Reading Lessons Overview

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My first mini lesson will focus on using context clues to help determine what an unknown word means. The students have been working on this strategy and the students chosen for this mini lesson have been struggling with decoding and their fluency skills. Both of the focus students are English language learners and have English as their second language. Based on their work completed regarding this strategy both of these students struggled. I also had an opportunity to work with one of my focus students during a task that required students to complete a chart for words within the story they were reading about snakes. This assignment required them to first indicate what they think the word means based on context clues, write a definition in their own words and then use it in a sentence. Again the two focus students’ work indicated they could use more practice with this strategy. These students also receive extra support in reading and were recommended by my mentor teacher for this particular mini-lesson. I will be using the book, Thunderstorms by Chana Stiefel as there are several words that my two focus students may not be familiar with. These words include, evaporate, condense, molecules, explosion, vibrate/vibrations, tornadoes, destructive, hailstones, damage, meteorologists and forecasts. I will begin by talking about what decoding means, what context clues are and activate prior knowledge by discussing that they have already been working on this strategy in their reading about snakes and also while reading the book, Hatchet. I will then model how to use context clues for the word evaporate by re-reading the sentence before and after, noting that the text explicitly says what this word means and that the diagram also shows this process. Next, I will ask the students to help me discover what the word condenses means as the text does not explicitly state what this word means but the words in the sentence help explain and the diagram also provides a clear picture of this process. After, the students will read the book together and after reading each page (each page does not have more than 6-8 sentences) I will ask the students if there were any words they are unsure of. This may also be apparent when they are reading if they pause or work through decoding the word first. If they say no I may ask them to briefly tell me what they just read about. Also, I have some words listed above so even if they say they know what all of the words mean I will have specific ones picked out to make sure they are taking this seriously and using this strategy. Hopefully, the students are honest and can work through what the words mean together. While they will not always work collaboratively when reading, they were both born in Africa, have many similarities and can definitely benefit from hearing each other’s thoughts and ideas during this mini lesson. 

My second mini lesson will focus on comprehension and the two focus students will summarize the story using a story map.  My mentor teacher recommended one student because work collected demonstrates that when she tries to summarize she ends up copying what is explicitly said in the book instead of focusing on what happens in the beginning, middle, end or the main big ideas of the passage. For example, during their unit on Hatchet she had a very hard time re-telling what the chapter was about without spending time re-reading half of the chapter and trying to write way too much information on her worksheet. In the end, the information chosen to write about was irrelevant information that did not contribute to the main events taking place in that chapter. The other student also has a hard time comprehending and remembering what he read and the order of events that take place in the story. Using a story map that has the students focus on the main events will help them synthesize a story and also allow them to summarize what was read in a more meaningful way. Having students focus on a select number of main events (what they believe are the most important) will help them retell the story in a short and sweet manner. I will encourage them to think about this activity as if they were going to go home and tell someone what the book was about and what they would say. The students will hopefully have different summaries of the story being read as a summary of a text depends on the students interpretation of events, understanding of what is most important and both students will first write or draw their summary and then re-tell the story to each other and will be encouraged to include what they believe is the main idea!

Altenberger Response Post 4/15

What I now know about Hank's literacy development is that he has been progressing throughout the school year. I learned that when he is reading, Hank studies the vocabulary and uses the words to help him comprehend the story. An area that Hank needs to work on is his prosody. He will be getting increased assistance from his teacher to help him work on that. Hank should be referencing his word wall and maintain it, by adding new words. As his parents, we can help him make one at home for when he is reading. Hank should continue his reading at home each night. Hank will be engaging in group reading, which will help him practice his reading with his peers and discuss what he is reading with them. Hank needs continued practice with decoding when he is reading. It was good to see that in the classroom Hank will be connecting reading and writing. By working on assignments that require Hank to write about what he read, it will help him with comprehension. Readers theater is going to help Hank with his fluency

As the parent I will ask the teacher what else I can do to help Hank practice different reading strategies. Is there more we can do at home to help him? Are there any specific materials that we should have to practice with him or anything that we should report back to the teacher? It was very helpful to hear positives and tasks that Hank needs to work on. The letter was well written and thorough.

Barnes letter to parent response 4.14

I learned a lot about Hank! From what I read I feel like I could have him in my classroom and know where to continue on his reading and writing skills. The letter was very detailed and individualized for Hank. I like how Stacey touched on each aspect of reading that Hank was having trouble with such as reading with prosody (fluency) which then affected his comprehension. With each issue that Stacey brought up she gave a good suggestion on how to help Hank improve. As a parent this would show me that Stacey has really gotten to know my student and already has plans on how to help them. With every issue Stacey also said something positive about the student. As a parent this would show me that Stacey is on my side and agrees that my student is awesome (as all parents do). Since Stacey points out the skills that the student already has as well as areas that they have greatly improved on shows that Stacey is not just noticing the bad things but is also encouraging my student.

I loved all of the ideas that Stacey gave on how to help Hank. I think that readers’ theatre would really help him since he will be able to read his lines and become familiar with the text and therefore would learn how to read with prosody. The word wall is helpful for the other aspect of fluency, his need for decoding. If he becomes familiar with words then he will not have to decode them while he is reading. All of these tasks would increase his comprehension so as a parent I see that Stacey has really thought out these lessons to help my student. It is very important that Stacey ended the letter on a positive note! This leaves the parents feeling proud of their student and hoping to help them improve further.

Letter to Parent Intial Post

Dear Parent,

As we wind down the school year, I want to make you are aware of a few activities our classroom will be engaging in for the remainder of our time together. Hank has made many gains in literacy from the beginning of the year, and I am very proud of all of the improvements he has made. Currently, our classroom is working on our decoding skills which means Hank has been using context clues to help him discover the meaning of a word he is unfamiliar with. When reading, Hank has really been focusing on the vocabulary, reading every word, and trying to understand the story. However, when doing this Hank has not been reading with prosody, which is rhythm and intonation. In the following weeks I am going to continue to work with Hank so that he may begin to read more fluently and ultimately comprehends a passage. There are a few more skills he will master in the classroom before the end of the year, and I plan on outlining these skills in this letter. 

Building a word wall is a strategy that will help Hank develop a larger vocabulary that can be applied when reading and writing. When reading books I will be encouraging him to find new words so they can then be added to his word wall. By adding to the wall when Hank learns or encounters new words will hopefully allow him to recognize them in his future readings and also allow him to use these new words in his writing. Becoming familiar with new words will help him read more fluently and may also impact his comprehension. You can help Hank by building a word wall in your home and gradually adding to this wall as his vocabulary increases or when encountering new words around the house. It is important that Hank practices his reading skills every night as practice will not only build a stronger vocabulary but also help him read more fluently.

            I plan on trying to enhance Hanks’ understanding of the stories given to him for the remainder of the year by using guided or partner reading strategies throughout classroom time.  Partner or guided reading allows partners or small groups of students to work together and read at various levels.  Students, who are at about the same reading level, will read with other students at similar levels.  This allows students to read at their desired pace and learn from their other peers.  I think Hank will really benefit from learning from his peers, because he will be able to share ideas and experiences with them. When working with Hank individually he spends a lot of time sounding out words he cannot pronounce or has a tendency to skip over words he is unfamiliar with. Spending time trying to figure out what a word means, sounding out a word and even skipping a word interrupts fluency and may result in a lack of comprehension. Therefore, I think this would be a great way for Hank to not only work on comprehending the story, but also with his word fluency!  He will be reading out loud with his group, and answering discussion questions along the way.

            After reading a story, which incorporates partner or guided reading, I plan on having Hank and his partner or group work on writing skills using interactive writing activities.  The writing activity will be completed within each reading group and students will take turns answering questions and filling out a chart related to the story.  The questions will involve comprehensive questions where the students may have to go back and reference the story.  Each student will have to fill out their own chart and recall knowledge from the story they just read.  Students will be allowed to work together and create answers from each other’s thoughts.  Hank will really benefit from this activity, because he will not only work on his comprehending skills, but also his writing.  I think Hank will have a great time learning from his peers and sharing knowledge as well. 

            Lastly, when wrapping up the year the students will be working on a readers theater projects in which groups of students will perform a read aloud of a chosen book. This will allow the students to work collaboratively, become engaged in a piece of written text while practicing reading aloud with expression and prosody. Reader’s theater will help Hank further develop his fluency skills with repeated exposure to the same text, work towards improving his comprehension all while integrating reading, writing, speaking, listening and performing in an authentic context. Also, this project is designed to create self-confidence and demonstrate that reading can be enjoyable.

            As the intern of the classroom, I plan on working with Hanks’ group and will help lead the group’s activities.  I want to make sure students understand what they need to complete in order to participate to their best of abilities.  I am excited to see what Hank and his group can accomplish as a team, and I hope his skills improve as we move toward the end of the year.  Again, I note that Hank is doing great and that I am so proud of him and all of his accomplishments. 

Sincerely,

Miss. Fisher

Altenberger Reading Lesson Overview

When doing my reading group I will at first be working with four students. Each of these students read at the lowest level in their class. I have worked with them each week and have observed them struggling with aspects of reading. Their running records also indicates that they are reading and comprehending lower than they should be. Since Reading Street is used in their class I have the story that their class is going to read and have lessons based around. Each week I usually take this group into the hall in groups of two and we will take a picture walk through the book, look at the vocabulary list in it, read the story and answer the questions at the end. In groups of two I will do that again for the story "Party for Pedro."

After I do that small group reading activity, I am going to work with my focus student (from the group above) on a more focused reading strategy and book of my choosing. This student is a really choppy reader which limits her comprehension. I want to focus on her retelling skills to see if she can recall what she read.

Altenberger 4/8 Blog Post

For this post I watched and listened to Program 11: Conversations Among Writing Peers. I was interested in this because I have very few memories of having good writing conferences with my peers. What I mostly remember is the other person simply editing their partner's work. I don't remember my teachers having a foundation of what our peer writing should look like or them modeling what an appropriate conference would look like. This video reminded me the importance of modeling when teaching. The video was very explicit regarding how to show students how to model a writers conference. Some of the ideas that were shown was to have the teacher model it or students from the previous year who know how to do it accurately. I also it was interesting to see the importance of students conferencing and sharing their work with their peers. The video stated that students are more likely to appreciate what their peers have to say about their work than their teacher. It said that students feel that their work has value when another student is reviewing and likes it. It also said that students really do value what their classmates have to say and they will respect each others work when conferencing. When I think of writing conferencing I would think of students switching papers and then handing them back when they were done reading and editing. In this video the students were engaged with each other during the whole process. Students can either have the other student read their paper, or they can read it aloud to the other student. That way there is also a focus on sharpening listening skills. It was also fascinating how there was not much of a focus on editing during these conferences. Students were more focused on writing strategies they could advice their partner to use or how they could make their writing more detailed/clarified. Another aspect of the video that I liked was that it addressed the importance of making one's classroom a safe place for students to share their work. Overall I enjoyed watching this video and will take into account what it showed for my future classroom.

Fisher 4/8 post

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I chose to watch Program 3, the reasons for writing because as a student I struggled with writing especially during free write time where I was allowed to choose my own topic. This program focused on motivating students to write by allowing them to choose their own topics, make their own decisions, use a writer’s notebook, focus on writing for different audiences and having opportunities to share and publish their pieces. The main points within this video included:

• Teachers need to acknowledge and respect the family and cultural backgrounds of their students.
• Teachers should expose students to the power of writing and help them see how their own writing can be powerful.
• Teachers model ways to transform tiny moments of experience into writing.
• Teachers enable students to imagine their writing being read by a real audience.
• Teachers allow students the freedom to choose topics that have personal meaning.

As a future teacher it is important to build a safe and comfortable environment in the classroom where the students feel as if there thoughts and ideas matter and that someone is willing to listen. In this video the teachers let the students discover how powerful and meaningful their own writing can be by allowing them to make their own decisions when choosing a topic or genre to write about. When knowing that some students would struggle with a topic to write about several teachers in this video started this writing workshop process by having them write down the things that are most important to them. This video also mentioned that it is important to allow the students to take their writers notebook home as, “the most powerful things happen when you are away from your desk”. Also, the students in this video expressed how much they liked being able to record their thoughts outside of school. When the students have choice, there is ownership over their writing. The students are also taught about having an audience and thinking about whom they want reading that piece and what they want the audience to know.

Students must also know the difference between writers workshop time and prompt writing. Standardized tests often demand that students reply to a given prompt. Teachers must teach skills necessary for their students to succeed. However, a teacher can still do this and allow the students choice. For example, if the students know they must write a persuasive essay the teacher can start this process by first teaching and modeling this type of writing but then taking the students on a walk around the neighborhood and allowing the students to choose what they write about. This type of activity is still authentic and allows the students have control over their topic.

Successful writing workshops begin with the teachers but the students must be motivated to write. In order to help them begin motivated the students need to know that their families, communities, cultures and their lives are worth writing and talking about. When the students feel that they have a story to tell, that others are willing to listen and care about what they have to say is a huge motivator. A student’s writing is an opportunity to learn and interact with the students and allow the students to interact with each other. In the video a student was sharing a story and the teacher encouraged the students to make connections with his story. Once this student was finished if anyone had a connection they were instructed record their thoughts or write a few notes in their notebook. The teacher explained that she had a connection with his story and how hearing other stories may spark memories that one could write about later. This video also said that children’s languages and backgrounds could be a rich source of inspiration for their writing. In one of the scenes a teacher allowed the students to write in Spanish and explained that the students write more authentically and colorfully and this was a way to honor their culture and show respect for the students and their families. Another scene demonstrated that if the teacher is willing to learn about their culture the students are more willing to write about important times that will help the teacher learn and understand their way of life. By this I mean a teacher in New Mexico had several students from the Navaho Indian tribe and she learned the Navaho greeting which involved the whole class and the students from this tribe were very appreciative of this. The writing process is very meaningful and can help students learn to make their own decisions and allows students to have a voice and opinion.