3rd Field Experience Blog, EGL 441 Samantha Summers

So far, my observations have been extremely enriching experiences, as I have gained insights into creative ways to actively engage students in reading and analyzing texts. One lesson in particular that I observed last week really stood out to me, as the teacher had the students analyze supplementary texts and images to draw conclusions about the main text that the class was studying. This lesson took place on a Monday, and the students had finished reading "Of Mice and Men" for homework over the weekend. The focus of Monday's lesson was on the characterization of Curley's wife. The teacher read a racially-charged passage aloud from the text that involved an interaction between Curley's wife and Crooks. After reading the passage, the teacher handed out the poem, "Strange Fruit" by Abel Meeropol, which is about the lynching of African Americans in the South. This poem connects thematically to the passage about Curley's wife and Crooks. The teacher prompted the students to put their pens and pencils down while he read the poem to them for the first time, so that they could just focus on getting a feel for the language for the first read. After reading the poem aloud, the teacher prompted the students to, independently, write a quick one-sentence reaction to the poem. Next, the students engaged in a second read of the poem, but this time, they annotated. The students read the poem for a third time with a partner, whom they shared annotations with. After the third read, the teacher projected the poem on the SmartBoard and asked students what literary devices, possible multiple meanings of words, etc. they found. He annotated the poem in response to what the students said. The teacher did not just give the students the answers, rather he prompted them to come up with their own ideas. The teacher then showed the class a photo which he projected on the board. It was a famous image of white Southerners gathered around two young African American men who had just been lynched. The teacher asked the students what they thought of the photo, and prompted them to analyze it. He then provided them with the backstory of the two victims shown in the photo. The lesson came full circle as both the poem and photo related directly to the passage in "Of Mice and Men." Lastly, the teacher assessed the students' learning by having them, independently, write the central idea of the poem on the back of the poem sheet, and hand it in to him. I thought this lesson was really interesting as it incorporated outside sources to reinforce understanding of the central text being studied. I believe this lesson attended to the CCSS for Reading that states: "Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone)" since this is largely what the students did while annotating "Strange Fruit." This was an engaging lesson, and definitely served as a helpful guide for me to come up with my own innovative lessons involving outside sources to analyze in the future. I also really liked that the teacher integrated full-class discussion, independent work, and collaboration with partners into this lesson, which is something that I plan to do in my future lessons.