Lesson 1 Self Assessment M.

Rozga
Section A: Identify and explain your selected component of balanced literacy. This lesson was designed as a shared reading, only my understanding of shared reading was a little inaccurate at the time. I tried to blend what the children are familiar with (taking turns reading), materials available (multiple small copies of the book) and what the instructional method entails. I believe it is a balance between the three. Shared reading traditionally uses a large book so that the children can sit around the teacher at a carpet. The text may be read a few times with specific emphasis on different objectives. As the reader reads, he/she points to the word modeling the 1-to-1 correspondence of reading. It is important that the focus be on literacy strategies and concepts with think-alouds modeling the strategy or concept. The students should be actively engaged in the story and objectives of the experience. Section B: Explain how this particular component relates to your lesson objective. By sharing the reading experience, I was able to pause within the story to demonstrate how I found the beginning of the story, the details that were important and what I was going to remember. When it came time to talk about the middle of the story, we worked on the details together. This allowed me to have elements of modeling within the lesson to demonstrate how a good reader would find the information needed. Section C: Identify how you used at least two of the Alverno Education Abilities to show growth and one of the Wisconsin Standards for Teacher Development and Licensure. When I was developing the lesson, I focused on how I was going to communicate the objectives to the students. I thought about different ways to look at beginning, middle and end. I thought about different ways to help each part (beginning, middle and end) stand apart. I believe this demonstrates Alverno Education Ability of Communication and Wisconsin Standard 6 (Teachers know how to communicate well). I also think this lesson demonstrates Alverno Education Ability of Coordination. I set clear goal for this learning experience. I was also able to collaborate with Mrs. Race to make sure that this lesson was appropriate and suitable for the level of the students in her first reading group. Section D: Explain how the design and/or implementation of this lesson challenged you and how you addressed these challenges. I thought the design of this lesson was challenging because we didnt go over instructional components in class before I was making this lesson. I thought I had a good handle on what shared reading was, and designed a lesson for my understanding at that time. I see now that my lesson was missing some of the key components to a shared reading lesson. To help me address the challenges that I had, I sought advice from my Supervising instructor, an instructor from another class and reviewed the top ten lists.

Lesson 1 Self Assessment M. Rozga

I had challenges with the implementation of this lesson as I was unsure of what exactly I could do in terms of classroom management. When one of the students would continue to ask if we could vote on how we would proceed, I just told her that we were not voting. She continued to ask, and I continued to repeat myself. After speaking with Mrs. Race, she said that I have the ability in her classroom to manage how I see fit. She says that you really understand what works for you and your students by trying things out. I was much more firm with the students during the next lesson. Section E: Explain how you can benefit from your experience by relating what you would do differently in future lessons for your selected balanced literacy component. In the future, I would spend a weeks worth of reading group time working on this lesson. I would select a large print book, that small copies were also available. The first reading of the story would be done at the carpet with emphasis on vocabulary and comprehension. The next day we would be able to read the book the way that the students are used to, taking turns like a round robin, and focus on the specific objective within the lesson plan. The other component that would be dramatically improved would be classroom management. Once Mrs. Race gave me the opportunity to practice some strategies, I really embraced it and was able to improve that with each lesson and as a classroom helper during my observation time. Overall, this experience really has taught me a lot. I know that when I am unclear with something, I should take all the assistance that is offered, so I can put together spectacular lessons that correctly address the instructional mode and lesson objectives.