· To what extent were you expected to follow a scripted curriculum, or add your own ideas to a curriculum that already exists, or create a unit that is entirely new?
o I was given a lot of freedom
o We use guided reading groups during Reading Workshop so I decided to fit my unit into that, as well as into whole group lessons
o I chose to use a narrative piece since that is where we were in our curriculum plan (Narrative Text Structures)
o Reader’s Theater was not something they had done in class or were planning to do all year
· What was problematic or challenging about planning a unit in this context?
o I had never seen a Reader’s Theater before or taught one so I didn’t know the steps you would have to take to prepare students for a performance
o I was creating lessons for a guided reading group as well as a whole group so I had to adjust them accordingly
o Hard to teach Reader’s Theater to whole group and deciding how to break down a script
o Helping the students understand why Reader’s Theater is helpful to their literacy learning, to help them be aware of their own learning
o Finding appropriate level readings for entire class
· What obstacles did you face? How did you overcome them?
o Students did not want to do the performance because they were shy so I had to conference with them and their parent to understand why they didn’t want to do it. We also talked to the rest of the class one day about the appropriate feedback to give. We guaranteed positive feedback through stars and wishes.
o I struggled with having enough time. Because of this I had to extend the unit a few days to make sure students were ready and felt comfortable enough to perform.
o Students struggled with focusing on the task by acting out. I also had one on one conversations with them to figure out why they were having trouble.
· How did working on developing your ‘core practice’ influence the types of learning opportunities you were able to offer your students?
o I was able to tie whole group lessons to guided reading group lessons
o I used techniques the students had previously learned in guided reading groups to help with Reader’s Theater (echo reading, choral reading, etc.)
· What dilemmas did you face and how did you manage them?
o Shy students that didn’t want to perform.
§ Had meetings with them and class to ensure positive feedback
o Student’s that were afraid of what others may think
§ Stars and Wishes
o Keeping them on task during small group
§ Different management techniques
· What enabled you to be successful?
o A mentor teacher that was very successful with my plans
o Reflecting on my lesson each day to see what went well and what I should work on
· Did the unit proceed as expected? Why or why not?
o No not at all, it took the students a lot more time to rehearse the script than I thought. I had to add on two additional days to help them prepare.
o I also didn’t have very high expectations for the progress that the students would make because of how long it took them to complete each lesson. Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised by their post assessment; they all grew a lot as fluent readers.
· What surprise or “aha moments” did you experience?
o I thought that all of the students would be very excited to perform this, especially since they are all very outgoing children. Instead they all mentioned how they didn’t want to do it because they didn’t want to stand up in front of the class.
o When I made the connection about a student acting out in the guided reading group because he was nervous to perform in fear of other students making fun of him.
What do you still need to learn about teaching in this target area, about developing your ‘core practice’ and about teaching literacy in general?
o This was just one small way to help students with their fluency; there are many other ways to do this.
o I would also like to develop a better way of assessing their progress
o Differentiating instruction to many students.
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