1.
Describe your target area for guided lead teaching.
o
For my literacy unit, I am focusing on the Making
Meaning portion of our day. Making
Meaning incorporates reading comprehension into the day and allows for the
students to answer questions about a specific text type. For this two week unit, I will be introducing
nonfiction text into the classroom for exploration. In science we will be beginning Bee reports,
so my MT and I thought introducing Nonfiction would be a nice way to integrate
the two subjects.
2.
Approximately how much time per day is allotted for your
instruction in this area?
o
There will be approximately 30-40 minutes set aside
each day for this component of literacy.
This will be plenty of time to make it through the lesson and maybe
extend the lesson to another aspect of our district literacy program (i.e.
Writer’s Workshop, Reader’s Notebook etc.)
3.
Which Common Core State Standard(s) will you work toward?
o
1.RL.5 Explain major differences between books that
tell stories and books that give information.
o
1.RIT.1 Ask and answer questions about key details
in a text.
o
1.RIT.2 Identify the main topic and retell key
details of a text.
o
1.RIT.4 Ask and answer questions to help determine
or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text.
o
1.RIT.5 Know and use various text features (e.g.
headings, table of contents, glossaries, electronic menus, icons) to locate key
facts or information in a text.
o
1.RIT.6 Distinguish between information provided by
pictures or other illustrations and information provided by the words in a
text.
o
1.RIT.7 Use the illustrations and details in a text
to describe its key ideas.
o
1.RIT.10 With prompting and support, read
informational texts appropriately complex for grade 1.
o
1.SL.3 Ask and answer questions about what a speaker
says in order to gather additional information or clarify something that is not
understood.
4.
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?
o
By providing the students with this information
about nonfiction text, they will able to locate information using the tools the
text provides them. They will be able
prioritize important facts in a piece of nonfiction literature. They will be able to share their findings
with their peers in informal discussions.
Finally, they will be able to put their knowledge of informational texts
to work through the creation of a Bee report.
The Making Meaning program is specifically designed to introduce
students to a variety of different texts so they are learning literacy in this
sense. The students have yet to explore
nonfiction text in 1st grade so I am very excited I get to introduce
this new concept. I will be defining
what nonfiction is and how it differs from fiction pieces. They will get to explore the tools within the
books such as the glossary, and table of contents. This is how the students will learn about the
literacy. The students will put their
knowledge of nonfiction to work in our science unit when they develop their
individual bee reports.
5.
What types of classroom talk takes 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 your
classroom as you teach in this target area (e.g., see ideas in Chapter 6 of Strategies that Work, the Berne &
Clark 2008 article, or draw from some of the readings done in TE 402 on
classroom talk)?
o
Making Meaning is very much a teacher-led program in
which the teacher reads a story and engages the students in a content-based
discussion throughout the lesson. At
times we will pair the students up to share their ideas and then call them back
to attention for a large group debriefing period. We are working on having the students predict
and retell stories to their peers as well as locate components of a story in
their book boxes. I want the students to
be able to focus on the key vocabulary words and be able to tell the difference
between a nonfiction and fiction story.
My MT and I have been focusing on having the students be respectful
listeners by looking at the speaker, waiting for a peer to finish their
thought, and raising their hands if they have a question. These rules help to maintain the classroom
management as well as teach the students to be self-disciplined.
6.
Which ‘core practice’ do you want to work on developing/improving
as you teach in this target area (refer to document “Resources for Developing
Core Practices”)? How will focusing on this core practice contribute to your own professional learning?
o The Core Practice I want to improve on as I teach this unit is
Comprehension Strategy Instruction and Assessment. I feel this is the most important aspect of
the Making Meaning program and to this age group of students. This core practice will help me develop
questions to push the students to answer with more than a one-word
response. The students need to be able
to use the nonfiction text I am introducing to find information about a
specific topic. I have noticed through
the DRA testing that the students are becoming more fluent in their reading,
but they do not understand what they read.
I believe nonfiction text will challenge the students to do both.
7.
What resources within the community, neighborhood, school
district, school or classroom do you have to work with in this target area?
o
Open communication with my MT is going to be the
most beneficial tool in regards to Making Meaning. I have been to a Professional Development day
titled, “Writing about Reading” which I hope to incorporate a little bit after
this two-week unit. The PD day discussed
tools in which lower elementary students can use in order to interact with
informational texts. One tool they
introduced was sticky notes in which the students could write information they
felt to be important down on paper to incorporate into a piece of nonfiction
writing.
8.
What additional resources do you need to obtain?
o
I need to obtain the books laid out in the Making
Meaning curriculum in order to direct my lessons.
9.
How will you pre-assess your students in your target area?
o
I want to teach a mini-lesson that focuses on a piece
of nonfiction text and observe how the students react to it. I have observed the students being excited
over animals, bones, and mummies in which they have read about in fiction
books. I am curious as to how they would
respond if they read text that was real to them and they could observe each day
in their environment.
10.
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?
o
I need to interview the students to see their
personal experiences with nonfiction text in kindergarten. I have been differentiating instruction based
on developmental levels in the classroom and I need to gather more information
about student interests in order to choose ‘good-fit’ nonfiction books for the
students.
11.
What else do you need/want to learn about the ‘core practice’ to
support your planning and teaching?
o
I would like to learn how to monitor comprehension
in a more concrete form in a large group lesson setting. I am able to record individual progress
during a small group lesson or one-on-one interview, but I am challenged by
comprehension record keeping while teaching a large group.
12.
What concerns, if any, do you have about planning and teaching
your unit?
o
I have always taught fiction based lessons and
connected them to the students’ personal experiences through that type of
text. I am curious as to how well I am
going to do when the information is real.
This may seem like a strange concern, but first graders are full of
questions. How am I going to maintain
control while answering 24 different questions at once?
I like the way you based your core practice on an observation of your students' needs. You noticed that students are having difficulty comprehending what they read and made your core practice comprehension strategy instruction and assessment. That is very authentic of you!
ReplyDeleteI noticed you said you went to a PD about writing about reading. I chose writing about reading as my core practice. Maybe we can talk sometime about the strategies you learned about!