Personal Reflection of 'Fab Four' Lessons
I decided to alter the exercise to ensure its success within the three-hour timeframe I had. I used two elements discussed in the article, namely the four door chart and post-it notes.
As you can see in the photo the students made four
door charts to differentiate the four strategies and post-it notes to record
their questions, predictions, summaries and words and concepts they wanted
clarified. They wrote their ideas down during the reading of the book and
stuck them in their corresponding window. After the chapters for the
lesson were read, the students had a group discussion, which was followed by a
whole class discussion on the specific strategy we were concentrating on for
that lesson.
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Students work from my lessons
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Summary of Three Separate One Hour Lessons I Conducted
Day 1:
I taught three lessons over three days. The book I used for the Fab Four exercise was ‘The Giver’ by Lois Lowry (it was the book the grade 6 students were reading at the time). Instead of attempting all four comprehension strategies, the students were asked to make a prediction before the next chapter was read and then work on either clarifying or questioning during the reading. To start the lesson I introduced the ‘Fab Four’ by way of a PowerPoint presentation, facilitated a whole class discussion on what the strategies meant and modelled the strategies. Each student was then asked to make a prediction about the following chapters on a post-it note and stick it in their prediction window. I then read two chapters of ‘The Giver’ out loud to the class. The students were then asked to discuss their questions and/or points of clarification with a partner, before we closed the lesson with another whole class discussion.
I realised after this first day that having more than one strategy was too much for the one-hour lesson. The students seemed overwhelmed and I found that not many had written anything down during the reading.
Day 2:
For the second lesson I changed the format so that students were required to focus solely on clarifying. This worked decidedly better because we had longer to discuss the one idea and it was much easier for the students to concentrate. In stark contrast to the previous lesson, every student wrote something down and attempted to clarify it and we had a very productive whole class discussion following the small group discussions.
Day 3:
For the third and final lesson I read three chapters and on this occasion we focused exclusively on summarising. This was by far the best lesson in my view. It was most likely due to a combination of practice on my part and the part of the students; we had both experienced the format twice and were improving in the efficiency in which we executed the lessons. The students did a great job and understood the task well. After reading each chapter I gave the students a minute or two to write some notes that they would be able to use later when completing their summaries.
I taught three lessons over three days. The book I used for the Fab Four exercise was ‘The Giver’ by Lois Lowry (it was the book the grade 6 students were reading at the time). Instead of attempting all four comprehension strategies, the students were asked to make a prediction before the next chapter was read and then work on either clarifying or questioning during the reading. To start the lesson I introduced the ‘Fab Four’ by way of a PowerPoint presentation, facilitated a whole class discussion on what the strategies meant and modelled the strategies. Each student was then asked to make a prediction about the following chapters on a post-it note and stick it in their prediction window. I then read two chapters of ‘The Giver’ out loud to the class. The students were then asked to discuss their questions and/or points of clarification with a partner, before we closed the lesson with another whole class discussion.
I realised after this first day that having more than one strategy was too much for the one-hour lesson. The students seemed overwhelmed and I found that not many had written anything down during the reading.
Day 2:
For the second lesson I changed the format so that students were required to focus solely on clarifying. This worked decidedly better because we had longer to discuss the one idea and it was much easier for the students to concentrate. In stark contrast to the previous lesson, every student wrote something down and attempted to clarify it and we had a very productive whole class discussion following the small group discussions.
Day 3:
For the third and final lesson I read three chapters and on this occasion we focused exclusively on summarising. This was by far the best lesson in my view. It was most likely due to a combination of practice on my part and the part of the students; we had both experienced the format twice and were improving in the efficiency in which we executed the lessons. The students did a great job and understood the task well. After reading each chapter I gave the students a minute or two to write some notes that they would be able to use later when completing their summaries.
How does one teacher keep up with the individual needs of 20+ students?
Ever since I began my primary
teaching course this question has troubled me, as it seems an impossible task. On the third day when I asked the students to write their summaries, it presented me with the opportunity to walk around the room and target the students who seemed to be struggling with the task. Whilst scanning the room I noticed two students who were looking off into space. I asked both students, one after the other, if they needed help with the exercise. In both cases they had understood the task however did not know what to write. From here I attempted to scaffold the students by asking them to tell me what the main event in the chapter was. Both students hit the nail on the head and began writing down their summaries. Both students seemed motivated to finish their summaries after some positive encouragement and a renewed self-belief about the task at hand. I was surprised at how productive this small window of time turned out to be. I was able to assess the students’ understanding of the task without too much difficulty. I addressed this directly with the two students I scaffolded and with the rest of the class I listened to and gave feedback about their summaries as they read them out loud to the class. I found myself making mental notes about how well the individual students were understanding the lesson.
In an ongoing class situation, I feel it would be a good idea to write these assessments down directly following the lesson, for future reference. Then, the next time we looked at the strategy of summarising I would know where to head to give extra help. I was very much encouraged by this experience because I was able to catch a glimpse of the ways in which a teacher can cater to the students individual needs; utilising those moments where the students are working in small groups or individually.
teaching course this question has troubled me, as it seems an impossible task. On the third day when I asked the students to write their summaries, it presented me with the opportunity to walk around the room and target the students who seemed to be struggling with the task. Whilst scanning the room I noticed two students who were looking off into space. I asked both students, one after the other, if they needed help with the exercise. In both cases they had understood the task however did not know what to write. From here I attempted to scaffold the students by asking them to tell me what the main event in the chapter was. Both students hit the nail on the head and began writing down their summaries. Both students seemed motivated to finish their summaries after some positive encouragement and a renewed self-belief about the task at hand. I was surprised at how productive this small window of time turned out to be. I was able to assess the students’ understanding of the task without too much difficulty. I addressed this directly with the two students I scaffolded and with the rest of the class I listened to and gave feedback about their summaries as they read them out loud to the class. I found myself making mental notes about how well the individual students were understanding the lesson.
In an ongoing class situation, I feel it would be a good idea to write these assessments down directly following the lesson, for future reference. Then, the next time we looked at the strategy of summarising I would know where to head to give extra help. I was very much encouraged by this experience because I was able to catch a glimpse of the ways in which a teacher can cater to the students individual needs; utilising those moments where the students are working in small groups or individually.