Inquiry 3: Step 3

One of the biggest themes that has stuck throughout the year was this brand new curriculum. This year, our district has implemented a new curriculum that is aligned with the common core standards. This was also the year when there was no curriculum specialist, but rather a curriculum coach. The teachers for each grade level were the "specialists" as they would be the ones working with the curriculum everyday. While this was a great idea, and there are many ways to make the curriculum your own then, the district came up with a curriculum guide that was very disjointed and difficult to follow. It created more issues to come up with a meaningful lesson when there isn't much knowledge about the ideas behind the curriculum in general. During the unit it seemed that there was a lot of misconceptions about the hero cycle boxes and how to actually use them. When I realized that it might not have been the fact that I didn’t teach the Hero Cycle properly, just the idea that they might not have been scaffolding to the idea of pulling out abstract ideas from the books that they were reading. We were able to bring up this idea that the students might not be ready for the Hero Cycle before other text structures, and while some people agreed with this idea, others did not feel they had the same issue. 

Trying to set up a interactive guided discussion was a huge obstacle because my mentor teacher didn’t think that the students could contribute in an interactive discussion. So going off of the idea of not every seeing a real classroom discussion about a particular book was very difficult. This made things a lot harder to plan for. Like trying to figure out what to do if certain topics came up. I had put in place a lot of expectations for the students but for most of them who haven’t actually seen a guided discussion, they didn’t know how to respond or how to act. One way that I chose to overcome this issue, was talk it over with another intern in the building who suggested that we model a discussion in front of the whole class as her idea to do this was very successful in her own classroom. The unit did not proceed as expected. This was huge in developing what I would do differently. The students really struggled with trying to maintain a classroom discussion and often it turned into students only wanting to tell me their answer or opinion. Many times other students would not be as engaged in the discussion and when they were called on, they didn’t know what was being said or how they could add anything to the conversations. I feel that I really need to do a lot more research on how to guided a discussion in the classroom as well as more examples on how to actually set it up. 

week 4 post

Bradley Cyr

Part A

Describe your target area for guided leading teaching

The target area I will be focused on will be Reading comprehension/Strategy instruction

Approximately how much time per day is allotted for you instruction in this area?

60 minutes per day

Which Common Core Standards will  C you be working towards?

·         Comprehension and Collaboration

·         Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners

·         Building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

·         Analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate.

·         Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.

How will teaching in this target area provide opportunities for students to learn important content and/or skills that relate to their lives? In what ways does this learning include learning literacy, learning about literacy, and/or learning through literacy?

Teaching these students the benefits of a short non-fiction text will allow students to find factual information that will be very valuable to their everyday life. Understanding how to read a non-fiction text is important because students can look up information that is useful to them for a specific occasion. For example, if they were to travel to an exotic area they may need to know the dangers involved and how to be prepared for such a visit. Students will learn literacy through modeling and guided leading teaching, they will learn about literacy through discussion, and they will learn through literacy by connecting prior knowledge to the text and synthesizing their ideas to create their own non-fiction text.

What types of classroom talk take place within this target area? To what extent is the talk teacher-led, student-led, or focused on higher-level thinking? What norms for interaction would you like to build within you classroom as you teach in this target area?

The type of classroom talk that will take place in this target area will be differentiated instruction with guided lead teaching. I will have different level texts for different groups. I will have the students come up to my table in four different groups based on ability level and I will read aloud to them for most of the text and allow for some choral reading. Some norms of interaction that I would like to build would be having a respectful learning environment where children feel respected as they read. There will be no other talking when a student or I is reading and students must be actively engaged in the text and the discussion. I will informally assess my students as my mentor teacher does during this process.

What ‘core practice’ do you want to work on developing/ improving as you teach in this target area? How will focusing on this core practice contribute to your own professional learning?

The core practice that I want to work on developing will be Reading comprehension/ Strategy instruction. This core practice will contribute to my own professional learning because I will have more experience with modeling to students and experience with guided lead teaching. I will also learn strategies for gradual release of responsibility and the time that it takes to release this responsibility for children to work independently.

What resources within the community, neighborhood, school district, school or classroom do you have to work with in this target area?

We have many resources in the school to work with students in this target area. We have special education teachers and we have reading specialists that help students develop comprehension skills. We have books that are separated by ability levels and they have sets of those books so that we can have groups during differentiated instruction to focus on a particular text. We have access to dictionaries and we have computers for children to use to expand their vocabulary and find other strategies to increase their vocabulary and comprehension skills.

How will you pre-assess your students in your target area?

I will informally pre-assess my students by observing their reading ability and talking with my mentor teacher. I will figure out the ability levels of all of the students so that I can set up groups for differentiated instruction. I will listen to them read and I will score their worksheets that test their comprehension and vocabulary skills. I will talk to the special education teacher and the reading specialist and see what comprehension skills seem to be working for these students and what comprehension skills that they are lacking in.

What else will you need to find out about all students in your class to help you develop lesson plans for your guided lead teaching?

I will need to find out how the children interact with one another. I will also need to figure out the guidelines and rules that my teacher has set for instructing students. What she will and will not tolerate so that my strategy and teaching style is very similar to hers so that the students are not confused when I discipline them on something that they normally would not be disciplined for.  I will also need to find out when certain students need to go and see the reading specialist and when other students have to go to special education so that I can teach these students when they are not in another room. I will need to find out some of their back ground knowledge so that when we are talking about certain topics I can have them chime in because they may have back ground information that they can present that will relate to the text and both the student and the student’s classmates will be able to relate to real world examples of some of the literature. I will also need to find out how much time they have spent reading non-fiction texts.

What else do you need/want to learn about the ‘core practice’ to support your planning and teaching?

I want to learn more about the different strategies to teach and how to teach them. I want to learn more about the different managing techniques to use during this type of teaching and what I should and shouldn’t focus on. I want to know how many people you should have in each group to have the best results when teaching this type of strategy and also the size of groups that is realistic to be able to reach all of the students.

What concerns, if any, do you have about planning and teaching your unit?

One concern that I have about teaching and planning my unit is selecting the appropriate genre and text level for each of my groups. I want to make sure that all of the students have a text that is just around their level. This will be hard because I have some students who are way below grade level but I am hoping that I find a way to reach out to these students and provide instruction that they benefit from as well as all of the other students. I want to make sure that the assignment is challenging and I want to make sure that the students are actively engaged during the entire time.

Part B

The common core standards that I will be working towards will be:

·         Comprehension and Collaboration

·         Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners

·         Building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

·         Analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate.

·         Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.

Level of proficiency:

The level of proficiency that I’m working with will be that I have 7 students who are on their way of getting on track. The rest of the students are on track. I will use differentiated instruction for this by using different books for different groups. The content and skills that will be learned are worthwhile because through inquiry one I learned that students have not worked with non-fiction texts much .Students enjoy reading but they have not worked with non-fiction books enough to know how beneficial they are.

Goals:

o   The goals that I have are targeted toward my students learning needs because they have not been working consistently with non-fiction books. I am essentially teaching them the reading strategies of how non-fiction books are read and how they differ from other genres. Below are some of the goals that I want them to understand about non-fiction books.

o   The Table of Contents lists the sections in which the publication is divided. This may be chapters, articles, “parts” or major divisions or poems. Each section is usually paired with a page number on which it starts. The table of contents assists the reader, or sometimes the author in finding specific sections. It also shows the overall organization of the publication.

o   The introduction of a book can sometimes talk about why an author chose to write about the topic that they wrote about, especially if it will interest the reader to read the book. Sometimes the introduction of the book talks about how they got the information they got to write the book. It can also be used to provide an overview of what the book is about and the main idea of the book and what the author wants the reader to know about the book and what to get from it. The introduction of the book can also let the reader know what to expect throughout the book.

o   The conclusion of the book is to imprint and retell the main idea of the book. It’s also to let the reader know that the reasoning for writing the book was good, and that the point of the book should be considered very carefully. It usually restates the main ideas of the book, and relates to the introduction of the book. It’s important that your conclusion to not be too long and for the book to end with a bang!

o   The glossary of the book is used to define terms that are relevant to the book. Glossaries are usually found at the end of a book. It is read just like a dictionary, except it doesn’t have as many words as dictionary because it focuses on the book that was read.

o   In index of the book tells you where to find topics in an informational book. The index is always found in the back of the book. It tells you the names of the topics of the book and what pages you can find the topics on. Knowing how to use an index can save you a lot of time and be very helpful. A good index tells important concepts, people, places, and dates. It also includes subheadings so that a student is not faced with a long list of page numbers for a given term.

o   The headings and subheadings are used to illustrate the main idea of the following section.

·         Talk about the illustrations, photos and captions. The pictures make the text come alive, they also alive to dig deeper into the subject that they are reading about.

·         Talk about maps, diagrams, tables, and charts. These features are great because not only do they grab our attention, but they hold a great deal of information.

·         Talk about font styles, bullet points, and quotations. Students need to know that each of these features add to helping them understand the text.

·         Talk about timelines, activities, fun facts, and further explanation located in the back of the books. Make sure that students always look into the back of the book to find lot of valuable information that may be included. These features often go unread because no one can find them. Sometimes there is a for further exploration section that gives kids a chance to find similar texts that they may be interested in.   

·         In terms of comprehension, I want students to be able to explain the information, connect it to previous knowledge, and use this information as stated in the Strategies that work text. Readers need to think not only about what they are reading but about what they are learning. With insight, we think more deeply and critically. We question, interpret, and evaluate what we read.

Performance-Students will be expected to understand how to read and create a non-fiction book

Conditions- Students will be working with me through guided leaded teaching. They will watch me model how to read non-fiction books and the characteristics of a non-fiction book. With gradual release of responsibility they will create a non-fiction book themselves and eventually work on it independently. I will do this by first modeling, then by discussion in our group, then they can discuss with a partner and share ideas until they are ready to independently work on their book.

 

Criterion- Students must be able to show me that they can correctly put together a non-fiction book through gradual release of responsibility.

Objectives:

1.      Students will engage in group and partner discussion and be engaged when I model to students in guided leading teaching

2.      Students will create their own non-fiction book through gradual release of responsibility

reflection

Bradley Cyr

Lesson 1

 

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

Students learned about the different text features of a non-fiction book. They learned about a glossary, an index, captions, graphs, diagrams, charts, and pictures in book, the meaning of the bold words in non-fiction books, and the headings and chapter titles. They also learned about the fact boxes in non-fiction books. They learned that non-fiction books do not need to be read from the front to back in order for them to valuable. They learned how to find a good non-fiction book for them in terms of content, as well as ability level. Students also learned behavior rules for guided lead teaching and what’s expected of them.

 Some of the students who struggled with the lesson were the students who lacked background knowledge on what we were learning. For example, many of the students knew about rattlesnakes because I have a few students who lived in Mexico at one point so they were more engaged when reading about rattle snakes, but the others were less interested. Also, most of my ELL students had difficulty coming up with questions about the text because they struggled to comprehend the text. I did pick books according to ability level, but my spectrum is so varied that I could not move all the way down to my lowest learner. Other students that struggled were the students who did not have a good attitude about learning.

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

I interpreted that my students understood what we were talking about during the text because they were active learners. They answered many of the questions that I asked and they followed along with the text with their eyes and their fingers. They asked many questions and added lots of content to our K.W. L anchor chart. This showed me that they were engaged with the text and the learning.

What did you learn about your student’s literacy practices that extend beyond your objective?

I learned how beneficial it is to have such a diverse classroom for literacy. This has many advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantage of having such a diversity of learners is that there is such a difference in ability level when it comes to reading and writing. Many of the ELL students have a hard time writing and comprehending text. At the same time, the advantage of having these students allows for a lot of previous funds of knowledge and real world experience with content that the text includes. For example, we were reading about different animals such as lions and hyenas and I had 6 students that came here from different parts of Africa, and they were able to talk about their experience with lions and hyenas as well as King Cobra snakes.

                I had other students from Mexico who were able to talk about their experiences with locusts and rattle snakes. I learned that the more that students question during the text, the more that they are engaged in the text. I learned that many of my students have not used a K.W.L chart. I learned that many students did not know how to use an index or a glossary. I also know that students need very clear objectives of how to behave in a group.

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

I was able to connect with most of the students since I am using guided lead teaching but for the students who need even more support, I can provide some sentence starters that will engage them with the work more and give them more of a base to learn. This may include (What I know is……What I want to know is….)

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

If I were to teach this lesson again, I would make sure that I gave them an introduction to the lesson right away and let them know what the purpose of the lesson was for the day. I would also summarize what we learned at the end of the lesson so that students could mentally go through what we learned for the day.

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 are many different ways to teach reading comprehension and strategy instruction and I learned that guided reading groups are a great way to do this. This allows for students to have literacy to work with that is differentiated for them and allows them to connect with the text better. I also learned that working in small groups is very beneficial, as it allows more one on one feedback and more discussion. I learned that certain students are more likely to participate in small group discussion compared to whole class discussion.

Lesson 2

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

Students who struggled with the lesson were the students who were ELL students and the students who are shyer when talking in small groups. Other students who struggled were the students who have ADD and can’t sit still for long. They seemed to want to talk more than learn, but I established clear rules and for the most part, they followed along. Students learned about the difference between finding out what the author wants the student to know in each chapter, and what the student finds important.

Students also learned to question what pictures were being used to correlate with the text. They learned how different pictures could be used and learned how to question what different pictures could be used. Students also learned where the bold words in the non-fiction book could be found, the glossary or the index. They learned more about how to use both of these. Students learned about how the tables correlate to the text, and why they are important, and what they have to offer. They also learned how to question what other tables could be used and how to infer what type of table will be used.

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

                I found that many students didn’t know how to use a glossary or an index, let alone what these two meant in my lower level groups. I learned that many students bring background knowledge to the subjects we are reading about, due to the high amount of diversity in my classroom. I learned that once clear rules are established for group discussion, there is much better and more beneficial discussion. I know that my students were engaged because they were answering questions and following along with their eyes and their fingers. I also know that they were engaged because they were making questions that were relevant to the text making inferences that were connected to the text. They were also connecting prior knowledge to the text and synthesizing their ideas.

 

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

I learned that students have had experience with questioning and inferring and synthesizing in text. I learned that some students know how to use an index and a glossary. I learned that some students knew that the bold words in non-fiction books means that they are important words. I learned that we have 5 different languages that are spoken in my classroom and we also have students from 5 different countries. I learned that most of the kids would rather read other books than non-fiction, because during silent reading time they are reading other books instead of the non-fiction texts.

 

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

When I re-teach this material I will provide students with sentence starters. For example (The bold words mean…….The author thinks that________ is important in this chapter.) I will provide more support and pay more attention to these students. I will model how I decode words and how I use my previous funds of knowledge of the text that surrounds that word to figure out the meaning of the word. I will talk to them about how to keep an inner conversation with the text and monitor when they lose track of what they are reading. I will tell them to write down on a sticky note when they lost track and why they lost track. I will tell them that sometimes when we read we think about something completely different than the text for no reason, but the important part about that, is that we need to refocus on the text.

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 re-teach this lesson, I would provide a worksheet for students to fill out while we were reading so that they were participating in active literacy. They would engage more if they had a worksheet to fill out and they would also comprehend things more and understand the purpose of the lesson deeper.

 

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 previous funds of knowledge and diversity in the classroom add a lot to discussion and can be very beneficial. I learned that students who are higher level learners can learn more about the different reading strategies easier because they are not caught up on decoding words. I learned that many of the kids know the strategies but many of them don’t, and they need to have these strategies modeled and learn through gradual release of responsibility.

 

Reflection on Teaching

My goodness there isn't a whole lot of time to do much of anything. I finally found some time when I got to this Asperger's Workshop that my field instructor recommended that I go to. It's been a very interesting workshop and a very interesting two weeks in teaching Language Arts.
I do say that going into the actual lessons knowing that they can be changed made so much more sense. I was less nervous about teaching because I knew the students and I knew that I could go back into a similar lesson the next day if they didn't really understand it. One things for sure, if I could reteach this entire unit of Text Structure, I would NOT teach the Hero Cycle before the other structures like the Bell Curve (Students look at how the author makes things exciting).
The Hero Cycle is a very abstract concept and it was very hard for students to pick out certain aspects of it. I felt that had they had more practice actually retelling the story in the Timeline or the Bell Curve structures, they would have an easier time picking out things for the Hero Cycle.
The students really seem to understand what to do when we would put the Hero Cycle together in the We Do, but then when they had to put it together themselves they simply retold the story in the different boxes for the Hero Cycle.
It was very interesting to see that the students are very talented in putting together a retell of the story. One of the issues that I encountered was not looking at some of the different vocabulary in the stories and putting those on the board. One prime example of this was the book Two Bad Ants. In this very descriptive book the author creates a spectacular story that is wonderful to visualize, but not for some of the students. I realized this as I was reading and stopped to talk about some of the vocabulary with the students so they could better understand what was going on. This is something that I would really like to work on in the future especially with three Speakers of Other Languages in the class.
My core practice that I was trying to focus on was an interactive Guided Discussion. Even with the students setting the expectations on the first day, they really struggled to keep a discussion up. After talking more about the core practice with the other Intern in my school, Sarah, we decided that we could have tried to model a discussion with another adult or a couple of other children. It is my hope that sometime soon my mentor teacher and I can plan this so that I can get more practice with my core practice.