The phonemic awareness lesson I chose to use was the Say it and Move it method made available in the manual of Road to the Code (Blachman, Ball, Black and Tangel, 2000). I used this method many times working with my students last year and it proved to be quite effective. This method involves moving tiles one at a time from the top of a paper down to a line at the bottom, while saying each corresponding phoneme /c/,/a/,/t/ and then running a finger under the tiles blending the phonemes to make a word (cat).
The lesson was completed with six students from two different first grade classrooms. The students were identified as being at risk through DIBELS scores, sight word and guided reading assessments. The group consisted of three regular education students currently in the RTI process, one ESOL student and two special education students one identified as Significantly Developmentally Delayed and the other LD.
Procedure:
1. The students were given letter tiles and a paper designed for the Say it Move it activity.
2. The teacher explained the method of Say it Move It to the students using the example word cat. The teacher modeled how she wanted the students to move their tiles.
3. After modeling the method the students were given several words to practice the skill: rat, sat, mat and pet.
4. To accommodate for the instructional needs of the students including the ESOL student the teacher paired the word with a picture to give the students a visual representation of the words. The teacher also did individual work with students that required more time or who did not seem to understand during the trial.
5. As the students became more familiar with the activity new word families were introduced and tried.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Article lesson #3
For this lesson I used stratigies that I took from the article: Vocabulary Development During Read-Alouds: Primary Practices by Karen J. Kindle (2009) http://www.Idonline.org/articule/39979/
Background Information: This reading lesson was presented to a first grade inclusive classroom. In this classroom, there is a general education teacher, a special education teacher, and a special education paraprofessional. There are nine students receiving special education services in the room. There are a total of 22 students in the class. Students with identified disabilities are served in multiple areas including Significantly Developmentally Delayed, Orthopedicaly Impaired and Speech Language.
Standards covered in the lesson:
ELA1R5 The student acquires and uses grade level words to communicate effectively.
ELA1R6 The student uses a variety of strategies to understand and gain meaning from grade-level text. The student: a. Reads and listens to a variety of texts for information and pleasure. b. Make predictions using prior knowledge. f. makes connections between text and/or personal experiences.
Objectives:
To improve the student's engagement with a read loud text.
To introduce the students to new vocabulary words.
To explore poetry as another form of read aloud.
To work on the following skills visualizing,clarifying and making predictions.
To make connections for text to self.
The Lesson was taken from the First Grade Imagine It program. The poem that the class was covering this day was in the Back to School Unit. And The Answer Is. . . ? by Carol Diggory Shields and illustrated by Paul Meisel.
To start the lesson the special education teacher began asking the students the following question:
Does anyone know what a poem is? Students made various predictions and then the teacher gave the students a kid friendly definition of poem ( short lines with words put together in rhythm almost musical).
The teacher told the students that they were going to read a poem about a teacher asking a student questions and how that student was feeling. The definition of question was given (when some asks another person for information).
The following vocabulary words were introduced to give the class the information that they would need to better understand the text being read.
Vocabulary Words
Staring: Looking at directly for a long time. The teacher had a visual picture definition card with the written definition for the students to see. She then asked for a volunteer to come and act out with her what staring would look like. The students enjoyed this part of the lesson and it helped to give the demonstrate the meaning of the word.
Mystery: Something that is puzzling. The teacher used this word a in a sentence to help the student better understand its meaning. ( The Detectives solved a mystery by following clues that they found in the room.)
The teacher also gave the students definition of the two strategies that the students would be using to better understand the poem:
Visualizing-- using words they read to to help make pictures in their minds about what is happening.
Clarifying-- To make clear. The teacher told the students that when they don't understand something that they can reread to help them make the information clear. During the reading of the poem the words wrap, snap and breeze were reread so the students could understand what the writer was meaning.
During the first reading the teacher asked the students to visualize if this poem was about them and how they would be feeling and what their bodies might look like if they were being asked the questions. The teacher also stopped to clarify the words wrap, snap and breeze for students. She gave them a quick example of what it means if something is called a breeze ( to be considered easy)
After the second reading of the poem the teacher shared a story about when she was a student and how she felt when her teacher asked her a question that she did not know. She demonstrated to the students by acting out what her body would look like is she did not know the answer and then she did the same for when she did know the answer. This got the students excited and they all wanted to share in the discussion and relate it to their experiences.
She then allowed several students time to talk and share there feelings and stories of times when they did and didn't know the answers to a questions.
Many of the strategies that were covered in this article are in the Imagine It curriculum in the shared reading portion of each unit. This makes it very easy for the teacher to cover all skills needed to help the student comprehend and enjoy the stories that are being read to them.
Background Information: This reading lesson was presented to a first grade inclusive classroom. In this classroom, there is a general education teacher, a special education teacher, and a special education paraprofessional. There are nine students receiving special education services in the room. There are a total of 22 students in the class. Students with identified disabilities are served in multiple areas including Significantly Developmentally Delayed, Orthopedicaly Impaired and Speech Language.
Standards covered in the lesson:
ELA1R5 The student acquires and uses grade level words to communicate effectively.
ELA1R6 The student uses a variety of strategies to understand and gain meaning from grade-level text. The student: a. Reads and listens to a variety of texts for information and pleasure. b. Make predictions using prior knowledge. f. makes connections between text and/or personal experiences.
Objectives:
To improve the student's engagement with a read loud text.
To introduce the students to new vocabulary words.
To explore poetry as another form of read aloud.
To work on the following skills visualizing,clarifying and making predictions.
To make connections for text to self.
The Lesson was taken from the First Grade Imagine It program. The poem that the class was covering this day was in the Back to School Unit. And The Answer Is. . . ? by Carol Diggory Shields and illustrated by Paul Meisel.
To start the lesson the special education teacher began asking the students the following question:
Does anyone know what a poem is? Students made various predictions and then the teacher gave the students a kid friendly definition of poem ( short lines with words put together in rhythm almost musical).
The teacher told the students that they were going to read a poem about a teacher asking a student questions and how that student was feeling. The definition of question was given (when some asks another person for information).
The following vocabulary words were introduced to give the class the information that they would need to better understand the text being read.
Vocabulary Words
Staring: Looking at directly for a long time. The teacher had a visual picture definition card with the written definition for the students to see. She then asked for a volunteer to come and act out with her what staring would look like. The students enjoyed this part of the lesson and it helped to give the demonstrate the meaning of the word.
Mystery: Something that is puzzling. The teacher used this word a in a sentence to help the student better understand its meaning. ( The Detectives solved a mystery by following clues that they found in the room.)
The teacher also gave the students definition of the two strategies that the students would be using to better understand the poem:
Visualizing-- using words they read to to help make pictures in their minds about what is happening.
Clarifying-- To make clear. The teacher told the students that when they don't understand something that they can reread to help them make the information clear. During the reading of the poem the words wrap, snap and breeze were reread so the students could understand what the writer was meaning.
During the first reading the teacher asked the students to visualize if this poem was about them and how they would be feeling and what their bodies might look like if they were being asked the questions. The teacher also stopped to clarify the words wrap, snap and breeze for students. She gave them a quick example of what it means if something is called a breeze ( to be considered easy)
After the second reading of the poem the teacher shared a story about when she was a student and how she felt when her teacher asked her a question that she did not know. She demonstrated to the students by acting out what her body would look like is she did not know the answer and then she did the same for when she did know the answer. This got the students excited and they all wanted to share in the discussion and relate it to their experiences.
She then allowed several students time to talk and share there feelings and stories of times when they did and didn't know the answers to a questions.
Many of the strategies that were covered in this article are in the Imagine It curriculum in the shared reading portion of each unit. This makes it very easy for the teacher to cover all skills needed to help the student comprehend and enjoy the stories that are being read to them.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Picture Book Lesson
The picture book that I selected was a favorite book from my childhood. I chose the book Tikki Tikki Tembo a Folktale retold by Arlene Mosel and illustrated by Blair Lent. This is a story that my mother read to me as a child. I remember she has signed me up for a reading program in which books would come in the mail each month. I remember that I couldn't wait to go to the mailbox and get my new books each month. This book was one of the many books that helped me develop a love of reading that I would like to instill in my students.
I used stragtagies from the article: Picture book Power: Connecting Children's Literature and Mathematics by Joyce Shatzer, The Reading Teacher, 61(8),pp.649-653 DOI:1598/RT.6.8.6.
Standards Covered:
Phonological Awareness
ELA1R2 The student demonstrates the ability to identify and orally manipulate words and indivdual sounds with in those spoken words.
Phonics
ELA1R3 The student demonstrates the relationships between letters and letter combinations of written words and the sounds of spoken words.
Math
M1N4 Student will count collections of up to 100 objects by dividing them into equal parts and representing the results using words, pictures, or diagrams.
M1M1 Students will compare the length, heightl, weight, or capacity of two or more objects by using direct comparison or a nonstandard unit.
Objectives of the lesson:
To increase student's engagement with a read aloud text.
To introduce new vocabulary to students.
To introduce students to Folktales as a literary genre.
To delvelop students skills wen comparing and counting letters in a name.
To recognize that words are made up of letters and that letters makes sounds.
The student will begin to recognize letter patterns in names.
Kid friendly vocabulary words introduced:
Folktale--an old story that has been passed down in a family and told over the years.
Name--what someone calls you, usually given to you by your parents.
Short--small length
Long--large in length
Well-- a place where water is is collected usually covered.
Procedure:
The story was introduced to the students as a one of my favorite stories as a child. I told the students that it was a story that my mother had read to me and that I had loved it and hoped that they would find it just as interesting. I began with asking the students if they knew what a folktale was. Many of the students raised their hands and wanted to make predictions about what it could be. I allowed them time to do this and then I gave them a kid friendly defintion of the word. I then began the first reading of the story. During the story I had to provide a defintion of the word well for the students because many of them had now idea what it was and they wanted to know. The students were very captivated by the story. They were amused by the length of Tikki Tikki Tembo's name.
After reading the story we discussed the story with a focus on the length of Tikki Tikki Tembo's name and compared it to the length of his brother Chang's name. Both names were written on the white board for the students to count the letters and compare the length to determine which name was long and which one was short. At this time the vocabulary words long and short were discussed.
After this activity we had a second reading of the story and the students were just as captivated by the story as they had been during the first reading. They enjoyed hearing me read Tikki Tikki Tembo's name and many of them tried to join in as I read his name in the story. After this reading we worked on breaking Tikki Tikki Tembo's name into parts and clapping out the beats to his name. Then we formed a circle and took turns clapping out the beats in each students name to determine who in our class had the longest name with the most beats. This activity was very engaging to the students and all students participated in the activity.
Reflections: This activity was exciting for the students. They enjoyed the story as much as I had as a child they were engaged during the intire lesson with very little off task behavior noted. The students has fun comparing their names and clapping out the beats. They learned some new vocabulary words and hopefully they will seek out other folktales to read in the future. I could have expanded the lesson by providing the students with other titles of folktales to explore in the future. This lesson could also be linked with a previous lesson we has taught using the book Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. I really liked that I could incorporate math and reading together in a lesson.
I used stragtagies from the article: Picture book Power: Connecting Children's Literature and Mathematics by Joyce Shatzer, The Reading Teacher, 61(8),pp.649-653 DOI:1598/RT.6.8.6.
Standards Covered:
Phonological Awareness
ELA1R2 The student demonstrates the ability to identify and orally manipulate words and indivdual sounds with in those spoken words.
Phonics
ELA1R3 The student demonstrates the relationships between letters and letter combinations of written words and the sounds of spoken words.
Math
M1N4 Student will count collections of up to 100 objects by dividing them into equal parts and representing the results using words, pictures, or diagrams.
M1M1 Students will compare the length, heightl, weight, or capacity of two or more objects by using direct comparison or a nonstandard unit.
Objectives of the lesson:
To increase student's engagement with a read aloud text.
To introduce new vocabulary to students.
To introduce students to Folktales as a literary genre.
To delvelop students skills wen comparing and counting letters in a name.
To recognize that words are made up of letters and that letters makes sounds.
The student will begin to recognize letter patterns in names.
Kid friendly vocabulary words introduced:
Folktale--an old story that has been passed down in a family and told over the years.
Name--what someone calls you, usually given to you by your parents.
Short--small length
Long--large in length
Well-- a place where water is is collected usually covered.
Procedure:
The story was introduced to the students as a one of my favorite stories as a child. I told the students that it was a story that my mother had read to me and that I had loved it and hoped that they would find it just as interesting. I began with asking the students if they knew what a folktale was. Many of the students raised their hands and wanted to make predictions about what it could be. I allowed them time to do this and then I gave them a kid friendly defintion of the word. I then began the first reading of the story. During the story I had to provide a defintion of the word well for the students because many of them had now idea what it was and they wanted to know. The students were very captivated by the story. They were amused by the length of Tikki Tikki Tembo's name.
After reading the story we discussed the story with a focus on the length of Tikki Tikki Tembo's name and compared it to the length of his brother Chang's name. Both names were written on the white board for the students to count the letters and compare the length to determine which name was long and which one was short. At this time the vocabulary words long and short were discussed.
After this activity we had a second reading of the story and the students were just as captivated by the story as they had been during the first reading. They enjoyed hearing me read Tikki Tikki Tembo's name and many of them tried to join in as I read his name in the story. After this reading we worked on breaking Tikki Tikki Tembo's name into parts and clapping out the beats to his name. Then we formed a circle and took turns clapping out the beats in each students name to determine who in our class had the longest name with the most beats. This activity was very engaging to the students and all students participated in the activity.
Reflections: This activity was exciting for the students. They enjoyed the story as much as I had as a child they were engaged during the intire lesson with very little off task behavior noted. The students has fun comparing their names and clapping out the beats. They learned some new vocabulary words and hopefully they will seek out other folktales to read in the future. I could have expanded the lesson by providing the students with other titles of folktales to explore in the future. This lesson could also be linked with a previous lesson we has taught using the book Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. I really liked that I could incorporate math and reading together in a lesson.
Article #2 Lesson and Reflection
For my second lesson I used the article Revisiting Read-Aloud: Instructional Strategies That Encourage studenets' Engagement With Texts by Vanessa Morrison, Lisa Wlodarczyk, The Reading Teacher,63(2),PP.110-118 doi:10.1598/RT.63.2.2
The strategy that I chose to use from this was making connections. The students listened to the story and used their prior knowledge to help them interpret the information they were listening to. They related the information to what they have already experienced, read,or heard. The students were encouraged to make a connections to what was being read and to connect the information to there own lives.
For the lesson I used the First Grade Imagine It Curriculum and read the story Back to School. This a wonderful reading program. The lesson was all laid out for me in the teachers manual all I had to do was follow the teaching steps to complete the lesson. I did not have to search for my lesson it was right there for me to use. This makes my life easier I just had to implement it correctly. There were thought provoking questions that help the students link the information given in the story to their own lives. The skill that we were working on was to compare and contrast our school experience to other students school experiences around the world.
Several vocabulary words were introduced at the beginning of the lesson: uniform, science and discovering the students were given pictures and information to help understand what each word meant within the story. During the first reading of the story the students were able to make several text to self connections and text to world connections.
On the second day of the lesson the teacher then read the story again and students were encouraged to point out parts of the story to compare and contrast their experiences at school with the pictures of the students in the story. The co-teacher in the classroom stood at the Promethean board recording the students responses on a T chart. The students were comparing school in the United States to schools around the world. The students were eager to share their observations. The special education teacher monitored the students and lead the questions and encouraged all students to participate. The students were able to produce a substantial list of likes and differences between the schools.
This activity was a great way to involve all students and they enjoyed contributing to their ideas. This activity help with comprehending the information that was given along with introducing new vocabulary to the students.
Standard covered:
ELA1R5 The student acquires and uses grade level words to communicate effectively.
The strategy that I chose to use from this was making connections. The students listened to the story and used their prior knowledge to help them interpret the information they were listening to. They related the information to what they have already experienced, read,or heard. The students were encouraged to make a connections to what was being read and to connect the information to there own lives.
For the lesson I used the First Grade Imagine It Curriculum and read the story Back to School. This a wonderful reading program. The lesson was all laid out for me in the teachers manual all I had to do was follow the teaching steps to complete the lesson. I did not have to search for my lesson it was right there for me to use. This makes my life easier I just had to implement it correctly. There were thought provoking questions that help the students link the information given in the story to their own lives. The skill that we were working on was to compare and contrast our school experience to other students school experiences around the world.
Several vocabulary words were introduced at the beginning of the lesson: uniform, science and discovering the students were given pictures and information to help understand what each word meant within the story. During the first reading of the story the students were able to make several text to self connections and text to world connections.
On the second day of the lesson the teacher then read the story again and students were encouraged to point out parts of the story to compare and contrast their experiences at school with the pictures of the students in the story. The co-teacher in the classroom stood at the Promethean board recording the students responses on a T chart. The students were comparing school in the United States to schools around the world. The students were eager to share their observations. The special education teacher monitored the students and lead the questions and encouraged all students to participate. The students were able to produce a substantial list of likes and differences between the schools.
This activity was a great way to involve all students and they enjoyed contributing to their ideas. This activity help with comprehending the information that was given along with introducing new vocabulary to the students.
Standard covered:
ELA1R5 The student acquires and uses grade level words to communicate effectively.
Websites that I have found Useful
Over the years I have surfed the net and visited several websites here is just a small list of some the sites that I have found useful.
Star Fall-- Probably one of the best sights I have found for my first grade special needs students. It is an educational sight for kindergarten, first and second grade students. It teaches both phonics and comprehension through a variety of activities. It is very engaging to any student and is very easy to use. I have found that when I pull it up on our Promethean board that my students are so motivated to learn that it is hard to get them away from it.
Reading Rockets-- Is a great place to find reading strategies, lessons and activities for children to learn to read. There are resources for parents, teachers and other educators to build fluency, voabulary and comprehension skills.
SEN Teacher-- This was a new site for me that I found from reading someone elese's blog. It has free resources for special educators. There are lots of learning resources for students with special needs and learning disabilities. I liked the worksheet generators, flash card printables and many other items. I will definately use this site during the school year. During these economic times free is always good.
These are only a few of the sites that I went to during my search. There are millions of places to visit on the web. I have found that I get so envolved in searching that I loose track of time, so narrowing it down to just a few was hard.
Star Fall-- Probably one of the best sights I have found for my first grade special needs students. It is an educational sight for kindergarten, first and second grade students. It teaches both phonics and comprehension through a variety of activities. It is very engaging to any student and is very easy to use. I have found that when I pull it up on our Promethean board that my students are so motivated to learn that it is hard to get them away from it.
Reading Rockets-- Is a great place to find reading strategies, lessons and activities for children to learn to read. There are resources for parents, teachers and other educators to build fluency, voabulary and comprehension skills.
SEN Teacher-- This was a new site for me that I found from reading someone elese's blog. It has free resources for special educators. There are lots of learning resources for students with special needs and learning disabilities. I liked the worksheet generators, flash card printables and many other items. I will definately use this site during the school year. During these economic times free is always good.
These are only a few of the sites that I went to during my search. There are millions of places to visit on the web. I have found that I get so envolved in searching that I loose track of time, so narrowing it down to just a few was hard.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Let the DIBELS begin!!
The first full week of school is over and our students are finally settling in so it's now time to start the DIBELS. My first grade team and I are excited about the new changes with this test we all feel that it will measure our students skills more accurately. We all hope to get a better picture of what they can actually do. The changes that have made the largest impact are the changes to the Nonsense Word Fluency section of the test. My collages and I feel that these changes now give us a better idea of just how well our students are reading words. Our scores do appear lower but we now have a much clearer picture of what are students can do. I am so grateful that we covered the DIBELS in class.
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