What subject did you teach? For the small group teaching activity, I conducted a literacy group. The literacy group was their leveled reading groups that the students do during their 90 minute read block each day. Usually, the students just read their book and then do a worksheet or reread the book again if they finish. Mrs. Werne usually just monitors and sits with a group. I was glad that I actually was able to conduct my own small group because I felt like they were actually learning something during this literacy group, rather than just reading the book and that was it.
How did you prepare to work with the group? I decided to look at the book before we read it. I looked …show more content…
First, I had the students read the book aloud. I started out reading and then we rotated reading a page. I then went through each vocabulary word and had different students answer the words. One thing that I noticed was that the students knew almost all of the level 5, 1,400 word book, which was surprising to me. Also, the students knew how to say and define all of the vocab words. I was wondering if maybe these students should be reading more difficult leveled books. I wish that Mrs. Werne did something like I did in small groups because maybe she could have noticed this before.
Identify areas that you feel needed improvement: One thing that I wish I would have done differently was ask just a few more questions at the end of the book, besides summarizing the book, the vocab questions, and asking the questions from the back of the book. I think that I could have been just a bit more prepared than I thought that I was.
What did you learn about teaching from this activity? I noticed that students will listen when you layout what you we will be doing in the group beforehand and set sort of an agenda so that they students know what to anticipate during the small group activity. Also, I learned that it is okay to read with the students and participate in the activity myself, rather than just watch and be the teacher. I noticed that the students felt a lot more engaged and able to talk to me