Chapter 11

What I found interesting in chapter eleven was the recitation pattern.  The recitation pattern fall into three parts, these three parts are known as IRE.  The “I” stands for invite, the teacher ask the students a question.  The “R” stands for respond, the students respond to the question. The “E” stands for evaluation; the teacher evaluates the students answer and provides feedback.  I found it interesting because I have never used this in my classroom.  With nonverbal SH elementary students this is something that wouldn’t work in my classroom.  When I observed a teacher using the recitation pattern I found it very interesting and a useful for a teacher to evaluate her students. “This evaluation of the student seems to shape a teacher’s academic expectations for that student.” (Diaz-Rico, Pg.303) Most of the student was very engaged in the lesson. They were listening to the teacher, interacting with the teacher, and listening to their peers.  The teacher was collecting data on the students as they responded to her questions.
My only concern with the recitation pattern was that only a few students were responding to the teacher’s questions.  During the lesson the same six kids kept raising their hands to answer the question.  It was great that these students wanted to respond I just felt it didn’t give an opportunity for all students to respond.  I wonder if this is common or just something I saw in this lesson.  I would like to observe more teachers using the recitation pattern to see if there is a different outcome.

Diaz-Rico, Lynne T. Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners, 2^nd Edition, C. Pearson Education Inc: Boston 2008. Page 303