Week 5: Sheltered Literacy Lesson (Entry #8)

Here are my thoughts and observations on the sheltered literacy lesson.

Before Reading - 
       During this stage of the lesson, the teacher gives very explicit objectives on what the students will learn in the lesson.  She gives the objective orally as well as visually.  This way the students are able to hear and see what is expected of them. 
       In addition, the teacher goes through vocabulary that the students may encounter in the reading.  She engages them in their ideas of what the words may mean, and encourages their answers as she restates them in another way. She provides photographs to help them understand the new vocabulary as well.
     Before reading the text, the teacher gives a brief summary of what the students are about to read.  This gives them a bit of background and basis to help them understand the reading.  She allows the students to share any background or cultural experiences that may relate to the story; thus, building more background for the students.

During Reading -
      During this section of the lesson, the teacher  provides clear pronunciation of the reading as she clearly reads the text and has students either follow her in their own book or on the display on the overhead.  I like that she displayed it for the students to see and follow along as she is able to point out specific words and phrases that she wishes to further explore with her students on the overhead (so she creates a visual again).  While she reads, she stops to review and model strategies and have her students infer and restate what is happening.
       An important part of getting students to engage in the reading is by giving them plenty of "wait time."  As seen, this teacher allows that time and her students are able to formulate a response and effectively communicate with the class.  The teacher refers to earlier lessons and discussions helping the students make these connections for understanding.
     The teacher also asks a question of the them and their culture that may be unfamiliar to her, giving her students to share in their native language.  These connections allow students to use their background knowledge and connect to the new text.  

After Reading -
    This is where the teacher brings it all together and has the students active in restating various pieces that fit within the beginning objective.  She guides students to look at the board and find an example of each of the previously discussed objectives.  Through the use of Post-It notes, students can jot their answers down to be put on a visual diary to refer to at a later time in the reading.  This teacher constantly reviews different ideas, vocabulary words and concepts; thus, supporting the fact that repetition and review in this manner help student engagement and understanding.

Reflections - 
     As with any lesson, it is important for teachers to debrief.  What was the success of the lesson?  What could be done differently to help my students understand and connect to the text.

This video provided a great model of sheltering the lesson.  Although, this is meant for ELL students, many of these ideas I also use in helping my lower comprehension kids make sense of the text.  This video was a great resource to support the reading this week.