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Stephanie Watkins

Dr. Brown

Info Literacy

May 16, 2016

Instruction Session Evaluation

My session focused on a hypothetical third grade class that was just starting their

nonfiction unit. I chose this age group because I currently teach this grade now and wanted to see

how it would go when teaching from a librarian perspective, rather than a teaching perspective. I

learned that the two were very related, but that I needed to look at the teaching from more of an

information literacy perspective. Many aspects went into this lesson in regards to theories and

knowledge of the grade level and their prior knowledge. My goals and objectives were also

intentionally based on their age level and their knowledge of nonfiction resources they could find

in the library. I evaluated the effectiveness of this skill by giving a formal and informal

assessment.

My lesson was geared toward a third grade classroom. This classroom was just

beginning their nonfiction unit. The students were starting this genre by completing an animal

research project. They already had in mind what animal they would be researching before

entering the library. This allowed me to better collaborate with the teacher by having already

accessed their prior knowledge and pulling books they would need for their project. My goal for

this mini lesson was to introduce students to one research method and how to access printed

books for information instead of doing a full read on the informational text needed for their

research projects. I focused on text features. Text features is an Oklahoma Third Grade Standard.

This standard from the Oklahoma State Department states that “the student will conduct research
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and organize information” (4). It also states the specific areas of focus being title page, table of

contents, glossary, chapter headings, charts, and indexes. These text features are what I focused

on in my Prezi presentation. I used an assessment after I taught these text features for the

students to practice their new skill. They had to locate the features in the book and also say how

having this new knowledge of text features would help them in their research project. My

objective of this lesson was to use my assessment to gauge their learning of the text features and

if they understood that the features were there to help them more easily access information. I also

accessed the American Association of School Librarian standards for the 21st century learner. I

used the standard 2.1.4 that ensures the student can “[u]se technology and other information

tools to analyze and organize information” (5). I embedded both library standards and Oklahoma

third grade standards to reach my goal of assisting students in acquiring their own information

through the use of text features in nonfiction books.

In teaching, a level of strategy takes place in ensuring a lesson be effective. It is

important to know the students’ grade level and what they are capable of achieving. It is also

important to apply teaching theories in a lesson so that a desired outcome can be reached.

According to Mohammed Khalil and Ihsan Elkhider, authors of Applying learning theories and

instructional design models in effective instruction, it is imperative that teachers first refer back

to the science of learning to achieve an appropriate response to the lesson (2016, 147). My goal

for this lesson was to instill a skill that would help learners acquire their own information. I

wanted feedback to also guide my lesson. I knew that by giving students time to talk and

facilitate some their own learning would also make the lesson more effective. One of the

strategies that Khalil and Elkhider refer to is having a good attitude that draws the learner into

the lesson. If a student is not engaged, then their learning will not be as successful. I used this
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strategy in the beginning of my lesson by getting their attention and again when presenting the

Prezi. This article also discusses how it is imperative to allow students to be able to problem

solve and to have active participants. My lesson demonstrated this strategy in the review portion

of my lesson. It also brought in a problem solving strategy that allows students to demonstrate

their knowledge and application of the new skill.

My text feature lesson seemed to be effective over all. The students in my hypothetical

class understood my goal of the lesson and the intent. My introduction caught the attention of the

students. I let them know their hypothetical age group and led them into the lesson by describing

their prior knowledge. I think this helped in allowing them to put themselves in the position of a

third grader that is just beginning their nonfiction unit and has little knowledge or practice using

text features. I then began with showing my Prezi presentation. The presentation of the

standalone guide was a little rushed on my part. I knew I had only ten minutes to teach the lesson

and that caused my speech to be fast paced. I also received feedback on the presentation and that

I should have focused on one text feature instead of introducing them all at once. That was my

initial thought, but with the time limit and it being a one shot lesson, I decided to get them all in.

I agree, though, with the feedback and changed that in my Prezi afterwards. I think the lesson

would've been more affective if I would have just focused on one portion of text features and

allowed time to practice that skill. I decided that I could leave the other text features in my Prezi

so that I could turn it into mini lesson sessions for the time I next have that class scheduled. I

thought that it would be even more affective if the teacher could take the Prezi and use it in their

own classroom teaching. I thought this would make the co-teaching and collaboration aspect of

this lesson more successful also. I also like the review portion of my lesson. It allowed me to

have the students turn and talk to discuss how text features would help them in their own
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research projects. This allowed me to informally assess the effectiveness of the lesson. I was also

thinking that I could use this time to make any minor changes for when I taught the next

hypothetical class in the grade level. My wait time at the end is something I think should have

been longer. I think if the wait time would've been longer at the end, then I could've answered

more student’s questions. My assessment I gave at the end required students to log into a website

that allowed access to free nonfiction books. I demonstrated how to log onto this website and

how to select a book. I also think this portion of the lesson was effective because I think my

peers can take that resource into their own lessons. If both classes were in the same location, then

I would have used actual nonfiction printed books. I decided to use an online book so everyone

could access it. However, I think it was still effective in gauging the students new skill level and

if they were knowledgable in using this skill.

This lesson definitely taught me a lot in terms of presentation and assessment. I give my

lesson credit by being able to present a goal and objective and get desirable results. Taking in

consideration the age group and their prior knowledge made the lesson more effective. I learned

that having an assessment that shows if the skill was taught effectively has an impact on the

teaching and reteaching. I decided that I will incorporate more wait time at the end of my lessons

in the future, in order to give students time to generate any questions they have about the skill. I

will also keep in mind the speed of my talking in making sure all students, like English Language

Learners, are understanding what I am saying. My over all goals and objectives were met in this

lesson and that showed through the video and the feedback from my evaluator.
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Bibliography

"Grade 3 – Integrated Curriculum." Oklahoma State Standards.

Accessed May 16, 2016. http://sde.ok.gov/sde/sites/ok.gov.sde/
files/C3%20PASS%20Int3.pdf.

Khalil, Mohammed K., and Ihsan A. Elkhider. "Applying learning

theories and instructional design models for effective instruction."
Advances in Physiology Education 40, no. 2 (2016): 147-156. doi:
10.1152/advan.00138.2015.
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"Standards for the 21st Century Learner." American Library Association.

Accessed May 16, 2016. http://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/
files/content/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/
AASL_Learning_Standards_2007.pdf.