Reflection on Lesson Plan #2: Subject-Verb Agreement

What went well? How do you

know?

What didnt go as planned?

What contingency plan did

you employ?

What would you do

differently next time?

Compared to the last lesson I taught, I had the students try out some
sentences when I presented each rule of subject-verb agreement, which
really engaged the students and helped them to understand each rule.
Students paid attention to the sentences I asked them to try and asked
me questions about why they needed to use singular/plural verb in that
particular sentence. Both my supervisor and my mentor teacher also
liked this when they filled in the feedback form.
I also did well in attracting my students attention/interests in this
lesson because I asked them who is the highest student in this class
to bridge the new information of subject-verb agreement and their
prior knowledge of nouns. I found this because all the students smiled
and called out the name of the highest student in this class.
Asking students to write down their sentences on the whiteboard and
analyzing the sentences together were well done. The students showed
their understanding of subject-verb agreement by writing down the
correct sentences on the whiteboard and telling me the rationale why
the sentences were correct when I asked.
In the subject-verb matching activity, students finished the activity
faster than I expected. I may need to give them more demanding work
in this activity.
The third activity of writing a paragraph about San Diego had no
enough time for all the groups to present and check the grammar of
subject-verb agreement. Instead of appreciating others work and
checking the grammar of subject-verb agreement, the students were
asked to take a picture for all the group writings, read these writings,
and check the grammar of subject-verb agreement as homework.
In case that the projection in the classroom does not work, I created
slides for each rule of the subject-verb agreement in the order of these
rules presented in the textbook. I planned that if I cannot present the
rules by using PowerPoint, I would use the textbook and the exercises
in the textbook to teach this grammar.
In order to make sure all the students know what they were going to do
in the guided and communicative activities, I explained the group
directions first, then modeled the activity and finally asked the students
to check with the one next to them what they were going to do in the
following activities.
If I get the chance to teach this lesson next time, I would provide the
students with my PowerPoint so that they can take notes. Though they
can still take notes in their textbooks/notebooks, it may be better for
them to review and understand the grammar if I provide them with my
PowerPoint. Instead of explaining each rule first and then asking them
to try out some sentences, I could have them try out some sentences in
a handout first and then present each rule of subject-verb agreement to
see their understanding of the teaching grammar point.

I would also change the subject-verb matching (index card activity)

into a grammar exercise in the textbook. I lacked individual evidence
of how deep they understood the grammar of subject-verb agreement.
Asking the students to work individually on a grammar exercise may
give me the opportunity to assess each students understanding of the
subject-verb agreement.
Did your students meet the
I think most of the students meet he purpose and objectives for this
purpose and objectives for this lesson. Their answers to each try-out sentence in the presentation and
lesson? What is your
explanations why they chose that particular verb informed me that they
evidence?
had a basic understanding of the subject-verb agreement. In the index
card activity, they worked with a partner to create a sentence with the
grammar of subject-verb agreement orally and then write down on the
whiteboard, which showed their abilities to (orally) produce sentences
with the teaching grammar. The writing activity showed their abilities
to organize and write ideas with the subject-verb agreement. In these
activities, they used some appropriate classroom language to discuss
when I circulated the classroom.
What do your students need
I think my students need to pay attention to their use of the subjectnext? What is your evidence? verb agreement in oral English. When they speak, they can talk a lot
about a topic. But the verbs they use usually do not agree with the
subjects they use.
What did you learn about your I learned that I did well in scaffolding my students to learn a new
glows and grows as a teacher? grammar structure and assigning tasks to the groups who finished the
What can you do to work on
group activity when they waited for other groups to complete the
your areas needing growth?
activity. But I still need to try to stop and check my students
understanding of the teaching grammar point because students differ
in digesting the new information. Some students may have already
understood when I explain the grammar structure for the first time,
while others may still have difficulty in understanding a certain
grammar concept. I need to stop and give more time to my students to
think about what I have taught. Asking more students to involve in the
explaining the grammar to others may help solve this problem. It may
also work better if I ask my students to preview the teaching grammar
point before the class.