Jennifer Farrell - Reflection - Text to Self Connections 1st grade

Jennifer Farrell

Unit Reflection

· What did students learn and which students struggled with the lesson?

From the lesson I think most of my students really learned how to relate to a text personally (text to self). Making connections is something that we have been working on with many books throughout the year and I can see that they are understanding how to do this. Most are listening well and are able to answer questions about the text also (comprehension). The students who struggled with this lesson are the ones who are not paying attention and off track. When they are off track that is when I get students raising their hands to say something like “Steven has a rubber band in his hand” when I asked how they think the character is feeling. What I see happening for some students like this is they are having a hard time finding the balance between “turning and talking” to their partners and coming back to share and have the group discussion part. Bu tI would say the majority are understanding how to have a conversation with their partner and then use what they are talking about to have a class discussion.

· What are alternate reads (interpretations) of your students’ performance or products?

I’m noticing that there seem to be some who are very interested and like hearing and talking about the stories and others who really like to use the time to talk about other possibly more fun (to them) topics. A way that I have since been trying to monitor this problem is to move around the classroom to listen in on conversations and ask as well, trying to make sure they are on the right track.

· What did you learn about your students’ literacy practices that extend beyond your objectives?

My students always amaze me with how much they can do. They have so many ways to connect to the story, beyond just comparing to a situation that is basically the same. Feeling worried before coming to school, worried about a friend who lives in China now, etc. not just being worried about going to a friends sleep over (directly tied to the book). I think the fact that we are tying the story to their feeling and their experiences is what makes it work for them, but I am truly impressed by my students often.

· When and how will you re-teach the material to students who need additional support?

We have continued to make text to self connections every week whether it is during making meaning or shared reading. The expectations of being a good listener (and what the looks like) and having their attention on the task at hand is also always expected and practiced. With the making meaning they add on more and more group discussion type objectives as well such as speaking with an appropriate level voice for talking to you r partner and talking to the class, how do you ask someone politely to speak up or repeat what they said, etc.

· If you were to teach this same lesson again, what would you do differently and how do you think the changes would improve students’ learning?

If I were to do this again I would be sure to ask more “thick questions.” I got a lot of great answers but I could have helped them to really think about how they came up with the answer they did how it relates to the characters feelings or the situation in the book so that they think about their thinking and the rest of the class can try to understand their thinking as well. Asking these types of questions is something that I am really working on now to make our discussions even deeper and make my students become even better thinkers.