ELA lesson reflection

          I think Alison and I effectively taught a sequenced ELA lesson with our first graders with the ever popular children's book Where the Wild Things Are.  With this literature lesson, I feel that I did have success in meeting most of the ADEPT standards.  I planned and used instruction that promoted active student involvement by giving them the opportunity to each write their own sentences and by having them repeat the directions before they even began working independently (APS 2, 5).  I also planned for efficient transitions from activity to activity by telling them to go back to their desks by calling each table by their “color” and having everybody raise their finished sentences in the air before coming back to the carpet (APS 2).  I believe that I made objectives relevant to previous and future learning by tying my activity into Alison’s lesson by activating their knowledge of the previous lesson (APS 4). 

Even though I again felt very comfortable with teaching this lesson, there are still areas for improvement.  For example, I could have used assessments that are appropriate for ability and developmental level of students by using a tool in the classroom to keep learners engaged and to check for understanding (APS 3).  I also could have improved on continually establishing high expectations for all students by thinking of ways to challenge the “higher” learners in the class.  I could have used a variety of formal instructional strategies in order to find out if the class can retell other stories or if they only knew how to retell Where the Wild things are because I guided them in doing so (APS 7).  All in all, I think I had good control of the class and planned an engaging lesson, but I needed to improve on meeting different learning abilities and developing more assessment strategies.