TESOL Certificate Programs

Observation Notebook

Observation Report
Forms for inclusion in the Observation Notebook must be typed

Name of Observer____Lin Li______

Date

Observation Environment

5/6/15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7rEHmoaxVY

Observation # _8__
Class
Skill
Reading

Class
Leve
PreGED

Teacher
Michelle
Nicolai

OBJECTIVE OF THE LESSON:

1. Students will be able to retell L.H.s life experience based on the reading
materials.
2. Students will be able to identify topic sentences, supporting details, and
conclusion sentences after reading essays about L.H..
3. Students will be able to write L.H.s life story in a five-paragraph structured essay
based on all the reading materials.
Notes while observing:
1. T presents class tasks on the board and explains:
Discuss Langston Hughes
Review and practice reading strategies
Review parts of a paragraph
Write a paragraph
T: Today we are going to learn about Langston Hughe. Who can tell me about
Langston Hughes? Today we will focus on his life and poetry. T also reviews literature
genres they have talked in last session.
2. T gives Ss a reading handout about the background of L.H. and asks Ss to read it. T
checks Ss general comprehension by asking questions and Ss answer questions by refer
to the reading handout.
T then reads the first paragraph of an essay about L.H.s background that she found on
the Internet as an expansion.
3. T gives Ss a poem written by L.H. and asks Ss to read and discuss the attached
questions in their trio group.
T asks questions to see if Ss got the right directions, Are you going to write
anything?? Ss answered, No, you just discuss the questions.

TESOL Certificate Programs

Observation Notebook
4. Ss are discussing in their trio groups from 1030 to 1120 for the three prequestions and from 1130 to 1315 for the two post questions.
T goes to different groups and ask questions, like what is the theme why use XX (a
word/phrase) instead of XX (a similar word/phrase)
5. After the trio group discusses, T picks parts from the poem that she thought need to
explain and asks Ss why LH wrote in this way for deeper understandings.
6. T gives each S a bag of sentences from LHs paragraph and asks them to put these
sentences into order.
Before starting the activity, T leads Ss to review paragraph structure: topic sentencewhat the paragraph is about; supporting details-describe a topic and stick to the topic;
concluding sentence. During the activity, T goes around and gives support if necessary.
T then shows paragraph with sentences in order and asks Ss to check their work.
7. T gathers and selects the high frequent mistakes from Ss, and presents in class by
comparing and explaining. T give conclusions conclude sentence usually relates to topic
sentence.
8. T collects all the materials she has given to Ss and then checks Ss what they remember
from the paragraph by asking comprehension questions. Again, T hints Ss to relate the
answer to L.H.s background.
9. T reads another poem written by L.H. for Ss and asks Sss general understanding of the
poem.
T reads the poem with passion again and asks Ss What does this make you feel. Ss
share their thoughts on it.
10. At 3330, T starts a writing practice. She asks Ss to write something about L.H. by
focusing on L.H.s childhood and some small parts of his poems. T gives more controlled
directions: while writing, please follow the paragraph structure. Again T reviews the
paragraph structure. T asks Ss, do you need the paragraph we used? Are you going to
copy sentences from the paragraph? Ss answer No. T: Please feel free to use this
paragraph as your writing reference, not copy.
11. T asks Ss to be prepared to share their paragraph topic sentences. Many Ss have
questions so T goes around answering them. T calls on several Ss and writes down their
topic sentence. Each time the T writes down, she asks, What makes this a good topic
and sentence? Ss response.
12. T asks Ss to continue their writings and tells them to share their concluding sentences
after this time. T offers Ss dictionaries as reference tools. T reads other Sss topic
sentences and praise one of them. (This practice starts from 3900-5130) T looks at
Ss work and gives suggestions (directly gives suggestions, asks leading questions, gives
additional books as reference, gives grammar support).

TESOL Certificate Programs

Observation Notebook
13. T summarizes common errors and explains after calling stop of the writing practice. T
has every Ss read their concluding sentence and gives rational feedback for each S.
14. By wrapping up, T gives one more assignment from textbook for homework. T passes
out Ss reflection folder and asks Ss to write down one sentence they learned about L.H.
from todays class. The folders last page contains useful website links about L.H.

What did you learn about teaching or learning from this lesson? Discuss your
observation focus, and the theory you have studied in your TESOL classes. Consider
the three levels of teacher reflection (surface, pedagogical, critical). (100-200 words)
In this reading class, the T combined reading practice and writing practice
together. It seems to me that reading and writing are closely connected and could be used
as each others supplement practice. Another thing I noticed is that the T read paragraphs
and poems for Ss several times, which could be a good way to integrate listening practice
into the reading class. While T read parts of the reading materials, Ss activate their
listening intelligence to feel the reading material in another way. The T introduced a lot
of supplement reading materials to help Ss understand the poems. The writing practice
took a large portion of the class. Hence, the writing practice here could be viewed as a
production practice. Writing could be an easy and practical way to evaluating reading.

TESOL Certificate Programs

Observation Notebook
What activities/techniques from this class do you want to remember for your own
teaching practice? Discuss specific ways in which you could apply the techniques and
methods you saw. Discuss your future teaching environment and your students needs
and goals. (100-200 words)
I always have questions about how to teach reading and evaluate it. From this
observation, I felt that integrating writing, listening, and speaking could be a good
solution. For example, before presenting the target reading materials, I could ask Ss some
questions around to activate their prior knowledge and then present the reading. For
reading comprehension checking, besides asking questions, I can split paragraph into
single sentences and ask Ss to put those pieces in order. This activity also helps Ss
understand the structure of paragraphs or essays. Lastly, integrate the writing. I could
always ask Ss to write things about the reading materials in two steps, first in a more
retelling way and then in a productive way.