Allison's Inquiry 2 Part A

My focus for guided lead teaching will be both phonics and phonemic awareness.  These fit under the target area of Acquisition, Use, and Assessment of Foundational Skills.

 

 

We do daily literacy centers for approximately 45 minutes.  I will plan one literacy center for each day.  Also, I will lead a short large-group lesson every day.  In turn, about 1 hour will be spent on instruction in this area.

 

RF.K.2: Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes:

RF.K.3: Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words

 

Teaching in this target area will provide students to become readers and spellers, which is an essential skill needed to function in society.  Every day, students will encounter times when they need to read and/or write, so it is essential for them to learn about phonics and phonemic awareness.  This target area includes learning literacy because the students will learn the basics of literacy, such as letter names and letter sounds.  Also, this target area includes learning about literacy because the students will learn about how our language is composed.  For example, they will work on the ability segment a word into individual sounds.  Finally, this target area includes learning through literacy because the students will learn the basic skills that will allow them to read and write, and people gain knowledge about our world by reading and writing about it.

A lot of classroom talk takes place within this target area, especially when the students are reading and writing.  For example, during read-alouds, sometimes my MT or myself will stop at a word and ask the students what they think the word says.  Then, we will ask the students to explain their thinking.  Or, we may model how to sound out a word while reading aloud.  When the students are reading independently, we encourage them to segment the sounds in the word, and then blend the sounds back together.  Also, when the students are writing in their journals, we help them segment the sounds in words to discover how to spell the words.  Additionally, we play several games and complete activities that involve letter recognition (both uppercase and lowercase), and letter-sounds.  Finally, we spell out certain words to the kids when directing them.  For example, my MT will say, “Put your hands in your l-a-p, lap.”  The talk in this target area is mostly teacher-led, as you can tell from the above examples.  Also, this talk is sometimes lower-level (e.g., letter recognition), while other times it is more higher-level (e.g., finding strategies to read unfamiliar words).  However, in Kindergarten, this lower-level talk is essential because we are teaching our students the very basics of English, such as the alphabet.  When teaching in this target area, I would like to build a norm in the class in which many students get a chance to share their ideas with the class.  This way, the students will learn from another, as well as from their teachers.

I would like to work on developing the core practice of explicit teaching and authentic application activities.  Focusing on this core practice will contribute to my own professional learning by allowing me to create purposeful lessons that can be applied to the students’ lives, both inside and outside of school.

Reading Street curriculum/books, leveled readers, SMART Board, document camera, listening center, ABC posters, phoneme posters, journals, classroom/school library, Handwriting Without Tears curriculum, computer lab, COWS (Computers on Wheels), computer software (e.g., Tumblebooks), classroom manipulatives in phonemic awareness/phonics, Title I Reading Specialist, RTI coach, and librarian

 

I still need to obtain information about teaching Web sites/books that provide ideas for engaging lessons in my target area.

I will have the students read from a list of 2 and 3-letter words.  I will assess the students individually.  This will allow me to see where the students are at, as far as combining letter recognition with letter sound correspondences.  We have already done assessments on letter identification (upper and lower case) and letter sound knowledge for each student.

I need to find out how each student learns best, so I can provide effective lessons for all of my students.

I need to learn how to apply this core practice in a way that all of my students are engaged.  This way, all of my students will be provided with authentic and engaging opportunities to learn these essential skills.

I am concerned about balancing our Reading Street curriculum with my lessons.  While I may be using pieces of Reading Street, I will be doing a lot of supplementing with my own lessons/ideas.  Also, I am concerned about connecting my lessons together so they create a cohesive unit.