Small Group Lesson - Main Idea
Grade Level: 3rd Grade
Purpose of activity: Re-teach group for students still needing to understand main idea.
What I did: During my small group lesson I pulled 5 students that the teacher told me were still struggling with main idea of a piece of text. I had all the students sitting at a table with me and explained what a main idea was and the supporting details. I drew the top of a table on the white board and told them that this was the main idea and then I drew four "legs" under the table. I explain that these were the supporting details. Without the supporting details the table top could not stand up. Then I handed out a worksheet with an article broken up into paragraphs. For the first two paragraphs we read it together and discussed what the subtitle or main idea of the that paragraph should be. Then for the 3rd one the students were in pairs and worked together to figure it out. We then went over their answers as a whole group. Next the students were asked to do the 4th and final paragraph on their own. Then, again, we came together and talked about our ideas. Lastly the students had to come up with a title for the whole article using the subtitles/main ideas they had come up with previously. This lesson took approximately 20 min.
Students Response: Students seemed to respond well to the activity and after we were finished seemed to have grasped the topic better than before we started. At the beginning the students were still struggling to figure out the main ideas and were just giving me details found in the texts. Students were not able to think "outside the box" about the main idea. However, as we did them together and in their pairs they were able to come up with the correct subtitles/main ideas. Students liked working in the small group and were excited about this activity.
Reflection:
1) What aspects of the activity went well and were successful? Why? The parts that went well seemed to be the parts we did as the guided practice. They seemed to be more on task and paying attention. I think this was because I had a little more leverage to keep them on task than when they were just working in their pairs or alone. The other part that went well was my instruction at the beginning of the lesson. My coordinating teacher had given me the idea of the table to and legs and the students seemed to understand the concept with something so concrete to focus on. It was easier for them to see a table top and legs than a abstract idea of a main idea and supporting details. It was also something I could refer back to when a student was confused. If a student gave me a supporting detail instead of a main idea I would ask them if that was a leg or a table top?
2) What aspects of the activity were less successful? Why? The only part I felt was less successful was that I did not have a full key to look back on. My coordinating teacher gave me this lesson and asked me to teach it. She gave me the worksheet and only one part was filled out. I would have liked to have had more time to finish filling out the worksheet before I started. I was doing the worksheet with the students and I think that slowed us down a little bit because when they had questions I had to go back and reread the paragraph before I could answer the question appropriately.
3) What changes might make this learning activity more successful? Why? The only change I would have really made would have been what I talked about in question 2. I would have taken the time ahead of time to go through and finish making the key. I feel like if I had been more prepared it would have given me more to base my teachings off of especially went students had questions. I felt uneasy about my answers because I had to do them on the spot instead of really having time to analyze and think about the correct answer choice. I think if I would have changed this part of the lesson I could have given better instruction and therefore my students would have a better understanding.
4) What did your students learn as a result of your teaching? Was that your intention? My intention for this lesson was for my students to get a good grasp on the idea of finding a main idea or subtitle/title of a piece of text. I feel as though I achieved this based on the answers they gave on the worksheet. They all had a good subtitle for each section and a good main title for the whole article. I think they will be able to apply this knowledge to later pieces of text.
1) What aspects of the activity went well and were successful? Why? The parts that went well seemed to be the parts we did as the guided practice. They seemed to be more on task and paying attention. I think this was because I had a little more leverage to keep them on task than when they were just working in their pairs or alone. The other part that went well was my instruction at the beginning of the lesson. My coordinating teacher had given me the idea of the table to and legs and the students seemed to understand the concept with something so concrete to focus on. It was easier for them to see a table top and legs than a abstract idea of a main idea and supporting details. It was also something I could refer back to when a student was confused. If a student gave me a supporting detail instead of a main idea I would ask them if that was a leg or a table top?
2) What aspects of the activity were less successful? Why? The only part I felt was less successful was that I did not have a full key to look back on. My coordinating teacher gave me this lesson and asked me to teach it. She gave me the worksheet and only one part was filled out. I would have liked to have had more time to finish filling out the worksheet before I started. I was doing the worksheet with the students and I think that slowed us down a little bit because when they had questions I had to go back and reread the paragraph before I could answer the question appropriately.
3) What changes might make this learning activity more successful? Why? The only change I would have really made would have been what I talked about in question 2. I would have taken the time ahead of time to go through and finish making the key. I feel like if I had been more prepared it would have given me more to base my teachings off of especially went students had questions. I felt uneasy about my answers because I had to do them on the spot instead of really having time to analyze and think about the correct answer choice. I think if I would have changed this part of the lesson I could have given better instruction and therefore my students would have a better understanding.
4) What did your students learn as a result of your teaching? Was that your intention? My intention for this lesson was for my students to get a good grasp on the idea of finding a main idea or subtitle/title of a piece of text. I feel as though I achieved this based on the answers they gave on the worksheet. They all had a good subtitle for each section and a good main title for the whole article. I think they will be able to apply this knowledge to later pieces of text.