Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Mr. Tran had an excellent lesson on mummies. He listed easy-to-understand content objectives, posted key vocabulary words, then brainstormed about the words, and added words to the wall the students selected during their reading. He frequently referred back to the words. The students made a sequence chain, which broke down and explained steps used by the scientists and used the words from the word wall (further review). The students worked with a partner, and then shared their graphic organizers with other peers to help make corrections or additions.
The students seemed to enjoy reading the text and each other’s papers and finding new words for the word wall. They had great discussions about the meaning of the words, such as the different meanings of the word “tissue.” Also the different forms of the words, such as “embalm,” “ embalmer,” and “embalming.”
Mr. Tran had a number of informal assessments during his lessons, including listening to the group’s individual discussions, full group discussions, and their graphic organizers. He gave appropriate feedback and corrections throughout the lesson, then at the end of the lesson he reviewed and evaluated the vocabulary and content objectives.

Chapter 8

We all have learned that in order for the SIOP lesson to be effectively taught and delivered, we to need to have clearly defined, student friendly content and language objectives. I have learned that writing student friendly objectives makes it easier for both myself and the students. It helps my students to know what lesson will be taught ahead of time. Content and language objectives should not include abbreviations from the state standards that would be confusing and meaningless to the students.
On FEATURE 25: Students engageed 90% to 100% of the time. My students already know what it means to be on task all the time. I do not allow my students to off task most of the time. Before we start the day, I have more than enough pencils already sharpened with earsers ready to be used (nobody sharpens pencils, if it breaks they get a sharpened one), they all have to hit the bathroom when they come in, blow their noses, and wash their hands. That way way we lessen the movment during class and maximize actively time on task.
The lesson Ms. Chen did was great. Her content and language objectives were all clearly supported by her lesson. The pacing of her lesson was also well done. The way she must know her students very well in order how to pace all of her lesson well. The way she paced along by reading aloud and how she did the whole class activity. Reading the lesson activities have made me see more of how I should do my activities too. When I read the lesson for SRA ahead of time, I gather pictures and objects for the vocabulary words that I know the students may not know. Like for an example for the word shore, I got a picture of the beach, seashells, and have a dried starfish. We discuss where they come from and they get a better understanding of what the words mean.

Chapter 9 - Sabrina

Constant review throughout a lesson is the way to keep tabs on student understanding of what you are teaching. Through various methods, you can test the skills of your students while you are teaching the lesson. For example, during a math lesson concerning patters, you can ask students to name particular patterns while moving forward through the lesson. Constantly asking questions to random students within the group will give you a better understanding as to who is getting your lesson, and who might need a bit more help. These random assessments not only help the teacher understand where the students are, but also gives the rest of the class a chance for an extra review of information. With any lesson including vocabulary, you can ask students to give you definitions of important vocabulary terms at the beginning and throughout the lesson as review. To compare, once again, to the Reading Mastery program, there are ample opportunities to test student levels throughout the lesson; lead, model, test.

I have found that repetition is a fabulous road to student understanding, and retention. I find myself repeating the information three times to my students, emphasizing particular words, and then having the students repeat the information back to me. For example, I might say, "Glad is another word for happy. Glad...is another word for happy. What's another word for happy?" The students will respond with, "Glad."

To ensure students are learning the appropriate way to use the English language, it is important to correct their responses, if they are incorrect. When my students answer with one to three word responses, I repeat back to them the full sentence response, and have them repeat it back to me. This helps them understand what is expected of them within the classroom.

Chapter 9, Review and Assessment - Voni

It is necessary to introduce new vocabulary at the start of the lesson.
During the vocabulary preview, students see the word written and hear it spoken. I like to give the students an opportunity to share how the new word is relevant to them or I will give an example of how it is used. For example, a story we were going to read used the word “dock “, during the preview, the students were baffled as to what it meant, but with the use of a ruler, pretend water and pretend boats we were able to understand what a dock was and its function. When the students came to the word “dock” we did a quick review of the meaning before they read on. This technique introduces the word by seeing the written word and hearing or telling how it is used and then gives the student a chance to recall and reinforce the meaning. I feel this helps them to better visualize and understand the story while helping to cement the vocabulary into their minds. It’s a mini spiral of learning effect.

For the assessment of vocabulary at the end of a lesson, I like the idea of the students writing a sentence using the new word and reading it aloud to me. Or have a fill in the blank , on the overhead or chalkboard and then have the students write their answer on individual white boards. After they show me their answer I can see who may need further help.

Also whenever an opportunity pops up during the day for a vocabulary word or new concept to be reviewed, I take it. Any opportunity to recall the learning is well worth the time, so whenever possible I refresh and review key points of previous lessons, adding to the repetition repetition of newly learned information.