Core Decisions of Lesson Design
What
In this lesson students will identify instances of cause and effect during a small group intentional read-aloud of Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola. I chose to work on cause and effect because that was the strategy that was being introduced during the week that I planned to teach this lesson. My grade partner and I chose to use Strega Nona for a few reasons, all of which were quite deliberate. The first is that it is a favorite for both of us. Personally, I have very fond memories of reading Strega Nona with my Dad on an open-air porch during a beautiful summer day in New Hampshire. The second reason is that we think that it lends itself quite nicely to a discussion on cause and effect. Originally we scoured the library for books that were recommended to us by our classroom mentors as being good for teaching cause and effect. They gave us a list of books generated by the Children’s Literacy Initiative (CLI). When we got to the library and started to look through many of these books, however, we kept finding reasons to not choose them.
In the case of The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas, we decided that because the effect does not follow as logically as it does in the original story, The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf, identifying cause and effect would be difficult. For example, the pig is able to destroy the houses made of concrete and brick, but not the house made of flowers. Additionally, the pig does not blow the house down and ends up befriending the three little wolves. We ruled out other books because we thought that they made identifying cause and effect too easy. Knowing that we would be doing our read-alouds after the students had at least a few days worth of instruction about cause and effect, we decided that a book like 17 Things I’m Not Allowed to Do Anymore by Jenny Offill would not be cognitively demanding enough.
My inquiry question focuses on finding the balance between putting the cognitive burden on the students and providing necessary scaffolding. I am particularly interested in the role of teacher questioning and whole-group discourse in striking this balance. As mentioned above, the first step I made toward addressing this question was to pick the best book—one that would challenge students but not frustrate them. From there I thought intentionally about 1.) the gradual release of the cognitive workload in moving from “I Do” to “We Do” to “You Do,” and 2.) what kinds of questions I could ask to scaffold.
In the case of The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas, we decided that because the effect does not follow as logically as it does in the original story, The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf, identifying cause and effect would be difficult. For example, the pig is able to destroy the houses made of concrete and brick, but not the house made of flowers. Additionally, the pig does not blow the house down and ends up befriending the three little wolves. We ruled out other books because we thought that they made identifying cause and effect too easy. Knowing that we would be doing our read-alouds after the students had at least a few days worth of instruction about cause and effect, we decided that a book like 17 Things I’m Not Allowed to Do Anymore by Jenny Offill would not be cognitively demanding enough.
My inquiry question focuses on finding the balance between putting the cognitive burden on the students and providing necessary scaffolding. I am particularly interested in the role of teacher questioning and whole-group discourse in striking this balance. As mentioned above, the first step I made toward addressing this question was to pick the best book—one that would challenge students but not frustrate them. From there I thought intentionally about 1.) the gradual release of the cognitive workload in moving from “I Do” to “We Do” to “You Do,” and 2.) what kinds of questions I could ask to scaffold.
How
I have chosen a particular group of students to do this lesson with for reasons that are based on my philosophy around the power of a read-aloud. Out of the six students, three of them are students that often seem disengaged during read-alouds. They seem spaced out and distracted, but are generally well-behaved. Two students participate and engage frequently and generally seem to have a good sense of what’s going on. Finally, there is one student who is very disengaged and often winds up moving around (walking in and out of the room, around the room, etc.) and talking so much that he gets in trouble. Once he moves his name on the step board he has a difficult time recovering from it for the rest of the day. In my observation, however, this same student loves to read independently. He reads everything in his sight, whether it’s a book, a sign on the wall, or a label on his food container. Independent reading time is the time of day that he is almost always engaged and focused. He loves reading stories and talking about them, as he often calls me over to summarize a book or ask if he can read it to me. It is for this reason that I chose to pull this student out for a Literacy lesson.
I have also chosen some of these students based on their generally good behavior, given that behavior management is a concern with the last child described above. I want to find a good balance that leaves me in my ‘challenge zone’ as opposed to my ‘frustration zone’ as a budding teacher.
I have done my best to tailor this instructional read-aloud to meet the individual needs of the students in this particular group. One thing they have in common, I believe, is that they all need to be able to participate through some sort of verbal/physical interaction in order to feel engaged. For this reason, I have added some routines/procedures to my lesson that I hope will facilitate this participation.
1.) From the very beginning of the lesson I make it clear that their job as we read is to be looking for examples of cause and effect, thereby both explicitly stating the strategy and inviting them to engage with it.
2.) I ask students to give me a silent thumbs-up whenever they hear the expensive word.
3.) Three weeks ago I did an intentional read-aloud with the whole class during which I taught the Turn-and-Talk procedure. The students seemed to love it. It has not been used much since, then, however, so I have made sure to include it in my lesson.
4.) Throughout the lesson I ask questions that push students to think critically about the text in relation to the idea of cause and effect, and then I invite them to share their thinking.
5.) At the end, I invite each student to share a personal story of cause and effect from their own life.
Because many of the students in this group are often so disengaged, I have observed that they are rarely able to demonstrate an understanding of the strategy being taught. For example, after four days of working on the idea of setting, 4 of the students I have chosen defined the setting of the book that they read in terms of the characters, not the place. Consequently, I have made an effort to provide an appropriate amount of scaffolding through the “I Do,” “We Do,” “You Do,” model.
I have also chosen some of these students based on their generally good behavior, given that behavior management is a concern with the last child described above. I want to find a good balance that leaves me in my ‘challenge zone’ as opposed to my ‘frustration zone’ as a budding teacher.
I have done my best to tailor this instructional read-aloud to meet the individual needs of the students in this particular group. One thing they have in common, I believe, is that they all need to be able to participate through some sort of verbal/physical interaction in order to feel engaged. For this reason, I have added some routines/procedures to my lesson that I hope will facilitate this participation.
1.) From the very beginning of the lesson I make it clear that their job as we read is to be looking for examples of cause and effect, thereby both explicitly stating the strategy and inviting them to engage with it.
2.) I ask students to give me a silent thumbs-up whenever they hear the expensive word.
3.) Three weeks ago I did an intentional read-aloud with the whole class during which I taught the Turn-and-Talk procedure. The students seemed to love it. It has not been used much since, then, however, so I have made sure to include it in my lesson.
4.) Throughout the lesson I ask questions that push students to think critically about the text in relation to the idea of cause and effect, and then I invite them to share their thinking.
5.) At the end, I invite each student to share a personal story of cause and effect from their own life.
Because many of the students in this group are often so disengaged, I have observed that they are rarely able to demonstrate an understanding of the strategy being taught. For example, after four days of working on the idea of setting, 4 of the students I have chosen defined the setting of the book that they read in terms of the characters, not the place. Consequently, I have made an effort to provide an appropriate amount of scaffolding through the “I Do,” “We Do,” “You Do,” model.
Why
I have always believed strongly in the power of the read-aloud when teaching young children. Nearly all children, even those who struggle most academically and behaviorally, love being read to. I have seen the transformative effect that a powerful read-aloud can have on a class full of first graders, most especially on the child who normally has trouble sitting still and following directions. When done well, an intentional read-aloud can set the stage for a whole day or week’s worth of lessons. More broadly, read-alouds lay the foundation for a child’s lifelong love of literacy.
I chose to do an intentional read-aloud because over the past few months I have thought about how I might structure an intentional read-alouds in my own classroom. In the classroom in which I student teach, the first thing we do at the beginning of every day is a read-aloud as part of our literacy block. There is little opportunity for student participation during this read-aloud. Additionally, many of the questions asked are either ‘yes’/’no’ or leading questions. The students do not seem engaged, and behavior problems often erupt, sending many students in a downward spiral that persists through the rest of the day. I worry that my students are not learning enough of the curricular content during these read-alouds. On a larger scale, I worry that they are missing out on the sense of comfort, imagination and connectedness that so many young children feel when they are read to. I have been thinking a lot, therefore, about what it is that I would do differently. I am using this assignment, then, as a way of putting into practice many of my thoughts and ideas about the structure and routines that makes intentional read-alouds rich, successful, and worthwhile. I figure that the read-aloud is the basis for any literacy teaching that goes on in a first grade classroom—a good starting point—so I want to nail it down before I move on to anything else.
I chose to do an intentional read-aloud because over the past few months I have thought about how I might structure an intentional read-alouds in my own classroom. In the classroom in which I student teach, the first thing we do at the beginning of every day is a read-aloud as part of our literacy block. There is little opportunity for student participation during this read-aloud. Additionally, many of the questions asked are either ‘yes’/’no’ or leading questions. The students do not seem engaged, and behavior problems often erupt, sending many students in a downward spiral that persists through the rest of the day. I worry that my students are not learning enough of the curricular content during these read-alouds. On a larger scale, I worry that they are missing out on the sense of comfort, imagination and connectedness that so many young children feel when they are read to. I have been thinking a lot, therefore, about what it is that I would do differently. I am using this assignment, then, as a way of putting into practice many of my thoughts and ideas about the structure and routines that makes intentional read-alouds rich, successful, and worthwhile. I figure that the read-aloud is the basis for any literacy teaching that goes on in a first grade classroom—a good starting point—so I want to nail it down before I move on to anything else.