Reading Small Group Activity
For my small group activity I led a guided reading discussion. I worked with four students and they took turns reading The Coat of Patches. The teacher chose the book and the students for me, therefore choosing a book that she knew would be on their reading level and they would be able to discuss the book. Before reading I asked students, “Looking at the cover what do you see? What do you think this story is going to be about?”As we read, I would stop after a few pages and ask students discussion questions;
What’s the problem that is happening in the story?
Who is the main character?
Why was Khaim upset about his wife giving away the coat?
Do you think he should have told her where he was hiding his money?
What is the main idea or theme of the story?
How would you describe the main character?
The students took turns answering the questions but I do not think they understood the main idea of the story. They thought the moral of the story was to give poor people money. The main character goes out and finds work and he changes his coins into dollars and sews the money into patches of his coat. He then gets the coat back from a poor man who came to his house begging for money or food and his wife gave him the coat. Khaim gave the brand new coat that he bought with his money to the poor man in exchange for his coat of patches. The moral of the story was very confusing for students and I think this book may have been too challenging for the students. It was difficult for me to explain
the real moral of the story and why he wanted the coat of patches back. The students also kept trying to talk at once and cut each other off and it was hard to maintain control in just that small group. I feel like my guided reading activity may have gone differently if I had chosen different students and a different book.
I felt like the students were able to read the book but were not able to understand what the book was talking about. They understood who the main character was and why he left his family to find a job and make some money. They did not quite understand why Khaim (the main character) wanted his jacket with the patches back from the poor man. Since the children had a hard time understanding the story the discussion seemed to be off track and I would try to bring them back to the main idea but they had their own ideas set in their minds. For the next time I did this guided reading activity I would try to choose a book that all of the students would understand and make sure it was on their reading level. One student mumbled the whole time he read and kept skipping over words which frustrated the other students. I tried to have him slow down his reading and annunciate all of the words but he did not want to listen.
The purpose of this activity was for students to be able to identify the elements of a story and to be able to predict, make connections, and to discuss the moral of the story. I think the students understood the elements of the story but they were unable to make sense of what the story was actually about. For my next guided reading activity I will slow down the questions and discuss them in depth to make sure the students understand and are not just reading the story and creating their own story in their minds. I wanted students to be able to discuss with one another the questions that I asked throughout the book but they seemed to just give short answers and want to continue to read the story.
For my small group activity I led a guided reading discussion. I worked with four students and they took turns reading The Coat of Patches. The teacher chose the book and the students for me, therefore choosing a book that she knew would be on their reading level and they would be able to discuss the book. Before reading I asked students, “Looking at the cover what do you see? What do you think this story is going to be about?”As we read, I would stop after a few pages and ask students discussion questions;
What’s the problem that is happening in the story?
Who is the main character?
Why was Khaim upset about his wife giving away the coat?
Do you think he should have told her where he was hiding his money?
What is the main idea or theme of the story?
How would you describe the main character?
The students took turns answering the questions but I do not think they understood the main idea of the story. They thought the moral of the story was to give poor people money. The main character goes out and finds work and he changes his coins into dollars and sews the money into patches of his coat. He then gets the coat back from a poor man who came to his house begging for money or food and his wife gave him the coat. Khaim gave the brand new coat that he bought with his money to the poor man in exchange for his coat of patches. The moral of the story was very confusing for students and I think this book may have been too challenging for the students. It was difficult for me to explain
the real moral of the story and why he wanted the coat of patches back. The students also kept trying to talk at once and cut each other off and it was hard to maintain control in just that small group. I feel like my guided reading activity may have gone differently if I had chosen different students and a different book.
I felt like the students were able to read the book but were not able to understand what the book was talking about. They understood who the main character was and why he left his family to find a job and make some money. They did not quite understand why Khaim (the main character) wanted his jacket with the patches back from the poor man. Since the children had a hard time understanding the story the discussion seemed to be off track and I would try to bring them back to the main idea but they had their own ideas set in their minds. For the next time I did this guided reading activity I would try to choose a book that all of the students would understand and make sure it was on their reading level. One student mumbled the whole time he read and kept skipping over words which frustrated the other students. I tried to have him slow down his reading and annunciate all of the words but he did not want to listen.
The purpose of this activity was for students to be able to identify the elements of a story and to be able to predict, make connections, and to discuss the moral of the story. I think the students understood the elements of the story but they were unable to make sense of what the story was actually about. For my next guided reading activity I will slow down the questions and discuss them in depth to make sure the students understand and are not just reading the story and creating their own story in their minds. I wanted students to be able to discuss with one another the questions that I asked throughout the book but they seemed to just give short answers and want to continue to read the story.