Inq 2 Part E: Reflection of Three Lesson Plans

                                  
                               Pete the Cat: week two books used for Literacy Unit!
                                        

·         What students learned and which students struggled with the lesson. 

Lesson 1: This lesson focused on reviewing basic print concepts, discussing how spoken words are represented in written text, and phonological awareness practices to strengthen letter recognition & their corresponding letter sounds. Students learned that the spoken words they say and be seen in written form. This was explained by telling them that every word they say has a written version. I made connections to Writers Workshop and explained to them that they write down letters and words to explain their spoken thoughts. This book was a great example of this because it allowed the children hear the spoken words as I read them and also sing them with the author on the CD. To practice phonological awareness skills, they were each given a word sign to identify and pronounce. During the song when they “heard” the word or color, they held up their sign and sang along! I found that ESL students struggled more with this lesson. A majority of the ESL students still have trouble recognizing colors and letters. They were able to catch on when other students with similar signs held them up, however I want them to understand why their signs are the same. To develop and strengthen those skills, I need to give them more independent or small group instruction time.

Link to song if you want to hear it! http://harpercollinschildrens.com/feature/petethecat/audio/pete-the-cat.mp3

Lesson 2: This lesson focused on reviewing the core practices from the previous day, by allowing the children to do this on their own with a Make-and-Take book. I created a mini Pete the Cat, Make-and-Take book for each child. The children learned how to following words on a page (using their finger) from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page. Since they each had their own book, they followed along and repeated after me as I read the book on the Elmo. I noticed that students who were less advanced or beginning learners and ESL students struggled with this lesson. These students did show appropriate motions for print concept directionality but didn’t follow the words with one-to-one correspondence. When it was time to color the pages, students had to color Pete’s show based on what word was printed. They traced over the stitched word (ex: Blue, and then color the shoes in blue). These same students still struggled with this instruction.

Lesson 3: This lesson focused on understanding spacing between words. Students each used a mini spaceman to paste words with appropriate spacing. They learned that words are separated by spaces and it is important to have these spaces so written words can be read. As a class we identified each word and laid the spaceman down next to the word for the children to see how big a space is. Looking over the sheets, I could see a majority of children understood the concept of spacing. Students who were beginning or developing learners struggled with the position of words (straight line with spacing), and the sequence of words because of their struggle with identifying letters.

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

Lesson 1: I also looked at how this lesson engaged the children. They were very engaged during the lesson and participated as much as possible. I noticed a range of learners wanting to answering questions and began singing along with the story early. Whole-group activities can be challenging at times because with so many of them they begin to lose interest. However, this activity went very well and I can see how to structure large-group lessons in terms of keeping them interested!

Lesson 2: This activity allowed me to see where children were in terms of reading (word recognition) and reading comprehension. I noticed the children who were more secure in reading were very engaged in the activity and wanted to children me the entire book. Those who struggled with identifying words found it harder to focus on the instructions or matching the text to the pictures. These students had a shorter attention span and didn’t seem as focused in getting the pictures to match their corresponding color. I definitely took that into account when thinking of ways to restructure the lesson.

Lesson 3: This lesson also allowed me to read student in terms of attention as well. Students, who had a hard time identifying words or understanding the concept of space, rushed through the process of checking their work and went straight to gluing. This affected the order or sequence of the words in their sentence. All the students were engage through the instruction of finding each individual word and loved when they were able to check with a partner. They all seemed to participate and truly enjoy the activity!

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

Lesson 1: From this lesson, I could see that more advanced children were able to identify the color or word they received by recognizing the paper color, first letter, first letter sound, and the letter to spell the word. These students are ready to start breaking apart the individual sounds in word and blending them together. The objectives for this lesson met the needs of beginning and developing students because it practiced a skill they needed to further strengthen.

Lesson 2: From this activity it reinforced the fact that my students are having a hard time when it comes to word recognition. This area I was not surprised at because they have not reached word segmenting and blending yet. However, to begin these further areas of phonological awareness they need to be secure with letter recognition and the sounds each letter makes. This area was hard for beginning, some developing, and ESL learners in my classroom. I was able to see their print concepts of turning a page and directionality was a great skill many of them understood. However, the concepts that deal with pointing to a capital letter, lower case, letter, and “title” when they’re not seeing it as a whole group is where many of the struggles exits.

Lesson 3: This lesson reinforced similar understanding. Children who are more secure were able to complete the activity with more ease; students who struggle with letter recognition had a hard time identify words and using these words to sequence a sentence. This concepts build on each other which is why phonological awareness and print concepts are so important for them to understand to begin mastering word identification and beyond into reading.

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

(Summary for all three lessons) For these students who need additional support I can give them one-on-one instruction or small group discussion. When students take part in literacy centers, I can work more with beginning and developing students to review letter recognition and what sounds those letters make. This area can also be strengthened on a daily basis. As I walk around during independent work I can ask these students “Find the letter B on your paper. What sound does the letter B make?” or during transition time, “It’s time for lunch. What letter does lunch start with? What sound does it make?”  Literacy conferences would be great for all the students as well. Groups could come up to the kidney table and review where I found they showed areas of struggle. I think reviewing this material is key for these learners to continue moving on.

·         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?

Lesson 1: This lesson overall was very successful. I read the story first which allowed us to talk about print concepts. After the story we reviewed each word by identify the color of the paper, first letter of the word, and what sound it made. When I passed out signs each child had to tell me what word or color they had. To challenge more advanced students, their signs could be just the printed word with no colored paper or colored front for support (ex. Red instead of Red). What I could do for more beginning students would be to show them the back of the sign first (so they just see the blank paper) I could ask them, “What color do you see?” Then I could flip the sign around so they see the printed word Blue, “This is the word blue. What does blue start with? What sound does it make?”  These changes might help them make connections between colors and their printed words.

Lesson 2: This lesson was challenging in terms or being able to be close to the children or see them following along. My MT wasn’t present that day so being by myself I couldn’t implement and gather data like we originally discussed. If I did this lesson again I would break it into two parts. The make-and-take book was 11 pages with short sentences. I would break the book into parts maybe pages 1-5 and then coloring 1-5 day 1, and then pages 6-11 and coloring day 2. This way the students wouldn’t have to go through each pages as quickly and we would spend more time on print concepts, letter sounds, and identifying the color words.

 

Lesson 3:  This lesson I feel, I actually structured and implemented very well. Looking back in terms of students who struggled, I would have had the students in literacy groups. This way I would have known which table needed more support before they glued down their sentence. I could have gone through the words a second time at their table so they could do it at their pace. I also could have placed them into groups where at every table there were two-three advanced students who could support them during the time they had to check with a partner.

·         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 teaching core practices is extremely important. By understanding what types of practices pair best with specific target areas, will ultimately help students develop or strengthen their skills. These practices must cater to students learning and give a variety of ways to challenge different learners in the classroom. From implementing these core practices, I better understand how to differentiate instruction during literacy lessons. This is an area I want to continue learning about and practicing to further enhance my professional learning. I think it is truly important to find ways that help ALL students grow as learners. When thinking specially about each core practice, I want to look into strategies that will be effective towards student learning letters and letter sounds. These areas I personally feel should be practiced a lot from the start. This area is crucial for them to begin other skills; therefore I want to find other successful ways to help them become secure in this area.