Week 3: Assignment Driven Instruction

11.      Shared Reading: Video Segment

How does this activity engage students who are at different levels of literacy development?

Every student is on a different level when it comes to literacy development. Yet, in this shared reading activity, all the kids are engaged even though some cannot read as quickly and as fluently as others. The fact that this is a cute and fun poem, with many repeated words definitely makes the students interested in the activity.

At first, when I viewed this shared reading activity, I thought that it is a great activity for the well-off readers, yet the lesser advanced ones get lost since they can’t read as fluently. However, when I studied the children carefully, I noted that all of the kids were following along with whatever they could, and even if they had to skip some words, they were listening and watching intently. I think this has a lot to do with that the poem was cute and age appropriate, which caught their attention.

During her explicit phonics lesson, how does Ms. Perez support students' problem-solving skills?

Ms. Perez guides the students to learn what she wants them to learn by modeling information and asking them what they think would be if…. She writes the word “hot” on the board, and says that if we know that this says “hot”, then what would happen if we would take away the “h”. Then she asks what would be if she were to add other letters or consonant blends. This allows the students try to think of what the answers to these “problems” are on their own. The teacher helps them through this learning process.

            Based on what you saw in the video, what are the different ways that shared reading can                   be used to promote literacy?

Shared reading gives the students practice in reading. Also, it can be used to bring out phoenix lessons.

22.      Guided Reading: Video Segment

Why does she think it's important for students to verbalize their strategies? What else do you notice about how she helps students build meaning in text?

Ms. Perez encourages the students to verbalize their strategies in reading because it helps them to internalize what they are learning. Also, it allows the other students to hear and learn from it.

She asks them questions about the story; what they think happened or will happen. She uses “masking”, where she covers one word and allows them to think what the word is based on the meaning of the sentence.

33.      Differentiated Instruction: Video Segments

How does Ms. Perez organize her classroom to support a wide range of learners?

Ms. Perez differentiates her classroom. At the beginning of the year, she assesses her students’ abilities and levels and she places them in groups accordingly. This ensures that all kids are able to learn on their level.

How are reading and writing connected in classroom activities?

Ms. Perez has a “Making Words” activity, where the students build words with letters. They read parts of words, such as “it”, and then she asks them to write “sit”, so they need to add a “s”. Here, reading and writing are directly connected. Also, in another activity, the students read a book about spiders and then they write notes about what they are reading. Here, too, the teacher links reading and writing.

44.      Assessment: Video Segment

How does Ms. Perez use ongoing individual assessment to guide her instruction? How can the class profile be used to help group students and differentiate instruction?

At the beginning of the year, Ms. Perez assesses each student individually to see where he/she is holding and what they he/she needs to work on. She tells each child to read a book, and she takes notes while he/she is reading. She then redoes the assessment after a few months to note the progress. By assessing the students, she can plan her instruction most effectively.

She also creates a graph demonstrating the level of each student’s reading abilities. This gives her a clear picture of where each child is holding according to his/her peers. By looking at this graph, she can group the students that are on the same level together. Then, once she sets up the groups, she can differentiate instruction based on the needs of each group.

How can ongoing assessment be integrated into your own classroom practice?

Ongoing assessment is extremely important since it gives the teacher an idea of what each child needs. In my classroom, I would continuously ask questions in class so that I can see whether the students understand what is being taught. If I would see that a student is struggling in any area, I would make a note of it and work with the child.