Week 2

My Understanding of the ELA Instruction:

    Reading, writing, speaking, listening and language are five essential components in learning any language. ELA instructions are also based on the five main elements. Learning a language is to train children to read can help them learn to make connections among different ideas and create their own ideas. By reading, children can gradually build up their ability to discern and logicality. Writing is always related to reading which requires learner’s ability to plan, revise, edit and so on. Writing makes people thoughtful and having a better comprehension of what they learn. Speaking and listening are the most basic skills during our daily communication because people live and work together, and they need to express, share and integrate information by what they see or hear. Any of the above skills are built on the language which specifically means vocabulary and grammar.

My Reflection of the video:

This video reminds me of a book written by the director of Education Bureau of Shandong Province, China. The first time he came to Colombia University for the visit and exchange program, he brought a video taken in a traditional Chinese classroom. After all the professors watched the video, they just couldn’t understand why almost the whole process was focused on the teacher instead of the students. This directly pointed out the problem in the Chinese classroom. Chinese teachers consider themselves as the main role in the class; they regard the classroom as a place to show their performance but not the place to spread knowledge. It is quite different in this video; I am able to see different children’s reaction in the class. I found the teacher is doing pretty well in stimulating children’s motivation of learning. She said: Their role increase and my role decreases.

Another issue mentioned in this video is about students’ diversified abilities. Some of them came with vast vocabulary and great experience, but some came with small vocabulary and much less experience. This is a challenge that every teacher would face. As a qualified teacher, she needs to control the balance between both kinds of students.

About the Sample Lesson Plan:

The sample lesson plan focuses on students’ ability of reading, listening and writing. The whole process is divided into four sessions which mainly includes selecting a passage from their favorite book, creating poem with found words and phrase, present their poem in front of the class, listening and making reflections on each others’ performance. It is always highly motivated for students to choose their favorite stuff, including books. Students are able to have a better understanding of their favorite book throughout this. Creating a new poem require students’ ability of making connection as well as their imagination. Making a presentation in front of people aims to build up students’ confidence and expression force. The last step is very important because all of the students should pay attention to others’ work and share their comments that require their ability of analysis. I believe young kids would really enjoy the class full of creativity.