Language Arts Lesson and Reflection

Michigan State University

TE 405: Crafting Teaching Practice: English Language Arts
Spring 2014

By Kendra AsherOverview
This is an opportunity for you to develop, teach, and assess a lesson that highlights discussion
of literature or poetry, where you will work on facilitating interactive dialogue. This dialogue will
be focused on helping children understand, interpret and appreciate a selection of children's
literature or poetry. During the discussion, you will provide support that helps children be
actively involved in asking questions, listening to and interacting with one another, and making
interpretations. This project is also an occasion to reflect on your use of questioning to support
response to literature and higher level thinking. You will analyze how the discourse fostered
during the lesson helps you and the students work toward the goals of the lesson

Language Arts Lesson and Reflection

Lesson Planning Template

Daily Lesson Plan

Your Name: Kendra Asher Grade Level: 2nd grade Date: 3/20/14
MT: Sarah Kuenner

School: Wilcox Elementary School

1. Overall lesson topic/title: Will you be my Friend?

2. Common Core State Standard (CCSS): CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.2.1b Build on
others talk in conversations by linking their comments to the remarks of others.
3. Develop one or two objectives that are specific to your interpretive discussion.
Students will link their comments to remarks of others after being the teacher reads a
fiction story by using linking statement such as I agree with, I disagree with, and
Similar to what ______ said...
4. Materials & supplies needed: You Will Be My Friend by Peter Brown, SmartBoard,
post assessment, story outline
5. Briefly describe your target student and the learning and/or participation
challenges s/he faces that may required academic, social or linguistic support
during the lesson. (Note that this student may not need all three types of support, so
be sure your ideas listed below in your plan are specific to this students needs.)
Procedures and approximate time allocated for PreReading, During Reading, Post-Reading, and PostAssessment (Note: use bullet points to outline your ideas)
PRE-READING: make participation norms explicit, elicit
background knowledge, develop interest, set purpose (5
minutes)
Make participation norms explicit How will you prepare
the children to participate according to your lesson
objectives? List ways you will help them understand
behavior and participation expectations during the lesson.
Be explicit about any changes in expectations if these are
different from patterns they are used to (e.g., raising hands,
asking their own questions, talking with each other rather
than the teacher).
Using a projected document list expectations: do not talk
while others are talking, stay in your seat, only get a

Social Support: Alex

has Aspergers, so a
change in routine is
prone to changes in
his behavior. I will
ensure the teacher
has put my lesson
instruction on the
daily outline. In
regards to the norms
of the lesson, I will
use a visual of them
(most likely a list to
read together as a
class) to help him
understand. If
necessary, pictures
will be used and

drink or go to bathroom if an emergency, raise your hand

when you have something to say and the person
currently talking will call on someone, use examples from
the text, look and listen to the speaker, do not make
mean or rude comments about someones ideas.
We are going to be talking about the book, but you will be
asking each other questions and brining up ideas to talk
about.
Accountable Talk Guidelines: These help students
generate ideas, and will take time for them to develop.
-This reminds me of
-I wonder why the author
-This part of the book made me think about
-What you said made me think about.
Linking Statements: students will need practice and time
to get accustomed to using these. Keep in mind this is
their first experience
-I agree with _______ because.
-I disagree with ________ because.
-Similar to what _______ said...
Go over examples of using these linking statements

Introduce the text List what you will say/ask to activate

childrens background knowledge (e.g., brainstorming, quick
write, KWL). How will you help students understand the
purpose of the lesson? List what you will say to motivate
them to become engaged in the lesson.
So we are going to be reading a story about a bear
making friends. Raise your hand if you have a friend.
Wow look at all the people that have friends. Raise your
hand if you have every felt lonely. Raise your hand if you
have ever had to make new friends. It looks like you
have lots of experience with friends.
Lets see what experience Lucy has.

remain projected as a
reminder. He tends to
talk when not
appropriate when he
should be listening. I
will give examples of
when and how to use
these linking
statements for a
common known story.

Social: Alex likes to

be moving, so the
opportunity to raise
his hand will be good
for him.
Academic: By
appealing to his
background of
friends, I hope to
keep his focus on the
text and not on other
ideas he thinks
about.

DURING READING: Model how to engage with the text (e.g.,

use of reading strategies and analytic thinking process,
inserting vocabulary support, comments and questions to
support and extend comprehension and interpretation) (10
minutes)
During Reading: How will you read the text? List
examples of what you will say to model how to engage in
higher level thinking about text: analytic thinking and
interpretation; particular reading strategies (e.g.,

Social: Alex gets

ideas and likes to
share them right
away. Thus, I way to

visualizations, inferences, verifying predictions); provide

vocabulary support or additional background knowledge (if
needed). List details you will point out during reading and/or
questions you will ask.
Does Lucy remind you of anyone you know? Who?
Why?
Lucy seems really excited to make friends; I get excited
when I get to see my friends because we play Wii
together.
Why was Lucy struggling to make friends?
Tell me about a time you struggled to make friends or
when you read about a time.
How has Lucy changed? Why do you think she
changed? .
What do you think will happen next?
Make a prediction

help him not share

and interrupt the
class at the moment
would be to
encourage him to
write them down. He
and the class will be
reminded to raise
there hand to be
called on and that I
will call on students
even if their hands
are not raised. If he
does share out loud, I
will remind him of the
procedures. If it
occurs again, I will
ask him to tell me
what the rule was.
The third time it
occurs, he will be
asked to sit at his
seat at the table. His
seat is still visible
from the front of the
room and does not
completely remove
him.

POST-READING ACTIVITIES AND DISCUSSION: Generate

ideas and provide scaffolding to facilitate a follow-up wholeclass discussion (25 minutes)
Brief After-Reading Activity Leading to Follow-up
Discussion: What will you say to elicit student comments,
encourage interpretation, and to encourage students to talk
to each other? How will you provide opportunities for all
students to generate and express their ideas (e.g.,
brainstorming, quick write, think-pair-share, return to K-W-L)
in preparation for a whole-class discussion? If applicable,
indicate when/how will you distribute supplies and materials.
Now that we have read the story and discussed a little bit
we are now going to collect our ideas so we can talk
about them.
To help collect your ideas fill in this chart. Beginning,
Middle, End and Theme. Today, we will use a one word
theme. Theme is a one-word idea the book is about or

Social: Alex will need

some reminding to
keep his ideas to
himself as he fills in
the worksheet. If
needed, he can go
out into the hall
where he has a desk
to work on the task.

you may know it as a Big Idea. For example, Cinderellas

theme could be love.
Fill in what it reminds you of and a question you would
have for the author about the book.
This gives everyone something to look at while you talk
about the book. It is not important that you complete the
entire sheet.

After Reading Follow-up Discussion: What will you say

to launch a whole-class discussion to encourage sharing of
ideas, questioning, and interpretation? What prompts will
you use to encourage interaction among students? List
potential questions that will prompt higher level thinking, and
indicate parts of the text that you may want to revisit or
examine more closely.
The type of discussion intended to result from this lesson
is student led. The following are questions to help guide
students as they learn about this format of teaching and
to help them dig deeper into the text.
What do you think the author is trying to teach us? Do
you agree?
What makes a good friend?
Why do you think Lucy and the flamingo made good
friends?
Do you agree with _______? Why or why not?
Tell us what part of the book made you think this.
Why would Lucy want a friend? Why do we want friends?
What questions do you want to ask your classmates
about what they thought about the book?
Reflecting on Personal Experiences- Explain a personal
experience this reminds you of. What makes you think
about this from the book?
Elaborating and Extending- Do you think this is a good
story? Explain. What would you change about the story?
Inquisitor- What portions of the book do you find
confusing? Why is this? Can anyone help them
understand?
Facilitator of Interpretation- How do you feel about the
dialogue the author uses?
Bringing closure List how you will bring closure to the
lesson and involve children in reflecting on their
experiences. How will you involve them in making
connections to prior lessons or prepare for future

Social: I for see a

potential area of
struggle for Alex.
Sometimes he says
what he thinks before
thinking about it.
Thus, he can make
comments that
degrade other
students ideas.
Thus, it will be
important at the
introduction of the
lesson to assert
respect of others
ideas.
Social: This has
been a long time for
him to remain seated.
If any noticeable
inability to remain still
is witnessed,
encourage the
student to go to their
seat for a few
minutes. This has
been shown to work
before to help with
movement.

experiences? What kind of feedback will you elicit from

them at this time?)
Those were some great ideas and questions. Some
ideas I hadnt thought about that you said
were________.
What we just did was thinking about the book we read.
You can use these thinking questions when you read.
A few students share what they learned.
POST-ASSESSMENT: gather evidence to evaluate the extent
to which your students met the stated objectives for the lesson
(How will you know the students are progressing toward your
identified objectives? What will you include in a rubric or other
post-assessment activity to find out?) (7 minutes)
Students will take a self assessment about using the
Linking Statements while at their seats
Students will circle a smiley face for great, face for ok
and frown for not good in regards to using I agree_____.,
I disagree_________, and Similar to what _______ said.
Students will then write down one time they agreed or
disagreed writing what someone else said and what they
said.

Social: This task will

be completed at
students seats. This
should make it easier
for him to focus on
the task. If he
finishes early, allow
the student to read to
self as this gives him
time to relax.

Name: __________________________________________

Theme

Beginning

Middle

End

This reminds me of: _______________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________
I would ask the author: ____________________________________________________________

Name: __________________________________________
Please circle the
smiley face based
on how well you
did for questions
1-3
1. I used the Linking
Statement I agree
with________

I did very well

I did ok

I can do better

2. I used the Linking

Statement I
disagree
with________
3. I used the Linking
Statement Similar to
what ________ said
Please Provide an example of when you used the Linking Statements below. Also
circle if you shared it.
4. I agreed with
___________ and said:

5. Did you
share this out
loud?
Yes or No

Name: __________________________________________
6. I disagreed with
___________ and said:

7. Did you
share this out
loud?
Yes or No

Peer Review of Language Arts Lesson Plan Draft

Your Name: Julie Wiechec
Grade Level: 2nd grade

Whose lesson plan are you reading? Kendra Asher

Overall Lesson Topic: You will be my friend

1. Goals and Objectives:

a. Common Core State Standards are identified that fit with objectives: Yes No
Suggestions for improvement:

Student will link their comments to remarks of others after the teacher reads a fiction
story by using linking statements.
I deleted the word being
b. For each objective listed on the plan, find and label each part listed below
Each objective states:
Performance (what a learner is expected to do to demonstrate learning)
Conditions (the conditions under which a student is able to perform the taskwhen/where the
student displays the performance)
Criterion (how well the student must perform the task in order for the performance to be
acceptable)
If any parts are unclear, incomplete, or missing, offer suggestions for improvement

2. List of Materials/Supplies needed:

Are all materials needed listed? Could you teach this lesson if you were this teacher's substitute and
these were the only materials made available to you?
All materials are listed. Attach the storyboard worksheet and the post assessment worksheet
so sub could complete the lesson.
Procedures and Time Allocation: Is the overall time allocation realistic? YES (If needed, offer
suggestions for improvement)

3. Evaluate the Daily Lesson Plan for clarity and thoroughness:

a. PRE-READING: make participation norms explicit, elicit background knowledge, develop interest,
set purpose
Are all parts of the
plan complete?

yes

no

suggestions

How will you prepare the

children to participate
according to your lesson
objectives?
List ways you will help them
understand behavior and
participation expectations
during the lesson. Be explicit
about any changes in
expectations if these are
different from patterns they
are used to (e.g., raising
hands, asking their own
questions, talking with each
other rather than the teacher).

List what you will say/ask to

activate childrens background
knowledge (e.g.,
brainstorming, quick write,
KWL).
How will you help students
understand the purpose of the
lesson?
List what you will say to
motivate them to become
engaged in the lesson.

Great questions to ask!

You have the I agree with____ because same for disagree

and similar

Its about making friends but how will you motivate them to
stay interested in the lesson?

Make a chart with the statements so students can

reference it when speaking.

b. DURING READING: Model how to engage with the text (e.g., use of reading strategies and analytic
thinking process, inserting vocabulary support, comments and questions to support and extend
comprehension and interpretation)
Are all parts of the
plan complete?
How will you read the text?
List examples of what you will
say to model how to engage
in higher level thinking about
text: analytic thinking and
interpretation; particular
reading strategies (e.g.,
visualizations, inferences,
verifying predictions); provide
vocabulary support or
additional background
knowledge (if needed).
List details you will point out
during reading and/or
questions you will ask.

yes

no

suggestions

I would first see if any students notice that Lucys facial

expression changes and if so where. If they arent able to
bring this up on their own then ask them a questions.

Great question!

c. POST-READING ACTIVITIES AND DISCUSSION: Generate ideas and provide scaffolding to

facilitate a follow-up whole-class discussion
Are all parts of the
plan complete?
Brief After-Reading
Activity Leading to
Follow-up Discussion:

yes

no

suggestions

What till you do with the students that have a lower

comprehension and struggle to retell the beginning, middle
and end. Can they work with a partner?

Great questionmay want to allow students to talk about

the book with a friend so that the discussion can be more
student led then teacher led since we know that our class
struggles with thinking on a deeper level.

What will you say to elicit

student comments, encourage
interpretation, and to
encourage students to talk to
each other?
How will you provide
opportunities for all students
to generate and express their
ideas (e.g., brainstorming,
quick write, think-pair-share,
return to K-W-L) in
preparation for a whole-class
discussion? If applicable,
indicate when/how will you
distribute supplies and
materials.

After Reading Followup Discussion: What will

you say to launch a wholeclass discussion to encourage
sharing of ideas, questioning,
and interpretation?
What prompts will you use to
encourage interaction among
students?
List potential questions that
will prompt higher level
thinking, and indicate parts of
the text that you may want to
revisit or examine more
closely.
Bringing closure List
how you will bring closure to
the lesson and involve
children in reflecting on their
experiences.
How will you involve them in
making connections to prior
lessons or prepare for future
experiences?
What kind of feedback will you
elicit from them at this time?)

d. POST-ASSESSMENT: gather evidence to evaluate the extent to which your students met the stated
objectives for the lesson
Are all parts of the
plan complete?
How will you know the
students are progressing
toward your identified
objectives?
What will you include in a
rubric or other postassessment activity to find
out?

yes

no

suggestions

What does this tell you? There is no rubric on how to grade

this.

4. Re-read the goals and objectives listed for the lesson. Do the planned pre-reading, during reading
and post-reading activities help students work toward them? ___yes ___ no. If not, please offer
suggestions for how the plan could fit more specifically with the goals and objectives.

5. Adaptations
For focus student, are specific notations about adaptations for academic, social and/or linguistic
support made that match with information provided about the students needs? Yes
What questions/suggestions do you have about possible adaptations that may need to be made?
If Alex is being disruptive, will you have him go in the hallway or to his seat to calm down?
6. Assessment
Is there a concrete post-assessment plan or rubric for knowing whether the students are progressing
toward each lesson goal? Yes, make sure to attach it before you send it to Dawnmarie.
If not, please offer suggestions:

7. Overall Clarity and Completeness of Lesson Plan

If you were this person's substitute teacher, is the plan complete enough for you to teach the lesson?
Yes, just attach the rubric, post assessment and storyboard!
If not, please offer suggestions for further information needed:

Language Arts Lesson and Reflection Template

Phase 3: Reflecting on Your Lesson
Please answer the questions below in complete sentences, using the electronic file available on ANGEL.
You will be evaluated on the thoughtfulness of your reflection and how well you explain and
support your ideas, not on how smoothly your lesson went.
PART A: The first three questions below are designed to help you gather evidence to document
what happened during your lesson:
1. Participation and Turn-taking: Review the audio tape of your lesson and make a two-column chart
listing the students who participated and the number of turns each took during your whole class
discussion:
Student Names (Pseudonyms)
Student 1
Student 2
3
4 (left before discussion)
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24

Number of Turns for each Student

0
1
4
1
1
0
0
1
2
1
3
0
1
1
2
4
2
0
2
3
2
4
3

Total number of students present during the whole class discussion: 23

2. Teacher and Student Roles: Review the list of teacher and student roles during recitations and
discussions outlined by Almasi (1996). Fill in the three-column chart below giving examples for any
teacher and student roles that were played during any part of your lesson (pre-reading, during
reading, after reading, post-assessment). (Note: You may have some blank cells in this table if you do
not find any examples during your lesson or if you were not able to capture all contributions on your
audio tape.)
Role
Inquisitor

Student Example (give quote)

Teacher Example (give quote)

Lucy tried to clean the skunk but that
wouldnt work very well because skunks

Facilitator of
Interaction
Facilitator of
Interpretation

Respondent

Evaluator

I call on Student 12.

are naturally smelly.

How has Lucy changed? What tells you
that she changed?
Now you need to call on someone who
has their hand raised

I had a friend once that was not nice to

me and said if I did not hang out with
them they would not be my friend.
My friend wanted me to do one thing and
I wanted to do another and they were
mean to me when I wouldnt.
The story makes me think about my little
sisters.
I wonder why the author would have the
bird say Squack!
I agree with what Student 14 said and
that the themes is friendship
I also think the book is about friendship
I had an experience with friends like
Student 23 had.
I agree with Student 17 that the theme is
friendship because in the story she makes
friends.

3. Questions and Type of Thinking: Judith Langer argues that teachers need to focus their attention
on helping readers understand literature to promote the intellectual development of the human mind.
She says that open-ended questions serve as thought tappers to support and extend students
thinking, and she points out that different question types are likely to tap a different stance, providing
students with an array of vantage points from which to muse about a piece (1990, p. 816).
Some question types for literature discussions include:
a) Probing initial understandings: Once students share their responses, teachers or students
can ask questions that encourage students to ponder their own responses and concerns.
b) Developing interpretations: Teachers or students can ask questions that move students to
deeper and more reasoned responsesexplore motivations, causes and implicationsboth as
they read and how they think the piece might end.
c) Reflecting on personal experiences: Teachers or students can ask questions that help
students make connections between the text and their personal knowledge and experience
rethink current or previous understandings, feelings or questions.
d) Elaborating and extending interpretations: Eventually, teachers and students can
encourage one another to:
analyze, evaluate, argue and defend
compare this selection with other selections
compare their own understandings with others interpretations
use literary elements to extend meaning
do a critical analysis of the selection
Langer (1990), Almasi (1996) and McGee (1996) contrast these types of questions with those that
simply ask students to engage in a recitation. Questions asked during literature recitations
include:

e) Remembering, recalling or retelling: Teachers ask questions that require reporting about
events in stories, recalling characters, and so on. The answers are already known by simply
reading the text.
Review your audio tape one more time to consider the nature of the questions you asked and
the questions students asked. Consider also how those questions may have influenced the content
of the discussion. Fill in the three-column chart below where you list at least 3 questions you asked
and 3 questions students asked at any time during the lesson (pre-reading, during reading, after
reading, post-assessment). Then record student response(s), and your explanation of which category
best describes the question and level of thinking generated. (Note: You may have some blank cells in
this table if you do not find any examples during your discussion or if you were not able to capture
some contributions on your audio tape.)

List Question Asked

Give Example Quotes: Student

and/or Teacher Response(s)

Label the Question Type and

Explain Why it Fits that Label
a) Probing initial
understandings
b) Developing interpretations
c) Reflecting on experiences
d) Elaborating/extending
interpretations
e) Remembering, recalling or
retelling

Teacher question: Why was

Lucy struggling to make friends?

She was telling them that they

were going to be friends.
She was being mean.
Lucy is like my little sister. She is
loud.

B) Developing interpretations

I think she will not make any

friends
I think she will make friends

A) probing initial understandings

Teacher question: Does Lucy

remind you of anyone you know?
Teacher question: What do you
think will happen next?

C) Reflecting on experiences

Student question:
Student question:
Student question:

PART B: Use the information above to interpret what happened as you respond to the questions
below.
4. Interpretation of Evidence: Based on the evidence produced for question 1 (participation and turntaking), 2 (teacher and student roles), and question 3 (questions and level of thinking), please
respond to the following questions. Explain your thinking and use specific evidence from the
information you provided above to support your claims:

Students were given opportunities to participate through out the lesson. In the pre reading,
students were given the chance to raise their hand to share with others if they had friends, had to make
new friends or if they ever felt lonely. This gave students a warm up into sharing their ideas and
experiences with the class but without having to speak. For the few shy students in the class, who also
tend to not be confident they were more comfortable raising their hand then when they were called on
during the discussion. During reading, I asked questions and had students raise their hand if they had
something to share. Due to time constraints that would affect the entire lesson, I was not able to call on all
the students who had ideas to share. I tried to call on students whose hand may not be raised but asked if
they had something to share in order to help everyone participate. After reading, students made
comments about what they thought the theme of the book was and would then call on a student whose
hand was raised. I encouraged them to call on students who had not said anything before. I made an
effort to give all students an opportunity to get involved and engaged but I think I could do better next time
given more time for the lesson.
After teaching the lesson, I realized I did not give students enough time or guidance in generating
questions. Although they had a space on their worksheet to ask the author questions, I should have put a
place to write down a question they would ask other students. I could have also allowed students to ask
questions during the reading of the book. I could have asked them if they had any questions about what
might happen or why something happened. I modeled these behaviors but I did not tell them why I was
doing it. Perhaps if I had explained to them that these are good reader behaviors and I wanted them to
think of similar questions, they could have been able to generate questions. While students did connect
the book to experiences in their lives, they did not do may other higher level thinking in the lesson. They
did not analyze the text or question it. I hope that with more practice students can start to do these types
of higher-level thinking.
During the discussion students tried to use the linking statements. After looking at the
assessment and how students performed during the lesson, I decided to alter the objective to include only
the linking statement of I agree with The students only used this one and I think having three at once
to work on was too much. Students would say a comment about the theme such as thinking it was about
how to make friends and then call on a student whose hand was raised. The second student almost

always said they agreed with the first student and then said why. This happened throughout the lesson.
Almost all the students used this statement and I believe they are working towards the objective as a
result.
Although students did not ask each other questions, I believe my lesson turned out to be more of
a discussion than a recitation. Since students did not ask each other questions this aspect fits better
under the Inquisitor category of a recitation. In regards to Facilitator of Interaction, students were not
called on by the teacher but instead called on each other based on raised hands. This is evidence of a
discussion as well. However students did not fulfill all aspects of this role and did not ensure they
remained on the topic or encouraging each other to participate. I would have liked to see the bolder
students with more confidence, being encouraging to the shy students to share their ideas. In regards to
Interpretation, students did a very good job relating elements of the book to their lives and provided many
examples such as describing a time their friend was mean to them and how it made them feel. However,
students did not discuss the authors craft or the characters, or question each other. Even though the
discussion did not fulfill these elements, it was not a recitation because students did think about what
helps them to understand the text. The respondent role details the student responding to each others
questions but since they did not ask each other questions, this was not completely satisfied but the
students did respond and connect to others comments with the linking statements. Students did respond
to the teacher questions while the book was being read however. The reading of the book fits more under
a recitation as a result. Finally in the role of Evaluator students did not challenge each other but supported
each others ideas with the linking statement. They need to work on why though. Many would share a
similar experience but would not connect the experiences. For example, student A described how their
siblings can be demanding like Lucy and student B agreed and shared a similar experience. The students
need to work on describing how the ideas connect. During the lesson, activities flowed smoothly but since
it was the students first experience taking control over a discussion of a book I do not think they had
enough time to get used to the style. They still required scaffolding on what to do during the discussion of
the book.
5. Post-Assessments are used to help teachers gather specific information about what each student
learned or took away from the lesson. Fill in the chart below to summarize your post-assessment and
to briefly discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the post-assessment tool used.

Analysis Notes: Post-Assessment

Number of Students Involved (circle one):

whole class

small group

focus student(s)

Artifact(s) Used (e.g., written assignment, checklist): filled out a chart and used examples
List the objective(s) that were
included on your lesson plan
below

Assessment: Give examples of

evidence gathered (e.g.,
examples of student responses
to questions asked; quotes from
written assignment)

Evaluation: Provide your

interpretation of the evidence
gathered (e.g., discuss what you
learned from student responses
in relation to your objective)

Student will link their comments

to remarks of others after being
the teacher reads a fiction story
by using linking statements such
as I agree with, I disagree
with, and Similar to what
______ said...

Students ranked their used of the

three linking statements
regarding how well they used
them using a smiley face, a face
with a line for a mouth and a
frowning face. The general trend
was about 8 circled the smiley for
I agree and everyone else circled
I can do better. For the I disagree
and the similar linking statement,
none were used in the discussion
so everyone put a frowning face.
Only three students provided
examples of when they used the
linking statement I agree wit.
One student said I agreed with
___ and said: because my
frinded lenny bite my back. The
other two students wrote: I
agree with ______ because I had
a bad friendship too and Ya, I
had hard fielings.

I learned many things through

this evaluation. I learned the
students were only able to work
on the one Linking Statement I
agree with____ Even though
they had been introduced to the
two other ones, they did not use
them in the discussion. Thus
their evaluations were accurate. I
also learned that although a
student may have used the term
in the discussion, it does not
mean they could recall what they
had said after the discussion. I
am not sure how to address this
problem. I also learned that
keeping an assessment easy and
simple is the best way for
students to be successful at
completing the assessment.
Students were a little confused
on how to fill out the chart and
what to do when they did not
have an example. The last thing I
learned was that students did
work towards the goal of using
the linking statements. I did not
expect them to be successful and
achieve the goal in one lesson,
but I am happy at the progress
they made.

a. Strengths: What was useful about this assessment approach? It was a familiar format for students
who had experience with circling faces that correspond to how they think they did. It also would work
well to track the use of the Linking Statements over many lessons.
b. Limitations: What did the approach lack in helping you assess student learning? Although
students had experience with the format, they were not sure what equates each face such as how
many uses counts as very good. They asked many questions and seemed to get caught up in this
portion of the assessment.
c. Revisions: How might you revise your post-assessment to address the limitations? I would write
on the assessment how many uses by each face option to make it more explicit for the students. While
it would be great for students to access with out a standard and to make the judgment themselves, I
think their lack of experience with a format like that would have hindered the results.

6. Your Learning: Explain what you learned from teaching this lesson and from your post-assessment
about the following, using specific examples:
I learned a lot as a result of my lesson including information about my students, the content, the
story and myself. In regards to my students, I learned that they have lots of ideas to share. They were sad
and bummed when I had to stop taking answers to the questions during the story. This also shows me
that the book was good selection and was able to engage students. Many students always had something
to share but the lesson also inspired students who do not talk as often. One student in particular does not
participate in class and often gets behind in class. However, during the discussion she was smiling and
could not wait to share her personal experience. Perhaps this is how she gets motivated to participate. I
also learned my students do their best when they do not have supplies to handle while sitting at their
classroom risers. The students sat on the risers during the discussion with their story outline worksheet.
Although I intended this to be a reference tool for the students it became more of a distraction. They kept
flopping it around and making noise with the paper. Even when I asked them to stop and keep the paper
still, it was a noise distraction. Thus I learned the students need more direction on how to have materials
at the risers or not have any.
Through the results of the assessment I learned that my students need more time to work on the
content of the lesson. They only utilized the one linking statement and only did so on average once. Thus
I think the content was too much when it includes more than one linking statement. This taught me to
keep my goals and objectives simple and obtainable in one or two lessons. In regards to the students, it

informed me that they could only work on simple objectives when it involves a new format such as the
discussion. In addition, the assessment showed me to also keep post assessments simple as well.
Students got caught up in what to do if they had not used one of the linking statements. With the limited
time I had to teach the lesson, I think if they had not been distracted by this element then I would have
gotten better results. Thus I need to make my assessments simple and clear.
Lastly, I learned about myself. I learned that when I get engaged in the text and change my voice
for characters, students will respond. My level of engagement influences the students. I need to keep this
is mind in the future. In addition, even when I teach something in the future that I am not thrilled to teach, I
can use this ability to engage students to make them excited about a challenging topic for example. I
gained confidence in my ability to teach students and to manage them. While there were some behavioral
distractions I was also able to get the students to stop by informing them of their distraction such as
talking. These are some of the things I learned as the result of teaching the lesson and reflecting on it.
7. Next Steps: Now think about potential revisions to this lesson and what follow-up lessons are
needed.
If I were to teach this again I would make some changes. One change I would make is to simplify
the objective and make it only one linking statement. I think this would be more manageable in one or two
lessons. Thus, for this lesson I would change the objective to Students will link their comments to
remarks of others after being the teacher reads a fiction story by using linking statement such as I agree
with Another change I would make is to not teach children how to have a discussion while having
another objective. It seemed like a lot to accomplish in one session. My mentor teacher suggested that to
teach the students the format and structure of the discussion that the students learn in small groups. She
believed this would give students practice before coming all together and thus more students would
participate and more. I think this is a good idea because it gives students a less formal situation to learn
with less peers. Also, working in small groups would make it easier for me to scaffolding and model for the
students how a discussion works. Another change I would make would be in the assessment. I would
simplify it and have students circle a smiley for their efforts and then provide an example of their use of
the linking statement. The hope of this change is that students can give a more accurate assessment of
their work. These are some changes that I would make to the lesson.

Students still need to work on using the linking statement I agree with. More specifically they
need to work on explaining how what they say following this linking statement connects with the other
student. They need to explain why they agree with more than a personal example. Students also need to
work on using all of the statements as the original objective stated. They only used the agree linking
statement. However, I think with more experiences and practice students will easily complete the
objectives. They just need time to get accustomed to the discussion style and the use of the linking
statements. Thus, the students are on their way to complete the objective. If I were to teach a follow up
lesson I would either work on students using the linking statements more and giving and explanation. I
could have students work and perfect the agree statement or move on to a lesson using the disagree
statement. I would chose to teach these as a follow up lesson because I want students to be able to use
all the statements with confidence.