Week 8- Assignment 3

After watching the videos, I learned from Mr. Thompson how important it is to pose questions and help students expand their answers. I observed as he offered a lot of praise and support and was very involved in the discussion as reader, not strictly as a teacher. I liked how he allowed to students to make their own book choices and come up with their own ideas and , based on my field observations as well, students really enjoy learning more when they feel like they came up with decisions and the teacher is only facilitating the discussion, like its still In the student’s control. Students seem more confident and intent on providing input when they feel like, “Hey, this was my idea listen up!”. I could see how, during the small class group reading activity, a student wrote how dogs should be allowed in church, what if a person is blind? It was amazing to observe the connections she came up with, using her prior knowledge of guide dogs and her own analysis of the text. These strategies, activating prior knowledge, reasoning and analyzing the text, making predictions, writing down notes and thoughts are all excellent tools to helps with comprehension and students really can reflect back and retain their learning through better comprehension. The discussion throughout is so important as it exposes the students to other ideas and concepts, which can lead to greater comprehension and making connections, and it definitely helps with social developments as well.