Saturday, February 2, 2013

Happy February and Summarizing

Happy February!!

It is the start of a new month which brings new beginnings.  We are going to pretend like I haven't blogged for months--right???  So if you will remember, I am a second grade teacher and my year has been going along nicely.  Our school is revisiting the Comprehension Toolkit as part of our professional development.  I have incorporated several lessons into my core reading program.  Today my lesson was observed by my instructional coach, principal and fellow second grade teachers.

My focus was on summarizing.  Thanks to my fellow teachers, I have pictures!!!

I began by redefining what a summary is. We have worked on writing directions using the terms First, Next, Then and Last.  So, I had the students to think in those terms.  I gave each child a clipboard with four sticky notes.  Each child was able to write what they thought would be a great first sentence.

I only let three children share their sentence for first, another three for next and so on.  This was my attempt at keeping the lesson moving.  We would still be sitting there if everyone got to share each time.    I then placed everyone's sticky note on the board.


We then started weeding out unimportant details and combining the main ideas into a sentences.  This went better then I expected.


We finally came up with a summary that I  was happy with. I was very proud of my students for staying active for 45 minutes.  If I had to do things differently, I would have used chart paper.  I can't wait to continue this lesson on Monday.


ETA:  I wrote most of this post yesterday, however, I didn't post until Saturday.  Enjoy your weekend!

3 comments:

  1. Hey, Mechele! Nice to see you back!!

    Brenda
    Primary Inspired

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Brenda! I hope I can get in the swing of things.

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  2. Mechele,

    Hey! It's Jacque from Sweet Pea Family Tree!!!
    I didn't realize that you blogged, until I ran into this fabulous blog of yours. I am very proud to say that I am now of your BIGGEST FANS AND FOLLOWERS! ;)

    Jacque

    P.S. I can't wait to blog hop with you over Spring Break & Easter! :)

    ReplyDelete