Practicum III
Author: Amanda Lilly
Based on lesson by:
Date created: 12/14/2012 3:20 AM EST ; Date modified: 12/14/2012 12:54 PM EST
Lesson Title
Subject/Topic Area
Reading
Grade/Level
Grade 4
Context for Learning
Based on the results of a Basic Reading Inventory Pre-assessment the student is:
In the 4th grade
Lower middle class
An oral learner
Comes from a bilingual household (English/Spanish)
Interested in the subject of Dragons
Needs to improve reading fluency and decoding skills
Standards
Display: Collapse AllExpand All
DE- Delaware Curriculum Standards
Subject: English
Standard 2: Students will construct, examine, and extend the meaning of literary, informative, and technical texts through listening, reading and viewing.
Grade Range: 4-5
Performance Indicator 3: self-monitor comprehension while listening, reading, and viewing by
Benchmark c: taking appropriate actions (e.g., rereading to make sense, adjusting rate of reading, seeking the meaning of unknown vocabulary) to enhance understanding of oral and written text.
Lesson Objectives
The student will be able increase their oral reading speed and reading accuracy.
Lesson Rationale
My student will understand that they are learning reading fluency because expert readers develop fluency in their reading. This means that expert readers can read smoothly at an appropriate pace with accurate expressions. The student will develop these skills through timed one minute readings and practicing to automatically recognize words. This will help the student enjoy reading more because they will be able to read fluently without much frustration.
Lesson Essential Question(s)
How does reading fluency affect comprehension?
What happens if you read too quickly or too slowly?
Beginning of the Lesson/Orientation
Instructional Strategies
I will introduce the lesson by telling the student that we are working on improving and developing our reading skills. "We are going to work on reading fluency today. Do you know what the word fluency means? Well its how well a student can read based on their speed, smoothness, and expression. This will make reading make reading more enjoyable for you." Then I will ask if he is familiar with any reading strategies that he can use if he comes to word he doesn't know. We will review the cover-up strategy, where you cover up all the letters except the vowel and see if it makes a long or short sound. For example we will look at the word rope. I will have him cover up the all the letters but O and E, then I will ask if an E next to an O makes a short or long sound.
Formative Assessment (ongoing)
The student will demonstrate his understanding by participating in the warm up activity and responding to the questions asked. If he is able to correctly identify that an E next to an O makes a long sound then we are able to move on, but if he claims that this makes a short O sound we will continue with more examples of long and short O sounds until he correctly identifies them.
Time Frame
This warm-up activity should take 5 to 10 minutes to complete.
Assessment/Rubrics
There is no rubric for this warm-up activity. The student will be assessed by their participation in the activity and not whether their answers to the questions were correct or incorrect.
Presentation of the Lesson
Instructional Strategies
The instructor will read examples of sentences on the board modeling poor and good reading fluency. The first time the instructor reads the sentence in a monotone, choppy manner. Then the instructor reads the sentences with more expression and smoothly, then asks the student which time sounded better to them. Now the student will practice his reading fluency by modeling the correct way the instructor showed him.
Formative Assessment (ongoing)
The instructor will check for understanding if the student was able to correctly identify which sentence the instructor exhibited excellent reading fluency and which sentence the instructor exhibited poor reading fluency. Also the instructor will check if the student is able to explain why one sentence was easier for him to understand.
Time Frame
This section of the lesson will take 10 minutes.
Practice:
Instructional Strategies
The student will practice his reading fluency skills by reading the short passage "Let's Go Skating". The student will predict what this story is going to be about, then the instructor will time the student for one minute. After a minute the instructor will record on a timed reading chart how many words the student read per minute. The instructor will also use a fluency checklist that records if words weren't remembered, expression, the smoothness of the reading, and the speed. Next the instructor will ask a comprehension question, "According to the passage, what is the hardest thing to learn with in-line skating?" After the student answers this question the instructor will time the student again reading the second paragraph of the passage and record on a timed reading chart how many words the student read per minute. Then the instructor will compare the fluency checklist and record if the student improved in speed, expression, words remembered, and smoothness. The student will then be asked another comprehension question, "What is the author's opinion of in-line skating?" Once the student has answered the question show them their reading fluency progress recorded on their timed reading chart and fluency checklist.
Formative Assessment (ongoing)
The student will be assessed by looking at their timed reading chart and fluency checklist to see if there reading fluency improved from one reading to the next. The instrcutor will also check if the students reading fluency affected the answer to their comprehension questions based on if he got the questions correct or incorrect.
Time Frame
The student will be given 20 minutes to complete his readings.
Closure and Summarizing:
Instructional Strategies
As a 3-2-1 exit ticket for the student, he will tell me three things he learned about reading fluency, two thing he would change about the learning activity, and one thing he found interesting during the lesson.
Summative Assessment
The instructor will assess student learning based on the answers given by the student. If the student learned the objectives throughout their reading activities then this lesson was successful.
Time Frame
The student will use the last 5 minutes of the tutoring sessions to complete the wrap-up activity.
Analysis of data, reflections/modifications
Analysis
The instructor will assess the students progression throughout the lesson to see if he grasped the concept of reading fluency being taught based on his feedback from the learning activities. If the student comprehended the objectives and learned of their importance to improve his reading fluency then this lesson was successful. If there was evidence of an increase in the number of words the student read per minute on the timed reading chart, then he is improving his reading fluency. If the student still needs improvement in certain areas the teacher will reiterate those concepts the following tutoring session using a different method of instruction.
Materials Needed For The Lesson
Materials
Stopwatch
Timed reading chart
Fluency Checklist
Short reading passage "Lets Go Skating"
References
Adams, Whitney. “Speedy Reader” http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/discov/adamsgt.html
Eldredge, J Lloyd (2005). Teaching Decoding: Why and How. Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Page 154.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Critque of 5 Reading Resources
1.
Success
Maker: (Pay once for a license- less than a dollar a day per student)
Welcome
to Success Maker!. (n.d.). pearsonschool.com:
Home. Retrieved November 26, 2012, from
http://www.pearsonschool.com/index.cfm?locator=PSZk99
I found this
resource while observing the students in my Practicum III mentor teacher’s
computer lab classroom at Berlin intermediate School. The fourth grade students
were working on their reading skills through interactive and engaging
multimedia activities. The strengths of this resource include that it
incorporates technology and reading development strategies to create
instructional software, so that students are exposed to different methods of
reading instruction. Students are also able to work on their reading grade
level, but have opportunities to go above the level they are currently on. When
a student gets a problem wrong the activity explains the question in another
way to give them another opportunity to answer the question.
Also if students
have trouble in specific areas of reading the activity finder hones in on those
areas to provide more reinforcement activities to help them improve those
specific reading skills. Some weakness may include that for each question the
students are timed, which may help students with speed, but not accommodate
students with extended time on activities. The students are also shown their
grade at the end of the reading skills activity and if they get a 75% or higher
that means they passed that activity. Some students might be motivated by their
grade or discouraged depending upon how well they did that day. I found that
most students were actively engaged in this reading program due to the
game-like format because these students love to play games.
2.
Reading
Fluency Flashcards: (Price: $9.99)
(2009).
Free Printable Reading Activities To Improve Reading Skills. (n.d.). Dyslexia Resource: Free Reading Activities
and Help for Educators and Parents. Retrieved December 3, 2012, from
http://www.readingresource.net/readingactivities-II.html#activities1
While researching
teaching resources for fluency I found this resource on the website http://www.readingresource.net/readingactivities.com.
I used this resource in one of my
tutoring sessions to help the 4th grade student I work with to
practice fluency by sounding words out based on what vowels were present, since
these words were on a fourth grade reading level. This resource allowed the
student to read sight words by knowing what sound certain vowels make. If the
student did not pronounce the word on the flashcard correctly I showed him on the
back the vowels in the word that determine what sound they make in the word.
The student then had another opportunity to read the sight word using what
sound he knows the vowels in the word make.
Some strengths of
this resource include that it helps students read sight words by sound and
provides a quick and easy way for students to practice their decoding skills. A
weakness of this resource is that before this resource is implemented students
need prior knowledge of vowel sounds, whether it has a long sound, short sound,
or remains silent.
3.
Timed
Reading Chart (Free)
Bosone,
K., Lee, J., & Roderick, M. (2003, May 24). Reading Fluency. Utah Education Network. Retrieved
December 3, 2012, from http://www.uen.org/Lessonplan/preview.cgi?LPid=3820
I found this
resource on the website www.uen.org. This resource
was implemented during one of my tutoring sessions because these reading charts
can be a useful resource for students in Kindergarten through 6th
grade to practice their reading fluency. I was able to use this timed reading chart to record
how many words my student can read in a minute. In fourth grade student should
be reading about 93 words per minute, when I recorded the student that I work
with his fluency was recorded at 43 words per minute.
A strength of
this timed reading chart is that it allowed me to compare if my student
improved in fluency from one reading to the next using the same fluency
passage. I didn’t find a specific
weakness of this timed reading chart. It is a valuable resource that allows
teachers to evaluate student progress pertaining to reading fluency.
4.
Lanternfish
Phonics Worksheets and Teaching Resources (Free)
(2007). Initial Sounds: Phonics Worksheets. (n.d.). ESL Teacher Resources, Job Boards, and
Worksheets. Retrieved December 3, 2012, from
http://bogglesworldesl.com/initial_sounds.htm
I found this
worksheet on the website http://bogglesworldesl.com/phonics.htm.
This website included numerous phonics worksheets, games, and engaging
activities. This resource expands students decoding skills using games, such as
bingo and word searches that students find interesting. These phonics activities
are used for students at a primary education level when these phonics/decoding
skills are critical for reading development. Its strengths are that teachers
are given a variety of materials that include many different instructional
methods pertaining to improvement in phonemic awareness. A weakness would be
that this resource only focus on phonics skills, but does little to improve
other reading skills at a primary education level.
5.
Reading
Fluency Passages (Free)
(2012).
Fluency Practice - Mrs. Warner's 4th Grade Classroom. (n.d.). Mrs. Warner's 4th Grade Classroom - Home.
Retrieved December 3, 2012, from
http://mrswarnerarlington.weebly.com/fluency-practice.html
This resource was
found on Mrs. Warner’s 4th Grade Classroom website. This website
included a variety of fluency reading passages for fourth graders ranging easy,
average, and advanced. These passages help with reader fluency, as well as ask
comprehension questions following the passage. The passages also range in
topic, so during one of my tutoring sessions my student had a choice on what
topic he was interested in reading. When a student chooses a topic they are
interested about they gain a greater motivation to read.
He chose to read a
story about summer camp and I read the passage first to model how the passage
should be read, then he read the passage. I timed him reading the passage to evaluate
his reading fluency and asked him two comprehension questions after his
reading. Its strengths are that there are a variety of reading levels within
each grade level and topics that interest the students. Also the reading
passages are long enough so that students can’t memorize them, but not too long
that they lose interest. A weakness of these reading passages is that they are
aimed for students in the third and fourth grade, so they are not available on
this website to all grade levels.
Reflective Journal Entry 6
Amanda Lilly
Ms. Albanese
MAS 7998
December 13, 2012
Journal Entry #6
(Post-Assessment)
Observation
|
Reflection
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Questions Raised/ Answers Attempted
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During the administering of the BRI
post-assessment Josh was nervous and read quietly at the beginning because he
figured out that he was being videotaped. After he knew the videotaping was
complete he went back to attempting to speed through the reading passages and
emphasize voice inflections while reading. He was able to sit still more, but
he started to give up towards the end of the BRI because he said he doesn’t
like to read long passages. Also when he came across words he didn’t know he
would ask for help first then attempt to sound it out, but would give up and
say pass. I noticed that during the word lists he would still mispronounce some
of the words, but the words he mispronounced didn’t even have the same
letters present as the words on the word lists. I also observed that during
his reading passages he made more significant miscues by changing some of the
words read, which changed the meaning of what was being said.
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I think if there was more time and if
Josh was available more days we could have spread the BRI out a couple of
days, but due to time constraints we had to complete it in one day. I don’t
think Josh was having a very good day and was exhausted by this whole
process, not giving his best effort. This could have affected some of the
overall results because his pre-assessment results were similar to these
post-assessment results.
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Q: Did the videotaping affect his
results for that reading passage that was videotaped?
A: I think it affected the results
slightly, but not enough to show that there was major evidence the
videotaping caused him to not read as well.
Q: Why would he always look at me when
he didn’t know what a word was?
A: I think this is a learned behavior
that he would expect someone to help him get to the answer than try to figure
it out on his own first.
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Reflective Journal Entry 5
Amanda Lilly
Ms. Albanese
MAS 7998
December 10, 2012
Journal Entry #5
(Tutoring)
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Observation
|
Reflection
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Questions Raised/ Answers Attempted
|
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During my observations I noticed that
Josh was more engaged while he was picking the cut up word slips out of a
bowl and pronouncing them. When he came to a word that he read incorrectly I
corrected him and he would say that’s what I said. It appeared to me that he
heard himself say the word close enough to what I said but not exactly
correctly pronouncing the vowels in each word. He seemed to gain more
confidence during this activity because he was able to go through and read
most of the words with any corrections being made. After this I used reading
fluency flashcards to assist him with short O sounds. He didn’t have too much
difficulty with this activity, but he needs more practice on sight words and
knowing what vowel sounds the letters together make.
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I don’t know if Josh has a harder time
pronouncing vowels than consonants because he lives in a bilingual household
and the pronunciation of vowels differs than native English speakers. He did
a very nice job being engaged and participating in these learning activities,
but still struggles with reading fluency and word decoding. I have seen some
minor improvements over the past couple tutoring sessions, but in order to
see a greater evidence of improvement it would take a longer period of time
to assess if he can apply what he’s learned.
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Q: Why did he seem more engaged during
the first activity?
A: I think he enjoys hands on
activities and this allowed him to pick words from a bowl and read them out
loud.
Q: What skills does he still need to improve?
A: I think that he still needs to
improve on decoding skills and word recognition. It would be beneficial for
him to look at words, count the syllables, and work on sounds associated with
certain letters.
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Reflective Journal Entry 4
Amanda Lilly
Ms. Albanese
MAS 7998
November 27, 2012
Journal Entry #4
(Classroom)
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Observation
|
Reflection
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Questions Raised/ Answers Attempted
|
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I observed Mrs. D’Agostino working
with students around a long table working on their reading homework. The
students were given a word box and they had to fill in the correct words
throughout a story where there were blanks. They had to know what each word
meant and if it made sense where they put it in their stories. Some of the
students were struggling with this activity, so Mrs. D’Agostino labeled the
columns in the word box one through five. This way if the students were
struggling they asked what column the word was in and she was able to give
them a number. This was a way for them to narrow down their options. The students
also had to identify the antonyms of words. They seemed to understand that
antonyms meant opposite, so they didn’t need as much assistance with this
section of their homework. Next Mrs. D’Agostino had the student’s line up at
the door and walked them to the computer lab to work on Success Maker to
improve their reading concept skills. Mrs. D’Agostino walked around the
computer lab to monitor their progress. When students had a question they
raised their hands and she helped them get to the correct answer by asking
them questions. Once the students were done she checked their scores to see
who passed with a 75% or higher. All of the students passed, so she allowed
them to go on educational game sites, such as www.braingames.com - help train your brain. The students seem to enjoy
game like formats, which is why I think the success maker was successful in
improving their reading skills.
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Mrs. D’Agostino has established a very
structured environment. The students seem to remain engaged and follow
procedures well during the after school academy. They have a daily routine
that they expect every day and this helps minimize disruptive behaviors. The
students are always working on something and when they have finished the task
at hand their option is to read a book. If they don’t have a book Mrs.
D’Agostino provides one for them or they can go to the library to pick one
out. I enjoyed observing Mrs. D’Agostino’s and liker her method of modifying
the homework assignment by narrowing down the options available.
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Q: What is Success Maker?
A: Instructional software that
delivers reading and math skills and provides measurable data for teachers. This
program also implements remediation strategies to help strengthen student’s weaker
skills.
Q: Why is reading a main focus of the
after school academy program?
A: The common core standards will soon
be implemented in schools, where reading is expected in every subject. This
is a way for them to get a head start on encouraging reading in all programs
at BIS.
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Reflective Journal Entry 3
Amanda Lilly
Ms. Albanese
MAS 7998
December 4, 2012
Journal Entry #3
(Tutoring)
|
Observation
|
Reflection
|
Questions Raised/ Answers Attempted
|
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At first I attempted to observe if
Josh had a hard time making sounds, which is why he wasn’t able to pronounce
or sound out some of the sight words on the BRI word lists. Josh was given
choices on the order of worksheets he was asked to complete by choosing what worksheet
he wanted to start with. He chose to start with the worksheet that asked him
to look at a picture and write underneath of the picture the beginning sounds
of that word. He did not have a difficult time completing sh, ch, and th sounds/words.
Then he completed a worksheet where he had to write down the beginning letter
of the word shown in the picture and make that sound. He did not have a
difficult time with his p, c, or h beginning sounds. Next he completed a
worksheet where he had to circle the pictures that made sh, ch, and th. The
only pictures that he forgot to circle were pictures of words that he did not
know, such as chariot and chest. I think that he did a good job with
beginning sounds, but may need more assistance with vowel sounds in the
middle of words. He also has an excellent understanding of words and their
meaning because I would ask him questions about the picture he observed and
he would tell me what those pictures were of for the most part.
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Josh started to lose interest towards
to end of the lesson. I asked him if he learned anything new during this
lesson and he said he found out what a chariot and chest are, but other than
that he knew all of the words and could even tell me some of the words in
Spanish. I think this lesson was too easy for Josh and that he has a more
difficult time with vowel sounds than consonant sounds. I also think he needs
to work more on putting parts of a word together to blend two separate sounds
to make a word. He was very polite and cooperative during this tutoring
lesson, but I could tell that he has a hard time sitting for periods longer
than 30 minutes.
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Q: How can I improve my lessons?
A: This first lesson was a starting
point to see what direction I needed to go from here. I think Josh would
benefit more from comprehending vowel sounds and working on his reading
fluency.
Q: How can I motivate focus and keep
him focused?
A: I found a good motivator for Josh
is sand dollars. My mentor teacher gave me these if he worked really hard
during our tutoring sessions. He can use these sand dollars once they add up
to enough to collect a big prize offered at school.
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Reflective Journal Entry 2
Amanda Lilly
Ms. Albanese
MAS 7998
November 15, 2012
Journal Entry #2
(Pre-Assessment)
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Observation
|
Reflection
|
Questions Raised/ Answers Attempted
|
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First I helped students finish their
homework on the three branches of government and long division. I helped them
read and the three branches and identify, which one does what job. Then I
helped show the students a method to check their long division answers to see
if they were correct by multiplying. After this Josh and I went to a quitter
location where I could administer the BRI pre-test. I explained to him what
we would be doing and what was expected of him. He was very willing to
partake in this BRI, but was somewhat antsy after 30 minutes or so. I could
tell that he tried his best and he would continually ask if he was doing a
good job. I was very encouraging throughout this whole process and kept
motivating him to sound out the words and take his time while reading the
passages. Through this process I was able to observe that he needs help
sounding out words and taking his time while reading. He came across the word
cabin, but pronounced it Caribbean. He needs some help breaking down the
syllables in words. He also had good comprehension skills because I think he
is an oral learner and has a better time grasping what is going on in a story
when he reads it out loud to himself.
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After I evaluated his results on the
BRI pre-test I concluded he needs assistance with word recognition and
decoding, along with reading frequency. He needs practice in these areas for
him to improve his reading ability, since he is barely at a fourth grade
reading level. I also found it interesting that he was weak in reading
fluency, yet had strong comprehension skills. I found that when we went over
the words that he mispronounced once I read them to him and then he was able
to tell me what that word meant he just wasn’t able to blend the sounds of
the words on the word list. I also observed that as the list went on the
words got harder and he passed on words that he said he hasn’t seen before.
He may have a limited vocabulary or maybe he has seen the word before, but
just couldn’t recognize it on the word lists.
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Q: Why is it that his reading fluency
is weak, but his comprehension is strong?
A: This is possibly due to the fact
that I asked the comprehension questions orally and he is an oral learner. I
also think that while reading the passages he read at a slower pace because
he wasn’t able to recognize or decode some of the words, which slowed him
down even though he was able to comprehend what he just read.
Q: What can I do to improve his
reading fluency?
A: Practice, practice, practice. The
more opportunities he is given to practice his reading fluency skills the
more opportunity he has for improvement in this component of reading
literacy.
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