Adapted from Developmental Reading Reflection document created by Sarah Mwangi, 06/13

Candidate Name: Kerri Goucher Date: 4.3.14

School: Columbia Elementary Teacher: Mrs. Groesbeck Grade level: 1
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Practicum Reflection-Guided Reading Lesson

Name of Passages: The Busy City & What Do Police Officers Do? Levels: DRA 18/RAZ-J

1. What was the area of focus today during the lesson? What activities related to the area of focus
did the teacher include in the lesson today?
a. In my small group lesson we focused on main idea and details. We read two fairly short
passages, then underlined the main idea and highlighted any details in both. Afterward,
we collaboratively brainstormed what people can do in parks or on playgrounds before
writing a short paragraph that clearly expressed a main idea followed by two details.

2. What went well with the instruction? What did students learn?
a. Students were able to recognize the main idea fairly quickly. I would attribute this to the
lack of word difficulty as well as the length of each passage. Students learned that
finding the main idea can help us understand what were reading.

3. Explain a growth moment for yourself where you realized, learned, or confirmed something
from today dealing with student achievement in the area of reading. (phonemic awareness,
phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, before/during/after reading)
a. After my small group lesson, I had two students read to me individually. During this time
I realized that children do not read to their full potential when they are not focused.
Elnora was very antsy and talkative today, making it difficult for her to read fluently. She
would sound out words that she read perfectly just a few pages before. Focus and
attention play a huge part in learning to read.

4. Describe a moment when a student grasped an idea/concept-that got it! kind of moment.
How was the teacher able to facilitate this experience? Explain the situation.
a. The best ah-a moment today happened while I was teaching in small group. Natalie
has excellent comprehension skills, so she was quickly able to tell me the just of each
passage whenever I asked What was this story mostly about? Yet, it took her a
moment or two to understand that What is the main idea of this story? was me asking
for the same answer. Watching her make the connection between the two was
awesome - I felt like my lesson was successful in helping her learn to read better!