Overall, my lessons went well. In the first lesson I talked to the kids about how good readers think while they read and introduced connections. We talked about text to self connections and how they help us to comprehend what is going on in the text. I shared a text to self connection I made with a book that we had read as a class before. I then told them that their job was to make a text to self with one of the characters in the book I was going to read to them. As I read, we stopped to talk about the 4 different characters and their personalities and how they could maybe connect with them. At the end, I talked again about the 4 different characters and their personalities and asked if everyone had a connection in thier mind with one of them. a couple students raised their hand that they did not make a connection. One of them had shared with me a connection at one of the points that we stopped at so I reminded her that she had already made a text to self connection and told her what it was. I sent the other children back with sticky notes to write their connections and sat with the other boy who did not make a connection. We looked back through the book and then he came up with one. All students were able to make a connection and relate to a character in the book. The biggest limitation of this lesson was that I did not stress enough why it was important for us to make connections and how it helps us to comprehend better. But, I did think it was a good starter lesson.
The second lesson went even better than the first. We talked about text to text connections and read the Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig. Right away, students had connections because they were all familiar with the original story. This gave me more room to explain to them how it helped them to understand this story. From what I could gain from their reactions and shares, they really began to understand it. Students then lined up to share their connections with a partner and moved so they shared with a total of 3 people. We then came back together and talked about it some more. A huge part of what made that lesson a success was that I chose a book that even from just reading the title. Students could make connections with. These obvious connections helped the students to see how they can easily connect books and I hope it helps them to get in the practice of automatically making connections in their other readings.
The third lesson we talked about text to world and I was a little more nervous about this because they are typically harder to make. I used Tree of Cranes by Allen Say and was surprised that students right way raised their hand to share (when we got to the tree page) that they were talking about Christmas. That opened up for a nice conversation about how if we didn’t know about Christmas then they would not have understood or comprehended what the characters in the book were talking about. Students were also talking about the other types of connections they were making with the book. It turned out to be a really nice lesson!
Not all students have been making connections in their journal writing like they are supposed to. I write back to all journal entries and reminded them that they need to be practicing making connections. They are going to be doing it again this week so I will be more of a stickler about it and give them back if they are not doing it now. I am also finding that going around and conferencing with students is easier said than done. I also have a guided reading group that I lead during this time and we are typically short on time anyway because my lessons are taking longer than planned.
Things I will work on this week are conferencing more, especially with students who seem to be struggling with connections. I will also try to watch the clock closer to make sure that we are not taking forever. While the lessons are taking up time because we have been having good conversation, I also need to leave time for silent reading and guided reading. This week is also group work and project time so that should really be interesting as students start to apply the concepts we have been talking about!
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