Moving From Assessment to Instruction

I have learned that M loves action books. He loves to let his imagination run wild. He also likes books with boys in them. I feel he likes to read books that he can associate himself with. Two class sessions ago, I took him four books and asked him to choose one. He chose The Invisible Boy, “because it has a boy on it.” I’ve learned that M enjoys coming up with adventure stories. He loves putting quotes in his stories and bringing them to life.

My buddy seems to have a hard time reading a passage and telling me the main points of what he read. Now that I have a better idea of what kinds of books he likes to read, I would continue choosing books of that style and genre and have M read certain pages and retell me what he read. I would ask him to give me the main points of the passage. I would do this process (have him read a few pages and tell me what they’re about) a few times. Once we discuss them, I would have him write me a page listing the main points. On this piece of writing, I would also be looking for an improvement in run-on sentences. This was something I noticed he needed to work on. I would be looking at his sentences making sure they are structured correctly (no run-on sentences) and I would be looking for proper usage of exclamation points and question marks, as these were also areas where he needed some practice. While he seems to have no problem reading a passage silently and telling me what it was about, I want him to gain practice and be able to read a passage aloud and give me the main details. It's definitely something I feel he would benefit from.

In terms of reading levels, I would have him read stories that are in the fourth to fifth grade level.

I am still adding EALRs to this list, but here are some of them:
GLE 3.3.4: Knows and applies punctuation rules. Uses commas after an introductory phrase or clause.
GLE 3.3.6: Uses complete sentences in writing.

Literacy Project 1- Reflection

Cassandra, Amy, Sarah, and Tina, thank you very much for your thoughtful responses!

Cassandra and Amy, you both raised a very important point. The lesson plan that I posted was very close to the ‘I do it, we do it, you do it’ format. I’m not sure why I didn’t include a ‘modeling’ portion in the lesson plan. I would definitely make that change. This would help M in his understanding of run-on sentences and the reasons for avoiding them. Originally, I had thought of a worksheet with seven sentences. I would now change that to eight sentences. These eight sentences would be split into three sections: Modeling Practice, Guided Practice, and Independent Practice. In the modeling section, I would correct the two run-on sentences, making sure to say out loud what I am correcting and the reasons for doing so. Essentially, I would be following the Optimal Learning Model discussed in our readings (Routman, 2003). In the guided practice section, we would work on two sentences together, and the remaining four sentences would be completed independently by M.

Tina, your advice to teach M how to use an editing chart is very interesting. After spending these past couple of weeks with M, I can tell he tries hard to complete great writing pieces. I have no doubt he would take the information on the editing chart and almost use it as a rubric to make sure he uses proper conventions. Because I want him to pay close attention to correcting his run-on sentences, I would create a separate lesson for this; perhaps one that immediately follows the lesson on run-on sentences. It’s important for M and other students to see what teachers are looking for. Having a lesson on editing specifically would help students learn to pay more attention to their writing.

Sarah, the question you posted for me was whether or not we should work on word choice next. I think it would be a good place to continue-- after working on editing. I want to make sure he is completely sure of when to use explanation points rather than question marks, and vice versa. Word choice would definitely follow. I remember the last sentence of his story lacked energy. I feel he could have chosen better word choices on his conclusion. In fact, it’s important that we work on this too (concluding sentences). We want to teach him to choose strong word choices ALL throughout the story. He did this so well in the previous pages, I almost felt like I was left ‘hanging’ with the concluding sentence that he wrote. In fact, his last sentence threw me off some. I thought, in the story, the boy was enjoying the day all animals could talk. So, why was his last sentence, “Even though it was annoying, I still remember the day all animals could talk”?  I understand the dog’s accident may have been frightening or frustrating, but I’m not sure if ‘annoying’ was the right choice of words. On the contrary, before Kunoa’s accident, the boy seemed happy, and after the accident, he seemed concerned. I’m not sure if he simply used the word ‘annoying’ to finish the story quickly.  After all, it was his last sentence (as I mentioned earlier, he seemed to rush off the end and he lacked energy). I remember writing in my analysis how he could have used better word choices (NWREL, 1992, p. 5). Therefore, I think it would be a great area to target next.

Working with a student who is enthusiastic about writing, and who clearly takes the time to create his stories, is very rewarding. From our meetings with M, I can tell he listens to feedback and works hard at improving his work. I look forward to continuing my work with him and helping him improve something he loves to do.

Literacy Project 1- Lesson Plan

Lesson Outline

Objectives
To work on improving sentence structure by revising samples of incomplete and run-on sentences.
To discuss his run-on sentences and improve his usage of commas and periods.

Standards
GLE 3.3.4: Knows and applies punctuation rules. Uses commas after an introductory phrase or clause.
GLE 3.3.6: Uses complete sentences in writing.

Materials
Example of writing, pencil, red pen, 1 piece of blank lined paper

Instructional strategies

This lesson will occur in a writing-conference context.

I will ask M to read the piece of writing I provide him with and ask him the following questions: What did you think about the writing?  What do you notice about the sentences? Incomplete sentences? Run-on sentences? What made the sentence either incomplete or a run-on?

We will discuss what makes a complete sentence (how commas are used to combine different ideas together, what elements are necessary), then work on the sample sentences by correcting  two of them together.  The five sentences that remain will be corrected by M. Using a red pen, he can write the corrections he feels will improve the sample.

Once M finishes correcting the sentences, we will talk about how the changes improved them.  If there are incorrect revisions, we will discuss what could be changed.

After M has gotten practice determining what makes a complete sentence (and not a run-on sentence), and feels more confident making revisions, this will lead us to the next  part of our lesson. I will ask him to  read over his original piece of work, “My Dog Kunoa” and have him see if he can spot any incomplete or run-on sentences.  Once he points them out, I will have him rewrite them on a blank piece of paper so that the sentences both flow with the rest of the story, and also get revised as complete, coherent sentences.

I will ask M to read his revisions out loud once he is finished.  

I will discuss the changes he made and give him feedback on how much better his story flows.  We will then have a conversation about what can be  done next to take his writing to publication.

Assessment
I will informally assess how M corrects the remaining five sentences on his own .  Then I will check how he revised his run-on sentences from his story, comparing them to how he had originally written them in his rough draft. I will refer to the sentence fluency portion of the 6-Traits to assess how he made his improvements.

Literacy Project 1-Analysis

1. The title of M’s fictional story is My Dog Kunoa. It was created after his class was given a prompt to write a story about animals that can talk. The story is about a talking dog that goes to the zoo on its grand opening day. Their adventure is cut short when Kunoa gets injured, loses his ability to talk, and has to be taken to the vet. After x-ray tests are done, we learn that Kunoa is alright and just needs some rest.

2. 6 Traits

Ideas: M’s story is clear and focused, and it definitely holds the reader’s attention. His writing contains a lot of details to support his main ideas. As the reader you can also tell that he wrote from experience, “The guy in the box office gave us our tickets and a catalog,” but yet his ideas are fresh and original, “Kunoa wanted to stop at the Dots Ice Cream stand which left me thinking that he was very spoiled.” The piece of writing also displays a high level of insight, demonstrating an understanding of life, “Doctor Yakamoto came in to show me Kunoa’s x-ray.”  

Organization: There is an inviting introduction to M’s story, drawing the reader from the very first sentence. His story has a clear beginning, middle, and ending displaying careful thought and organization in the structure of his story (sequencing is logical and effective). His conclusion was thought through carefully, letting the reader know that his dog Kunoa’s health was in good condition, but also reminding the readers of the main idea of the story with the last sentence (main idea-the day all animals could talk), bringing the story to a smooth closure (Routman, 2005).

Voice: M’s strong focus on his topic speaks strongly to his audience. His use of detail is appealing, and the language that he uses to do so is natural and engaging. His story flows, and his use of specific details lets the reader know that there is an inclusion of personal details and sense of familiarity behind his words, “The guy in the box office gave us our tickets and a catalog” (NWREL, 1992).   

Word Choice: The word choices made by M give the story a very interesting touch, while enhancing the meaning of the story. He uses a lot of lively nouns, verbs, and phrases such as fainted, Doctor Yakamoto, snoring mode, and knocked out like a rock. He even used a simile in his writing, “Doctor Yakamoto came running out like a deer.” The beginning and middle of his story contained a lot of lively word choices, but the ending seemed to lack them a bit. By this point in the story, the audience is already used to a certain level of description and the conclusion paragraph doesn’t support this strongly. He does contain some striking words, “…he went into snoring mode,” but more detailed wording would have been better (NWREL, 1992, p. 5).

Sentence Fluency: The sentences in the story vary in length from short to long, make the story easy to read aloud, and they enhance the meaning of the story. He added dialogue where he felt it expanded the story, “I wish I could swim like you,” and “My dog has hit his head.” His thesis sentence in the beginning paragraph clearly communicates to the audience what the story is about, “That’s the start of the day all animals could talk.” An area we felt he should improve on is preventing run on sentences, “Kunoa went crazy he jumped up, and down yelling, “I wish I could swim like you.” ”

Conventions: Overall, M’s story displayed good capitalization and paragraphing, reinforcing the organizational structure. There are some areas where we feel he needs some improvement and practice. In order to avoid run-on sentences in his story, he needs to learn the proper use of commas and where to start new sentences. His overall spelling was great, with the exception of one misspelled word, eventully.

3. M definitely displays ownership of his writing. He said he likes writing and coming up with creative things, but he does need a title or an open-ended prompt to get started. When asked what makes him want to write, he responded with, “It’s fun thinking of all the action stuff to write about. I’m better at understanding nonfiction.” His fondness of writing even went as far as attempting to write a chapter book at one point. He continued with, “Action makes stories more fun, and since every story has a problem, there needs to be a solution for kids to come up with… but they also have to come up with the fun stuff in between.” M appears to be very proud and confident in his writing, loves to let his imagination take over, and he ended this portion of our questions with, “I think I’m good at writing.”

4. When looking over M’s spelling words from our first session, Sarah and I believe he is a good speller. The only words he missed were ‘cattle’ and ‘fortunate’. He spelled them as ‘caddle’ and ‘fortune’. In terms of misspelling cattle, he spelled the word the way it sounds and he knew the double consonant rule for the word, but he chose ‘d’ instead of ‘t’. For fortunate, he got stumped on the ending sound, changing it entirely to fortune. He showed that he knew how to spell the root word but struggled when spelling the ending. He was also aware that he misspelled the word but wanted to move on. All the other words were spelled correctly and he seemed to have no problem with them, writing them quickly and automatically.

During these two short sessions with M, Sarah and I have learned what it is like to work with and learn from an enthusiastic reader and writer. He is a student that takes pride in his writing and enjoys taking his stories to the next level. We feel that in order for his writing to continue flourishing, he should work on sentence structure to prevent run-on sentences, as well as the proper use of commas. We look forward to continuing our work with him.  

Connections to Readings:

6+1 Trait Writing

Routman, R. (2005). Writing essentials: raising expectations and results while simplifying teaching. Greenwood International.

English Language Learners

In Fox this week, we read about phonemic awareness for English speakers and English language learners. This is something that hits close to home for me for two reasons. The first reason is that I was raised in a Spanish household where I learned to speak English and Spanish at the same time. The second reason is that I am currently observing a dual language first grade class, where the first half of the day is spoken in Spanish, and the second half of the day is spoken in English. As a child, I don’t remember having confusion with the two languages, nor do I remember getting things mixed up, but this was also a while ago. As a bilingual adult, and as someone who is learning how children learn to read (and how teachers can help them learn to read), I can see how being a child and learning how to read and write in both languages can be very confusing. There are extra letters in the Spanish alphabet, and there are different sounds, making phonemic awareness tricky. For example, Spanish does not have the short /a/ that is heard in /bad/, the short /e/ in /bed/, the shirt /i/ in /bid/, or the short /u/ in /bud/. These sounds are new to Spanish speaking students, making it hard for them to develop phonemic awareness and learn phonics.

In my elementary school, I always had Spanish class and I really believed that helped. My teacher expected me and all her other students to try our hardest when we read and wrote in English, and my Spanish teachers expected the same. My parents helped me with my homework, no matter the language. So, having supportive teachers and family is very helpful. It is also important to give them longer amounts of instruction. English learners who learn phonics at a slower pace will benefit from extra and highly focused phonics instruction, especially if started at an early age (p. 225). They will improve in decoding, word reading, comprehension, and fluency.

The first grade students I’m observing right now are learning the different sounds in English and differentiating them from Spanish sounds. Having the day split in two languages is working very well for them. Their minds can get in language modes, and this also gives them an opportunity to practice speaking the language. As Fox mentions, English learners that have a better pronunciation of English sounds have an easier time developing phonemic awareness than those kids whose pronunciation is less developed (p. 225). This is something I am seeing in the dual language class. The English learners whose parents at least speak some English have a much easier time reading and writing in English than do the kids whose family doesn’t speak any English at home. For one, they are not hearing their parents speak the language at home (extra practice) and they also don’t have someone who can help them with homework. The good news is, however, that you don’t have to wait until these kids’ pronunciation of English improves. Phonemic awareness activities can help students pay attention to English sounds. For example, one thing you can do is ask them questions like, “Which doesn’t belong? Man-top-mouse?” This helps draw attention to beginning English sounds, helping the kids learn these sounds. When their pronunciation in English improves, so does their ability to read aloud.

While reading Fox, I came across something that really resonated with me. Fox states that teachers should “adapt instruction to children’s English, language proficiency, culture, and experiences” (p. 230). English language learners will retain more of the information taught to them if they can make cultural connections to it, or read about familiar materials. I remember when I was a little girl, I loved sharing things about my Colombian culture with the class. When kids are interested in the subject matter, they will be eager to learn and work hard in school.  

Fox, B.J. (2008). Word identification strategies building phonics into a classroom reading program. New Jersey, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Phonemic Awareness

I had my last meeting with my kindergarten buddy. I hope he learned as much from me as I learned from him. The last activity we did is called Interactive Spelling. The goal was for my buddy to listen to the sounds I was making and associate them with letters. I would make the sounds by stretching the words. For example, one of the words I used was ‘get’. I would say the word slowly and stretch each sound so that all sounds are clearly heard. I asked my buddy what sound he heard at the beginning and what letter goes with that sound. He wrote the letter down. We did this for each sound: beginning, middle, and end, until each part of the word was spelled out.

I learned a lot about my buddy through this activity. For example, he gets the ‘a’ and ‘o’ sounds mixed up sometimes. One of the words I stretched out for him was cart. He wrote it as cort. He had a harder time with vowels, but with there was one example of his struggle with a consonant. Instead of writing the word ‘had’ he wrote ‘hat’. After a few more examples where he displayed difficulty differentiating the vowel sounds for ‘a’ and ‘e’ I decided to work on two similar words: bet and bat. I had him pay close attention to my voice when stretching the words. He also had a hard time with ‘e’ and ‘o’ so we continued this practice with the words ‘get’ and ‘got’. As we did more examples like this, he became more confident making these distinctions.

In Word Identification Strategies, we have read about the importance of phonemic awareness. It requires children to identify single sounds. Phonemic awareness makes it possible for kids to use phonics to read and spell new words. It was interesting to read that kindergarteners that have good phonemic awareness become better readers than kids that have good rhyme awareness but less developed phonemic awareness. It is more beneficial for kids to learn to identify single sounds than to depend on rhyming to be able to read words. Identifying single sounds will help children better identify words. It will give them the ability to distinguish and manipulate individual sounds, helping them decipher new words. As a future teacher it is great to read about these things now. Helping kids create phonemic awareness will allow them to become better readers, and also help them relieve the stress that accompanies learning how to read, as it would ideally make the process smoother.

Just take it a word at a time…

While reading Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott, I came across a quote that I really like, “Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird” (p. 19). I couldn’t help but to think of the first graders I’m working with. They are learning the different strategies they can utilize when they don’t know how to read a word. The strategies are shown on the image below. During our English reading time (this is a dual language class), the kids were to read their books and use these strategies if they came across a difficult word. Several students proudly raised their hands to show me how they figured out hard words. I remember one student in particular. She learned how to read the word ‘village’ by using the strategies. She was hoping to use a picture to help her, but there wasn’t a picture of a village on the page. She decided to break the word into chunks. The sounds she was coming up with were vi-lla-gay. She told me she knew that wasn’t right because it didn’t sound right (self-correct). So, she covered the ‘e’ in the end of ‘village’, and sounded the ‘g’ the way it sounds when you name the letter (she went back and re-read). Bingo! She read the word ‘village’ and immediately recognized it so she knew she was able to figure out the word. Her face lit up as she was telling me the process she went through. I remember telling her, “Great job! You see, if you take on hard words little by little, your reading will get better and better!” I really believe this is true. I can imagine how frustrating it must be at times to come across words and not be able to read them. Learning how to read is one of the most difficult yet important things a child will learn how to do. I strongly believe if kids are given the right tools and taught the proper strategies, they can take it ‘a-word-at-a-time’ or ‘bird by bird’ and figure out all the difficult words that come their way.

Children can follow these strategies when they come across a difficult word!

Reading and Observing

While doing the readings for our literacy class, I got excited when I started recognizing things I am seeing in my placement. When I read about analogy-based phonics, I immediately thought about the private assessment my teacher did with one of her students. I will call this boy Sam. Our book describes analogy-based phonics as teaching children to identify new words by noticing shared letter groups. It’s funny because they used the same example my teacher used: 'at' in hat, fat, etc. Sam is an ESL student. She started off with the word 'at'. Once she went over the pronunciation of ‘at’, and once she felt he knew it, she moved on to the other words: sat, hat, bat, fat, and rat. They used zoo phonics to put the sounds together. She had Sam put his finger along the word as he said it.

As talked about in our reading, she also taught Sam and the entire class to use illustrations to figure out how to read and understand the meaning of long and difficult words. During her assessment with Sam, she got a book and hid the text. She showed him only the pictures and wanted him to say what the boy in the book was doing, such as sliding, climbing, etc. At first he said swimming, but then corrected himself and said sliding. When he didn’t know a word, the teacher would ask him if he knew it in Spanish. Many times he did, so it was a matter of him learning it in English.

My teacher talked about Zoo Phonics. During one of my observations, I noticed her making specific (animal-like) hand and arm movements while saying a particular sound. The students quickly followed with the same movements. In fact, during the private assessment that was given to Sam, he started using zoo phonics on his own to help him read a particular sound. The teacher uses zoo phonics when teaching the kids writing and reading in Spanish and English (zoo phonics is different depending on the language). It was really interesting to see the kids using it. They get happy when they do, which in turn makes them excited (and active) in their learning.

Reading From a Young Age

Starting from a very young age, it is important to encourage children’s independent reading. One of the classroom’s I have spent time in has a great mini-library in the classroom. There is a variety of levels so all the children can find something to read. The classroom library is a total focal area of the room. Not only was reading time centered largely on this area of the room, but other subjects in the class were as well. If there was a science lesson on the brain, the teacher made sure to pull out some of the reading books on the brain from this mini-library for the kids to have quick access to. The area is also inviting to children. It is next to a large window with many chairs around the books such as bean bag chairs, rocking chairs, and benches. There is also a large, paper tree covered with brightly colored paper leaves next to these chairs. It's very relaxing for the kids. This teacher also subscribes to Time Magazine for kids. There was a fabulous article for kids on the Gulf Oil Spill. Sadly, the day she did it was one of the days that I was at UWB in class. Still, she told me the kids loved it. Even though they are young (2nd graders), they are completely capable of learning about this massive subject that’s going on in their world. I strongly believe that for kids to want to be independent readers, they have to read about things that are relevant to their lives.