Lesson 3 Reflection

Lesson 3: Introduction of a story map with the story The Name Jar


• What did students learn and which students struggled with the lesson?
• The students in this lesson were introduced to another realistic fiction book. I modeled using my schema throughout the book to for another example. Then we recalled the elements of realistic fiction and I wrote them on the board. Then students were introduced to the story map, which is just the elements on the side of a paper where the students can fill in the answers. As a class we filled in the story elements. I think the students did a great job of finding the elements in the book and giving me the answers to fill in the chart. The students then had two charts to look at and see how you fill out the story map. I think the only thing the students struggled with in this lesson was getting the theme of the book. This is something that we needed to go back over.
• What are alternate reads (interpretations) of your students' performance or products?
• I think the students did a good job of listening and participating in this lesson. The only ting I would say is that we had to split it into two chunks because of our special time. This cased a little bit of distraction and was hard to get them to focus back, but once we reviewed it was fine.
• What did you learn about your students' literacy practices that extend beyond your objectives?
• I learned that my students are very aware of details in the book. They are able to pick out the elements in the book. Which then led into a discussion about how children can have different names, and how someone in our class has an “American” name. I was very proud at the connections they were able to make between the book and their lives.
• When and how will you re-teach the material to students who need additional support?
• Students will be working on story maps in small groups in the next lesson and will continue to review the elements of realistic fiction. If students still need extra help then I will incorporate story maps in the their guided reading groups and with the stories that they are reading.
• 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 teach this lesson again, I would like to not have any interruptions in this lesson. I realize that this can not always happen because of the time crunch, however I think between the book being a little long and the elements still being new, this would have been better if it was all together.