Long and Short "i" Vowel Sounds Reflection
My second lesson, in this placement, was on differentiating between long and short I vowel sounds. This was the next lesson in the pacing guide for phonics. I had previously taught the students long and short O and U sounds so this was almost just a continuation on that. This lesson was based on the students needs because they have a lot of trouble sounding out tricky words in a text and learning the rules and clues to help decode words with different vowel sounds can only benefit them in reading and in writing.
Overall, I felt that my lesson went very well and the students really grasped the concepts. There were several different components in the lesson and I felt that the lesson was really geared to the students’ age group because it had the students practicing the vowel sounds in many different forms. They performed the differences in sounds orally, writing on dry erase boards, physically sorting the words into a table, and using the words in a game. This also helped the students because a lot of them have a very short attention span and having them engaging in several short activities helps keep their focus.
I felt very prepared coming into this lesson. I wanted the students to be very engaged and I also wanted to have the students practice the long and short vowels in several different ways. That is why I included a small mini-lesson about the vowel sounds, a time for them to turn and talk to their partner about the words they wrote on their dry erase boards, a two-way sort to organize their word and picture sorts, and a game to help practice and reinforce the differences between the two sounds. I felt that I had everything under control but I realized that you should always expect the unexpected as a teacher. Our 9:20am vision appointment ran over and into third period, already setting me back. Then as soon as I had the students all settled on the rug, with their toolkits, the fire alarm went off. All of these distractions did impact the lesson but I also learned a lot from it. I was able to practice regaining the students’ attention and refocusing them on the task at hand, upon returning from the fire drill. I also had to think on my feet and think about how to reach the students learning objectives in the short amount of time that I had left. These distractions gave me the opportunity to adapt and adjust to those unexpected circumstances that happen all the time when you teach.
Although my lesson was cut short, I felt that the students were very engaged and responded well to the lesson. On the rug when we were differentiating between long and short vowel sounds, the majority of the students wanted to participate and share a word. They were very excited to give their input and many of them really seemed to get it. While the students were writing their three words with a long vowel sound on their dry erase boards, I was able to informally assess who was grasping the concepts and who was struggling. Some of the students had trouble writing the words but when called on they gave a correct response. This helped me evaluate who was on track and who needed a little extra support. After going over the differences between long and short I sounds, I went over the picture sorts and the word sorts. I wanted to familiarize the students with the sorts so that they were able to recognize them and hopefully sort them in the correct way. Once the students went back to their seats, I modeled how to use the two-way sort on the gooseneck. This piece of technology is very helpful for the students because it is a great visual way to show them how to use the two-way word sort sheet while following along at their desks. Another effective part of the lesson was the differentiation. I had the students sit in their reading groups, which is determined by their reading levels. The two lowest leveled groups were asked to use the pictures when sorting the vowel sounds into the two-way sort. The middle and higher leveled group were asked to sort their words using only the words. All of the students were practicing the same concepts but in a way that would benefit them using their abilities. Although I did not have enough time for the game I was still able to do a fishbowl showing them how to play the game. I had all the students stand around a table and watch as a couple of students and myself played the game. I frequently asked questions to reinforce understanding while playing. I felt that this was a very effective way to teach a game.
Although I did not get to teach my lesson in the way I had planned, I learned a lot from all the distractions. As a teacher you just have to roll with the punches and make adjustments when necessary. I felt that this was such a great experience to have while student teaching because this isn’t something that you can practice; it is just something that you need to experience and learn from. I also felt that even though not everything went as planned the students still understood the concepts and really understood the differences between long and short I vowel sounds. I plan on doing a quick overview on the lesson tomorrow and having the students play the lotto game just to reinforce the differences in vowel sounds. Hopefully they are as engaged as they were during my lesson today and really use the concepts that they learned today in tomorrow’s game.
Overall, I felt that my lesson went very well and the students really grasped the concepts. There were several different components in the lesson and I felt that the lesson was really geared to the students’ age group because it had the students practicing the vowel sounds in many different forms. They performed the differences in sounds orally, writing on dry erase boards, physically sorting the words into a table, and using the words in a game. This also helped the students because a lot of them have a very short attention span and having them engaging in several short activities helps keep their focus.
I felt very prepared coming into this lesson. I wanted the students to be very engaged and I also wanted to have the students practice the long and short vowels in several different ways. That is why I included a small mini-lesson about the vowel sounds, a time for them to turn and talk to their partner about the words they wrote on their dry erase boards, a two-way sort to organize their word and picture sorts, and a game to help practice and reinforce the differences between the two sounds. I felt that I had everything under control but I realized that you should always expect the unexpected as a teacher. Our 9:20am vision appointment ran over and into third period, already setting me back. Then as soon as I had the students all settled on the rug, with their toolkits, the fire alarm went off. All of these distractions did impact the lesson but I also learned a lot from it. I was able to practice regaining the students’ attention and refocusing them on the task at hand, upon returning from the fire drill. I also had to think on my feet and think about how to reach the students learning objectives in the short amount of time that I had left. These distractions gave me the opportunity to adapt and adjust to those unexpected circumstances that happen all the time when you teach.
Although my lesson was cut short, I felt that the students were very engaged and responded well to the lesson. On the rug when we were differentiating between long and short vowel sounds, the majority of the students wanted to participate and share a word. They were very excited to give their input and many of them really seemed to get it. While the students were writing their three words with a long vowel sound on their dry erase boards, I was able to informally assess who was grasping the concepts and who was struggling. Some of the students had trouble writing the words but when called on they gave a correct response. This helped me evaluate who was on track and who needed a little extra support. After going over the differences between long and short I sounds, I went over the picture sorts and the word sorts. I wanted to familiarize the students with the sorts so that they were able to recognize them and hopefully sort them in the correct way. Once the students went back to their seats, I modeled how to use the two-way sort on the gooseneck. This piece of technology is very helpful for the students because it is a great visual way to show them how to use the two-way word sort sheet while following along at their desks. Another effective part of the lesson was the differentiation. I had the students sit in their reading groups, which is determined by their reading levels. The two lowest leveled groups were asked to use the pictures when sorting the vowel sounds into the two-way sort. The middle and higher leveled group were asked to sort their words using only the words. All of the students were practicing the same concepts but in a way that would benefit them using their abilities. Although I did not have enough time for the game I was still able to do a fishbowl showing them how to play the game. I had all the students stand around a table and watch as a couple of students and myself played the game. I frequently asked questions to reinforce understanding while playing. I felt that this was a very effective way to teach a game.
Although I did not get to teach my lesson in the way I had planned, I learned a lot from all the distractions. As a teacher you just have to roll with the punches and make adjustments when necessary. I felt that this was such a great experience to have while student teaching because this isn’t something that you can practice; it is just something that you need to experience and learn from. I also felt that even though not everything went as planned the students still understood the concepts and really understood the differences between long and short I vowel sounds. I plan on doing a quick overview on the lesson tomorrow and having the students play the lotto game just to reinforce the differences in vowel sounds. Hopefully they are as engaged as they were during my lesson today and really use the concepts that they learned today in tomorrow’s game.