Observation Report

Forms for inclusion in the Observation Notebook must be typed

Name of Observer_ Wang Zhao_____

Date
Observation Environment

Observation # _3__

Class Teacher Level/Number (Beg./Int./Adv.) 4/15/13 UCR Extension Reading 500 classroom Craig Vitamanti Focus on relevant areas from the What Can Be Observed handout. Notice how the teacher handles these areas during the class.
(include URL if the class was online)

Class Skill/Content

OBJECTIVE OF THE LESSON: STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN RESTATEMENT AND INFERENCE
AND FIND THE TOPIC SENTENCE AND SUPPORTING IDEAS OF A PARAGRAPH

Notes while observing:

Classroom administration (5 mins) T greets the Ss and collects homework T asks Ss if they had any problem finding the articles online T asks Ss to take out their textbook and look at the homework together Warm-up (5 mins) exercise

T divides Ss into pairs, asks them to discuss and compare their answers to the (restatement vs inference) While Ss are checking with each other, T takes roll Guided practice (20 mins) Exercise One T and Ss look at paragraph 1 together

T guides Ss by asking questions Whats the topic sentence of this passage? Whats the supporting evidence? How do you know it is true or false? Give me evidence. T reminds Ss topic sentence is the big picture, while supporting sentences are detail Exercise Two T reminds Ss they have read this passage before and asks them to visualize the story of the passage Few students respond, T stands up and acts out the story (looks at the clock, takes a piece of paper from his pocket and smoothes it out, his heart is beating really fast )

When the work editor comes up, T asks Ss : Whats the editors job? Several Ss answer : To write articles. T: Editors dont write, they decide whether an article is qualified to go on a newspaper or magazine. Then T asks Ss to make an inference according to the description of the character in the story. Ss answer: Hes nervous to see the editor. This is his first time to see the editor. T asks the Ss to find the evidence to support their inference (e.g. his heartbeat, he smoothes out his paper before seeing the editor.) Exercise Three

T points out only two students are answering his questions so he will call out Ss name from now T asks Ss what the main idea of the passage is ( brief history of an observatory) No one answers, T starts to draw a picture of a mountain and an observatory on the board T points to the picture and asks Whats the purpose of the observatory?, then he draws starts above the picture and says to look at the sky! Again T asks Ss to distinguish among restatement, inference and detail in the exercise. T asks Ss to look at the adjectives (witty, marvelous, amazing) used in the passage to determine the tone of the author Does he/she like it?
Independent Practice (10 mins)

T asks Ss to work in groups of three to do exercise four and five T goes around the classroom to show his book to the Ss, Underline the topic sentence, circle the key words to back up your statement
Assessment and comprehension check (8 mins)

T writes an outline of the passage (key words: Incas; knotted cords; quipus; colored wool; decimal system etc.) on the board, T asks Ss questions to check for comprehension. If a student fails to answer, T points to the words on the board as a hint to the student.
Closure (2 mins)

T asks Ss to write an outline for exercise 5, the same as he models on the board T stresses the importance of distinguishing between restatement and inference and back up their statement with evidence. T assigns homework on the textbook

Observation Report
Forms for inclusion in the Observation Notebook must be typed

(continue on back) What did you learn about teaching or learning from this lesson? Consider your observation focus, and the theory you have studied in your TESOL classes.

After briefly talking to Craig after class, I have learned the importance of prioritizing the activities in a class according to the needs of the students. A lesson often does not go the way as the teacher had in mind. The pace of the activities, student performance and their level of comprehension are constantly changing and hard to predict even in a short 50 min class. Hence, it is crucial for a teacher to prepare well and more importantly, adjust the lesson to cater for the needs of the students. Sometimes these changes have to be made during the class according to the teachers observation and assessment of the students. For example, Craig told me originally he had two extra exercises planned for the students. Those are stories of murder cases which require the students to be the detective to find out the murderer. These exercises are intended to be the follow-up of the previous exercises of making inference because students get to utilize this skill in a fun and exciting context. However, as the class went along, Craig discovered that almost all the students had a hard time differentiating between restatement and inference in the short passage exercises. During the class he decided to skip the detective activity because he thinks the ability to make an inference and support it with evidence is extremely important for his students in their future study. Moreover, those short passages are all chosen from academic papers which resemble closely to the readings in TOEFL and American universities. On the other hand, he said that he believes few of his students will go on to study literature in the future, the murder stories are interesting but not as essential. Many studies in TESOL have shown that identifying the needs of the students and focusing on student-centered learning should be the priority of the teacher.

Furthermore, the vocabularies in this lesson are heavy for the students, thus making them hesitant to make an inference. Craig has mentioned there is a big jump from 400 to 500 level vocabulary and many students are not used to that. Though the meaning of most words can be inferred within the context, many students still fail to find the connection. For example, one of the paragraphs says that Incas make their knotted cords with the wool of the alpaca or llama. One of the true or false questions in the exercise says We can say that Incas do not have domesticated animals because they use runners to send the knotted cords to another community. Most students said this is a true statement. When the teacher referred back to the words wool of the alpaca or llama, students seemed confused because they did not understand the meaning of the words. I think the implication for teacher here is to teach students to make a connection between the words they have already known and the context of the reading, instead of explaining what those animals are. Schema-activating is also a key factor in reading. If students are given the chance to use their previous knowledge prior reading and to make a connection, it will definitely benefit them and enhance their performance.

What activities/techniques from this class do you want to remember for your own teaching practice? Consider specific ways in which you could apply the techniques and methods you saw. Consider your future teaching environment and your students needs and goals.

I think the teachers role in modeling activities and making their thinking visible are extremely beneficial to the students. First of all, using body language and drawing pictures on the board are on the surface level of capturing students attention and helping them visualize their thinking. When it comes to a deeper understanding, teacher needs to model their process of thinking to the students. In this class, the teacher writes an outline of the paragraph on the board and shows the students how to connect the dots together in order to make an inference from

Observation Report
Forms for inclusion in the Observation Notebook must be typed

the statement. As I have mentioned above, lots of the students lack the ability to make the connection. By showing the process of outlining and instructing students to do the same practice, hopefully they will eventually internalize the technique and apply it in their future reading.