In this lesson for Life Skills Transition, I built off a previous lesson in which the students practiced asking each other conversational questions. Curious to see if the students could maintain the conversation by listening and asking a follow-up question, I created the stoplight activity to engage them in longer conversations.
Due to the unexpected activity period schedule, I had to cut out certain parts of my lesson for the sake of time. However, the students received lots of hands-on practice with fine motor skills, and they proved their abilities to carry on a conversation. From the start of the lesson, some students were not following along with my directions, so I counted down and modeled putting on my “listening ears.” This image stuck with the students as they imitated me. Throughout the lesson, I redirected them well and kept them engaged by prompting and recognizing their correct answers. For example, one student became confused about the difference between the red and yellow colors on a stoplight, so I corrected the initial error and allowed him to give me his definition of the red color afterwards. The students successfully helped me form definitions, and my two learners with modified activities cut and pasted their definitions well. The students also determined the emotions on the cards well, even coming up with some emotions of which I did not think previously. Overall, they impressed me with their conversational skills. I think I scaffolded effectively and remained expressive. My co-op specifically appreciated my prompting for the students and mentioned that I gave quality, specific feedback. In the future, I could bring more tangible materials for my kinesthetic learners and prepare more emotion cue cards, but I felt the lesson achieved its goal even more than I expected.