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Grammar (Homophones)
Lesson Reflection
During yesterdays observation, I taught a grammar lesson about homophones. Being that
language arts and grammar were always favorites of mine growing up, I was eager to introduce
the first graders to this topic. To help them understand and keep them engaged, I knew I needed
to present this material in a way that involved in discovering homophone pairs actively on their
own.
One of the main lesson components that I was proud of was my introduction activity. In
choosing to incorporate a sand timer share, I was not only able to manage and track the pace of
my lesson, but also provide the students the chance to move around, share with peers, and get a
feel for the concept through experiential learning. Although I didnt anticipate any major issues
with this skill, I was proud of the first graders for making the connections between words with
the same sounds on their own. Had I simply opened the lesson with my slides, I may not have
felt as confident as when I noticed the positive and productive interactions taking place in the
room.
While planning my lesson on homophones there were many instructional decisions that I
had to make. The most important of all was my idea to strategically place puzzle piece necklaces
(specific words) on each students desk before the lesson began. Besides assisting with the
transition of beginning a lesson after lunch and recess, choosing to assign particular words to
each student allowed me to target individual skill levels and provide appropriate challenge for
the various levels in the room. I intentionally provided each student a homophone word that
would match their abilities, but also carefully considered who I was going to partner them with.
Rather than grouping the students into homogenous partner pairs, I instead based my groupings
on who could benefit from working with a student of another level, to provide a greater chance
of collaboration, peer-to-peer assistance, and an opportunity to work with someone they may not
made sure to carefully create a concise PowerPoint as an introduction and explanation for
homophones. In contrast to previous lessons, I went into this observation with the mindset that
my slides and direct instruction should not take up most the observation period, leaving students
ample time to work and create. After having the students find their own homophone partner,
travel to the front and share their findings, I knew I had to keep the teaching of the skill explicit.
In the past, Ive created multiple slides to teach about and practice skills for the given topic, but
this time I limited myself to just four guided practice examples, and a teacher example of the
As with all of my observations, I was able to take away multiple teachable moments
and ideas I could apply for future planning and instruction. First, thinking further about the
puzzle piece introduction activity, I was reminded of my purposeful thinking when selecting
which homophone pairs to include in this lesson. Being that I had students representing their
words in both drawing and phrases, my idea to pick concrete words was especially beneficial.
During this same activity, I made a point to initially warn students that the necklace matches
would not be made by looking at the shapes of the pieces, but rather, on a mystery component
of the words to be determined through the share. In thinking ahead and explicitly stating this in
when an example or idea from the lesson can be altered for the benefit of the students. In my
mind, the example of a homophone book page would simply be modeled when Mrs. Thompson
and I read aloud, drew, and wrote phrases to show the meaning of the words in our pair.
However, in the moment of coteaching the guidelines of this activity, I realized that this moment
was truly one for a role-play/interactive experience that could serve as inspiration for students to
collaborate when working in pairs. We ended up providing a more clear yet detailed, sample of
how homophone word pairs work, ultimately influencing students to extend their thinking even
further. I was happy to see all of the partners brainstorming and assisting one another despite
Overall, I am very pleased at the outcome of the grammar lesson I taught yesterday. For
the first time, I felt truly happy with the hook or lead-in to a potentially complex topic, and
especially eager to see students exploring these types of words for themselves. After mentally
walking step by step through the lesson, as well as considering and addressing individual
abilities/needs, I was able to produce a lesson that was effective, engaging, and meaningful. I
hope to continue to move at this pace and work toward teaching each lesson in a logical and
creative fashion.