Kaitlin CO #3

My third observation on 5/15/17 was of Felicia's Reading class.
She started off by having the students read and discuss questions about the subject the main reading was on (in their books) and gave them a good range of vocab words they'd see in the reading. She made sure to get them in the right frame of mind for a scientific article. Using a radio broadcast, she was able to give them an audio preview of some of the things they'd be reading about. After that, they read the article. The students then discussed for two minutes with their partners. Reconvening as a class, Felicia led a discussion about the type of article they'd just read, asking me to volunteer what it was like reading an article like this as a native speaker. I told them that it was very dry and I got bored easily, which seemed to make them feel better. She then broke down the article and had them re-read sections bit by bit, then answer the corresponding questions. After, Felicia asked them, "Why are we answering these questions?" As a class, they decided that it was a strategy for academic reading and that stopping and summarizing allows you gain a fuller comprehension of the text.