4/16/17 Forum Post

What happened?
When I taught a lesson on paraphrasing for the 7th grade L.A. classes, I previously, I had
talked with the teachers to see if they would like me to do a paraphrasing lesson in
preparation for their zoo argumentative essay. They agreed saying that their students
definitely needed this lesson. I also told them I wanted to do a pre-assessment to see how
much they already knew about paraphrasing, which they also agreed to.

The week before my lesson I gave all 8 classes the pre-assessment which showed me that
student did know about paraphrasing but when it came time to create their own
paraphrases they had difficulties. Therefore, in the actual lesson I created a Goggle Slide
that reviewed what they already knew about paraphrasing as well as some of the items
they got wrong on the pre-assessment. I also gave them steps and strategies to help them
create better paraphrases (such as rewording and rearranging). I also prepared a guided
practice where students would look at 5 different Paraphrases from the original quote
from Dory Just keep swimming... to see if they could pick out the good paraphrases from
the bad ones. I got a huge range of different answers. Of course, we went over the correct
answers and why they were bad or good to better help students understand what makes a
good paraphrase. That way when it was time for them to create their own paraphrases they
would have a better understanding.

The last chunk of time was devoted to having students practice. I created sentence cards
with Pixar movie quotes or weird facts to keep students engaged and their job was to
paraphrase them. The problem being was the first whole day of teaching 4 classes; I gave
directions that were too confusing.
The first set of directions went as follows:
1. Every student gets a sentence card.
2. With the person next to you, Partner A reads the sentence and Partner B
paraphrases.
3. After paraphrasing, partners switch jobs.
4. Once both partners had a chance to paraphrase pick a new partner at the table and
start over again.
5. Everyone should have 2 paraphrases.
Again, this was way too confusing. Even though I asked if students understood the
directions and they all nodded their heads, I still had to go around to each table and tell
them the directions again.

The second class I tried modeling. Yet it was still too confusing. So by the end of the day me
and my CT decided that we should make it simpler.
 1. At each table are 4 sentence cards. As a group you will read them aloud.
2. Each student picks 1 sentence card to paraphrase. I encourage you to work with
your group for help with synonyms or paraphrasing phrases.
3. After paraphrasing 1 sentence card. Pick another to paraphrase. Everyone should
have 2 paraphrases.
4. When both paraphrases are done switch with a partner and have them look at it. Did
you plagiarize? Is your paraphrase too close to the original? Are there other words
you can change?
5. Lastly, we will share paraphrases in front of class.

This worked much better. I didnt have to repeat myself instead I could go around and help
students who needed it.

What did you learn?

I learned that as a librarian, unlike classroom teachers, we have multiple opportunities to
make our lessons better. If something doesnt work out well the first time you can change it
for the next time. Classroom teachers only have one chance to get it right. I also learned
that I only have so much time with each class, so to make the most of it I need simple
directions for activities. The most amount of time is to let them practice and to assist them,
not repeating directions over and over again.

Which standards from ALA/AASL and RIPTS did this particular incident address, and
why?
RIPT 2:
I created a lesson based on the still students needed to learn about paraphrasing. In other
words I addressed the core skills, concepts, and ideas. I also engaged them through
multiple activities. With the guided activity and final activity I found sentences or quotes
that I thought would be fun and interesting to paraphrase. Throughout each of my lesson I
heard many children laugh.

RIPT 5:
The activities I planned extended beyond factual recall. I challenged students to use the
knowledge they learned in the lesson to create their own paraphrases. During the activities
I posed questions to encourage and help students better understand the material.
Examples of questions were why do you think that paraphrase is the best? What is
another word for.

RIPT 6:
I structured time for each activity even posting a timer on my slides to keep me and my
students are track. For example, I had a timer for 10 minutes for the final activity. That gave
students 5 minutes for the first paraphrase and 5 minutes for the second. I also had
students work in groups during both activities to discuss which paraphrases were the best
and to help each other create their own paraphrases. Lastly, the first couple classes of
teaching this lesson I didnt not give clear directions. I had to improve that by making the
directions simpler.

RIPT 8:
This goes along with the last point I made in RIPT 6 about confusing directions. Although I
had it written on a slide for review and verbalized it. Students were still confused so I had
to simplify the directions.

RIPT 10:
After each lesson, I would discuss with my CT about ways to improve my lesson. One
improvement of course was the simplified directions.