Taylor Miller March 30, 2017

Grammar (Homophones)
Lesson Reflection

During yesterdays observation, I taught a grammar lesson about homophones. Being that

language arts and grammar were always favorites of mine growing up, I was eager to introduce

the first graders to this topic. To help them understand and keep them engaged, I knew I needed

to present this material in a way that involved in discovering homophone pairs actively on their

own.

One of the main lesson components that I was proud of was my introduction activity. In

choosing to incorporate a sand timer share, I was not only able to manage and track the pace of

my lesson, but also provide the students the chance to move around, share with peers, and get a

feel for the concept through experiential learning. Although I didnt anticipate any major issues

with this skill, I was proud of the first graders for making the connections between words with

the same sounds on their own. Had I simply opened the lesson with my slides, I may not have

felt as confident as when I noticed the positive and productive interactions taking place in the

room.

While planning my lesson on homophones there were many instructional decisions that I

had to make. The most important of all was my idea to strategically place puzzle piece necklaces

(specific words) on each students desk before the lesson began. Besides assisting with the

transition of beginning a lesson after lunch and recess, choosing to assign particular words to

each student allowed me to target individual skill levels and provide appropriate challenge for

the various levels in the room. I intentionally provided each student a homophone word that

would match their abilities, but also carefully considered who I was going to partner them with.
Rather than grouping the students into homogenous partner pairs, I instead based my groupings

on who could benefit from working with a student of another level, to provide a greater chance

of collaboration, peer-to-peer assistance, and an opportunity to work with someone they may not

regularly have the chance to.

In addition to preemptively assigning homophone words and partners to the students, I

made sure to carefully create a concise PowerPoint as an introduction and explanation for

homophones. In contrast to previous lessons, I went into this observation with the mindset that

my slides and direct instruction should not take up most the observation period, leaving students

ample time to work and create. After having the students find their own homophone partner,

travel to the front and share their findings, I knew I had to keep the teaching of the skill explicit.

In the past, Ive created multiple slides to teach about and practice skills for the given topic, but

this time I limited myself to just four guided practice examples, and a teacher example of the

assignment for the period.

As with all of my observations, I was able to take away multiple teachable moments

and ideas I could apply for future planning and instruction. First, thinking further about the

puzzle piece introduction activity, I was reminded of my purposeful thinking when selecting

which homophone pairs to include in this lesson. Being that I had students representing their

words in both drawing and phrases, my idea to pick concrete words was especially beneficial.

During this same activity, I made a point to initially warn students that the necklace matches

would not be made by looking at the shapes of the pieces, but rather, on a mystery component

of the words to be determined through the share. In thinking ahead and explicitly stating this in

my directions, I helped students work through the exercise with ease.

 In a more freestyle light, I gained a better understanding of how to go with the flow

when an example or idea from the lesson can be altered for the benefit of the students. In my

mind, the example of a homophone book page would simply be modeled when Mrs. Thompson

and I read aloud, drew, and wrote phrases to show the meaning of the words in our pair.

However, in the moment of coteaching the guidelines of this activity, I realized that this moment

was truly one for a role-play/interactive experience that could serve as inspiration for students to

collaborate when working in pairs. We ended up providing a more clear yet detailed, sample of

how homophone word pairs work, ultimately influencing students to extend their thinking even

further. I was happy to see all of the partners brainstorming and assisting one another despite

their individual tasks.

Overall, I am very pleased at the outcome of the grammar lesson I taught yesterday. For

the first time, I felt truly happy with the hook or lead-in to a potentially complex topic, and

especially eager to see students exploring these types of words for themselves. After mentally

walking step by step through the lesson, as well as considering and addressing individual

abilities/needs, I was able to produce a lesson that was effective, engaging, and meaningful. I

hope to continue to move at this pace and work toward teaching each lesson in a logical and

creative fashion.