Lit Lesson Two Reflection

Types of Fantasy & Questioning

As with the first lesson, the same students had similar problems. Two boys this time (including the student who had trouble in Lesson One) had trouble copying down the notes presented about the different types of literature. Again, I had the thought that writing these definition would help students in learning and internalizing these different types of fantasy. The boy who had problems yesterday was paying attention, for he had written the examples down of the types of fantasy, though failed to write the definitions. The other student who was having trouble focusing to write had simply not written anything at all. When I came around to his desk, he even had his paper pushed up out of his way. I'm not sure what he was doing, if he was paying attention at all or not, but he has a tendency to be off task as well. The majority of the other students did not have trouble taking notes. Again, I think of how I could change the structure of note taking to ensure that these students do get the information I want them to have. The same girls had trouble seeing the projection, so they came up front to read and copy the notes down. While reading the book Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, some students in the second group had a hard time focusing, and were causing distractions. We had a substitute in the afternoon, and perhaps they were riled up from lunch, but this lesson was a struggle for a handful of students in the second group.

The first group I had was able to have time to work on their comprehension questions in class, but the second group did not. I monitored students using sticky notes as I read the chapters aloud- I originally was going to have them silent/partner read, but with the amount of books and time we had, I decided to read it aloud instead. I required students to write at least 2 questions on their sticky note, but many students had more than that. I monitored the first group in their writing of questions more than I had the second group, for a question on their comprehension sheet was to list the two questions they had written while reading, and the second group I wasn't able to give time to work on these questions. The class as a whole has a hard time writing in complete sentences to answer these questions. I hadn't mentioned it in the first lesson, but for this lesson I did. I still saw many students writing minimal word answers. The student feedback when presenting the notes on types of fantasy and examples of those types was interesting. Many students gave movies or t.v. shows as examples, although I had books in mind. Shows the change in the times I suppose. Many of the examples students gave I wasn't able to confirm or deny because I had not been familiar with them. This made it hard to judge their understanding of the genre. I gave examples of my own, and had multiple books to show as examples. This lesson was meant to scaffold their understanding into successfully being able to select a fantasy book when going to the library later in the week.

As I was saying before, I was amazed at how many examples students were coming up with for types of fantasy that indeed were not fantasy books, rather movies or t.v. shows. This just shows that my students' generation are immersed much more in technology-based stories than hard bound stories. It was very smart of them to be able to make that connection so smoothly, but as it was for me, it was harder to be okay with that connection, though I know fantasy spills over into movies, t.v. shows and arguably music/games as well. If I were to teach this unit again, I would focus it on Fantasy as a whole instead of focusing it on just literature, for my students will experience fantasy not only through books, and perhaps not mainly through books. Their difficulty in writing in full sentences may be just a habit of laziness, but it surprises me that they are not into the habit of answering in full sentences yet. We will work on this as the unit goes on.

As discussed in Lesson One's post, for students who miss the chapters read in class, I could allow them to take a book home in exchange for their I.D., let them stay in for L.A.F. and read the chapters they've missed or listen to them on CD, or I could provide them with a CD of the chapters missed to listen to at home. If they miss the notes in class today, I expect them to copy the notes the next day, but without time to do so, I will make copies of my hand written notes to provide for them since it is a lot of writing to catch up on. Another way I could do that with the notes is to give them a blank copy and my copy, to take home and copy as homework. This way they are still getting the experience of writing and reading the definitions in order to complete the homework. If students stil need help picking out a book at the library that's of a fantasy genre, I could refer them back to the different types of fantasy, and help them find a book by asking questions to ensure that the book is of the fantasy genre.

If I were to teach the lesson again, I would likely change the way of taking notes. Perhaps I'd have copies at the desks to help students who have trouble seeing, have less writing for students who have trouble concentrating, or provide copies of my notes for students who did not finish by the end of our time. I would ideally have enough books for each student, and enough time, to have them practice questioning on their own while reading silently. I may pick a book for me to model with that isn't as long as Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, to allow for more time to read independently.