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Angela Walter
Dr. Casey
ELD 307
7 April 2014
Interactive Read Aloud Reflection
Briefly after lunch and recess on Thursday, April 3rd, 2014, I read the story Giggle,
Giggle, Quack to the First Graders in Ms. Fischers class. As I read the story, I wanted the
students to identify character traits of the different animals in the story. In the beginning of the
lesson, we briefly reviewed what a character trait was and why it is important to identify them as
we read. The students were also encouraged to make predictions as I read the story. The main
objective of this lesson was for the student to identify the character traits and use those traits to
make predictions as the story progressed.
As the lesson progressed, it was evident that the students met the objective of the lesson.
They needed scaffolding at first, when I asked them what character traits they say, but as the
lesson progressed they we able to identify the traits on their own. Their answers seemed to be
basic at first saying things like fun or funny but as they gained more experience listing the
terms, they were characterizing them as giggly or sly. The first few questions I asked the
students, it was obvious the students did not apply the character trait review lesson. As the lesson
progressed, the students used the character traits they identified as a way to formulate the answer.
By the end of the lesson, the students were able to list character traits and identify how these
traits could possibly shape the story.
The lesson was successful in that the students appeared to be very engaged and eager
throughout the lesson. Many of the students were excited to raise their hands and answer the

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questions I provided. Before I read the story, a few students expressed that they were happy to
hear this story because it was a sequel to a story they heard during Read Across America week in
Kindergarten. The lesson was also successful because the students gained a better understanding
of character traits. The lesson was not successful because I felt like all of the questions I asked as
I read the story were similar. I asked Who do you think left that note, a few times. If I
reworded the question in a way that made the student think differently about the answer, the
lesson might have been more successful. This lesson was a good experience for me to identify
what types of questions should be asked during an interactive read aloud. The lesson was
unsuccessful because I forgot to model my thinking to the students. I initial wrote to model my
thinking to the students, especially earlier in the lesson, but I completely forgot to do so as I was
reading.
If I could do this lesson again, I would probably have the students do a writing activity.
Character traits are a great thing to have students practice during Writers Workshop. The
students could do an activity were they have a picture of the different characters in the story and
match the trait to the character. To make the lesson go further, the students could write their own
short story were they were asked to focus on giving their characters distinct traits. A writing
activity would be a great way to have the student independently practice identifying character
trait.
If I was to teach this lesson again, I would not overthink as I taught it. Looking back, I
was a little tense as I read the story. Interactive read alouds should be relaxed and a little fun for
the teacher and students. Before I taught the lesson, I was thinking about all of the different
things I read to do in the textbooks. It is good to incorporate some things I read about but I think
I tried to incorporate too many techniques to the lesson that I was tense.

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