Wednesday, November 13th

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

I introduced final /k/ sounds. I showed them pictures of things that ended in /k/. Some students struggled differentiating the difference between beginning and ending in /k/ when I asked them to put their hand on their head if the word begins /k/ or in their lap if it ends in /k/. The students were also asked to generate their own words that end in /k/.

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

During our whole group discussion, I was able to see if the students knew if the /k/ was at the beginning of the end. In smaller group, I was able to see the students that were able to recognize it quickly. However, it was difficult to see if some students were just copying others. In the smaller group, I was able to see which students knew this information exactly. I was able to see that many of the students understood the different. However, I saw there were a few student who still needed some extra support.

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

I leaned that students in my class can come up with words on their own that have /k/ in the middle. I was surprised that some were able to do that. I also prompted some of the students with 3 letter /k/ words. There were some students that were able to spell it, which I was very pleased with.

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

I will re-teach some of the material to my students on Friday. I will group the students who were struggling and make a small group. We will go over the material for extra review. I want to scaffold them to produced their own initial and final /k/ words.

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

If I taught the lesson again, I would do more small group instruction. I think that it is more effective to work with 4-5 students. This way I would know which students understand and which are not. Also, it gives me a chance to ask each student questions and make sure each answers questions. In addition, I may group the students with students who are at the same achieving level. I think that this would be helpful for both the lower and higher achieving students.

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 that my “core practice” is very important in kindergarten. I now know that my students are at different places academically and I need to accommodate to all of them. Some students need extra support while others need more challenging work.

Monday, November 11

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

During my lesson, students learned the initial /k/ sound. I also introduced the letter C to the students. We went over words that begin with C and the/k/ sound. I showed the students pictures of things that to make the connection of C words and /k/. The students were also asked to spell C words that begin with /k/. The students had to put their thumbs up or down for words that did or did not begin with /k/. Last, the students had to find pictures of items on the Smart Board that began with /k/.

            Some of the students struggled differentiating C and K. I reminded them that we are only working on C, so all of the /k/ words today are going to start with C. Also, some of the students seemed to have a difficult time finding pictures on the Smart Board. They wanted to circle different things that did not start with C. They needed some extra scaffolding to circle the correct picture.

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

I was able to work with small groups during center time. This gave me an understanding of students learning. I was able to see exactly what students knew or did not know. It was easier to see this during small group consisting of 4-5 kids rather than whole group. I asked the students to find their own words that begin with /k/ sounds. Many of the students were able to do so. The lower achieving students struggled with this. Most were able to recognized /k/ but could not produced their own word.

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

I learned that students can produced their own /k/ words. I wanted them to recognize and blend words. However, many of the students were able to produced and spell /k/ words. I was really impressed that some of the students could produced and spell /k/ words that were larger than 3 letters.

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

For students who need additional support I would start from the beginning of what sound /k/ makes. I would go over a lot of words that did or did not begin with /k/. I would also show them pictures again of items that begin with /k/. I think these students just need extra practice to gain full knowledge of the information they were taught.

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

If I taught the lesson again, I would do more small group instruction. I think that it is more effective to work with 4-5 students. This way I would know which students understand and which are not. Also, it gives me a chance to ask each student questions and make sure each answers questions.

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 that my “core practice” is very important in kindergarten. I now know that my students are at different places academically and I need to accommodate to all of them

Tuesday, November 12^th Lesson Reflection

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

Students were introduced to six amazing words today: sleep, winter, cave, woods, storm and blustery. As I showed each card, students voluntarily raised their hands to stretch out the word and another student provided their definition of the word. I then asked other students (often at a lower-level) to repeat or re-voice one of the words or its definition (occasionally I asked what they thought the meaning of the word was).  Lower-level students were unable to read the words but could give the initial or final sounds and even sometimes the definitions.

 Students also were introduced to the /k/ sound and that sometimes it can appear as a “C,” “K” and “CK.” Students practiced distinguishing between words with the /k/ sound ie/ does church or coat have the /k/ sound? The “ch” blend was challenging for students because they thought that because it had the “C” in it, it makes the /k/ sound but they didn’t take into account that “ch” is a blend and makes a different sound. Students also learned to find pictures on the SmartBoard in Reading Street that had the /k/ sound. Then students identified if the sound was in the beginning, middle or the end of the word. Many of the lower-level students had a hard time finding pictures that had the /k/ sound, especially if it wasn’t in the beginning of the word.

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

The “Sound Muncher” center consists of students sorting the /k/ sound by beginning, middle and end /k/ sounds. Students either did this individually or with a partner so I took the opportunity to observe students and provide additional support as needed by sitting at this center with them.  On this much smaller-scale, I was able to more clearly see what students were struggling with which /k/ sounds and their position in the word at each level. This was very useful for me as I had a better-picture of where each level of students were and where they needed additional instruction and support. For example at the lower-level students were struggling with figuring out what the picture on the card was and therefore they were just putting the cards in random places to go through the deck and complete the center. At the medium and higher levels, I saw students just looking at the word on the card specifically looking for the letters “C” and “K” and putting the card in the slot that matched where that sound was in the word. However, they were overlooking the silent “e” and putting words like “shake” in the middle box when it really should have gone in the ending sound box.

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

That many students at all levels are able to hear beyond the initial and final /k/. Even some lower-level students were able to hear the medial sound which I thought was the last sound they hear in their phonemic awareness progression. Moreover, I didn’t realize how many letter sounds my students knew. I was shocked at their ability to sound out such big words and even give their meanings with our amazing words.

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

A great time to work on recognizing sounds in a word like “cat” can be sounded out by isolating each letter, thinking of the sound it makes, and putting it all together /c/ /a/ /t/ and then identifying where the /k/ sound is at is during literacy centers where I can best meet my students needs. Students will also receive additional support in our intervention groups as well as our tiered groups where they will receive additional instruction on sound-letter knowledge, phonics, phonemic awareness, etc.

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

For the picture where students circled the /k/ sounds on the SmartBoard, I would like to have two students work together instead of just one. For instance, I would call on a lower-level student to come circle the picture that has a /k/ in it and then a medium or higher-level student to come and say where the /k/ sound is (beginning, middle or end) and then we can stretch the word out as a class to see if they were right. This way, students on all levels are actively engaged and challenged.

Although I tried to scaffold my literacy centers to an appropriate level, I think I still could have done more. For example many students were just looking at the words on the cards and looking where they saw the letters “C,” “K,” and “CK,” instead of sounding out the word. Therefore, I think I should have left the words off of the cards that had an obvious picture on them to accommodate the medium and higher-level learners. I also found that this center was really challenging for lower-level students so I think they would have benefited from some one-on-one practice going over the sounds that each letter makes and sounding out individual sounds in words and then writing the words. This way the medium and higher-level students were challenged more and the lower-level students would gain additional practice hearing the sounds in a word and start developing the ability to stretch out words.

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 that there is quite a large gap in my students’ levels and that it is important that I am prepared to teach students on all levels. I have found that the hardest part is how do I engage students on all levels? I find it most difficult to do this at the lower-level. Therefore, I really want to continue my professional learning by focusing on engagement, especially at the lower-level. I’m open to any feedback!

Monday, November 4^th Lesson Reflection

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

            For my unit, I created a KWL chart with my students. From the Concept Talk video, students learned, “that animals eat plants amd smol animals wich hlp the animals lv” (that animals eat plants and small animals which help the animal live). I first wrote the K and W sections for my students but they helped me stretch out the words and helped me spell sight words. For the L section, I let students come up and sound out/write the words so they were able to model letter-sound connections.

            Students struggled with hearing some of the H-blend sounds when writing what they learn such as the “wh” in which as well as a few medial sounds like the “e” in “help.” Some of the lower-level students struggled with this activity but they were encouraged to write as many sounds as they could and what they could sound out, was great. I was really pleased that a lot of my lower-level students who usually didn’t participate, eagerly raised their hand and were proud of what they were able to write. When we were arm-spelling the sight words, most students could already spell “we” since it is spelled the way it sounds. However, “my” and “like” were challenging for the low to medium-level students because they are more challenging to sound out.

In literacy centers, students struggled with reading the matching cards (pairing picture and word) at the low and medium levels mainly due to the silent letters such as the “a” in foal. These students also struggled reading many of the sight word cookies except for “a” and “I.”

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

I could have used writing workshop as an opportunity to analyze my student’s abilities to stretch out words. Then I could reflect on what students are able to write whether they are able to write some sight words, stretch initial, medial and final sounds in a word, just the initial sound, just the initial and final sound, or just draw a picture.

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

That many students at all levels are able to hear beyond the initial and final /p/ sounds. Even some lower-level students were able to hear the medial sound which I thought was the last sound they hear in their phonemic awareness progression.

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

The students who need additional support are in our intervention group as well as our tiered groups where they will receive additional instruction on sound-letter knowledge, phonics, phonemic awareness, etc.

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?

      If I were to change this lesson again, I would have students write everything on the KWL chart instead of me writing the information for the “K” and “W” sections of the chart. This way more students get the opportunity to sound out words and watch others do so which will help develop their letter-sound knowledge. I also think that it might be a good idea if students created their own individual KWL charts so they can keep track of what they know, what they want to learn and what they learned although this task would have be slightly modified for the lower-level students. But again, students would be able to stretch out words or draw picture to their ability (with the help of a teacher by either captioning their picture). By using their own KWL chart, students are choosing what they want to know and are monitoring their progress towards answering these questions. Students could even perform some individual research to answer their own questions. Moreover, students get to reflect on what they learned.

Also for the matching cards, I think I should chose animals that students are already familiar with instead of animals that live in other countries. For example, instead of using a zebra to show a foal, I could use a horse instead. At the lower-level, these animals were a little abstract for the students so it was difficult to connect the animals to their babies. However, maybe I could use both familiar and unfamiliar animals to scaffold instruction for the different levels of learners in my classroom.

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

So far, I’ve learned that all of my students can give some initial sound like the word “ball” start with “b.” I’ve also learned that many students are hearing initial and final sounds in words. Additionally some of the higher-level students are able to hear initial, medial and final sounds in words. I think that I need to continue to work with students who are only able to label a few beginning sounds. I could improve their sound-letter knowledge by continually using the Zoo Phonics program with them in small groups or one-on-one so they can begin to recognize the sounds that each letter makes. For students who are mainly hearing initial and final sounds, I can emphasize the vowels using Zoo Phonics so students can become more familiar with the sounds that the vowels make and hearing them in words.

To continue my professional learning, I would like to work more in small group or with individual students based on their areas of need. This way I can better focus on activities that will directly address their needs as learners. Therefore, I need to focus on taking more informal observations in the form of anecdotal records and reflect on their assessments and put these students into groups or work with them individually by designing activities that provide additional support to students in these areas.

Literacy Lesson Reflections

Monday, October 28, 13: Sound Muncher

What students learned and which students struggled with the lesson.

     Students learned the initial /a/ and identified pictures with the intial /a/, /t/, and /m/ sounds. I felt that many students learned the /a/ sound, and they could distinguish between pictures that began with /a/, /t/, and /m/. Many students were able to select pictures immediately from the stack and state the name, letter, and sound. The students who struggled with the lesson were title 1 or ESL students, and they struggled correctly relating the letter name and sound, and/or identifying the picture on the card. I needed to assist the students by informing them of the picture and letter, and inquiring for the sound.

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

Other ways to interpret my students’ learning is to notice how much they truly understand the /a/ sound. There are many opportunities to evaluate their understanding during additional centers, such as writing. My Kindergarten class is expected to stretch out their words and listen for as many letter-sound correspondences that they can hear. I would hope that many of my students can listen and notice the /a/ in words. Personally, I think many of my students know the /a/ sound, because we have worked a lot with apples during our fall unit.

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

I learned that students know letter sounds beyond a, m, and t. Some students recognized that the words have /a/ in the middle. Students could sort the letters individually and many knew the /a/ sound prior to the lesson.

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

The students who need the most support are Title 1 or ELL students. They will be provided with additional instruction during best-fit literacy time. During the classroom, I will ask the students for letter sounds when I am provided with the opportunity.

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?

     If I taught this lesson again, I would have more picture cards that begin with a, m, and t for students to choose and identify authentic objects from their environment. I think it’s important that students see pictures and items from their environment so they are able to make meaningful connections, and recognize that these letter sounds make up many words in their lives. As an extension to this lesson, I would have students independently sort objects and pictures according to letter sounds. I believe this would improve student learning and help me assess their personal understanding. It would for me to question their thinking about letter-sound relationships.

Another change to the lesson that I would make is to go through the pictures and tell the students what the picture is. This would help students to identify the letter and sound, and would take emphasis off from the picture name.

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

    After this lesson, I learned that many of my students recognize that each letter is associated with a particular sound. The students were successful identifying pictures that began with letters and sounds, however I think many are ready to identify medial and final sounds. I will take the information that I learned about each student and adjust my future lessons to make it more engaging and challenging for them.

Personally, my main goal during my unit teaching is differentiating instruction for students in my class. I have a wide range of ability, and I need to ensure that all students are actively involved during the activities. Sometimes I feel that it is hard to differentiate instruction during small group activities, especially if they are independent centers. This makes it difficult for my to assist and assess higher or lower students.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013: Rhyme Time

What students learned and which students struggled with the lesson.

     Students learned to find cards with the same middle and ending sounds, and recognizing that the cards rhyme. For each card, there was one card that rhymed with it. In many instances, I would ask students to think of words on their own that rhyme with the two words. I provided students with certain cards to complete first, these were cards that I thought were easy to identify and pair. Once my higher-level students completed their first stack, I asked them to pair new cards. For my lower-level students, I asked them to pair the same cards again.

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

Some other ways to read my students’ performance is to evaluate my instruction and how students can notice if words rhyme or not. I think if I was clearer during the instructions of rhyming words and asked them what they noticed about rhyming words, this could’ve been a more successful lesson. After engaging with students, I noticed that many already had prior experiences and knowledge about rhyming while others have had little to no exposure. I think it is important to bridge this gap and make the lesson attainable and challenging for all students. Additionally, I have had the privilege of working with many of the students who struggled during this lesson, and I found that their accents and pronunciation of words makes it difficult for students to notice rhyming words.

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

I learned that several students were able to match rhyming words quickly, and were able to produce their own rhyming words. Also, I learned that many of students know what rhyming words are and how to determine if a word rhymes. Students understood that they could manipulate the beginning sound to produce a new rhyming word.  

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

The students who need the most support are English Language Learners; I think that I will support these students during my best-fit literacy time. I think it was difficult for them, because I did not describe each picture on the cards. Also, their vocabulary is very limited and their pronunciation varies, therefore it is difficult for students to determine if the words rhyme.

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?

There are many changes that I would make to this lesson. First, I think I should have been more clear when I explained the objectives and expectations during the literacy centers. For example, I noticed that some students did not know what to do with the cards that rhymed. I think this change would assist students’ learning because they would understand what they needed to do the entire literacy center. Therefore, I could have explained that they needed to lay the cards out so they could review all their rhyming pairs.  Another change that I would make to the lesson is to have students explain why words rhyme. By asking students to explain their thinking, this would help them understand and recognize all rhyming words.

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

     After this lesson, I learned that my students could distinguish between rhyming and non-rhyming words. Also, several students were able to create their own rhyming words. Personally, I need to improve on making my instructions more explicit and understandable for students to be aware of what is expected of them and how they can work independently to discover their rhyming pairs. In terms of my core practice, I believe that many students can recognize rhyming words, but my students are not recognizing that if they manipulate the first sound of a word and keep the same middle and ending sound it will rhyme.  

Big Ideas

Chapter 10, Determining Importance in Text gives strategies in helpings students determine what important information in a text is. This can be difficult for many students. They may have different ideas and opinions on what are the main points of a text or what is the thing that the reader needs to know. As a teacher it is important to model the different strategies such as scanning the text before you read, rereading the text and pointing out important words and key facts. I believe that a very important strategy that helps students learn is to build upon their prior knowledge. It is taking what they already know and adding new information to it. It is making them think in a different way while using their background knowledge.

Chapter 11, Summarizing and Synthesizing showed the differences in summarizing and synthesizing. Both are comprehension skills that children need to obtain to engage in a text. Summarizing is pulling the most important information out of a text. This helps the reader to gain the knowledge of the most important information they are reading. This engages the students to differentiate between important aspects of the texts and smaller details that are not as important to have the basic understanding of the text. It is sometimes difficult for students to know what is a main point and what is not. This comes from practice of summarizing texts. Synthesizing is one step further by combing ideas. The reader stops and thinks about what they are reading. They extend literal meaning to inferential level. This is a higher level of thinking.The student puts together new information to existing information to help comprehend the texts. Synthesizing is making connections to prior knowledge. It builds and enhances learning by thinking in a new way. Both summarizing and synthesizing use information to bring information together. Both are important comprehension skills that students should obtain.

Big Ideas

In chapter 10 of Strategies That Work, the big idea is how to help student process, sort, and comprehend the information in informational texts. It is important as teachers, that we provided the tools and models for students so they determine the important aspects in a text, rather than trying to remember and decipher every word. When teaching these skills it is essential that they are authentic and meaningful to student’s lives, which can be demonstrated in magazines, books, articles, etc.  In the lesson, “Becoming Familiar with the Characteristics of Nonfiction Trade Books,” the teacher had her students to explore a topic of their choice and use facts they learned to design their own trade book page. This encouraged student to observe and notice elements of nonfiction texts.

In chapter 12, the big idea was how to select and implement texts across all subject areas. It is important that these texts are related to the real world and bring up issues that are important. The books need to be comprehensible and relatable to the area of study.  My favorite lesson from this section was, “Create Journals and Personal Narratives to Understand Historical Perspective,” the students read narratives and journals of individuals in certain time periods and then create their very own journal from their point of view. This would really help students reflect on the time period and the feelings/actions/impact of that individual!