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.