Jillian Brimigion

Activity 3.5 Sharing Learning Targets with Students

Review the section “Benefits to Students” on pages 82 through 84. Then use the

information on pages 88 through 97 to complete this activity.

1. Identify a reasoning learning target that would benefit from conversion to student

friendly language. Follow the protocol on pages 89 and 90 to create a student-

friendly definition.

I picked a reasoning target that I will use for my Teacher Work Sample lessons. The

objective I wrote for the lesson is “students will summarize the book “National

Geographic Kids Alligators and Crocodiles” by Laura March”. To rephrase this

reasoning learning target to a student friendly definition I would change it to “I can give a

short explanation of the main points from the book we read called “National Geographic

Kids Alligators and Crocodiles” by Laura March.”

2. Think of a situation in which students use this pattern regularly in life beyond

school. Use that as the context for introducing students to the components of

your pattern of reasoning. Develop a series of questions that will lead students to

discover the components of quality in a way similar to that shown in the example

for introducing “generalization.” Come up with a visual representation showing

the component parts, if possible.

Being skilled at creating summaries helps people identify the key parts of the

information we learned. Summaries can help us shorten down the information that our

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brains have to remember. Through practice developing a summary individuals become

skilled at identifying what information is irrelevant.

To introduce students to summarizing we will read four pages of the book “National

Geographic Kids Alligators and Crocodiles” by Laura March.” I will use a graphic

organizer to help students follow along with my questions

How We Summarize
Teacher will copy the sentences read here:
Where
What
Why
How
Students summary:

3. Carry out your introduction with students. Note any refinements you would make

to the questions you asked and/or the visual representation for future reference.

I should have established more specific categories of information based on the pages

read. I think students needed a bit more targeted explanation of summarization. We

need more time to practice putting ideas into our own words. Maybe developing a word

bank of synonyms could help students have ideas to pick from to form their summary.

4. You may also wish to video record the lesson and use the recording for self-

reflection on questions such as these:

 What did you notice in the lesson that seemed effective?

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Students were able to identify information the chart asked for. It was a good opportunity

for us to practice reading and fingerspelling and signing using ASL. We practiced the

words Where, What, Why, How, and Summary.

 What did you notice that you would change?

I think this lesson would be more effective if it was taught one on one and in person. It

was a little difficult teaching it online. One on one in person the student could have

signed and wrote in the information themselves. Students also seem to have a harder

time keeping their attention online. I think they would benefit from having this lesson

how to summarize multiple times with different texts to practice their skills.

 How were students responding? Were they all engaged in learning? Were

there any surprises?

Students were excited by the story. They like reading about animals. I think the visual

chart helped them know what info they were looking for. I also explained the concept of

main ideas which I think made the students give more targeted answers. It was helpful

for them to know what to look for before we read the section of the story.