Jessica Barron

Professor Vintinner
READ 3226-002
IMB Reading Small Group Summary
My small group lesson included three students who were assigned the book Dear Austin:
Letters from the Underground Railroad by Elvira Woodruff. My IMB cooperating teacher stated
that the students within my small group were among the lower level reading group in the class,
however because this is an inclusive AIG/Talent Development class these students were still
considered above grade level in reading for their overall performance. While planning for my
small group lesson it was suggested that I completed a vocabulary lesson with the students to
help them with their understanding of the text. Therefore, the aligned standard for my small
group lesson was CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.L.4 determine or clarify the meaning of
unknown and multiple- meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing
meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as
appropriate. My goal was to review and teach between 5 and 8 new vocabulary words from the
first thirty-one pages of the book.
During our small group session, my students and I sat outside of the classroom in the
hallway. I chose the hallway because I knew it was familiar place that they students were use to
meeting for their small group instructions and it was free from classroom distractions to help
them stay focused. Each student was required to bring a writing utensil, their assigned book, and
their daybook or notebook paper to write on. I began the lesson the same way we have began our
previous small group sessions by making sure the students were completing their assigned
reading. This was done by asking review questions and having the students answer. After our

review I explained to the students that we would be completing a vocabulary exercise.

For the vocabulary lesson we covered the words commenced (pg. 16), content (pg. 18),
grim (pg. 20), aggrieved (pg. 22), poultice (pg. 23), cooed (pg. 26), and gloat (pg. 27). For each
word the students were required to write the word, a definition, and a sketch. With each word we
read the paragraph the vocab word was in and tried to determine the definition based on context
clues and other vocabulary strategies. The goal of the small group lesson was to teach students a
new strategy for learning and remembering new and challenging vocabulary words. I also
wanted my students to have a full understanding of how to complete the vocabulary activity so
that they could continue to create new vocabulary graphic organizers for the remainder of the
book without teacher assistance.
One of the main challenges of the lesson was to get the students motivated to actually
read the text beforehand. Of the three students, only one of the students was reading the book on
a consistent basis, therefore I had to make sure that my other students were read up to a certain
page number before beginning the lesson. Another challenge of the lesson was keeping the
students focused and willing to put in more effort during the activity. I believe in the future I
would practice better student behavior management so that my students can stay on task. In the
future I know that I would have more time to really get to know the students and help them feel
more comfortable while working in small groups, especially with a new teacher. Overall, the
students still completed their vocabulary activity and were able to fully understand the strategy
used.