Findings |
1. Questions: Easier Aloud Than Annotated
Students began this phase orally, as I annotated and modeled on the SmartBoard. Questions were free flowing and frequent, even to the point where we couldn’t get to or research them all within the allotted time for writing and history. As the close reading progressed to more independent annotations, the questions decreased dramatically, even to the point of students asking me how many questions they were required to ask per passage.
I think that much of this had to do with the fact that the students didn’t tie their informal questioning with the more permanent annotations (we used colorful markers). A lot of this had to do with the culture of fearing mistakes in writing, which unfortunately was a trait among the second grade community that became highlighted and impressed onto the first graders when the second graders were placed under pressure to learn a new way of writing.
Optimally, we would have had more time throughout this process, and could have made the transition even more gradual than it already was. Realistically, the school year was ending and the students were relative novices at annotation, which was at a very high level for first grade. I am pleased with this progress, and it could improve tenfold with more time, exploration, discussion, and practice.
I think that much of this had to do with the fact that the students didn’t tie their informal questioning with the more permanent annotations (we used colorful markers). A lot of this had to do with the culture of fearing mistakes in writing, which unfortunately was a trait among the second grade community that became highlighted and impressed onto the first graders when the second graders were placed under pressure to learn a new way of writing.
Optimally, we would have had more time throughout this process, and could have made the transition even more gradual than it already was. Realistically, the school year was ending and the students were relative novices at annotation, which was at a very high level for first grade. I am pleased with this progress, and it could improve tenfold with more time, exploration, discussion, and practice.
2. Scaffolded Partners Led to Free-Forming Critical Discussion Groups
I placed the students in partners, carefully selecting the duo so that one could benefit from re-teaching the material, and the other could benefit from the repeated oral explanation of the material, in addition to the in depth oral discussion of text comprehension. What I did not expect, however, was that these partnerships would spawn informal discussion groups within the classroom as groups reached out to one another for answers and began to critically discuss the deeper meaning of the passage as a whole.
While I resisted my initial urge to ask students to return to their partner discussions, I witnessed amazing discussions unfold and was very thankful that I had let the class explore the content in the most natural way for them. This even led to students volunteering in our wrap up discussions to share the ideas and opinions of other groups, a fantastic skill to see emerging!
While I resisted my initial urge to ask students to return to their partner discussions, I witnessed amazing discussions unfold and was very thankful that I had let the class explore the content in the most natural way for them. This even led to students volunteering in our wrap up discussions to share the ideas and opinions of other groups, a fantastic skill to see emerging!
3. Text to Annotation to Notes to Writing is a Complex Process
The animal project was a tough undertaking from the start for the first graders, and we began the exploration of informational text to attempt to alleviate some of the initial shock when switching the genre and writing type. I focused on annotation and comprehension before writing to allow students to become more familiar with the text type before requiring them to creatively produce. Ultimately, I think that this entire process was too fast. The level of comprehension of the nonfiction passages was at a second grade level, which was necessary to prepare them for the project, but would not have been something I would have selected otherwise.
When we finally reached the production stage of this process, students were stuck between the difference of their notes and the sentences for their final product, having difficulty extracting the elements of the 5 W’s out of their research note format and into a complex sentence. This made complete sense, as this was a new concept. I don’t think I would have changed the initial activities of this stage, as comprehension was the most important thing for me throughout Phase 2, but this definitely did impact their writing quality. Ultimately, the students would have benefited greatly from a few more weeks gradually bridging the step between annotations, notes, and writing. Unfortunately, time was not a luxury we had.
When we finally reached the production stage of this process, students were stuck between the difference of their notes and the sentences for their final product, having difficulty extracting the elements of the 5 W’s out of their research note format and into a complex sentence. This made complete sense, as this was a new concept. I don’t think I would have changed the initial activities of this stage, as comprehension was the most important thing for me throughout Phase 2, but this definitely did impact their writing quality. Ultimately, the students would have benefited greatly from a few more weeks gradually bridging the step between annotations, notes, and writing. Unfortunately, time was not a luxury we had.