Week Three Assignments

Shared Reading

How does this shared reading activity engage students who are at different levels of literacy development?

As the teacher led the class in reading a poem aloud together for the first time, the participation of the students differed based on their confidence and ability to recognize words and letter sounds.  Those students who are more proficient as engaged as they verbally participate.  Even those students who did not use their voice to follow along were engaged as they enjoyed the poem read by their teacher and classmates.  These children may not know the words well enough to recite but they are learning by watching and listening.

During her explicit phonics lesson, how does Ms. Perez support students' problem-solving skills?

Ms. Perez supported students’ problem-solving skills by building upon what they already know.  For example, when a young boy struggled with pronouncing the word “spot”, she reminded him of the sound of the blended consonant.  After he was able recite the consonants, she had him add the sound of “ot” before combining his knowledge to allow him to successfully say the word.  Her encouragement helped motivate students and made them feel proud for their accomplishments.

Based on what you saw in the video, what are the different ways that shared reading can be used to promote literacy?

Shared reading can encourage each of the students to read better.  For those who can read along with the teacher, they feel proud of their ability.  For students who struggle with the content, they can stay interested while their teacher leads the group. Their motivation to read better comes from wanting to join those who can recite with the teacher.   Perhaps, the teacher can pair students of different abilities to help promote literacy as one student learns from a peer.

Guided Reading

Why does she think it's important for students to verbalize their strategies? What else do you notice about how she helps students build meaning in text?

This video segment showed how effective a teacher led small group instruction can help students develop fluency, build vocabulary and improve reading comprehension.  The teacher shows different strategies to help students make sense of they are reading and to make connections with the text. One method she used was asking her students to verbalize their reading strategies.  In doing so, she says the strategies get internalized so they can be relied upon in future, independent reading.  I also see how verbalization of a student’s strategy can help others in the small group as they may learn something new that can help them.

Additionally, Ms. Perez challenges the students to think about a word that makes sense in the context of the sentence or story.  She hid an adjective to allow the young children the chance to use their understanding of the text to figure out an appropriate word to complete the sentence.  By doing so, she is using a fun way to help students in a guided reading group build meaning in text.

Differentiated Instruction

How does Ms. Perez organize her classroom to support a wide range of learners?

The classroom appears to be relatively large leading to a layout of different learning centers where the teacher and student teacher can lead small group instruction.  This allows for a broad range of learners to develop knowledge and skill at their own level.  Ms. Perez has opportunities to watch the students at work during “center time” as she takes in information for informal assessments

How are reading and writing connected in classroom activities?

The video clip shows two advanced readers connecting their reading with writing.  The two young girls took notes of important points when reading a higher level informational text.  They then grouped the notes together in logical categories to write their own book.  Making such a connection deepens the comprehension level allowing the readers to demonstrate their understanding through restating key ideas and details.

Assessment

How does Ms. Perez use ongoing individual assessment to guide her instruction? How can the class profile be used to help group students and differentiate instruction? 

The periodic individual assessments on each student’s reading ability and comprehension provide valuable data for the teacher.  Charted on a graph, the class profile shows a visual representation of the proficiency of the students.  Ms. Perez is able to use this information to determine what she will teach and how she will instruct the class.  She can adjust the lesson plans to fit the progress of the students.  She can also group her students by reading ability and provide appropriate small group instruction to help develop their skills.  Such differentiated instruction will help students progress based on their current reading level.  

How can ongoing assessment be integrated into your own classroom practice?

There is tremendous value in classroom data collected through ongoing assessments over a period of time.  This could show the rate of progress of each student as well as the levels of proficiency.  A teacher could identify those students who have excelled and provide further challenge with more advance materials.  Students with lower achievement can be tracked easily and provided more small group support or individual instruction.  

The Importance of Informal Assessment 

While summative assessment provides valuable opportunities for teachers to evaluate and document student learning at the end of a unit or lesson, informal testing is equally important to measure the progress of students on an ongoing basis.  With periodic informal assessment throughout a school year, teachers will gain valuable information that can be utilized to create lessons, adjust instruction and structure class activities to address specific issues.  

One major advantage of such regular data is the ability to keep students engaged with appropriate levels of instruction.  If students are demonstrating a high level of proficiency through informal assessment, teachers can increase the rigor to maintain the challenge and interest in the classroom.  If informal assessments show that students are having difficulty mastering concepts, teachers can reinforce previous lessons with additional activities before moving on to other topics.  Such responsiveness and adjustment by teachers can help address deficiencies of individual students earlier.  With increased demands on classroom time, informal assessment is more critical than ever so teachers can make smarter and more timely decisions on their instruction to foster academic achievement of their students.

Week Two Assignments

1. Reflection on your understanding of ELA instruction

With quickly changing technologies in an expanding global economy, the importance of English Language Arts (ELA) instruction has grown significantly.  More than ever, students need to learn literacy skills to read, write, speak, listen, and visually represent their thoughts and positions to prepare them for college education and careers.  It is critical for ELA instructors to guide students through proper understanding and use of the English language.  That task is indeed a comprehensive one as it includes many and equally essential elements. 

Students require reading skills that come from comprehending a variety of texts like classic literature, contemporary fiction, poetry, and nonfiction stories and articles.  Students will be exposed to a broad range of information that will expand their knowledge and perspective of the world while encouraging their creativity.  To be college and career-ready, they will also need to be proficient at logically expressing their ideas through writing in a variety of media and contexts.  Knowledge of proper and effective use of the English language including an expanded vocabulary will be necessary.  Additionally, the ability to speak clearly to convey thoughts and arguments is essential as is the ability to listen well to understand complex ideas and information.  Lastly, with so much available technology, ELA teachers should utilize current tools that will not only engage students but familiarize them with importance of learning and communicating through such devices.

2. Write a brief reflection on what you learned from the video and post it on your blog.

The kindergarten teacher, Sheila Owens, demonstrates and explains a structured process to help her young students become capable independent readers and writers.  Ms. Owens explains a literacy routine that starts with the teacher reading passages aloud to the students.  She then involves the students in reading with her in shared reading before increasing the level of reading independence even more though guided reading.  The ultimate goal is for students to read independently where the teacher’s role is merely observation.  Similarly, Ms. Owens employs a daily routine for writing where students start with interactive writing as a class before performing independent writing.  This daily routine is an effective way to foster independent reading and writing skills and can be modeled in various grade levels and for different subjects.  As the teacher demonstrates the skill before she works with students to ensure understanding proficiency, she is fostering confidence that is needed to perform the task independently.

3. Critique on the sample lesson plan on your blog.

The lesson plan titled “A Bear of a Poem: Composing and Performing Found Poetry” details a creative lesson on how students can create and perform poetry through familiar literature.  This is an effective way of engaging students in a process that would otherwise seem daunting.  This lesson plan provides a guided method that starts very innocently without the students knowing that they will create poetry utilizing existing resources.  Students will enjoy a sense of control as they select words or passages that will be incorporated into a different format.  I particularly like how this lesson culminates in a poetry performance that further challenges the students to think creatively, write meaningfully and take ownership of their collaborative work.

Introducing me... via Voki

Here's the link to my 60 second Voki introduction:

http://www.voki.com/php/viewmessage/?chsm=ac4f6626dfbfe0793152e49dea14b57a&mId=1890428