Success!

On Wednesday I completed my read aloud to the second graders, and it was wonderful. I've read aloud to classrooms before in both 4th and 3rd grade, but never in conjunction with a lesson plan. I decided to put post its on the book just as our instructor modeled, which was very helpful in keeping my students on target with my objectives. Practicing also helped, although it felt silly talking to myself. The clear learning targets kept my students engaged because they had purpose in listening. I read with a lot of animation and I loved seeing their faces as I showed them each picture. My dyad teacher believed them to be engaged not only because most of the class was listening quietly during the story, or volunteering an answer during discussion, but simply from body language. One little boy had a scowl on his face and leaned forward when I described Lilly calling her brother names. I had not anticipated the level of excitement in the classroom during my lesson. Nearly the entire class raised their hand at each opportunity to join in our conversation about character traits and change. When we transitioned to the next part of the story, I asked students who did not get called on to “hold on to their ideas”. A chorus of “aw” signaled disappointment that they didn’t get to share. Honestly I was impressed and proud of their engagement for thirty minutes. That is a long time for second grader to sit and they had already been sitting in a previous lesson that morning. I was able to hold their attention, stay on topic, and facilitate a group discussion without chaos. It was a very meaningful experience. Sometimes a student would take me off guard by claiming that Lilly’s parents don’t understand her. This is not blatant in the text; however I can see where the student would make this interpretation. I asked the class to think about this comment and see if they agreed. Ironically her comment reminded to give the class wait time! After all I needed some wait time to think this over too! This is an important concept my dyad teacher explained in order to get them thinking fully about the question. Essentially I know not to call on the first students who raise their hands. Second graders are eager to volunteer, even if they haven’t thought about the answer. After the read aloud my dyad teacher also suggested giving them more time to talk in pairs during “turn and talk”. It is a fine line between giving them talk time, and letting them procrastinate. I can see now that I was cutting it too short. In the end I was able to improvise a new ending to my lesson in order to wrap up the lesson targets and better summarize the experience. I cannot wait to get in front of the class again!

Can I also add that these "compliment" pumpkins made my week: (especially the reference to my small group lesson on space)