congo
January 12, 2013
ENG-105 Observational Writing
Observation
Observing a group of second graders in a classroom atmosphere is quite interesting in seeing all the variations of students in one setting. The students take direction fairly well, they range from high to low in many areas, they are given many strategies to help them throughout the day. While first observing the students, they took directions from the teacher very well. They silently transitioned from morning work to writing a rough draft about a place they have been. They were given examples of correctly assembled sentences and how much they should write. They were told to start a rough draft and when they accomplished their rough draft to have it checked by the teacher. In the background there was a CD of classical music playing to help ease and help them become calm. Many of the students were able to work on their own with little help and focused quite well. Some students also found this time to be confusing and became squeamish and moved around frequently with many reminders to stay on track. There were many who hurried through their work and completed the assignment in record time. As they approached the teacher, she checked over the work and made many corrections and advised them to look over their writings because they left out detailed information. The second observation was while the students were reading books on their level. The students were “left loose” to read freely on their own while the teacher worked with other students in reading groups. It was noticed that the higher level reading students chose appropriate books that were just right for them or slightly challenging for them. Those students took their time, read each word and page carefully and enjoyed their book. On the other hand, students that were on lower levels had trouble finding a book, looked through many categories to find their “just right” book. Once they found a book to read silently, they often flipped through pages, overlooked words and fidgeted around their desk. They were unable to completely focus on their books while other students and noises easily distracted them from their readings. At the third observation the students started