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.