Julie Palmisano School Reading Problems Lesson Reflection November 2nd and 4th

Objective

Teaching Strategy

Outcomes
(Descriptive evidence objective was
met)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.3.4:
Read with sufficient accuracy and
fluency to support comprehension.
TSWBAT identify the difference by
reading smoothly or robotically by
grouping words together while
reading.
TSWBAT list the four main
components of fluency without
guidance from a teacher.
TSWBAT demonstrate reading
with expression by reading a
sentence multiple times with
different character voices.
TSWBAT read with fluency and
expression while reading a readers
theatre passage.

Fluency
Using the task cards with sentences
to have the student read choppy
and smooth was a great strategy
because it allowed the student to
control and identify the changes in
her voice. By reading the sentence
choppy and then smooth, she could
relate to how altering her phrasing
changed her fluency as a whole,
and in turn how she comprehended
the passage.
Having the student read the same
sentence with the
voices/expressions of different
characters was also useful because
it gave the student the opportunity
to think deeply about each
character. She made inferences
without realizing it when she came
up with the characters motivation
for saying each sentence. Modeling
the activity was extremely helpful
because it helped the student feel
less self-conscious about reading
with expression. She saw the tutors
reading with animated voices and
hand gestures, which seemed to
make her feel more confident when
she was reading on her own.
The readers theater was extremely

We know that all of our objectives

for fluency were complete for
several reasons. During the
modeling activity, the student was
able to determine the difference
between choppy and smooth
reading in the tutors voice. When
practicing it independently, she was
able to control her own voice and
the sentences were either extremely
choppy (one word at a time) or
completely smooth.
This activity was followed by the
question Why does reading
smoothly help comprehension?
The student clearly understood the
purpose behind the activity because
she replied by stating that if you
read the sentences together and
blend them, you will understand
what they mean. If you read them
choppy, they only sound like a
bunch of words. When we heard
this response, we were confident
that the student could apply this
knowledge to other readings.
The student was also very
successful in the readers theater.
We knew that this objective was
met because during the activity, the

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.1
Ask and answer questions to
demonstrate understanding of a
text, referring explicitly to the text
as the basis for the answers.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.3
Describe characters in a story (e.g.,
their traits, motivations, or
feelings) and explain how their
actions contribute to the sequence
of events.

TSWBAT explain what an

inference is and how it can be used
while reading.
TSWBAT make an inference about
a character based off a short
passage of text.
TSWBAT explain a characters
personality, actions, and

successful. We did this activity

with another pair of tutors and their
tutee, and during this activity our
student was engaged in the text,
following along with the other
students lines, and using
expression while reading. In the
future, it would be nice to have
them act out the skits with gestures
as well to get them more engaged,
rather than just having them sit in a
chair. Our student stated that this
activity made her feel more
comfortable reading in front of her
peers, which will help her when she
is finished in the clinic.
Comprehension
Going over the vocabulary before
reading is something that we have
been doing consistently, and I feel
that this strategy helps later when
the student is reading. However, the
student has a mixed vocabulary and
recently she has been aware of
some of the vocabulary before we
learn it. In the future, one strategy
that might be more useful than just
going over the vocabulary would
be an anticipation guide. This guide
could include vocabulary, but other
concepts in the text as well to
assess the students prior
knowledge.
The concept map with the character
traits was a great strategy because
it gave the student a visual
representation of the different ways
that we can learn about characters

student read with expression and

accuracy. She was also completely
aware of her part in the skit, and
she was ready to speak for every
cue.

The student was able to describe

each of the characters in the story,
and she was also able to answer
questions about the setting,
sequence of events, and problems.
The student was unable to explain
what an inference was at the
beginning of the lesson. However,
by the middle of the lesson (after a
short review) she was able to make
inferences without prompting and
explain in her own words what
inferences are and how they are
useful when reading. We could tell
that our objective was met because
there was a vast improvement from
the time the student walked in the
room to when the lesson was over.
However, to ensure that these
objectives were met it is important
that we follow up next week with a

appearance using evidence from

the text.

TSWBAT make inferences about a

character using dialog
TSWBAT identify important
vocabulary in a given text and
explain their meaning.
TSWBAT identify text features
such as: who what, where, when,
and why of a story to determine its
overall meaning.

and it was also something that she

could relate to. During this activity,
the student was engaged and able
to come up with several of her own
answers based on the appearance of
the concept map. This also helped
while we were reading, because she
could see the different ways that
she could learn about the
characters.
One of the strategies that we used
while reading was a graphic
organizer. This character trait
organizer was a good idea, however
if I could do it again I would
choose to let the student do a read
through first before completing the
organizer. During the reading, the
student was so engaged in the
pictures that she was reluctant to
complete the activity, and I
unintentionally rushed her rather
than discussing her comments
while she reacted. Had I allowed
her to react and then gone back to
do the activity, I think she would
have been much more engaged and
willing to complete the assignment,
which would have helped her
understand the concept much
better.
Having the student annotate her
text by color-coding the 5 ws was
a great idea because she was
reading the text with a purpose.
However, I think that in the future
the tutors should prepare in their
minds where they believe the text

few questions or short discussion.

The student was able to make
inferences about the characters,
though she was at first reluctant to
do so. However, if the student had
been given the chance to read the
text first without completing the
assignment, Im confident that she
would have been more willing to
complete the activity. When we
asked the student about different
inferences she could make after
reading, she was able to come up
with three examples along with text
evidence. This is how we know that
despite the hiccup during the
lesson, the student understood the
concept as a whole.
The student was also able to
identify important vocabulary and
text features in the passage. This
was evident because we could see
which information she chose to
color code and we would discuss it
before hand. In most cases, the
student was able to identify key
information and explain her
reasoning, so we know that she
understood the different features of
the text.

should be annotated, that way they

can guide the student when needed.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.3.B:
Use dialogue and descriptions of
actions, thoughts, and feelings to
develop experiences and events or
show the response of characters to
situations.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.3:
Write narratives to develop real or
imagined experiences or events
using effective technique,
descriptive details, and clear event
sequences.
TSWBAT analyze her writing from
a readers perspective and identify
three different changes she will
make to her rough draft.
TSWBAT choose at least one
character in her rough draft to add
detail to such as description,
dialogue, or actions.
TSWBAT understand the concept
of the 5 ws and integrate them
into her writing.
TSWBAT produce creative and
appropriate answers to the writing
prompt questions.

Writing
When doing the writing section, we
connected the character
development to her own writing,
which was very successful. To do
this, we took the characters from
the students narrative (This is a
story that she has been writing
about for a couple weeks.) We then
asked her which of the different
character traits from the concept
map she noticed in her story.
Posing this question caused her to
realize that she did not have any of
these traits, and she was able to add
much more details and information
to her story without prompting.
The other writing activity was also
successful because the student was
able to use her imagination to
answer each of the writing prompt
questions. We knew that this
strategy was successful because the
student was able to engage in the
idea and gave more details than
necessary.
In the future, if we were going to
build onto this lesson I would
suggest that we rearrange the
writing prompt so that there are
less breaks in between. For
example, rather than having each
question on a separate line, I would
choose to give the directions on the
top of the page and have the

We know that the student

successfully was able to complete
these objectives because she was
able to create different dialogue
and description about her
characters that was not previously
in the text. She was also able to
come up with different strengths
and weaknesses in her writings,
and use this knowledge to develop
a stronger story.
Evidence that this objective was
met was also found in the fact that
the student went above and beyond
the expectations by choosing to add
detail to all of the characters in her
story rather than just one.
Overall, so much detail (including
setting and character) was added to
the narrative that we were able to
finish the activity and move on to
something new.
Our other objectives were met
because the student was able to
answer each of the questions for
Who, what, where, when, and
why, and gave detailed responses
that followed along with the nature
of the assignment.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.3.3:
Know and apply grade-level
phonics and word analysis skills in
decoding words.
TSWBAT read third grade sight
words with fluency.
TSWBAT use strategies such as
chunking, stretching, and finding
patterns to decode words that she
cannot read upon sight.

student write the answers in

paragraph form.
Word Study
When we planned this strategy, we
were assessing to see how many
sight words the student knew. After
she read the words, we planned to
go back and review any words that
she had difficulty with. However,
we were pleasantly surprised to
learn that the student was able to
read all but two of the words
accurately upon sight. The other
two words she was able to selfcorrect during the untimed reading.
Next time, it is imperative that we
come up with a supplementary
activity to build upon our lesson in
case it ends faster than expected
like this one did. In the future, we
will also plan activities that allow
us to instruct the student.

The student was clearly able to

read each of the sight words, which
we could tell because she read all
of them except two with complete
accuracy upon sight. For the other
two, it seemed that she was rushing
and simply misread them, because
upon reading them a second time
she was able to correctly read them.
Unfortunately, we did not get the
opportunity to watch the student
use different decoding strategies to
read the words because she did not
need them. However, in the future
we will plan activities that allow
for the practice and instruction of
these different decoding strategies.