Introductory Paragraph:

I have chosen to take a lesson plan and roll it out. This is a lesson plan for a third grade class reading the book Dear Primo A Letter To My Cousin by Duncan Tonatiuh. I took the lesson plan and turned it into a slideshow presentation that I used when I had to introduce this book to a small group of students. This group of students are in a general education class setting with no Individualized Education Plan, however this group of 6 students are not meeting grade level standards for various reasons. I decided to rollout this lesson plan in a untraditional way. I used physical book alongside a youtube read aloud and take the lesson and put it in a Powerpoint format with accessibility options. Prior to even starting the book I supplied the students with background information and allowed for them to familiarize themselves with the book and its layout, wording, format. When it was time to ask questions, I also gave the students the same question in two different wordings and they can provide the answers right within the Powerpoint presentation as well as verbally during the class discussion. I found that this lesson plans’ execution was smooth and it was really a success with the group of students that I tried it out with.

When it comes to learning, it is not a one size fits all. Every learner has different needs. Some learners require a different approach when it comes to being presented new information, breaking down information, assistance making connections with the information they are being presented with, and some learners may even need assistance processing information in order to retain it.

 In my experience I have seen students that all they need to do is hear information once and others that require much more assistance. I currently work doing small groups with students in grades 1-3. What I am finding is that several students are struggling with reading comprehension. The main reason the students that I work with are struggling with reading comprehension is because they are just reading words, and they are not processing what the message that is within the words they are reading. I don’t know if comprehension is a struggle because they were not taught the skills needed for reading comprehension or is it that they do not have the skills that are necessary to really process what they are reading, such as vocabulary, note taking, asking the right questions, chunking information, and making connections. I am working with groups of students that are being presented with new information in their regular classroom setting but really struggle with basic reading skills. I work with these students to build up their comprehension skills. With building their comprehension skills that requires for me to take the classes original lesson and tailor it to fit the need of every student in my small groups because everyone can learn from a more in depth approach to a lesson. For the most part this looks like asking students more questions more frequently. Having students use various colored stick notes to keep details and events, vocabulary, and aha moments more organized. Going over new vocabulary words at various times while reading but more importantly introducing new vocabulary words prior to reading the text, that way when students come across the new words they already have an understanding of the meaning of the word. Asking students to identify main characters in the text along with the aha moments in the text and why they think that is the aha moment in the text?

I have also found that when information is visual students are more likely to recall it. I like the use of physical anchor charts of chart paper as well as making anchor charts and incorporating them in the digital version of the lesson. Physical anchor charts allow students to refer back to the chart for information and a digital anchor chart allows for lessons to be shared with others outside of the actual classroom. Having various anchor charts can be used in connection with the various colored sticky notes. Anchor charts also provide an additional way to organize information to make it easier to refer to and later recall.

Some Recommendations:

I would only recommend methods/ suggestions that I have tried out myself and have found to be helpful. What I have to be very helpful is when reading new text, providing students with as much background information as possible without telling students the whole story, providing students with a chance to familiarize themselves new words and their definitions makes reading the text less intimidating to readers. I would also recommend allowing students the opportunity to actually look through the book before actually reading the book as a class as well as allowing students time after reading the book as a class to look through the book and reread the book and/or any parts of the book that they are unsure of on their own. This allows students to think through parts of the text that the individual student found challenging to them and formulate any question that they may have and want answered when question time comes. Some students like to be given the book along with the assignment and work independently which is where breaking the classroom into stations could be helpful. Depending on the needs of the students in the class, once the class is presented with the information that is absolutely necessary one group can be for the independent workers, another group can be made up of the students that need very little support to complete the assignment and another group could be for the students that need extra support and coaching. With working with students that are on different reading levels providing a physical copy of the book to students that can read the text on their own as well as a read aloud version of the book with the words on it so that they can follow along is a helpful tactic. Also providing students with a paper version of the lesson and assignment as well as a digital version of the lesson and assignment that they can read themselves but also have the option of having everything read to them is helpful. With the option of having the assignment read to the student or the student reading the assignment their self this allow for students to make a person choice that they think will be best for them without anyone else knowing which option they are choosing that will best work for them. Having a digital version of the lesson and assignment also allows for them to be shared with students that may be absent, parents that want to make sure that their child is completing their work while in school, want to know what is being covered in school, make sure their child has the correct understanding of the lesson and assignment, and also provide any person outside of the class with the necessary information needed to complete the assignment based on the lesson. Another recommendation would be to when coming up with questions about the text, having the same question phrased in different ways so that the question is accessible to readers on all levels, sometimes readers are not able to answer questions because they do not understand what the question is asking. My biggest recommendation is to become familiar to your group of students and what their needs are and make sure when lessons and assignments are being created make sure the information is accessible to everyone that the information is intended for.

Takeaways/ Self-reflection

For me my biggest takeaway is knowing how important it is to actually know your audience. When you know exactly who you are dealing with and what their needs are then coming up with ways to make sure all needs are met is a lot easier. How can I make accommodations that I do not know that I need to make? I have also learned that if you don’t know something about someone it is ok to ask them about what is that they need as long as you do it within a one- on- one conversation. When it comes to people’s individual need it is always important that their private personal information/ preferences, needs, and wants are discussed in private and even when their need is being met it is just as important that it is kept private and made not public knowledge just because you think its ok to be public knowledge, or that it’s not a big deal. It is always best practice to consider other people’s personal feelings.