This past Thursday was a highlight of my week. That day at my practicum placement (6th grade social studies geography class) I had the privilege of leading the lessons for second period. This type of role is always a treat for me because the regular teacher plans and executes the lesson for the first period while I observe. Second period I play her part. I got to incorporate a reading strategy into my lesson delivery that the primary teacher did not use. The kids paid attention exceptionally well and with the "narrate/summarize-it-back" reading comprehension strategy I was able to hold the class accountable and formatively assess their understanding. I love hearing what stands out from each paragraph to them. This process also allows me to unpack points that they might easily gloss over.
For example the chapter "Russia and Eurasian Countries" the text states that 74% of Russia's population lives west of the Ural Mtns. So I stopped here and asked the kids why they thought this was. To model solving this problem I posed the following questions in quick succession as students shouted out the obvious answers... eventually leading us a probable solution. The reasoning trail looked like this: West of the Ural Mtns lies the West European plain = fertile soil --> good farming --> food --> eating --> people surviving. People like to live near steady food sources.
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