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Comprehension Minilesson For my comprehension minilesson, I had to work with my cooperating teacher because her students were starting

a new book and she wanted the lesson to be based on what they were about to read. The book that my fourth graders are reading is Ghost Cadet; it is a story about a modern day boy befriending the ghost of a Confederate cadet from Virginia. I taught my lesson as a whole group because the Language Arts period is broken up between the fourth grade teachers. All the students in my teachers class are on the same level; therefore, she prefers that I work with her students as a whole group. To plan for this my lesson I considered pre-reading, during, and post-reading activities that would be appropriate for this book. I was responsible for doing a comprehension lesson on Chapter 1 of Ghost Cadet. The pre-reading consisted of brainstorming what might happen in this book. We talked about how this books setting was at the New Market Battlefield in the Shenandoah Valley. By explaining this, I wanted to activate the students prior knowledge and set a purpose for reading this book. As a group we discussed out loud what we might think and I asked the group of students these following questions: What do you think of when you read the title? Look at the cover, who is on it? What is happening? What could this indicate? What kind of people are cadets? Why would this story be called Ghost Cadet? After we brainstorm what this story might be about, I asked the students if they had any questions before they read chapter one. One student asked how old the characters might be. I responded to this question by telling him to make an educated guess based on what we talked about. We agreed that maybe the main character might be 10, I then told the students that as we read we might find

out the age of the main character. After our brainstorming session, I began to read chapter one to the class; I decided that I would read the chapter one aloud to emphasize fluency. The students lack intonation in their voice while they read and I wanted to model it during my comprehension lesson. As well, this would allow me to stop at parts within the chapter that I wanted my students to make inferences about. While I read to the class, they followed along in their own books. The during activity that I had my students complete a character chart for the main character, Benjy. I stopped at points in the chapter and asked the students questions that would help them write about Benjy. I asked the following questions: Where is he from? What is Benjys relationship with his sister like? Tell me about Benjy? Is he lively? Quiet? Funny? Shy? After I asked each question, students responded and as a group we wrote down answers that describe Benjy on the character map. After we finished the first chapter of Ghost Cadet, each student wrote a reflection as an after activity. The reflection questions were, Why was Benjy traveling to Virginia for a week? Recall the landmarks that Benjy saw as he drove through Virginia. Have you been to any of them? I asked the question about the landmarks because this book takes place in New Market. The students are very familiar with the landscape in this novel because it takes place in their region. As well, I wanted to incorporate Virginia Studies into the lesson because the students will learn about them this year. After we finished chapter one, my students kept their character map and reflection; they needed them to study for a quiz on it later in the week.

As I was teaching this lesson, I thought that the students were responding well to what was expected of them. The students were able to brainstorm about what they think the book and chapter one could be about. They enjoyed reflecting on the first chapter because they were able to write about their experiences which connected with the book. Since I taught this as a whole class, I wasnt able to focus closely on one student, but I did make sure that every student was engaged in the story as I was reading. If I were to do this lesson next time, I would have my students read in small groups rather than one large group. This way, I could make sure each student wasnt having frustration while reading and making sure that I was answering their questions and they were answering mine. As well, I would have my students read the chapter within my small groups so that they could hear themselves read and stay on track. This would help them with their fluency and expression. Since this class lacks expression I made it a point that I would read, but in a small group I would have the students read to me. In my own classroom, I would need my students reading scores based on QRIs and other tests that I would be giving them in the beginning of the year. This would help me assign appropriate books for certain groups depending on their reading level. This would also help me decide what activities would be the most appropriate for each group to do while reading. I would group my students based on whether they were on the frustration, instructional or independent reading levels. This way, students could work together on fluency, comprehension and writing based on what they can do. As well, I would like to have my groups rotate. I would have a group do an activity with me, read either silently or to each other in another station and

work on another activity such as writing comprehension at another station. Students do not become bored and more instruction could be implemented. My schedule would have reading groups incorporated daily because I think that it is so important for students to think critically about what they read. This is how a teacher gives reading a purpose to children if they show how important it is to want to read. Materials that I would need when teaching comprehension are activities for specific stations such as writing, vocabulary, moments of wonder. Also I would need adequate amounts of books that were leveled properly for my class. Lastly, I would need art supplies so that students could construct scenes from the books they read. I think that this activity helps students visualize and interpret what they are reading.

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