Tiffani Rath Observations

November 20, 2013

1. What text was used for reading instruction? Discuss with the teacher the reason she chose that text. On Tuesdays and Thursdays our students read from their Read Naturally folder. These folders were designed and made for their own individual reading levels. The levels range from 0.8 to 5.0 in our elementary classroom. It involves them writing a prediction using the title, a small picture, and a few key words. They are timed for 1 minute. This is called a cold read. It is graphed in blue on their progress chart. They listen to the story on a CD headset 3 times. Then they read the story independently 5 times. They are timed one more time for 1 minute and this score, the hot read, is graphed on the progress chart above their original cold read in red. On the back of the story there are comprehension questions as well as a summary/retell section. The teacher chose this instruction because it involves all the components a reader needs to practice in order to become a fluent reader. On the other days of the week our students read from the Texas Treasures textbooks. She chose these texts because they are easier to navigate and learn from in a special education classroom. 2. How were the children grouped for reading? Are the children engaged in their reading work? Was there opportunity for independent reading any time during the day? Our children are independently reading on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On the other days they are grouped according to their reading levels. They are very engaged. If the reader doesnt know a word, usually another student will help them correct it. The bigger groups, 5th grade, takes turns reading together while a teacher follows along asking questions. With the smaller groups, 1st and 2nd grade, the teacher takes turns reading as well as asking questions along the way. 3. What writing opportunities did you deserve? What were the childrens reactions to writing? I observe retell/summary writing almost every day. These children struggle with comprehension and being able to retell the main events of a story. They become frustrated with writing and it takes quite a while for them to get it right. The teacher usually has to guide them through it. 4. Did you observe interactive read-alouds? Describe the activity. Would you say the children were engaged in the activity? I did observe many interactive read-alouds and was involved in a few myself. The older children seem to enjoy it more than the younger children in my classroom. The smaller

Tiffani Rath

November 20, 2013

ones fidget and get off task more often. I have read books to a group of 5 th graders and like I said, they enjoyed it. I have tried many times to read to my 1 st and 2nd graders. 5. Did you observe authentic learning situations during class? Describe them. Yes, I have observed a few authentic learning experiences. One in the kindergarten classroom in particular, where the children were learning to recognize lower- and uppercase letters and sounds. They practiced and then worked independently to find pictures with the sounds and matched upper- to lowercase letters. They were so proud when they got them correct. 6. For grades K-2: Was phonics embedded in the reading or was it a separate isolated activity? Describe the phonics instruction that you observed. For grades 3-6: Discuss spelling with the teacher. How were the spelling words chosen? What kind of daily spelling activities were used to teach the words? Did the class engage in any other word work? Phonics is taught along with the story from a workbook paired with the textbook. R blends were read in a specific story and we sought them out as we read. We also worked on a blend worksheet that went along with the textbook. Spelling words are pulled from the stories we read out of the textbooks and coincide with the workbook. Vocabulary is included in the lesson as well. 7. Did you observe any shared reading? Explain what you observed. Did the children appear to be engaged? Our students do a lot of shared reading with us. We read in unison during math lessons, reading lessons, and language arts. We read our new spelling list together every Monday morning.

Tiffani Rath Observations

November 20, 2013

On Tuesdays and Thursdays our students read from their Read Naturally folder. These folders were designed and made for their own individual reading levels. The levels range from 0.8 to 5.0 in our elementary classroom. It involves them writing a prediction using the title, a small picture, and a few key words. They are timed for 1 minute. This is called a cold read. It is graphed in blue on their progress chart. They listen to the story on a CD headset 3 times. Then they read the story independently 5 times. They are timed one more time for 1 minute and this score, the hot read, is graphed on the progress chart above their original cold read in red. On the back of the story there are comprehension questions as well as a summary/retell section. The teacher chose this instruction because it involves all the components a reader needs to practice in order to become a fluent reader. On the other days of the week our students read from the Texas Treasures textbooks. She chose these texts because they are easier to navigate and learn from in a special education classroom. Our children are independently reading on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On the other days they are grouped according to their reading levels. They are very engaged. If the reader doesnt know a word, usually another student will help them correct it. The bigger groups, 5th grade, takes turns reading together while a teacher follows along asking questions. With the smaller groups, 1st and 2nd grade, the teacher takes turns reading as well as asking questions along the way. I observe retell/summary writing almost every day. These children struggle with comprehension and being able to retell the main events of a story. They become frustrated

Tiffani Rath

November 20, 2013

with writing and it takes quite a while for them to get it right. The teacher usually has to guide them through it. I did observe many interactive read-alouds and was involved in a few myself. The older children seem to enjoy it more than the younger children in my classroom. The smaller ones fidget and get off task more often. I have read books to a group of 5 th graders and like I said, they enjoyed it. I have tried many times to read to my 1st and 2nd graders. Yes, I have observed a few authentic learning experiences. One in the kindergarten classroom in particular, where the children were learning to recognize lower- and uppercase letters and sounds. They practiced and then worked independently to find pictures with the sounds and matched upper- to lowercase letters. They were so proud when they got them correct. Our students do a lot of shared reading with us. We read in unison during math lessons, reading lessons, and language arts. We read our new spelling list together every Monday morning. Phonics is taught along with the story from a workbook paired with the textbook. R blends were read in a specific story and we sought them out as we read. We also worked on a blend worksheet that went along with the textbook. Spelling words are pulled from the stories we read out of the textbooks and coincide with the workbook. Vocabulary is included in the lesson as well.