Danielle Reflection Lesson 2

What did students learned and which students struggled with the lesson?

Students learned about different elements of informational text. They were particularly interested in graphs and diagrams. They did not seem to struggle with this content. All of us had an opportunity to share and we succeeded with being respectful listeners as well. I had one student try to tell me about his book when I needed to point out an element showing informational text. He was easily redirected back to the subject.

I was the only one in the room during this lesson. This was the first day I subbed. I could see someone seeing this lesson as very ‘student led.’ Most of the lesson I spent calling on students to explain and I did not give a lot of direct instruction other than retelling. This can be both a positive and a negative. The students were engaged and listening to each other but I’m wondering if some students need that teacher model a few times. Either way, they still seemed to understand.

What did you learn about your students’ literacy practices that extend beyond your objectives?

I learned that these students were much more interested in informational text than I thought. In part of my inquiry, I wrote that it could be harder to get them interested. Amy wrote that this might not be the case. I was wrong. Just because I didn’t get excited over informational text when I was in school, doesn’t mean they won’t if it is presented as engaging. They are not modeling my childhood attitude but it is important to keep in mind how some may be feeling.

When and how will you re-teach the material to students who need additional support?

I will keep asking, “What did you notice? And Why is that there?” This will get students thinking about these elements and why they’re there. They will see them in many different places and it is important to recognize them every time.

If you were to teach this same lesson again, what would you do differently and how do you think the changes would improve students’ learning?

I would have done a partner share instead of everyone sharing out. I thought it would be good because we had the time, but I had to push very hard for a listening class. My class is 30 so it takes time and attention. I would do a partner share if I were to do this again. It was still fun for the students to find their element in the book. It was treated like a treasure hunt.

What did you learn so far about implementing your ‘core practice’ and what do you need to do to continue your professional learning?

I already know that every time I do this it is going to get a little smoother. My management will continue to improve. I need to keep thinking about these little details for time and readiness. Teaching includes remembering to give every explicit direction for a smooth class. This lesson was better but I want to keep growing.

Danielle: Reflection Lesson 1

What did students learned and which students struggled with the lesson?

Students learned about different elements of informational text. They were particularly interested in graphs and diagrams. They struggled with the vocabulary a bit. I ended up writing all of the words on the board. Students said they noticed: headings, index, or glossary. I am happy that I received this response but I cannot assume that a couple of my struggling students know this vocabulary even if they have heard it before. We reviewed as a class and I asked some of the students to just revoice what their peer said the word means.

What are alternate reads of your students’ performance or products?

My mentor teacher felt that students understood. She noticed one of my students struggling to be attentive. He is very intelligent and he is well known for his ADHD. He doesn’t stop moving. I did not see an issue with his movement but my MT saw him moving and was not engaged. He may have needed more noticing and direction from me.

What did you learn about your students’ literacy practices that extend beyond your objectives?

These students can noticed different informational text elements and they can tell my why they’d use it. One thing they weren’t sure of is ‘where to start.’ Part of my lesson involved looking at a book about an animal and determining where you’d start if you were trying to read for enjoyment or if you were reading to find out what they eat. Most of my students started saying they’d start from the beginning either way. The concepts of how to work with a book have been drilled so much that they had trouble stepping out of that box.

When and how will you re-teach the material to students who need additional support?

This was the first lesson. It introduced our topic. Everyday will build on it. We will review this at the beginning of the next lesson. Students who know the answers will share and the students who don’t will repeat. We will review, “What is informational text?, Why would you use it?, Where would you start?” Eventually part of this review will include the 4 structures of informational text but we haven’t gotten to that part yet.

If you were to teach this same lesson again, what would you do differently and how do you think the changes would improve students’ learning?

One management thing I would do is plan differently when students go to select their books. Our informational text selection is limited. There is more than enough for everyone to have one but they were all in one spot and I feel that time was wasted waiting for students to choose. I had one student crying because there were not any horse books left. I should have either moved the books to different places in the room or just let each student choose one of three books I point out to them. I don’t like selecting the books because I am asking them why they chose it, but at least if they pick one out of three it might save valuable instruction time. I would also send ask more from my ELL student. He seemed to volunteer but couldn’t use all of the words such as ‘heading’ or ‘glossary.’ I would most likely like to do a short vocabulary lesson with him.

What did you learn so far about implementing your ‘core practice’ and what do you need to do to continue your professional learning?

I learned to think a little more about management. I also learned that the more students talk, the more engaged they are. They were very engaged in my lesson. Choral responses are helpful and having them do it twice- louder can even bring back students. I feel it was a successful lesson.

Unit Reflection

After teaching each lesson, write a Book Club Blog Posting discussing the following:

·          What students learned and which students struggled with the lesson. 

·          What are alternate reads of your students’ performance or products?

·          When and how will you re-teach the material to students who need additional support?

·          If you were to teach this same lesson again, what would you do differently and how do you think the changes would improve students’ learning?

What did you learn so far about implementing your ‘core practice’ and what do you need to do to continue your professional learning? 

Over the course of my unit, I taught both whole group and small group.  The small group work was the focus of most of my work.  During this time I worked on a reader's theater performance with the lowest two reading groups.
The students saw huge strides over the two weeks.  They used more expression and read smoother and more accurately.  They learned new vocabulary and how to work as a team.  We had difficulty with behavior and talkativeness  but working through these issues I feel the students got a lot out of the 2 weeks.
I gave the students self assessments to rate their performances.  While most of the students rated themselves in a similar fashion to how I rated them, there were a couple of outliers.  One student ranked herself in the lowest categories, saying that she was terrible.  I disagreed.  While she had issues controlling herself, she read with the most expression of anyone in the group by the end of the two weeks.  One student ranked himself with the highest ratings, when I evaluated him as significantly lower due to expression, reading rate, and behavior.  This is potentially because he a) did not have a chance to see himself perform, or b) that he thought his evaluation was for a grade in the classroom.  
The re-teaching of material happened over the course of the 2 weeks.  I kept a running record of missed words, punctuation, and expression, and reiterated those points during our read throughs.  By the final performance the vast majority of these problem points were performed excellently.  
If I were to do this activity again I would have not put my 2 lowest groups together.  While they had the most to gain from this exercise, the behavior and self control would have been much better if I had mixed a lower group with a higher one.  In addition, the higher group would have been able to model proper technique.  The entire 2nd week of planned lessons I scrapped and stretched my first week over 2, because the students needed all of that time to be able to read the piece.  When I selected the piece I focused on tying it into the whole group lessons, and chose a piece at a level far above the students' reading level.  Next time I would make sure to have a properly leveled piece so lessons would move at a faster rate.  
I learned that to increase fluency and comprehension lots of re-reading, explanations  and patience are necessary.  I felt like the students should have been able to move at a faster pace, and therefore had to change my plans entirely.   Having led this, I feel more prepared to handle a similar situation, and look forward to helping the students become better readers through the course of the year.  

Reflections for Lessons 3 & 4

I decided to combine my reflections since the two lessons were covering the same story with the same KWL worksheet and would flow better with less interruptions this way, and especially because a lot of the answers were the same for both days.

1. What students learned and which students struggled with the lesson. I know that students learned background knowledge really well- I know this because several students were able to tell me on the second day what background knowledge was in their own words during the opening discussion. They were also able, during the discussion for both lessons, to pull in examples of their own experiences to relate to the text. Some students were confused about the KWL chart I introduced, and several struggled to find enough to write about, especially in the Learned and Want to Learn column. In the second lesson, students were a little bit better at filling out the chart once we finished the text selection and they had more to write about. I think part of the problem was that the text selection was a little bit small and about something some students knew a lot about.
2. What are alternate interpretations of your students' performance or products? Students were engaged during my lessons and loved raising their hand to tell me personal tidbits about themselves that they then told me were background knowledge. During the second lesson, they were great at summarizing what had occurred in the text the day before. In the first lesson, they made great predictions about what they thought would happen in the story. On the first lesson day, I learned that some of my students don't like to write- and will find any excuse to NOT do so, and so I had to field comments such as "I don't have anything I want to know" or "I already know everything." which, to be honest, I had to ask my mentor teacher about what she recommended telling students in response to questions like those. She told me that for those reasons and a few others, she is not a big fan of KWL charts and almost never uses them in the classroom.
3. What did you learn about your students' literacy practices that extend beyond your objectives? My students were mostly able to make good connections to text, but beyond that were great at making inferences of the text and predicting what would happen next in the story. They were also able to NAME what they were doing in the instances of inferencing and predicting, which I did not expect.
4. When and how will you re-teach the material to students who need additional support? For those students who were struggling with the text connections we were working on, I plan to use the background strategy throughout the year- and throughout different subjects. I was already able to use it in math; we were going over multiplication patterns and someone told me of a pattern they had learned from their father, and I said "Great! Now, who can tell me what that is called? Hint: we learned about it in Reading Street" and almost everyone raised their hand to answer with "Background knowledge!" Hopefully, by revisiting this topic during other subjects and tying it in that way, those students who had a hard time connecting to the text will understand the strategy in other ways and will then be able to connect it to texts. For those students who need more than that, I will arrange for one-on-one time during the end of the day silent reading times or during "Meet with me" workshop stations to go over the concepts.
5. If you were to teach this same lesson again, what would you do differently and how do you think the changes would improve students' learning? I don't think I would use a KWL chart next time. Instead, I would have each student write one aspect of the story that was similar to an event that happened in their life (i.e. playing basketball with friends, etc) and go around the room to have students share their experiences and then have them explain why they think that ties in with the text. That way, I can have everyone participating and each making a meaningful connection themselves. I would also like to move around the room more during classroom reading to help manage whispered conversations between students and in order to observe them while still paying attention to the student reading to prevent distractions that might lead to confusion among students. 
6. What did you learn so far about implementing your 'core practice' and what do you need to do in order to continue your professional learning? I would REALLY like to learn how to deal with frivolous questions from students that are trying to avoid certain things like writing. I would also like to tie in different books to this discussion so that students could share other text connections they make. Lastly, I want to continue to improve upon my ability to control a classroom during a discussion where they are all super excited to share so they continually blurt out of turn.

Sarah-Lesson Reflection #2

What did students learned and which students struggled with the lesson?

During my lesson, most students continued learning about what background knowledge is and how it can help in understanding text. Today, the students learned and practiced making connections to the text. Almost everyone can make text to self connections, but making text to text connections is much more difficult. Of course, there were still a few students who struggled with the lesson. Making connections is a higher level thinking skill that is difficult for a couple of my students. 

What are alternate reads of your students’ performance or products?

My mentor teacher noticed that most students were engaged in the lesson and that the majority of students were giving great responses to my prompts. They were able to make good connections to the text when asked. 

What did you learn about your students’ literacy practices that extend beyond your objectives?

In addition to what I noticed yesterday, I saw that some students were able to answer questions about the story. They were able to make some inferences about the text when prompted. They were also able to summarize well the first part of the story that was read the day before. 

When and how will you re-teach the material to students who need additional support?

Some students will need additional support. I will work with those students one-on-one during available times (silent reading, morning warm-up, ect.) to reteach the topics. I will emphasis simple ways to engage background knowledge and provide more examples and scaffolding about how to apply background information. 

 If you were to teach this same lesson again, what would you do differently and how do you think the changes would improve students’ learning?

I would make my modeled connections more clear to the students. This way, students could better use my connections to help them make theirs. I would also space out my connections more so that we could read more of the story in between each. I want to  continue to circulate the room more to do better managing by proximity. I also want to continue to use more "talk moves" to engage the students in listening to each other and expanding on others' thinking. 

What did you learn so far about implementing your ‘core practice’ and what do you need to do to continue your professional learning?
Everything that I mentioned yesterday is still true. I did notice that doing connections was a lot easier than doing a KWL chart with interactive read read a loud. So many of my students wanted to share, so that was really exciting. I want to transition to having some discussions about books. Our students have been working on some good discussion behaviors so far this year. 

Sarah-Lesson Reflection Blogpost

What did students learned and which students struggled with the lesson?

During my lesson, most students continued learning about what background knowledge is and how it can help in understanding text. Today, the students learned about how to use a KWL chart to organized thoughts about background information. They also learned about how this can help them in their reading. I can tell that most of the students are picking up on the concepts based on their answers during discussions and their KWL charts. I did notice a few students who are struggling to understand how background knowledge can help them read. This is especially true of students who missed parts of the lesson. Because today was an early release day, we had a lot of students leaving early.

What are alternate reads of your students’ performance or products?

My mentor teacher noticed that most students were engaged in the lesson and that the majority of students were giving great responses to my prompts and questions and using the KWL effectively. 

What did you learn about your students’ literacy practices that extend beyond your objectives?

I have noticed that many students naturally love to read. They also are noticing "said is dead" words (words to use in place of said). Currently, students do like to comment while reading, but do not yet discuss well with peers. Listening to others is still difficult for them. 

When and how will you re-teach the material to students who need additional support?

At the end of the day today, I worked with a student who I know needed additional support. We reviewed what background knowledge is and how it can be useful in reading. I have also had a student tell me she does not understand. I shared some more concrete examples related to her life with her. Tomorrow, we will recap what we talked about today and introduce another way to think about background knowledge. 

 If you were to teach this same lesson again, what would you do differently and how do you think the changes would improve students’ learning?

I would try to write more neatly on the smart board. This would help students to follow what I am writing and to read it. I would also try to include more student input into my interactive read aloud. This would make the lesson even more engaging, by making the students a bigger part of the lesson. I want to circulate the room more to do better managing by proximity. I also want to use more "talk moves" to engage the students in listening to each other and expanding on others' thinking. 

What did you learn so far about implementing your ‘core practice’ and what do you need to do to continue your professional learning?
I have seen that interactive read alouds are a lot harder than I would imagine. I want to continue to practice integrating my thinking and my students thinking in a way that adds to reading the text out loud. All of these factors feel a bit hard to balance. However, I can see the benefits of using interactive read alouds. It promotes much more student thinking and provides them with good modeling of how to think while reading than just reading the text alone. 

1st Lesson Book Club Blog Reflection - Louis Armbrecht

After teaching each lesson, write a Book Club Blog Posting discussing the following:

·          What students learned and which students struggled with the lesson. 

·          What are alternate reads of your students’ performance or products?

·          What did you learn about your students’ literacy practices that extend beyond your objectives?

·          When and how will you re-teach the material to students who need additional support?

·          If you were to teach this same lesson again, what would you do differently and how do you think the changes would improve students’ learning?

What did you learn so far about implementing your ‘core practice’ and what do you need to do to continue your professional learning? 

The students today learned what reader's theater is.  They struggled with maintaining order, and were talking nearly throughout the whole time, so we did not finish a read through of the piece.  
The students that I am working with are in the lowest two reading groups.  When I told them that reader's theater was like a play where we read out loud, one girl said, "But I stink at reading, do I have to do this?"  This shows she does not have much confidence in her abilities, something that I am hoping to change by showing that she can do it.  
Tomorrow I am altering the original plan to focus more on comprehension rather than vocabulary.  The students did not finish the script, and read with so many breaks between parts I do not know if they understood the plot.  Tomorrow we will go over what happened already, finish the script, and then talk about characters, setting, genre, and what happened in the story.  
If I were to teach this lesson again I would be harsher with the discipline.  There were 3 students out of the 10 that I was working with that would not stop distracting the other students.  I have my MT's approval that if this happens tomorrow, they will be sent back to the classroom and will not be able to participate.  
So far I think it was a rough start, but I know that there is room for improvement, especially once the students get into doing reader's theater and enjoy the activity instead of trying to goof off to show off to their friends.  

'Strategies That Work' Jigsaw- Danielle

Chapter 12: Content Literacy- Reading for Understanding in Social Studies or Science

Take Away Message

Schools are getting less and less time for social studies and science because all of the time is being devoted to reading and math. It is necessary to find some integration strategies.

The new content must connect to the current, focus on comprehension, and promote independent thinking.

Social Studies:
Applicable read alouds
Concept maps
Folktales to understand culture
Book clubs
Use of primary sources
Historical reinactments
Maps
Time lines
Journals and personal narratives
Current events- news in print

Science:
Science Journals
Teaching books
Anchor Charts
Variety of features from informational text
Vocabulary with word walls
Noticing new information
Note taking strategies
Creating manuals and posters
Mind Maps

Week 6 Initial Post

Authentic Questions

In Strategies that Work, the authors talk about 'authentic questions'. They list several criteria on what these types of questions should do, such as prompt thinking, challenging the reader to ponder and/or wonder, or to challenge us to rethink our opinions. (pg 124). So I came up with a few I would ask myself after reading the selections we have due this week- and for the rest of the semester. "Why will reading help me with my unit lessons?" and "How will I implement what I've learned in this in my daily teaching life?" are questions that will help readers sift through the information they just read to pinpoint exactly the information that will be helpful and applicable to their life.

As well, I thought of a question I could ask my students after reading texts with characters with them. "How do you think the character feels/felt?" followed up by "What makes you think that?" would be interesting, because it would allow the students to try to reach a deeper level of understanding and empathy with the characters.

Also, on page 125 of Strategies that Work, I read the next section was "Teaching with the End in Mind"- which got me thinking. I can be guilty of approaching a text assigned in class with a 'read it and get it over with' mentality, especially  I hurry through the text without really absorbing the information or gaining anything from what I read. But I saw that section heading and thought to myself- it's all good and dandy to have questions at the end of something to challenge thinking, but what about at the beginning? And I thought it would be cool to start trying a different approach to my readings- a "Reading with the end in mind' kind of menality. With this, I would approach my readings with a question or two already thought of, such as "What am I hoping to learn from this reading?" or "What am I stuck on in my lessons that I should keep in mind to try and find a solution to?" By approaching future readings like this, I'm hoping I can really retain valuable information to me for use in the real world.

Anecdotal Records

I already knew the importance of taking anecdotal records. There is a lot to learn from purposeful records and it is helpful to be able to see the collections of records about a student. I also knew that it is important to write observable data, but sometimes I forget in practice.  Something new is that using address label sticky notes could make taking records. I have seen sticky notes used, but sticky notes are not very sticky. I can imagine myself using a system with the address labels. I also liked the table of abbreviations that the article gives to help facilitate anecdotal record keeping.  I am still confused about what times are good to take. I notice good times for anecdotal records in math, but in language arts, the students are usually just listening to a story being read, the teacher talk, or filling out a worksheet. Maybe it is best to think about what standards are trying to be met and to try to frame my record keeping that way.  I am thinking differently about how to manage working with the student and writing notes. It seems like a lot to handle, but I do agree that it is possible. I am thinking that it just takes practice and that over time, after developing a system, it will be easier to jot records down between working with students. I suppose, then, that it is really good to be starting now. 

Anecdotal Records

V=knew
+=new knowledge
?=confusing
-= contradicts what you think


(V/+) A fundamental purpose of assessment is to communicate what the child knows and is able to do. Teacher-generated, anecdotal records provide an insider’s perspective of the child’s educational experience

The five components to be addressed are as follows: observing children in instructional settings, maintaining a standards-based focus, making anecdotal records, managing anecdotal records, and using anecdotal records for assessment.

Observing children in instructional settings:  Choose certain students to observe, and split the class up over the course of the week.  This is a great idea! (+)

Maintaining a standards-based focus: Focus on specific pre-determined things before hand so it isn't overwhelming (+)

Making anecdotal records: don't use (on task, can't), use measurable things with quantitative/observable  data (+)

Managing anecdotal records: "Lean is clean, wordy is dirty" ( V)

Analysis of anecdotal records: After a period of weeks go and analyze the records to see what students need, and think about how you will provide this (V)

Write records with parents in mind +

What Can I do? Standards based observations to observe each students progress (?)
What can I do?Actively observe all of the students in the class
What can I Do? Use the observations to inform my teaching and preparation

Danielle- Anecdotal Records

Honestly, I did not know what anecdotal records were before the article. I could make some inferences but could not give a specific description.

I kind of know it but I liked how the 5 components to be addressed were organized. My brain works in lists and it seemed to further my understanding.

New information!: I love the table of words to use for anecdotal records. I feel that when I take notes I assume too much. I say that students are able or not able to do something and that is something I need to change ASAP!

I know that this type of assessment is a goal toward interpretation of student work.

I did not know the strategies of how not to have to re-record notes in the files. I would like to add systems to make my notes accessible.

I also want to apply this to my student's interests. I think I could keep a record for each student telling me what they like. I can't remember which of my students are boy scouts. I know some of them like dance but I only have a select few in my head for sure. I could keep better records of what they say during this kind of discussion. I know it will only be an anecdotal record if I write it as... Student A said, "I like to read about basketball." I now know not to write. Student A likes to read about basketball.

Danielle's Unit Plan Questions

1) Informational Text Structure

2) 90 minutes each day for this lesson and phonics.

3) RI 4.5 I can describe informational text patterns

RI 4.7 I can explain information from charts, graphs, diagrams, timelines, animations, or interactive parts of web pages

Embedded Concepts: RI 4.4 I can identify and understand content works and phrases that are studied in 4^th grade.

4) The students will learn how to work with informational text to obtain information. They will have to do this for research and many different academic readings.

5) These lessons can easily be scaffolded into student talk. My class has some students who will not be prepared to take on a discussion format, but I can see those skills building and we will see what they are ready for in a few weeks. We are working on norms in terms of teambuilding and supporting what each other says. My only concern is I have one student with some of the worst behavior problems in the school. I have another that we are working on his blurting problem.

6) Reading Comprehension/ Strategy instruction- Guided interactive discussions

7) We have a book room, Elmo, and MEAP preparation books- so that I can choose informational text pieces that they will be tested on. We have areas to do this in the school other than the student’s desks.

8) I need to find the appropriate books. We have picked out about 6. I just need to find them. There should be a copy of each in the school.

9) My MT and I are still putting that together. We are working on a post assessment and we will modify that and turn it into a pre-assessment.

10) I need to find out their previous experience with informational text. There are two 3^rd grade teachers I could talk to. I will also study the standards to see what they have learned.

11) I am excited to do some discussion. I was not allowed to last year because my teacher feared the classroom would get out of hand. I have 4^th grade this year so they should be able to master these skills.

Unit Plan Questions

1. Describe your target area for guided lead teaching.

My target area for guided lead teaching is comprehension strategies.  By the time we get to my guided lead teaching we will have started centers.  I will teach the whole group mini-lesson and then work with specific students who need comprehension work.  The mini lesson will cover myths and legends the first week, and then narrative and informational text the next two weeks. 

2. Approximately how much time per day is allotted for your instruction in this area?

The literacy block every day is 90 minutes long. 

3. Which Common Core State Standard(s) will you work toward?

·         CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology (e.g., Herculean).

·         CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.5 Explain major differences between poems, drama, and prose, and refer to the structural elements of poems (e.g., verse, rhythm, meter) and drama (e.g., casts of characters, settings, descriptions, dialogue, stage directions) when writing or speaking about a text

·         CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.7 Make connections between the text of a story or drama and a visual or oral presentation of the text, identifying where each version reflects specific descriptions and directions in the text.

·         CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.9 Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures.

·         CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

4. How will teaching in this target area provide opportunities for students to learn important content and/or skills that relate to their lives?  In what ways does this learning include learning literacy, learning about literacy, and/or learning through literacy?

The focus of the mini lessons will provide students with exposure to different genres.  Myths and Legends are some of the oldest stories we have, so learning them will help the students become more culturally knowledgeable.  Narrative and Informational text are two of the most common text types, learning their characteristics and how to read and comprehend them effectively is a valuable life skill. 

5. What types of classroom talk take place within this target area? To what extent is the talk teacher-led, student-led, or focused on higher-level thinking? What norms for interaction would you like to build within your classroom as you teach in this target area (e.g., see ideas in Chapter 6 of Strategies that Work, the Berne & Clark 2008 article, or draw from some of the readings done in TE 402 on classroom talk such as Almasi, 2006)?

I would like to use sticky notes in connection with two of the ideas from chapter 6 of strategies that work.  I liked the inner conversation and interactive read aloud sticky notes ideas.  The group lessons will start off as teacher led, but will transition to discussion as students learn the comprehension strategies and activities. 

6. Which ‘core practice’ do you want to work on developing/improving as you teach in this target area (refer to document “Resources for Developing Core Practices”)? How will focusing on this core practice contribute to your own professional learning?

Comprehension strategy and assessment.  Most, if not all, textbooks we have had in all of our TE classes have stressed the importance of this.  Having the chance to teach it and get my teaching assessed will be a great experience. 

7. What resources within the community, neighborhood, school district, school or classroom do you have to work with in this target area?

The reading curriculum, the library, the book room

8. What additional resources do you need to obtain?

Short stories for each genre for small group instruction, sticky notes

9. How will you pre-assess your students in your target area?

Observations in the regular literacy classroom time

10. What else will you need to find out about all students in your class to help you develop lesson plans for your Guided Lead Teaching?

Gather a list of the students with the lowest comprehension levels

11. What else do you need/want to learn about the ‘core practice’ to support your planning and teaching?

How literacy centers work (we haven’t done them yet)

12. What concerns, if any, do you have about planning and teaching your unit?

None that I can think of for now

Discussing Guided Lead Teaching Target Areas and Core Practices

Guided Lead Teaching

1. My target area for guided lead teaching is reading comprehension/strategy instruction. Specifically, I will be focusing on background knowledge in week 1 and story structure in week 2.

2. Mondays and Fridays I will have up to one hour. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, I will have thirty minutes.

3. Common Core Standard:
Reading Standard, Key Ideas and Details:

Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

4. Being able to comprehend text is an important skill for life because of there are a variety of texts that people read throughout the day that need comprehended. Learning comprehension skills is learning literacy and allows students to better learn through literacy.

5. Right now, the talk that takes place is teacher led. I would like to see more student led talk. Specifically, I want students to be able to share their thinking aloud and to listen and build off of each other’s thoughts.

6. The core practice I want to develop as I teach is using interactive read alouds. I don’t really have much experience with any of the core practice. I can see myself using this practice in the future, so I wanted to gain experience with it.

7. My resources include my MSU professors, colleagues, my field instructor, mentor teacher, and other teachers in the building. I have the Reading Street information, Strategies that Work, Literacy for the 21^st century, and a variety of articles.

8. I want to find more examples of interactive read alouds so I can see models of what I am trying to do.

9. I am not really sure how to best pre-assess my students on comprehension strategies. I do not know if it is beneficial to ask them about what the strategies mean along with an question that leads the students into using the strategy.

10. I want to find out more about my students’ comprehension struggles and abilities and what they know about comprehension strategies.

11. I want to know how to pre-assess comprehension strategies and to see models of what interactive read alouds look like.

12. No concerns yet…

Writing Essentials-Integrating Basic Skills, Organizing for Daily Writing, and Conferencing

Often when I read about education, I am overcome with the notion that being an effective teacher is a difficult task, for a variety of reasons. What I have been thinking about lately is the issue of classroom time. Routman says that writing needs to happen daily and if a teacher values it, then they will make time for it. She quotes Don Graves saying that if we don’t teach writing at least four days a week for at least 45 minutes a day, we shouldn’t bother at all. I whole-heartedly agree with Routman when she says that “writing is one of the best ways I know to develop deep thinking.” Even more so, writing is so applicable and important to life outside school, so it surely deserves much time in school. It is just difficult to squeeze anything into the schedule. As a side note, I really appreciate Routman’s discussion about how to teach writing effectively, because the least you can do when there is limited time is to make the best use of that time. 

I am currently struggling with the schedule we have right now in my classroom. We only have writing three times a week for 45 minutes. There is even less time for other reading instruction because the schedule gets filled with all sorts of things so quickly. The sample schedules in the text have social studies and science integrated in the reading and writing time slots, without any separate time scheduled specifically for them. In our schedule we do have separate time slots for social studies and science, three times a week for 45 minutes each. Also interesting is that on the same ‘switch’ days, we have good fit groups, which are the tier two intervention groups. This leaves a lot of time available on Mondays and Fridays and not much on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, which makes for an interesting dynamic. I know that time will always be a frustrating factor. There is always so much we want to do with our students and only so long that we have them for. I would love to read a text that has a more holistic focus, so that I could read other’s opinions on the dilemma.

I am encouraged because I know the teacher across the hall, who will teach writing to all of fourth grade, is really passionate about it. She wants to finesse the Reading Street program so that the students are able to focus more on the production of writing. The students just started switching, so I do not have a complete picture of what writing will look like this year, but it does seem like she wants to focus more on the whole of writing, instead of the parts, much like Routman wrote about. Also, as I mentioned in my last post, this is the teacher with the “I do, we do, you do” mentality. I am very interested for this year to continue so that I can learn more about literacy instruction, see what it looks like at Hiawatha right now, and continue to craft my own philosophies about teaching. 

Louis Armbrecht - Constructing Meaning From Reading

The first thing that stuck out to me while reading these chapters was the quote on page 13, "Reading is thinking."  As we have spent most of the years of our lives becoming better readers, sometimes it is easy to forget the struggle that younger readers have.  When we read a book, cracking the alphabetic code and interpreting the letters on the page as words, and interpreting the meaning of those words is very automatic, as we have had years of practice.  Younger readers have to put a lot more comprehensive energy into those tasks.  They have to think about how to say each word, how to put the proper inflection in each sentence AND think to understand what they just read means.  So it is our job as teachers to teach and reinforce comprehension strategies to help readers not just read, but think.

On page 24 the book contains a quote from Trabasso and Bouchard, "There is very strong empirical, scientific evidence that the instruction of more than one strategy in a natural context leads to the acquisition and use of reading comprehension strategies and transfers to standardized comprehension tests."  When planning lessons/units it will be a goal of mine to include what strategies I will incorporate while teaching.  The more times I incorporate and hammer these points and strategies, the more likely the students will embrace them and put them to use. While the students learn from these strategies, there should be assessments that show what the students have learned about them and how to use them.  This will provide a way for us the teachers to assess our job of teaching the strategies.  If we teach the lesson/strategies the same way multiple times without finding out how effective our instruction was, how can we be sure the students are learning and effectively implementing the strategies? With this in mind, it is important to model the strategies in a variety of ways so that students who learn in many different ways can grasp the information and succeed.

Another meaningful passage brought back memories of elementary school.  Reading through the textbook chapters, or even novels we read in class was to answer the questions on worksheets or the end of unit test.  However, reading should be with purpose, as it will be much more meaningful.  By teaching and modeling multiple comprehension strategies, and reinforcing that reading is to learn and gain knowledge, students will be set up for success.

A quote that made me laugh was "Reading assessments, like rodents, run rampant."  I thought that was a good comparison.

When teaching my literacy unit, I am excited to introduce multiple comprehension strategies.  However, I am also apprehensive.  I will be referencing chapter 4 in Strategies That Work quite often, as I found it very helpful