. I thought I had made them quite straightforward. An opinion question, "How did this chapter make you feel?" had many students hung up. Some students had asked what "different font" means in the following question, "On page 13, the author uses a different font for some words. Why do you think he did that?" I specifically used a different font when typing "different font" to help students understand the word font, though some did not catch the clue.
When taking notes on the fantasy elements including Fantasy, Plot, Characters, Dialogue, Conflict, Setting (What makes it a Fantasy ______?), it came up in discussion what some of these elements mean. I was assuming that students knew what these elements of a story meant, but in actuality, many did not know what Plot, Conflict, or Setting really meant. I easily adapted by providing definitions, and asking for repetition, but it caught me off guard. When talking about these terms in future lessons, I have provided quick definitions to ensure understanding. We will work with each of these elements more in depth as we read The BFG, so I can provide extra support while looking for the elements in the book as well.
As stated above, I will be sure to support the meanings of the terms Plot, Characters, Dialogue, Conflict and Setting as the lessons proceed. For students who have missed instruction including reading of The BFG, I can offer to stay in during L.A.F. and read and/or listen to the chapter. I could also allow the books to go home in exchange for their school I.D. (they cannot get their I.D. back unless I get the book back). For students who missed the notes, during our quick write the next day (review of the notes) I allowed students who missed the notes to copy the notes together at the back table. I briefly explained each one as they wrote.
I, ideally, would have enough books for each student (we are getting more later in the week) so that they could each handle a book, instead of reading in partners. I think this would focus more attention to following along in the book. I would first have a mini-lesson on what Plot, Characters, Setting, Dialogue, and Conflict mean in a story. I would have extra copies of notes that were already written, to help to provide students with poor eyesight, or attention span, to have a copy at their desk to copy, or to have one if they did not finish copying everything down.
It sounds like this lesson helped you 'calibrate' where your students are and how you could further support their learning as the unit proceeded. It's interesting that we take words like "font" for granted, but it does make sense that they might not have encountered this word.
ReplyDeleteIt's a bit surprising that the literary elements were not familiar to the students--I wonder if this was in part that they are still getting acquainted with you in the teacher role?
I like seeing how you are working on ways to keep struggling students up with the tasks but also showing concern that they are part of the group overall.