Bobby - CO 3

I observed Angel Rios’s Group 3 Grammar class this morning. I’m really glad I went to this particular group’s lesson because I had been to Group 2 in my previous two observations. It was really interesting to see the differences between the two sections with regard to knowledge of the English language. Angel was lively and seemingly happy, regardless of a fractured finger on his right hand. This is unfortunately on his dominant hand, making it difficult for him to write on the board. Despite this, he went through a detailed lecture on “Infinitives vs. Gerunds.” He drew a large Venn diagram on the whiteboard and labeled each circle accordingly. Angel is very interactive with his students; he likes to ask a lot of questions to make sure the students are paying attention and (hopefully) enjoying the lesson. He asked students to call out the functions of infinitives (noun, adjective, adverb) and gerunds (noun), respectively. He then detailed their uses within the diagram. I won’t go through each point, but it was a very cohesive lesson that was easy to follow. Along the way, Angel asked the students basic grammar questions to support his lesson, such as, “What does an object do?” or “How does an adverb function in a sentence?” Following the lecture portion, he asked the students to take out a sheet of paper and, working together, construct a sentence for each use of the infinitive or gerund. It turned out that the students didn’t want to work together (unclear why?), but they successfully completed the assignment. This only took about 10 minutes, after which Angel called on different students to read their sentences aloud. I think Angel is a very competent and sincere instructor, and it is very clear that he is passionate about his work. His students are very lucky!