Laura Wipf EPS 513 October 25, 2012 Planning Commentary

Content Focus and Standards I teach second grade at Johnson School of Excellence. Our students have been divided into small groups for reading that we alternate working with each day. I chose to work with the low-level learners. Below are the NWEA standards that I used when planning for the lesson: Common Core English Language Arts K-12 Goal: Foundational Skills Skills and Concepts: Phonics and Word Recognition 151 selects the letters that make up the beginning blend in a word given orally (gr-) 151 selects the letters that make up the beginning blend in a word given orally (tr-) 152 selects the letters that make up the beginning blend in a word given orally (cr-) 156 selects the letters that make up the beginning blend in a word given orally (br-) 159 selects the letters that make up the beginning blend in a word given orally (dr-)

Knowledge of Students to Inform Teaching There are four students in this particular small group. They were placed together because of their NWEA MAP Test scores in Foundational Skills (which range from 143152). I chose to work with beginning consonant blends because I know that it is a phonetic skill that each student has yet to master. I also know from baseline assessments, that Ive done individually, that they are familiar with beginning consonant

sounds, short-vowel sounds, two-letter blends (ex. b+a=ba), and three-letter blends (CVC). Therefore consonant blends are the next reasonable next step because they are part of the patterns/sounds that occur most in the English language. Our phonics curriculum also teaches this order of progression for beginning sounds. Since we have to teach to the test, I found the appropriate NWEA statements to coincide with my lesson. These statements informed me of which consonant blends to teach first. It also must be noted that, because of their low MAP test scores, all four of these students are on the radar for RTI services. I have noticed that they struggle with reading and have very little phonetic knowledge. Therefore formulating thoughts and putting them into words on paper is also difficult. They need constant assistance and supervision in class. Three out of the four students have behavior problems and are disruptive in class, the other merely tunes out during instruction, and he has a complete inability to focus. I only know bits and pieces about my students family lives. For example, Dentals mom was shot a couple weeks ago. Devins mom threatened to punch the first grade teacher when she came barging into school last week. Armons fourth grade sister walks him home everyday. Marquise has a twin brother and they both suffer from Neurofibromatosis (a disorder that causes benign brain tumors). I find that its difficult to know what is going on in a childs home life when parents phone numbers and addresses are constantly changing, or when a different person picks them up from school everyday. This makes it hard to communicate with whoever the sole caregiver may be. However, I do know that at Johnson, sadly it is rare to find someone who comes from a loving, supportive, two-parent family. The impoverish situations from which my students arise greatly affects their classroom performance. I notice that these

children need extra care and help in the classroom to make up for what they lack in the home. I try to use my small group time as a chance to bond with students because it is difficult to give individual attention in a whole group setting.

Supporting Student Learning The students in my small group need to constantly be active and engaged in order to focus on any information given. I know they have short attention spans, I also know that they tend to become disinterested if the work is too difficult. This is why I try to give them hands-on activities when possible. I begin each lesson by modeling the skill. Then we practice the skill together. It is at this point that helps me determine whether or not I need to alter the level of content. Lastly, we have a short time for independent practice. A small group setting allows me to better cater the material to individual needs. Although, I have noticed that even in a group of four students, their needs are still widespread. I have seen that Devin and Armon are good self-starters whereas Dental and Marquise need more prompts and guidance before beginning a task. For the beginning introductions to consonant blends, I chose to find photos on the Internet and underlined the blend like shown below.

I chose pictures that a typical second grade student would be familiar with that had words that were short in length. I did so because I wanted the focus of the lesson to

remain on the beginning consonant blend, not a tricky vocabulary word. I said the name of the item displayed, and then pointed out the underlined blend. I had students repeat the blend after me. I then individually asked each student what two letters make up that blend. Next, I passed out index cards with br, dr, cr, gr, tr written on them. Armon, Dental, Devin, and Marquise received a set apiece. I then read words aloud such as grape, crab, brush, drink, train. Students had to hold up the corresponding blend card they heard in every word. In this way, I ensured that everyone could participate. They were able to connect what they had learned from seeing the blends by each picture and seeing them on the index card, to hearing them and using auditory processing for the given words. They also independently completed the worksheet (part is shown below), as well as one with tr, and gr blends.

I think the variety of instructional strategies used helped ingrain the lesson. It was interactive. It was developmentally appropriate because it seemed to be below their frustration level (each student had some success throughout the lesson), yet still new, not yet mastered material. Throughout the activity I noticed that Marquise needed extra prompting. I carefully enunciated each sound for him and had him repeat the blends numerous times. At one point, I scrambled up the index cards for and had him read aloud each one, I also asked him to tell me what letters make up each blend.

Even in a small group setting, there are still individual differences among learning styles and speeds.

Supporting Student Understanding and Use of Academic Language For this lesson, the main vocabulary that my students needed to know was consonant, and blend. These were terms that they had been introduced to before, but needed reinforcement. I told them that many words have blends, and that this lesson will help them to become better readers. I made sure that I used explicit directions throughout the lesson. I also repeated key concepts to reiterate the material.

Monitoring Student Learning I used the Whats the Beginning Blend? worksheet as a type of preassessment. That way I could gage whether or not my small group was on track. Next, I passed out an exit slip said Write the beginning blend that you hear for each word. It was numbered 1-5. I then read aloud various examples of each br, dr, cr, gr, and tr blend. For instance, for number one, I said, break. The students wrote br on their sheets. I feel that this assessment properly matched my objectives because each NWEA statement said selects the letters that make up the beginning blend in a word given orally. A week later, I did a picture sort with the same small group. I wanted to guarantee that they retained their knowledge of beginning consonant blends. I laid out cards in a row with br, dr, cr, gr, and tr written on each. Each student was given a stack of unlabeled pictures of various br, dr, cr, gr, and tr words. Armon, Dental, Devin, and

Marquise each took turns saying aloud the name of what was pictured on their card. They then had to place the picture under the appropriate heading. This activity still tied into my main objective, but this time, each student said the word orally and matched it with the correct blend. My hope was that they learned to associate certain words with specific blends and that they could come up with the blend on their own (without me saying it). All four students with successful with this task!