Mackenzee CO #2

My second class observation was with a group 3B reading class with Kyle Kaminski. He had the class take turns reading the CIES newsletter out loud. We would stop any time there was a word or phrase that students were unaware of, and go over it together as a class. Mr. Kaminski typically gave the students a chance to answer what they thought the vocabulary meant and if no one knew, he would provide the answer for them. Even if they read the word perfectly, if it was an uncommon word that Mr. Kaminski thought they might not know, he would stop and ask them. The students had a sheet where they would write down all of the new vocabulary, the meaning, and the part of speech after Mr. Kaminski went over it and wrote it on the board. Some of the vocabulary included:

“at your disposal”= available immediately

“generic”= not sold or made under a particular brand name

“astronomical” (adj.)= extremely large

“surcharges”= an amount of money that must be paid in addition to the regular price

Every so often Mr. Kaminski would pull up the learners dictionary for definitions website to find other definitions and examples. But I thought it was very helpful when he provided real world examples for the students to go off of. I believe he said the students had vocabulary quizzes each week on the words they would go over in class, which I’m sure helps to motivate them to study the words after class. I think the CIES newsletter was definitely a good piece of writing for the students to read because it seemed to be the perfect length for the time of the class, and it even included questions (cultural questions and grammar questions) that CIES students had sent in, and we went over those as a class as well. Having everyone take a turn reading the newsletter ensured that everyone was participating and got the chance to ask questions if they had them.