Week 7, Assignment 1: Fluency and Word Study

What texts and materials do teachers have in their classrooms that support students' development of fluent reading?

Starting this school year, the school district has implemented the use of a comprehensive English language arts reading program called Journeys Common Core for all elementary grades.  The Assistant Superintendent of Instruction notes that there is more content in this program than teachers can fit in a school year. This leaves teachers with the challenge of identifying which material to teach.  It is particularly difficult as the content of the program is brand new so even experienced teachers are on a steep learning curve.  Positively, the abundance of materials each teacher can utilize includes differentiated levels of text of the same subject or story so there is some consistency in the entire class.  The available stories and nonfiction text all seem very interesting to young students and will encourage them to read to develop fluency.  Additionally, teachers are given posters for each unit that displays the essential question, key vocabulary words and target skills.  These colorful Focus Wall posters serve as a guide not only for the teacher but for the students as well.   The program has valuable online content that includes interactive whiteboard lessons as well as interactive content for students to complete at the school’s computer lab or at home. Students can also develop fluency by accessing each unit’s text passages online which includes audio narration to help struggling readers or those who prefer learning auditorily.

  

How do they select vocabulary to teach in all areas of your curriculum?

While the Journeys materials guide educators through a sequential approach with units and lessons, it is up to the individual teacher to choose which to introduce to students based on the essential question, content or subject of the anchor text, and target vocabulary words and comprehension skills. Those decisions will determine most of the new vocabulary that that classroom’s students will learn in the school year.

How much time do they allocate to word study?

Teachers in this district have been instructed to teach vocabulary within the context of a fictional story or nonfiction text to deepen understand instead of rote memorization.  While the teacher understands the strategy, her experience says that students need a broad range of word study activities beyond learning from context of a given text.  The students create and share original sentences and stories using new vocabulary and get quizzed regularly on definitions of vocabulary in the classroom.

  

What word study routines do they teach and encourage their students to use?

The teacher employs several word study routines with her students to reinforce phonics, spelling and vocabulary knowledge.  Students will start with new vocabulary words and study each word’s phonemes before identifying and sorting other words that share the same phonics.  For spelling, the teacher writes each word on the classroom SMART Board and guides the students in identifying patterns, strategies and tips.  Proper spelling is reinforced throughout the week in classwork and homework where students write sentences using the new words.  Lastly, but arguably most importantly, the teacher spends significant time on the students’ comprehension of the new words. They are first introduced in context as the teacher guides students reading the unit’s text.  She will point out new words and help the students understand the meaning and find strategies to find the definition.  The students’ knowledge is reinforced and assessed through classwork and homework that requires students to apply their understanding.

How do they differentiate instruction and tasks based on their students' needs?

The Journeys program features an anchor text for each unit along with related texts that are geared to students of varying reading skill.  This provides a consistency among all students as they are each reading about the same subject even if it’s at different levels of text complexity.  The Journeys program also provides different graphic organizers that teachers can use to differentiate instruction. It also includes numerous worksheets and interactive whiteboard activities that teachers can use to scaffold the instruction so that every student the opportunity to develop and deepen their knowledge and understanding.