Module 5 PowerPoints

Teaching Phonics, High-Frequency Words, and Fluency

            As a first grade teacher, I already implement several of the methods/activities listed in this PowerPoint in my classroom. I did like the suggestion to use hand signals with a word as a method of teaching short vowel sounds. I use keyword cards during phonics instruction for this same purpose, but I think the students would remember a hand signal when they don’t have access to the cards. I also liked the modified Bingo example. That would be a great activity for me to include in my literacy center block. My students currently participate in the “Making Words” and “Building Words” activities, the secret word clues activity, and sorting activities. I also have a word wall that I add new words to regularly and a center involving a poem each week.   

            Vocabulary Development

            I use semantic, syntactic, and phonic prompts during my guided reading lessons to help students decode words and develop strategies to help them during independent reading. I didn’t realize that high frequency words make up approximately 50 percent of words in continuous text. This just shows how important it is for students to learn to recognize these words in text. My students have a list of sight words and a corresponding list of phrases that use the sight words to help them learn to recognize the word and how it is used in context. I liked the idea of singing high-frequency words. My first grade students always seem to enjoy the incorporation of music into instruction. My students also participate in read-along activities on the computers. I also stress the importance of reading aloud to children to my parents. When children see and hear words while they follow along in a story they become more familiar with difficult or high frequency words and will eventually be able to recognize these words on their own. I am also a big supporter of repeated readings and partner or alternate readings. This is another area I stress to my parents. I use poems and fluency passages for repeated reading practice, but I have recently included reader’s theatre scripts into my guided reading instruction to promote repeated readings as well as oral reading. I also agree that charting student progress is a great way to show students their growth and keep them motivated. I use the fluency passages for cold and hot reads. Recording the cold and hot read scores show the students how their reading has improved on a certain passage due to repeated readings over the course of a week.                                              

Assessing Vocabulary

            Seeing a breakdown of the different kinds of words into tiers was interesting and informative. Vocabulary skills definitely play a big role in comprehension. If a student can read the word but really doesn’t know what the word means then he/she is losing meaning of the text. I also agree that there are different levels of “knowing” a word. Classroom conversations, read-alouds, and the use of rich language is something I am seeing an emphasis on this year with the implementation of the Common Core Standards. I liked the “everyone gets 5” quiz suggestion. This is a quick and simple way to assess each students understanding of certain words. I also like the suggestions on slide 8. I would like to start using activities such as these more often in my classroom.

Module 4: Summary of Opitz Chapters 8, 9, 10, and 12

             Chapter 8 focused mainly on listening to and assessing students’ oral reading using the informal reading inventory (IRI), the modified miscue analysis, and the running record. These assessments help teachers gain insights of areas/skills that students need more instruction with. I am most familiar with using a running record to assess students while they read orally. Like the videos the text provided examples of how to mark a running record. The text even pointed out on p. 172 that running records are a more popular assessment choice and used more often than IRIs. I have had experience with using an IRI while completing coursework for college, but it is not an assessment method my school uses. However, I do like how an IRI provides comprehension questions and doesn’t solely focus on the students’ reading miscues and level. Since comprehension is the main goal of reading I feel that these comprehension questions can provide teachers with valuable insight. The modified miscue analysis is an assessment I cannot recall administering, but I would be interested to do so in the future. It is important to remember that it is not just about how many errors a student makes while reading, but it is important to understand the types of errors being made. Then, plan future instruction to address those errors and help fix/prevent them from continuing.

            Student choice and providing a variety of texts seem to be a common theme throughout my coursework. Student enjoyment/interest while reading/learning leads to more academic progress. Chapter 9 focused on these topics. I have watched my students year after year get excited when I introduce new books, especially science and social studies books. I really play into their enthusiasm now and set the stage for exciting learning now because I know which books really spark their interests. I also love being able to read to my first graders and stop and discuss the book with them throughout the reading. This chapter explained several different types of books that all can have a meaningful purpose in the classroom. When students start asking to take books home I know they really have an interest in them, so I allow them to check them out of my classroom.    

            Chapter 10 discussed comprehension and the various levels of comprehension.  Four comprehension skills were explained and several comprehension strategies were explained within Figure 10.13. I liked the graphic organizers that were provided. Since comprehension is the main goal of reading I found this chapter very meaningful.

             Chapter 12 focused on phonics instruction. I enjoy teaching phonics in my first grade classroom, and I find it beneficial for my students to be actively engaged in a phonics lesson each day. Decoding skills are essential for readers to become fluent and phonics instruction is how students gain these skills. The sample exercises provided are similar to many of the activities provided in my phonics lessons. This chapter provided five meaningful ways to assess phonics and examples of these assessments through the use of the figures within the text as well as seven ways to teach phonics. This information provides a valuable resource and refresher for how to provide the most effective phonics instruction in a classroom. Like our summer reading endorsement class/text, the Opitz text also emphasized that phonics instruction should be about learning words and not memorizing rules, and it should be taught as a part of reading instruction. Guided reading is the perfect opportunity to combine phonics instruction with reading.

Module 4: Video Summaries

                 Running records are a valuable tool to when analyzing a student’s reading. I use running records on a regular basis in my first grade classroom to determine student reading levels. I don’t make all the marks exactly as the teacher demonstrated on the three-part video, but I am still gathering the same information. I actually don’t use the check marks or “ticks” for correct words. I leave the word without any markings if it is said correctly, because I don’t like having the extra marks on the page. I feel putting a mark on every word makes the paper very “busy/messy” and harder to read and interpret. Since I am looking for errors in the student’s reading I only mark the errors. The teacher on the other video did a nice job of teaching the student how to assess his own reading. The student had a clear understanding of what fluency is, so it was obvious the teacher had been working with him to master this skill. I think going back over the errors I mark during a running record with my students helps them gain a better understanding of reading and how they can improve.

Module 4: Assessment: Formative and Summative PowerPoint

           I have recently become more familiar with the definitions and purposes of formative and summative assessments through my readings in the class. I found it interesting when Green (1999) explained assessment as time when someone sits with the learner to do something “with” and “for” students rather than “to” the students. However, it takes a balance of formative and summative assessments to effectively measure student progress. Formative assessments tend to be informal and according to this PowerPoint they have the greatest impact on learning and achievement. One element of formative assessments is the conversations between teachers and students that build and go deeper. This element is something I see more of after implementing math workshop at my school and now with the implementation of the CCGPS as well.

            Summative assessments are the more traditional form of evaluating students. I liked the “Garden Analogy” of summative and formative assessments and I see a need for both in the classroom. The “Factors Inhibiting Assessment” also caught my attention. While summative assessments can be valuable to both teachers and students the attention should be on providing advice for improvement and not merely on grading and marking. I prefer to go over summative assessments with students if I see an area of concern after grading the test. I feel that this is the only way they can benefit from the “grading.” I also encourage parents to go over these assessments at home and review questions that were missed as well as practice other questions similar to the ones missed. This gives students an opportunity to learn from their mistakes. This PowerPoint provided helpful information regarding formative and summative assessment and was a good refresher/reference for the future.  

Module 4: Identifying Reading Disabilities PowerPoint

          What stood out to me the most in this PowerPoint was the “Interactive view” located under the “Approaches to Intervention and Corrective Instruction” heading. The other bullets were the part-to-whole approach and the whole-to-part approach which I am very familiar with, but the interactive view was less familiar. This view states that reading is not linear, but it is a combination of the part-to-whole and the whole-to-part approach. I agree with this view because I have always thought it was difficult to only teach reading with one approach. I think a combination of the two happens naturally while teaching and learning to read. This PowerPoint also discussed the Response to Intervention (RTI) procedures for each tier designed to help students who are struggling. This is another area I have become familiar with during my teaching career.

            One of the basic principles listed for low-achieving readers was to foster independence. I have recently become interested in “The Daily Five” which also has the goal to foster independence. I am interested in using this reading approach in my classroom in the future with the goal of fostering reading independence. Implementing “The Daily Five” model would be one way to provide a range of literacy experiences for students, provide a sense of community, personalize instruction, and meet the needs of all learners which are all part of the basic principles for programs for low-achieving readers according to this PowerPoint.