Because my teaching assignment is Family and Consumer Science now, I chose a
lesson that was not tied to a specific text or language arts theme. The lesson I
chose is one that is a general purpose type that could be used repeatedly to
motivate students to read carefully. It also is designed to assist students in
reading more carefully and thoughtfully and to begin to take their reading beyond
superficial facts and into analysis.
The title of the lesson is "Active Reading Through Self-Assessment: The Student-
Made Quiz." It is labeled as a recurring lesson for 10th grade. It has only two
hand-outs. The first is a T-chart that students use to organize their thinking. One
side of the chart is to record main idea quotes from the reading that students
think are important. The other side is for formulating "So What" questions that
probe the main idea that is represented by the quote. the other hand-out is a
"Student-Made Quiz" form. The form has blanks for the name of the student who wrote
the question and then some numbered lines for the question to be written out.
Students complete the T-chart and the Student-Made Quiz form in groups, so they can
support each other in reading, thinking and formulating questions. The lesson is
designed to take three 50-minute class periods. The planned time includes a group
reading of whatever text is assigned.
The lesson is thoroughly planned. A minor glitch I saw was that the blank handout
that was provided for teacher use is in a different format than the example. The
teacher would have to spend some time editing that form before using it. Another
helpful addition would be some key terms for the unit. Students will need to
understand main ideas, themes and analysis. Some support for the difference
between superficial factual analysis and deeper analysis would also be useful.
That said, it is a good lesson. There is a sample text, Ray Bradbury's "All Summer
in a Day." I am a big science fiction fan and have spent years reading a lot of
early and middle Ray Bradbury. Perhaps that explains my postive reaction to the
lesson. The sample documents that accompany the reading passage show the process
and the final product. These items would be very useful in introducing this lesson
for the first time. They would give students a "road map" to where they are going
with their own work.
I would imagine that the sample documents with this lesson were made by the teacher
and do not include any actual student work. The student-made quiz questions all
have that "teacher feel" to them. For example, the first quotation is ...
"And this was the way life was forever on the planet, Venus, and this was the
schoolroom of the children of the rocket men and women who had come to a raining
world to set up civilization and live out their lives."
The question that goes with that quote is "Why is it important to know where these
students are and why they are there?" That just doesn't sound like a student
question to me. The following quotations and questions follow the chronology of the
narrative and hit every important literary point.
The step-by-step instructions for this lesson were thought-out and logical and they
addressed some real-life classroom likelihoods. The lesson includes a group walk-
through of the Bradbury story to practice the skills. At one point the lesson
advises ...
"5.When/if students note ideas that aren’t all that important to the central
meaning of the story, or if they miss some ideas that are important, ask the class
to talk about each idea/event and explain why it is or isn’t important to the
central meaning of the story. Be sure to point back to the story to specific
passages as you discuss main ideas. Ask the students to record notes as you
discuss."
Reading, discussion, taking notes are all "old-school." This lesson isn't flashy, and it doesn't use a lot of technology. But I don't mind
that. I think technology in education is overrated and those who look at it with
the "savior" mentality are seriously in error.
The work that students do with technology is only as good as the thinking that goes
with it and drives it. If teachers don't teach kids to think, reflect and learn
from mistakes -- all the technology in the world isn't going to do us a bit of
good.
It seems to me that this lesson, presented well in a well-managed classroom, has
the potential to deepen student's thinking and reading skills. I am already
ruminating on how I can integrate this into my classroom with subject-area reading.
Perhaps I can use this to help students navigate chapters on yeast breads or the
types of cake.
Because my curriculum is so specialized, and because I have to teach a lot of
unfamiliar vocabulary, I am thinking about having students read and write down any
words that are unfamiliar or that they can't figure out from context. We could
discuss those words and get them defined, and then we could drill down deeper into
the text with a second reading using the activities outlined in the lesson.
I also think this might help my students with the idea of second
readings. I have tried to explain to them that understanding deepens exponentially
with second readings, but often enough it is nearly impossible to get them to do a
first reading.
Debra Hadley