Lesson 2 Self-Assessment for ED 215R

Name: Libby Kent

Date: Wednesday, October 29th, 2014

Literacy Objective: The students will be able to effectively locate and use the table of contents
and index in their nonfiction books and be able to describe how those text features help them to
better understand the information.
Balanced Literacy Component: Readers Workshop (Mini-lesson, independent reading with
conferencing, whole group share)
School/grade level/ number of students: Highland View Elementary/Grade 2/ 20 students
Name of Cooperating Teacher: Mrs. Tonya Kabele
Planning and preparation: (AEA:Conceptualization,DiagnosisWTS:1,2,3,4,5,7DISP:
Respect) Clearly identify the range of literacy development of the learners in your classroom and describe how
you planned to address that range throughout your lesson plan. Thoroughly explain how an effective theoretical
model such as Holdaway or Vygotsky guided you as you planned your lesson. Explain what worked well in your
plan and what you would have changed/did change and why.

The range of readers in my class is from emergent readers (Levels A-B) through transitional
readers (Levels H-M). I planned to address that range by allowing the students to use their justright nonfiction books in their book boxes. Since the books are already in their reading range,
they could use them to find and use the text features. I also used a large book that all the students
could understand and find interest in.
Vygotskys socio-linguistic theory guided me in planning my lesson. The theory states that
language is a tool for learning and helps us to organize our thoughts. I had specific sections in
my lesson plan such as procedures, materials, and outcomes/goals that allowed me to organize
what I wanted to say. I kept the zone of proximal development in mind when modeling how to
use the features and then having a quick informal assessment before sending the students off to
work on their own. Allowing the students to share their learning with their reading partners
focused on using the more expert other. Sharing facts the students learned from their
nonfiction books in general uses the more expert other since they have read up on the topic.
Lastly, Vygotskys scaffolding aspect was integrated into the planning of my lesson by providing
a high level of support in the beginning, and then gradually limiting it until the students were
able to work independently and share their findings. I planned to model the text features and how
to use them first, and then model have of an example and have students help me finish it. Then I
planned to have the students use the text features while I helped them, and finally share their
work while I watched.
Some parts of my plan that worked well were using the large book for modeling. Everyone was
able to see the page numbers, which allowed my modeling to run smoothly. The students were
interested in the topic of science. They wanted to interact with the text to learn more about it.
The procedures I planned out were in a logical sense that made the lesson flow easily. I made
some changes while giving my lesson because it seemed as though the students knew a lot about
the table of contents and the index already. I didnt use the papers with questions like I intended,
but just asked the questions out loud. I also didnt use as many examples and read the text a little
more than I planned because the students were interested in what it was about. In this way it was
sort of a sporadically mini read-aloud. For next time, I might try to shorten up and condense my

mini-lesson a bit more. When editing the video of the lesson, I found that my mini-lesson was
over 15 minutes. This perhaps might have been a bit too long. Condensing it would give the
students more time to read and work on the strategies. I would also be able to get around to more
students.
Classroom environment: (AEA: Coordination, Integrative Interaction WTS: 1,2,3,4,5,6
DISP: Respect, Responsibility, Collaboration, Communication)
Explain how you set up a positive learning environment and encouraged student participation in the learning. How
did you focus student attention throughout the learning experience to engage them productively in the learning the
lesson objective? Evaluate your interactions with the students and their interactions with each other.

I set up a positive learning environment by asking many questions and encouraging many
answers. I tried to make sense of answers that seemed a little far-fetched by bringing them back
to my question. I allowed students to share their learning at the end of the lesson as well. I
encourage student participation in the mini-lesson by seeing what the students already knew and
using that as a basis for my teaching. They answered questions and but a thumbs up if they
agreed with some statements I made. The students were able to work on their text features using
their own books and share their findings with each other, which encouraged participation as well.
I focused student attention throughout the learning experience by relating the student ideas back
to the learning objective. For example, when walking around during work time, I asked the
student to show me the post it they wrote, and then show me the path they used through either
the table of contents or the index to get to the fact.
I think my interactions with the students were very good. The students felt comfortable
answering questions even if they were a bit confused. This shows that there was some risk
taking. If the students were not comfortable with me, this would probably not take place. They
also listened very closely to my mini-lesson and were tightly engaged since they did not talk to
each other out of turn very frequently. The students also had positive interactions with each
other. They encouraged one another when answering questions and when sharing their facts they
learned. The students that always seem to have a long-winded explanation to a short question
were listened to and the other students were patient with them.
Instruction: (AEA: Communication, Coordination, Diagnosis, Integrative Interaction
WTS: 1,2,4,5,6,7,10 DISP: Respect, Communication)
Thoroughly explain how you taught this lesson to meet your literacy objective. Evaluate your implementation of
your plan in relation to student learning/performance and the theory. Did it have the effect you intended? Were the
needs of your literacy learners met? Explain what you found most difficult in teaching this lesson. What changes
would you make if you repeated this lesson? Why?

I taught this lesson to meet my literacy objective in a few ways. First, I modeled what I wanted
the students to do and then gave them a change to try it on their own. After they worked on it for
a bit and I met with each student to see if they understood it, they were able to show that they
met the objective during the large group share. My implementation of my plan worked out pretty
well although I had to make some changes throughout. The students learned what I wanted them
to and showed in during the sharing part. Vygotskys theory really took hold in my lesson as
each part was evident. The needs of the learners were also met during work time. I asked
questions to students to get them onto the right path and to use the right book that contained a
table of contents. Students were willing to switch the book they were using so they could work
with the strategy. I found that I struggled with the assessment part of this lesson. I had some
observational informal assessment, but in the end, I realized that I had nothing to look back upon
and prove what I saw. I had not written any anecdotal notes like I had planned on doing even

though I saw my CT doing it. If I were to repeat this lesson, I would try to do more assessment
and I would shorten the mini-lesson up so the students would have more work time.
Assessment: (AEA: Diagnosis, Integrative Interaction WTS: 1,2,3,7,8,9 DISP:
Reflection) Explain how you knew if the students learned what you taught them. What did you learn from
listening to student responses, examining their work or listening to their interactions? What were your assessment
procedures and how well did they inform you about student attainment of your lessons objectives? To follow-up
this lesson, what would you teach next? Why?

I knew that the students were learned what I taught them since they could show me at the end
how they used the table of contents and index in their own books. I learned that they caught on
fast to these two text features from listening to student responses, examining their work, and
listening to their interactions. My assessment procedures were to take anecdotal notes as I
walked around to record the reading behaviors of the students. I also observed them throughout
the entire process. If I were to actually take the notes, I would have saw that the students reached
the lesson objective. Since I didnt write it down, I just had to assume this in my head from
putting all the observations together. To follow-up this lesson, I would teach about the glossary
since it is closely related to the index. The bold faced words in the glossary often times show up
in the index so you can find them easily.
Professional responsibilities: (AEA: Communication, Integrative Interaction WTS:
1,2,6,7,9,10 DISP: Respect, Responsibility, Reflection, Collaboration, Communication
Explain how you will apply what you learned from the feedback you received on this lesson to teaching future
lessons.

At this point, I have not yet obtained the feedback from my CT. but when I do, I plan to apply it
to the teaching of future lessons. I will incorporate her suggestions into my next lesson plan and
keep the parts that she says worked well. I took in her suggestions related to classroom
management after my first lesson and applied them to this one. I could see a big improvement.
Reflection: (AEA: Diagnosis WTS: 9 DISP: Reflection)
What did you learn about teaching an effective literacy lesson from this teaching experience? How will it affect your
planning for future teaching of literacy? Explain how this lesson demonstrates your growth in ONE Wisconsin
Teaching Standard and ONE Alverno Education Ability. (Make sure to state the WTS and AEA in your own words
in your explanation.)

I learned that to teach an effective literacy lesson, much time, commitment, and thinking must
take place. One must be on their toes and be willing to change the plan at any time based on what
is happening in the classroom. The more lessons I teach of literacy, the easier the flexibility will
come. This lesson demonstrated growth in WTS #7 as well as the AEA of coordination. This
WTS standard was the one I was working toward in the lesson. It discussed the importance of
planning instruction based on what I already knew and being flexible for adjustments. Since I
changed my plan a bit on the spot, this demonstrated my awareness of student needs and the
goals I had set. Coordination works well with this lesson as well since I had to balance my
resources and students in order to reach my goals. The books I used, time it took, and procedures
I used all had to work together to make the lesson a success. If I wasnt coordinated, I dont think
the lesson would have run as smoothly as it did.