Lee Reflection #2

Before I read the book to my students, I asked them what this book is about and asked them to predict just by looking at the cover of the book. All three students responded me by giving their prediction. I loved how all three students gave me similar predictions because on the cover there was a woman, a man, and two boys who are playing around the well and they all think that a woman and a man are parents of two sons and one of the son fallen into the well. This was pretty good prediction just by looking at the cover. I also asked students what the title Tikki Tikki Tembo means and no one could guess what it means. After the reading, I asked few questions related to the story including and students were easily answer my question. One of my questions was “now we know what Tikki Tikki Tembo mean because it was mentioned in the book. Who know what it means?” and everyone had raised their hands and said the answer which was name of first son. Not only students could answer this question but also could answer other questions as well. To see if students could retell the story in their own words I asked them to tell me what happened in the beginning, middle, and end of the story. Students took turns to tell me what happened in the story. This made sure that students have met my objective of the lesson.
My CT gave me several books to pick for my comprehension lesson and I picked this book because it was about Chinese folktale and I thought I could be a good chance for students to learn another piece of Chinese culture since they are in Chinese immersion program. As I thought, students were excited to hear about Chinese folktale because they never have heard any Chinese folktale before. I think this was my strength of my lesson that students were more engaged due to their connection between China and themselves. However, I think the story was too wrong for students to sit still on the chair and listen because while I was reading the book, I did not stop and ask any questions. Therefore, I could tell when the book was almost over; students were looked a bit tired just listening to me. If I have stopped or had some interactions with students, students would have paid closer attention at the end of story.
Through out this mini lesson, as a teacher, I noticed that I need to practice reading a book from side while holding a book. It was hard for me to read and hold the book while trying to not cover the pictures of on the page at the same time. However, I enjoyed reading a book to students and asking questions to see if students understood the story. Also, I noticed that I should read more slowly when I read to students because as I read the book, I could feel that I was reading faster and faster.