Predictions Lesson!
Lesson 2! - Agnes B. Hennessy Elementary School
This was our second lesson at Hennessy Elementary School. We are in the same room with the same students, so we were already familiar with each other. We started off the lesson by recapping what we had learned the previous week to build off of that background knowledge. We asked them if they remember what we did, and they were able to tell us what the last lesson was. After discussing that for a few minutes, we went over our visual agenda on our slides linked under this article. Then, we started to explain what our next lesson would be on, Predictions! We introduced this concept by giving them an icebreaker activity called "GIF Predictions." On our visual slideshow, we had 4 slides, 1 example and 3 actual ones, that had different kinds of GIFs on it. GIFs are short loop videos that are usually 2-4 seconds or so long. In each of these videos, we had the students predict either what happened next in the video, or what is the context in the video. The GIFs shown were a jaguar walking slowly in the snow, an owl in a rainstorm holding onto an umbrella, a dog jumping for something, and two people who were about to tip in a rowboat. This started getting them to think and apply their predictions, but in a more fun way than traditional predictions. Afterwards we started going over our vocabulary words for this lesson. The main word was prediction, and the others were brainstorm, wordless, mural, and spaceship. We also created a prediction anchor chart that we kept up during the lesson. It explained what a prediction was, the steps to take during, before, and after reading to create predictions, and some sentence starters like "I predict ___ because..." to help them properly articulate their guesses.
After vocabulary we started the first activity of the day, which was filling out a prediction chart before reading, based off the cover of the book. In their journals, I set up the charts I wanted them to use prior to the lesson. This chart had two columns, one being "Before Reading Predictions" and the second one being "After Reading Results." We also had an anchor chart to fill out with them. The main purpose of our anchor charts like this one are to give the students an example of the sentence structure and spelling I expect them to have in their own journals. We repeat at the beginning of each activity that they should be copying what I write on the charts. We showed them the cover of the book and gave them a few minutes to think about what predictions they could come up with. After their thinking we had them share their ideas out loud for us and recorded them together. After we finished filling out this column, we moved onto actually reading out story.
My co-teacher took the lead during the actual reading of the story. We asked the students before reading if they had ever heard of a wordless picture book before, and they said they had. This was surprising to me, as I had not heard about them prior to this lesson myself. During our reading, my co-teacher asked lots of questions to see what the students thought was happening. We had them make and check predictions verbally during the reading also. Some of their predictions were right on point, while others were not. One student really seemed to love the book and was really into it, the other had a bit of a harder time staying engaged. When asked questions about the book they were able to answer them though, so that proves that they were comprehending and paying attention. We reminded them when needed to use the sentence starters that were on our Prediction Anchor Chart.
After reading we went into our next activity, which was the second column on their charts, the "After Reading Results." We went back to the original predictions we made and asked the students to determine if they were correct or wrong, and why/why not with evidence. If they were correct, we would ask them to find us evidence to support this prediction. If they were incorrect, we asked them to find evidence to revise their prediction. The kids seemed to really enjoy this activity, but I could tell a break was definitely needed afterwards.
We did a movement break called Prediction Stretches where the teachers first did a pattern of stretches (Arms up, arms down, arms left...) and everyone else would have to guess the next sequence in the pattern. After the teacher models, we let the students think and come up with their own stretches that we had to guess. They loved this and could not stop laughing!
At this point we transitioned into our next activity, which was much more engaging. The students were asked to create a prediction book, guessing what Sr. Minino would be doing in a year. We set up an Anchor Chart for this section that listed possible sentence starters to begin their stories and prompts to help with their thinking if they weren't sure what to write. My co-teacher took one student while I took the other and we helped them one-on-one with their books, aiding in spelling, grammar, sentence structure, and idea generation. The kids had a lot of fun writing these stories and were extremely eager to share them with each other.
After they finished, we let them read their stories out loud to us. I think this was honestly their favorite part of the lesson. You would tell they were really proud of the work that they did. Unfortunately, we were a little short on time, so we weren't able to do our conclusion activity. It was just one last movement break before we left, and we gave the students the option to share their book or do their movement break. They chose to share which I was glad because I loved hearing all the ideas they had.
The SLO's for this activity, accounting for varying tiered levels of support, were:
Tier 1: Universal Support
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to make predictions based on wordless picture books with differentiated core support by completing prediction anchor charts together and prediction story book independently or with a peer with 95% accuracy.
Tier 2: Accommodated Support
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to make predictions based on wordless picture books with targeted support by completing the prediction anchor chart activity together and the prediction story book with personalized one-to-one support from the teacher with 85-90% accuracy.
Tier 3: Intensive Support
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to make predictions based on wordless picture books with intensive support by completing prediction anchor chart together and prediction story book with concentrated one-to-one support from the teacher with 80% accuracy.
The objectives were met and can be shown through the completion of the charts in their journals. Students lead this conversation with minimal support from us and were able to do so with 95% accuracy.
Here is showcasing the cover page of one of the kids' stories that they made!
From this lesson, I learned how important interactive and student-centered activities are. Activities like the GIF Predictions and the Prediction Stretches showed me that even academic concepts can become exciting when students are given space to explore ideas creatively. I also learned how important it is to connect each part of the lesson intentionally. Additionally, a major learning point for me was the impact of differentiated support. Working one-on-one with students helped me see how individual guidance can make a big difference on confidence and accuracy. Lastly, I learned the importance of reading students' energy levels and wants, sometimes slowing down or extending instruction can lead to deeper learning as opposed to sticking exactly to the plan. Overall, this lesson taught me that strong teaching comes from not only flexibility but having genuine enthusiasm.
This experience helped shape my professional identity by reinforcing the kind of teacher I want to become; someone who is creative, reflective, and responsive to student's needs. I realized how much I value lessons that let students think independently and express their ideas in multiple ways. I see myself as a teacher who promotes curiosity, engagement, and collaboration. This experience strengthened my confidence in leading lessons and making in the moment adjustments to support all learners. Furthermore, it made me more aware of how my tone, energy, and organization all set the tone for the classroom. I want to continue developing a teaching style that blends warmth and structure with adaptability so that students feel not only supported but challenged.
Going forward, I will make sure that every activity has a clear purpose that connects to student outcomes, while also allowing room for exploration and student choice. I also plan to improve time management by better mapping out how long each section of the lesson should take. I'll continue using anchor charts, modeling, and visual supports, but I also want to think more about how to gain a little more student independence with teacher guidance. Overall, this experience gave me valuable insight into how to properly lesson plan and adjust future lessons to do even better for your students!
Comments
Post a Comment