Today we taught our students about Topic and Main Idea.
I was in class early, and one of our students was too, so we engaged in conversation. He was having some issues understanding me, I tried to use simpler words and often resorted to typing for him. He turned his camera on, and I think he may have been copying and pasting what I typed in a translator. I wasn’t aware of his methods, but now that I am, it may change my way of teaching.
Class begins and we show a funny image of a giant panda. To everyone’s surprise, Ken shows up wearing a rice field hat! Some laughed and questioned the image, which built enough curiosity for what followed next. We thought it’d be good to talk mainly about topic and introduce main idea later on. We began with a game where students had to logically guess which topic belonged to which series of objects or things. They guessed accurately which showed promise. Ken talked about the vocabulary and pronunciation of words to prepare the students for reading aloud later on (listen and repeat).
I think Ken covered the topic of topics extensively, which may have taken a bit of time, but was essential especially given my pre-class conversation. He did an excellent job of providing accurate tips and examples. We then moved on to main ideas. I was a little skeptical about the timing of everything at this point that I may have involuntarily rushed through my explanation. The students seem to be ok with it, as they didn’t ask questions. Fortunately, we squeezed just about enough time to do our group activity. It was crucial to do, it was our only way of assessing the students. Ken and I had our respective groups to find the topic and main idea of a paragraph, I had one advanced student and one of the lower-level students. To my surprise, the lower level student did an amazing job at the task. I felt validated as a teacher right then and there. The small victories make the difference.
I think we’ve successfully covered our objectives for this class, and the students demonstrated our effective teaching through the group work. We then moved on to our closing activity, the exit ticket. Students told us what they’ve learned from the readings or the lesson in general.
If I could change one thing about this lesson, it’s always the timing of everything. I wonder if we cover too much material and fill the time with unnecessary topics. Perhaps we take for granted the students’ ability to comprehend the lesson. We still refining our radar when it comes to whether they’ve captured the intended information well or not.
