Great Mini Lessons

          Today in class, we split up into two groups. In our mini groups, we took turns presenting our mini lesson. So far Evin and Kelsey have gone. Next class will be Rhea's and my turn. For Evin's lesson he gave us a themed vocabulary listing, at the beach. We read the words out loud and arranged them in alphabetical order. Then we put check marks at the words we were unfamiliar with, and drew pictures for three of the words we chose. I really liked how the vocabulary listing was themed, because I think this will help develop children's schemas. It also aids in understanding if there is a common idea with the words.
          Kelsey's lesson's was based on a story called Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse. She began her lesson by asking us, what do we think the story will be about based on the title. Then we al took turns reading the story. At the end of the story, we each chose a word we did not understand. Kelsey gave each of us a worksheet to write our unfamiliar word down. We used the dictionary to define our words, then we illustrated it, and wrote a word association. I really liked this lesson as well. I like how she used a story with a moral to it. This is a great way to teach students good rules. I can definitely see myself using this lesson. I think because you can use so many different stories, this lesson can be repeated each time a vocabulary list is generated. I also like how students choose the words instead of the teacher selecting the words.

Great lessons Kelsey and Evin. Goodluck next Rhea, it's going to be our turn!