Videos+and+Observations+in+the+Classroom

__ @http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LzjTLs1AXo __
 * Read-Aloud Instruction on YouTube:**

I (Shannon Blackwell) did one of my kindergarten observations in a classroom that did an interactive read-aloud. It was a group of about 8 students. The first thing they were asked to was to see who their partner would be for the read-aloud. The teacher introduced the story by asking if anybody in the group had ever been angry. Of course the students had varying answers. Then the teacher asked if any of them had ever been very angry. She said we need to work hard to control our feelings. They read the story When Sophie gets angry-really, really angry by Molly Bang Before the story began they discussed the role of the author and illustrator of the story. And also the two awards the book had received. As the teacher reads the story, she stops midways through and points out Sophie's angry expression. She poses the question, "What would you do if you had a problem like this"?. She had them turn and talk to their neighbor briefly. Later on in the story, Sophie throws a fit. She asks them to turn and talk to their neighbor about what Sophie should do. In the end Sophie learns to control her feelings. They then turn and talk about what they should if they have really strong feelings to make them go away. The teacher asks the most important purpose of this book. She gives them some optional answers but they end up picking the right answer which is to help us think about controlling our own feelings. For such a short amount of time, this teacher really brought out alot of ideas and concepts that the students came to understand. This just shows how important reading aloud and interaction are to a child's academic development.