Emma King

Grades 1 & 2

E School
 Literacy Part I
General Background Knowledge on Literacy

Literacy is often defined as the ability to read and write (Mariam-Webster, 2021), yet the

exact definition changes through time (Combs, 2010). Literacy today can be defined as the

ability to do a number of things such as read, write, speak and listen (Combs, 2010). There are

stages of literacy within early childhood that allow children to be able to make their way to

accomplish literacy effectively. Literacy development begins when children are born, and

through every developmental stage throughout life (Combs, 2010). The four stages that are

focused on in Kindergarten through grade three are emergent, developing, transitional and

independent (Combs, 2010; Foundations of Reading Workshop, n.d.). Emergent readers are

beginning to understand that print has meaning, they are building oral language skills and

phonological awareness (Foundations of Reading Workshop, n.d.) developing or beginning

readers are starting to learn sight words which are words that happen frequently when reading.

Transitional readers are beginning to learn more words that have not been in their vocabulary or

that they will not typically use when speaking. Lastly, independent or fluent readers are

beginning to echo, and choral read with their instructors. These readers can read smoothly and

effectively when reading aloud (Foundations of Reading Workshop, n.d.)

Literacy instruction includes many different elements throughout different parts of each

day. The elements of literacy that are a part of Kindergarten through grade three of the primary

grades include reading literature, reading informational text, foundational skills in reading and

writing (CCSSI, 2021). The foundational skills of reading include print concepts, phonological

awareness, phonics and word recognition, and fluency (CCSSI, 2021). Reading informational

text and literature include comprehension with using key ideas and details, understanding craft
and structure, and use integration of knowledge and ideas based on illustrations. Literacy

instruction can be taught in so many ways.

Children are always learning language and literacy skills through every discipline

throughout their school day, especially in kindergarten through grade three. In math instruction,

children answer word problems, in science and social studies children are working through

problems by speaking and listening. On top of these experiences, children are also getting

specific instruction in phonics, phonological awareness, word analysis and comprehension. As

children read during guided reading, they are reading aloud and answering questions. Creating a

literacy rich classroom requires a wide range of age-appropriate books available for all the

children throughout the day. Environments that encourage literacy may have cozy spaces for

reading to happen, and children may be given many different opportunities to read to self, with a

partner, and in guided reading sessions (KM personal communication 2021).

K says that in a typical year, children have centers throughout reading time when the

stations include guided reading, read to self or partner and independent writing (KM, personal

communication, 2021). Because of social distancing guidelines, this is not possible this year. She

says that by reading with a partner, even if the children do not have a lot of time to read aloud in

those 20 minutes, children are still interacting. By getting situated, socializing and deciding what

partner will read first, where and when, children are still building critical literacy skills such as

speaking and listening skills as well as social and emotional skills that will be important for the

rest of their lives. She also says that she wants the children to feel like they are independent and

that they do not always need to have direct instruction.

The Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI, 2021) are used in the state of New

Hampshire and at School E. These standards are used to determine where children are and where
they should be at by the end of their grade level. There are always outliers and some children

will not meet each standard, however the state standard gives a guideline for teachers when

creating lessons for their grade level. School E uses Fountas & Pinnell benchmark for their

literacy plan in grades Kindergarten through 8th grade (MRSD, 2017). In School E’s District

Literacy Plan (2017), it is explicitly written that using Fountas & Pinnell’s The Continuum of

Literacy Learning K-8 (2011) and their When Readers Struggle, Teaching That Works (2009)

along with Dr. Fry’s 1000 Instant Words (2000) teachers assess and work with students to make

sure that they are building a strong foundation in early childhood to be able to read fluently after

they finish 3rd Grade. Children in the grades Kindergarten through 3rd grade are learning many

things in the realm of literacy. In Kindergarten through 3rd grade, School E focuses on reading by

teaching concepts of print, interactive read aloud and literature discussion, shared reading,

guided reading and independent reading (MRSD, 2017). With writing, the school teaches writing

by focusing on handwriting, writing about reading and process writing. In word study, the school

teaches phonological awareness, spelling patterns, sight words, and vocabulary. Lastly in

Kindergarten through 3rd grade, the school focuses on oral, visual and technological

communication by teaching speaking and listening skills, inquiry and research, and presentation

(MRSD, 2017).

The Literacy Plan for School E and its district focuses on each of the Common Core State

Standards (2021) in literacy with a connection to Fountas & Pinnell and Fry (Pinnell & Fountas,

2011; Pinnell & Fountas, 2009; Fry, 2000). This reading plan is a strong plan to keep the schools

and their teachers on track in each of the grades. By using the Fountas & Pinnell benchmark for

reading teaching literacy, the school is using formative assessments regularly, every day when
working with each student with literacy and this can help teachers decide when a child is ready

to move on to the next step in the literacy curriculum.

Monitoring student’s progress in literacy is done in many ways at School E. The Fountas

& Pinnell benchmark (F & P) is used with continuous formative assessment to determine where

a child is developing in their literacy skills, specifically including sight word recognition, letter

and sound identification and connection and writing samples. (Van Valkenburg, personal

communication, 2021). The teachers also work with students by discussing text that has been

read to determine the child’s comprehension.

Teachers can assess children’s literacy skills in a multitude of ways. Children who are

struggling with letter recognition can be assessed using alphabet naming assessments that allow

the child to name each letter and it’s sound. They can continue on by reading high frequency

words aloud and learn how best to break apart or stretch the words to learn the proper sounds.

Children are often assessed using running records using Fountas and Pinnell’s benchmark. After

children are assessed using this benchmark assessment, teachers can determine how best to move

on. Some children may need help with understanding syllables and how they work. Other

children may move onto the next level of Fountas and Pinnell reading. By participating in daily

guided reading, children can work through new words with their teachers and specialists (Lazel,

2021).

References

Combs, M. (2010). Readers & writers in primary grades: A balanced and integrated approach

K-3. (4th edition) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Common Core State Standard Initiative (CCSSI). (2021).

http://www.corestandards.org/read-the-standards/
Foundations of Reading Workshop. (n.d.) Foundations of reading test preparation workshop

[PowerPoint slides].

Fountas, I. C. (2011). The continuum of literacy learning, grades Pre-K to 8: A guide to teaching

(2nd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Fry, E. (2000). Dr. Fry’s 1000 instant words, the most common words for teaching reading,

writing and spelling. Westminster, CA: Teacher Created Resources, Inc. Pinnell, G. S, &

Monadnock Regional School District (MRSD). (2017). District literacy plan 2017-2022.

Lazel. (2021). Reading a-z assessments. https://www.readinga-z.com/assessments/

https://www.mrsd.org/cms/lib/NH01912397/Centricity/Domain/588/Monadnock

%20District%20Literacy%20Plan%202017-2022.pdf

Meriam-Webster Dictionary. (2021). Literacy.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/literate

Pinnell, G. S, & Fountas, I. C. (2009). When readers struggle, teaching that works. Portsmouth,

NH: Heinemann.
 Literacy Part II
Becoming a Literacy Teacher

Literacy Instruction at School E is different throughout the multiage 1st and 2nd grade

classrooms as each teacher uses different approaches to achieve the same end goal for children to

learn literacy. KM works with children one on one with reading books to determine their F & P

benchmark, she allows them computer time to allow them to read to self and attempt a quiz on a

program called EPIC!. She also allows the literacy specialist to come in each day and work on

phonics instruction with the children. During science and social studies instruction, the children

work together to read about news going on, or about their current science unit, and write about

what they learned. Literacy is present in most everything that happens in KM’s classroom.

Learning Experience Plan Outline for PRIMARY GRADES

Your Name: Emma King Grade/Developmental Level: 1/2

Subject Area: English Language Arts Specific Topic: Reading: Informational Text

Length of Time: 45 min Date taught: 2/15 & 2/16

Purpose: The purpose of this learning experience is to teach the children how to read and use
informational text in a way that it can be used later as a resource. This is a preliminary experience for a
writing plan. The children will read the article and highlight important parts of the article to use later for a
writing experience.

Background Knowledge: Children: The children have been learning about the solar system during this
science unit. The children have been working on their knowledge of solar system throughout the unit by
reading, writing and talking about their knowledge of the Sun, Moon and Earth. By the end of first grade,
children should be able to describe the connection between two pieces of information in a text, and by the
end of second grade, the children should be able to describe a connection between a series of scientific
ideas when reading informational text. The children understand that the Sun, Moon and Earth are all
within the same solar system, that there are phases of the Moon and the Sun (the center of our solar
system) is the reason for the phases. The children will read about the Sun being the reason for both the
Moon’s phases and the Earth’s seasons.

Curriculum Standard(s):
1st Grade: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.3 Describe the connection between two individuals, events,
ideas, or pieces of information in a text.

2nd Grade: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.3 Describe the connection between a series of historical events,
scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.
Objectives: The children will be able to discuss the connection between the Earth’s seasons, the Sun and
the Moon after reading and highlighting notable facts in an article about the planets.

Background Knowledge: Teacher: The earth’s tilt causes the seasons. When then North Pole is tilted
toward the sun, it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and when it is tilted away from the sun, it is
winter. Likewise, when the South Pole is tilted toward the sun, it is summer in the Southern Hemisphere
and winter when the South Pole is tilted away from the Sun (Erickson, 2021). The Moon does not glow
with its own light. The Sun’s light bounces off the Moon which lights it up and depending on where it is
in the sky, the shadows create the phases of the Moon. (Erickson, 2021).

Materials Needed:
 by teacher: Board, Bulletin Board Paper, Marker, Computer, Printed articles, Highlighter, Globe
(possibly), shades, chair, easel, docking camera
 by student: Desk, chair, printed article, highlighter.

Student Grouping: There are 5 or 6 children depending on the day. The children will sit at their desks 6
feet apart facing the front easel and board. If the children need help, there will be 3 teachers in the
classroom ready to help one-on-one or answer questions if needed.

Preparation for Experience: I will cut out pieces of articles about the sun, earth and moon and paste
them onto a sheet of paper which I will make copies of for each of the children. I will open the docking
camera and put my copy of the article under the camera to project onto the board.

Outline of Experience:
Introduction/Orientation: Before the start of the lesson, I will set up the docking camera with
my copy of the space article set up. I will ask the children to take out their highlighters. Then I will
introduce the article to the children.

Body of Lesson: During the body of the lesson, I preface the reading by asking the children if
they remember how many seasons there are and what they are called. I will ask the children if they
remember what the word orbit means. I will ask the children if they remember what the Sun is made of. I
will ask the children if they remember how we see the moon at night. Then I will continue by reading the
article aloud to the children starting with the Earth’s seasons paragraph. After reading this paragraph, I
will ask the children if they heard anything in the paragraph that they think we should highlight. Once we
highlight notable information, we will move on to the Sun paragraph. After reading this paragraph, I will
ask the children what they thought was important from this paragraph that we should highlight to
remember. Finally, we will move onto the Moon paragraph, which I will read aloud, and I will ask the
children what important information we should highlight to remember for next time.

Conclusion: To conclude the lesson, I will explain that we highlighted important information in
the article so that we can remember what to write on our next class (Wednesday morning or Thursday).
Then, I will ask the children to put their articles away in their boxes to have next time.

Assessment Plan: For a pre-assessment, I will ask the children what they remember about the Earth’s
seasons, the Sun, and the Moon. Because this reading lesson is going to be followed by a writing lesson, I
will use the writing lesson as an assessment of their knowledge. As we go through the lesson, I will
continue to prompt the children with questions to see if their knowledge grows.

Child Guidance/Classroom Management Plan:

No children will leave for special services on Monday or Tuesday.
For this lesson, I will give instructions to the children before we begin. I will tell them my expectations
for the activity.
As the children come in from their recess, I will tell them to find their chairs, and I will hand out
highlighters and their articles. Once they are all seated, I will explain that as I read the article aloud, the
children should follow along, so they know where I am reading when I ask them which important facts to
highlight.

I will use positive reinforcement words as children work through their learning. As we read together, I
will remind students what happens when others interrupt the reading with words such as:
“When you talk while I am reading, it makes it difficult for the other children to understand what the
article says. You may ask a question after I am done reading this paragraph”.

For the children who may not want to participate in the reading, I will ask “what is feeling challenging for
you?” and allow them to help me understand their frustration.
Adaptations and Modifications:
The two first graders in each cohort may be given one on one help when highlighting their sections and
rereading to decide which parts are important to highlight in each paragraph. I will also read along with
the children and reread sections if they ask so that they can understand each part of the article.

Extension Plan: If the lesson runs short, I will offer the children a piece of paper where they will write
their favorite thing that they learned about the Sun, the seasons or the Moon and once they have written
their favorite thing, they can draw a picture of it using their colored pencils.

Reflection:
During this reading LEP, the children were given the opportunity to read and follow along with
me as we read three small articles about the Earth’s seasons, the Sun and the Moon’s phases. Overall, I
think this was a good experience both for the children and myself and I learned a lot about my teaching
and the children’s learning. However, there were some kinks that I will be able to work out for when I do
this experience again.
I started off this experience with the Cohort A children. The first graders in this group are on
track with reading for children who only attend school two days a week. This experience was more
suitable for the second-grade students. Throughout reading, I stopped and had small discussions and
asked the children to highlight important sentences after each paragraph and why we thought they were
important. We had good discussions about the Northern and Southern Hemispheres and how the seasons
work depending on which half of the Earth we are on. I learned that I should print things once sided,
rather than double sided, as the children’s highlighters seeped through each side and it was difficult to see
what we wanted to highlight as it looked very messy.
It was a challenge to give instruction, read and keep the first graders followed along, but this was
expected. As I read, the second graders followed along and rarely needed help unless they became
distracted and needed help finding our place. The first graders are still at a beginning first grade reading
level, so it was more difficult for them to follow along. However, once we got through the first article, the
first graders seemed to get into a groove of reading, and I would show them what paragraph we were on
before I started reading and where to highlight after reading each paragraph.
When I originally planned for this experience, I had imagined that we would have discussions
and that it would take about an hour. It did take that amount of time as some children got off topic and
started talking about things like video games that remind them of what we were reading about and other
off topic things. I will try to discover ways to get the children back on track. I am excited to see how the
children do with the writing lesson that will happen on Wednesday based on the articles that we read.
With my cohort B students, I changed around the plan to help keep them on track for longer
instead of only reading and highlighting, after reading each page, we highlighted, and then we began to
write down an important fact on the coinciding box on the anchor chart/graphic organizer that was created
for the writing lesson. This helped the children to be better engaged with their reading as we were
constantly switching gears which kept them focused instead of glazing over. During cohort A, the articles
were double sided, so when they highlighted, the color seeped through the paper making it difficult to see
what we were highlighting on what page, so we changed colors each page to see what we highlighted.
With cohort B, I make the pages one sided so that it was not confusing for the children.
I learned a lot when teaching this lesson to both cohorts. I think many of the students can do this
reading, highlighting and writing on their own, and I think having me instruct throughout the lesson may
have made it less of a challenge for the older children who are ready to read independently, and write
their own thoughts. The younger children and the ones who needed extra support may have benefitted
from having direct instruction through the entire lesson because it may be harder for them to follow
along. I will continue to add bullet points as my procedure when writing my lesson plans.
 Learning Experience Plan Outline for PRIMARY GRADES

Your Name Emma King Grade/Developmental Level 1 & 2

Subject Area Writing Specific Topic Informational Writing about Space

Length of Time 45 min to an hour Date taught 2/17 & 2/18

Purpose: The purpose of this learning experience is to give the children a tool to use when they are
writing informational texts. The template will help them organize their thoughts which will then be put
into a few sentences on lined paper. This will be included in their unit and curriculum as a wrap up for
their science unit on Space and it connects with their reading lesson and the writing standards for grade 1
and 2.

Background Knowledge: Children: The children have been learning about the Sun, the Earth and its
seasons and the Moon during their science unit. They have written sentences with prompts throughout the
unit and they will use their writing skills that they have when using the template to gather their thoughts
to finally write an informative text with a topic sentence, supporting facts and a conclusion.

Curriculum Standard(s):
Grade 1: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.1.2: Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a
topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.
Grade 2: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.2: Write informative/explanatory texts in which they
introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement
or section.

Objectives: The children will use facts about the Sun, Moon and Earth’s seasons from a highlighted
article to write an informative paragraph with a topic sentence, supporting points and a conclusion.

Background Knowledge: Teacher: Based on the articles, I have done research on each of the topics as
well as the important facts that we have highlighted. The handwriting that the children are taught will be
the handwriting that I write with on the board when we are coming up with important facts to include.
Each of the things that the children have highlighted are things that they already know and hopefully
understand. The Earths tilt and its orbit around the sun is the reason for the seasons. The Moon’s phases
happen because of the Sun’s light. Both the Earth’s Seasons and the Moon phases are a result of the Sun.

Materials Needed:
 by teacher: Easel board, white board, bulletin board paper, markers, chair, writing template for
children, highlighter, magnets
 by student: desk, chair, highlighter, pencil, pre-highlighted article, writing template, colored
pencils.

Student Grouping: There are 5 or 6 children in the class depending on the day. They will sit at their
desks which are 6 feet apart.
Preparation for Experience: Before this experience, I get white bulletin board paper and draw boxes on
it with the same colors as the template that will be given to the children. I will make the bulletin board
paper look like a large version of the template that the children will get. I will post the bulletin board
paper on the white board at the head of the classroom so that the children can see it.

Outline of Experience:
 Introduction/Orientation: As the children come in from recess, I will tell them to find their
desks after they take off their snow suits. I will begin by handing them highlighters and writing templates
and ask them to take out their highlighted articles from Monday or Tuesday’s class. I will then explain to
the children that we will be using the template that is provided to organize our thoughts about each topic
for when we write it into a paragraph.

Body of Lesson: During the body of the lesson, I will ask the children if they remember what we
read about in the article on Monday/Tuesday. I will then ask them what kind of sentence we could come
up with that would introduce the Sun, Moon and Earth’s seasons. (something like the Sun is the reason
for both the Earth’s seasons and the Moon phases) I will then write down what they came up with on my
bulletin board template so if the children need help with spelling or remembering what we had decided on
they can look at the board to see what we had decided. If we did not get to it on Monday or Tuesday, I
will then ask the children what a fact about the Sun was that we thought was important from the article
that we had highlighted. Once the children come up with a sentence about the Sun that we all agree on, I
will write it up on the bulletin board paper for them to see so they can remember, and they will write it on
their template. I will ask the children what a fact about the Earth’s seasons was that they had highlighted
in the article that we could write in out template. When we come up with a sentence, I will write it on the
board and the children will write it on their template. Once the children have written their fact about the
Earth’s seasons, I will ask about a fact that we could write about the Moon that supports the topic
sentence. When we come up with a fact, I will write it on the bulletin board template, and they will write
it on their template. Lastly, I will ask how we can pull all the information together to create a sentence
that will wrap it up. Once we come up with a sentence that concludes all of our topic sentence and
supporting facts, I will write it on the bulletin board template, and they will write it on their template.

Conclusion: Once the children have come up with all their facts that they would like to write in
their template, I will provide them with a sheet of paper that has a box at the top and lines on the bottom
half for them to put all their information together in a paragraph (4 sentences possibly). When they are
done writing their paragraph, I will have them draw a picture of what they wrote about.

Assessment Plan: At the end of the lesson, I will collect their written work and photocopy it to see where
each child falls. I will assess the children based on how they best put their information together to
determine if KM and I should do extra written work with them to get them to understand informative
writing or do the same amount.

Child Guidance/Classroom Management Plan:

Wed:
E may complain about writing, and it may take some time before he starts to begin writing. I will remind
him that his work does not have to be perfect. He should write his thoughts down on the paper and it is
okay if he makes spelling or grammar mistakes because we can fix them later.
Thurs:
N may get sad about writing if he had an idea but can’t figure out how to put it on the paper. I can help
talk him through it and remind him that it does not have to be perfect and we can fix it later.
L takes a long time to write as she gets distracted easily. Myself, Ms. M or Mrs. E can help to keep her on
task by helping and directing her to look at the word that she is meaning to write or copy on her paper.

Adaptations and Modifications:

Wed: L & J may need extra help, and one on one attention while writing and copying the board.
Thurs: N, J & P may need extra help with this. Mrs. E & Ms. M will be around to help the children write
and copy what is on the board if they need extra help.
Extension Plan: This writing lesson will probably take most of the time, however, after the children
finish putting together their thoughts from the graphic organizer onto their lines paper that has a box at
the top, I will allow the children to draw a picture in the box. This will show me how each child
understands what they have learned.

Reflection:
This writing experience was fun and interesting as I had used my knowledge of the children that I
had about their writing skills to come up with a writing lesson to close out their science unit on Space. I
taught this lesson two times. I taught this lesson to cohort A after we had read our articles on the Sun, the
Moon’s phases and the Earth’s seasons. The children were thrown off a bit because we focused on
science in the morning when we would typically do math so that I could teach my lesson before I left for
class. The children listened as I read and followed along as best as they could. Once we began this writing
lesson, I asked the children to look back at their highlighted papers to see what we should write. When we
picked things out, we wrote a sentence to fill each of the middle three boxes. When we filled the three
boxes, we came up with a topic sentence and a conclusion.
The first experience with cohort A went smooth, but there was some pushback from the children
when I asked them to copy what they have in their boxes onto lined paper as they thought it was
redundant. I think having the children know and understand that the topic sentence is first, there should be
supporting details and a conclusion in writing was something that this cohort of children have not yet
worked on this year. I learned about how they may need more writing instruction this year, and because
of the pandemic, it has not happened as much as it would have in previous years.
With cohort A, I learned that there is some pushback with one child who is reluctant to write. He
is also reluctant to do many tasks throughout the day as he explains that he is tired when writing and his
voice hurts when reading. I need to find resources on how to speak to this child when explaining that now
is the time to do work. I have done research on how to best use positive reinforcement, but I am not
confident enough yet to display it properly.
When I taught this lesson to cohort B, as explained in the reading reflection, I switched around
the plan and I offered 15 minutes of movement between writing the supporting facts and finding a topic
sentence and conclusion. I think this helped keep the children on track. This group of students is more
open and comfortable in their reading and writing skills. When working with these children, one 2 nd
grader offered to read after I had read one page, she read aloud to the other children and it gave her the
option to lead that part. If I come up with another lesson like this in the future, I may ask the 2 nd graders to
read aloud if they would like as it gives them more independence in the activity. I asked the children what
they would like to write, and each child came up with their own thing to write. As I continued, the lesson
took less time because of how we broke it up and the children were able to have more freedom with their
reading and writing.
 Learning Experience Plan Outline for PRIMARY GRADES

Your Name: Emma King Grade/Developmental Level: 1st and 2nd

Subject Area: English Language Arts Specific Topic: Phonics

Length of Time: 20 mins Date taught: 2/17

Purpose: The purpose of this learning experience is to have a short review lesson using the common
vowel teams that they are learning with the literacy specialist. The children have been working on vowel
teams and the correct spelling using flash cards. The children will use the knowledge they have of vowel
teams to hold up their white board with (ea), (ee), (ai) or (ay).

Background Knowledge: Children: The Children have been working on common vowel teams with
their reading specialist. They have worked on (ea), (ee), (ey), (ai), and (ay).

Curriculum Standard(s): CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.2.3.B: Know spelling-sound correspondences for

additional common vowel teams.

Objectives: Using a cheat sheet with the common vowel teams, they children will write out the words
with the correct vowel team spelling on their white board and hold it up to show me after I say the word.

Background Knowledge: Teacher: I have learned about how the children have been taught vowel
teams. They learned that with the vowel teams that we will be using, the second vowel stands as a
bodyguard while the first vowel says its name.

Materials Needed:
 by teacher: Chair, marker, white board, cheat sheet with vowel teams and words

 by student: Desk, chair, white board, marker, eraser, vowel team cheat sheet.

Student Grouping: The children will sit at their desks six feet apart. There will be 5 or 6 children in the
classroom depending on the cohort.

Preparation for Experience: The children have been taught mini lessons on vowel teams during their
phonics learning with the reading specialist. They have come up with words, and sentences using the
common vowel teams. They will use their flash cards or cheat sheets to refer back to when writing out
their words.

Outline of Experience:
Introduction/Orientation
To introduce this short lesson, I will hand the children their cheat sheets with the common vowel teams
that we will be using for the lesson and ask them to take out their white boards and markers for a fun
exercise.

Body of Lesson
The body of the lesson will include me standing at the head of the classroom and saying a word at a time.
Once I have said a word that has a vowel team that we have learned in it, I will ask the children to write
down either the vowel team or the entire word, whichever they would like. Once everyone has written
their answer on their white board, I will write the correct spelling on the big board and they can compare
with what they have written on their board. I will then move onto a new word and repeat the steps. The
words I will use are mean, rain, feed, day, key.

Conclusion
To conclude the lesson, I will ask the children what their favorite vowel team is and why.

Assessment Plan: The entire lesson is a fun assessment to see where each of the children are at with their
phonics learning and vowel teams. I will keep a record of who needs extra work with this phonics subject
and help them as time goes on.

Child Guidance/Classroom Management Plan: Children may want to shout out the answers. To be
proactive, I will remind the children to keep their thoughts to themselves until everyone has shown me
their whiteboard.

Adaptations and Modifications: The cheat sheet is a nice adaptation for the children who may need
extra help with the words and referring back to see what the options are without them being pointed out
directly with needed help as the sheet with go to everyone.

Extension Plan: This is a quick lesson, if we need extra time with it, I can add more words to make up
for the time. The extra words will be read, mail, seed, bay, honey.

Reflection:
This phonics experience was very fun, and it was helpful to see where each of the children are at with
their learning about vowel teams. The first graders are beginning to learn about vowel teams and how ea,
ee, ai, ay, and ey work when the reading specialist works with them. The second graders know and
understand vowel teams pretty well, so this was a review. The children were excited to participate in a
game like this and since it was a short 20-minute activity, we were able to move through it swiftly.
One child, J is not confidant in his reading skills. He wants to understand why some words are
spelled the way that they are, and I had to remind him that in the English language, we have to listen to
context when we are writing words because some words that sound the same may be spelled differently
depending on what we are talking about. He second guessed himself many times and in the coming
weeks, I would like to find ways to help build his confidence when reading and spelling. I learned that the
second graders are very confident with their phonics and vowel teams. I would like to work on more
phonics games and instruction with the first graders as I continue through my student teaching experience
and they will benefit from fun games.
 Student Examples

These student work samples are from three different children, one who is above grade level, one

who is on grade level, and one who is below grade level. After reading their samples, I have learned a lot

about each of the children. When teaching the lesson, I gave the children ideas of what to write based on

our reading from the previous lesson. The child who is performing below grade level was given one on

one help when writing and understanding the content. After reviewing his work sample, I have learned

that he may not understand punctuation and the lines that he is writing on. He often wrote his words off

the line and he did not use all the space on his lines paper, yet he wrote words as if he had no space.

Going forward, the specialist or I can work with him on why we have lined paper, the different types of

lined paper that we use and how we write on it. Additionally, when writing without one-on-one help, this

child often will write the correct letters in the wrong order when writing words. The child who is on grade

level has a sample from him working with the class and writing his words on his own. The class came up

with different ideas to write and he wrote what he wanted to on his own. When looking at his work, he

wrote his paragraph appropriately with some small mistakes, but otherwise he wrote the sentences in the

correct order. I think he may have been able to do this entire writing without extra help. Lastly, the child

who is performing above grade level worked through the writing, coming up with some sentences on her

own and copying from the previous reading. She may have been able to write about the Sun, Earth’s

seasons and Moon with little to no help.

I learned a lot about the children’s literacy development from teaching this lesson. As an early

childhood teacher, I often get caught up in what I think the children can do as a group. As a literacy

teacher, I have learned that each child has their own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to reading

and writing. When working on English language arts with the children, I should differentiate instruction

with the children. One way to do this is to offer center learning experiences, assessments and activities

with the children to best meet the needs of each child individually, and as a whole group.
 Reflection as a Literacy Teacher

As a literacy teacher, I learned so much about what goes on while teaching and what goes

on behind the scenes. Working in a multiage classroom is complex and challenging but

rewarding. I have learned that not everything should depend on the child’s grade level but rather

their developmental level and if a child is ready to move on, we should allow them to move on.

Children in a multiage classroom are learning in a way that is interesting because some first

graders are working on second grade literacy skills while some second graders are still grasping

the first-grade skills. When creating lessons for these children, I have to be mindful of where

they are at and where I need to meet them to help them be successful. Throughout this literacy

project, I had to study two grade level standards and determine what standards to focus on in

what grade and why. This has been a fun challenge and it helps me become excited for the rest of

this student teaching experience.

 Annotated References

Branley, F. M. (1998). The planets in our solar system (K. O’Malley, Illus.). Harper Collins

Publishers Inc.

This book is about the 9 planets in our solar system. It is written for children by

explaining that we are also in space. Although it was written in 1998, therefore it does not

explain that Pluto is a dwarf planet, the children understand that it used to be a planet in

our solar system. This book was not used in any lesson, but it is always offered to the

children during independent reading time and they always have access to it in case they

would like to read about the planets in our solar system after learning about Space in our

science unit.

Erickson, K. (2021). What causes the seasons? NASA Space Place.

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/seasons/en/#:~:text=The%20Short%20Answer%3A,winter

%20in%20the%20Northern%20Hemisphere.

This article is from the NASA Space Place that is a resource for students who are

learning about space. This article explains how the seasons happen because on the Earth’s

tilt.

I used this article for the children to highlight, but I cut out pieces that were relevant to

the children’s curriculum on science. I put it into a different form that that it would be

printable, and it taught the children a lot about how the Earth’s seasons happen and how

it is connected to the Sun.

Erickson, K. (2021). What are the Moon’s phases? NASA Space Place.

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/moon-phases/en/.
 This article is from the NASA Space Place that is a resource for students who are

learning about space and specifically the Moon phases. This article offers information

about the moon, its connection to the Sun when changing phases and what the phases are.

It is written for children with simple language that helps children understand the concepts

better. I used this article when asking the children to highlight pieces of important

information on the moon and write about in their paragraph on the Sun, Earth’s seasons

and the Moon. I cut out relevant parts of the article to use that the children had learned

about and were a part of their curriculum.

Llewellyn, C. (2003). The moon. Smart Apple Media: North Mankato, MN.

This book has real facts about the moon and illustrations for children to look at while

they read about the moon. It has been reviewed by scientists who study the moon to

determine that the facts that are present in the book are true and accurate.

This book was not used directly in the lesson; however, it is always available in the

classroom for children to read. Children are given a time each morning before morning

meeting to read when they are done with morning work and this is a book that is fun for

the children to read and look at the fascinating illustrations.

Stoyanova, S. (2007). The Sun for kids. NASA Exploring the Universe.

https://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/sun_for_kids_main.html

This article is accessible through the NASA website. It offers facts about the Sun for

children in an article form. After reading through the article, I pulled facts that the

children had touched upon in their science unit to keep it relevant to 1st and 2nd grade.

This article was used to highlight, and the children learned facts about the Sun that they
then used to write in a paragraph about the connections between the Sun, the Earth’s

seasons and the moon.