D182, The Reflective

Practitioner, Task 1
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Running head: OHM2 Task One: Developing a Reflective Practice

Jannica Larson

MSCIN Program, Western Governor’s University

D182, The Reflective Practitioner, Task 1

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OHM2 Task One: Developing a Reflective Practice
Introduction

The lesson taught that I chose to create a reflection log for is an ELA lesson about

spelling alternatives. This lesson was taught to a first-grade class of 20 students, 8 boys and 12

girls—16 of them being English Language Learners. I have students in groups of 4-6 at tables.

Each group is mixed in ability and language, as to assist each other when needed. ELLs get

pulled out throughout the day for LEP resources. Native languages spoken in my classroom are

English, Spanish, and Russian.

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OHM2 Task One: Developing a Reflective Practice
Lesson Description

 Grade Level- First Grade, ELA: Spelling Alternatives

 Content Standard- The state standards aligned with the objectives for this lesson include:
o CCLS- ELA: RL.1.1 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text
o CCLS- ELA: RL.1.10 With prompting and support, read prose and poetry of
appropriate complexity for Grade 1
o CCLS- ELA: RF.1.3b Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words.
o CCLS- ELA: RF.1.4a Read on-level text with purpose and understanding.
o CCLS- ELA: RF.1.4c Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and
understanding, rereading, as necessary.
o CCLS- ELA: L.1.2.d Use conventional spelling for words with common spelling
patterns and for frequently occurring irregular words.
 Objectives:
o Ask and answer questions, orally and in writing, about “The Band,” requiring
literal recall and understanding of the details and facts of a fiction text.
o Read and understand decodable text of appropriate complexity for Grade 1 that
incorporates the specific code knowledge taught.
o Read words spelled with ‘kn’, ‘nn’, and ‘n’ as /n/
o Read and understand decodable text in the story “The Band” that incorporates the
letter-sound correspondences taught in one-and two-syllable words, with purpose
and understanding
o Use phonics skills in conjunction with context to confirm or self-correct word
recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary
o Spell and write one- and two-syllable words using the letter-sound
correspondences taught in Grade 1 in a weekly spelling assessment
o Spell and write Tricky Words taught in Grade 1 in a weekly spelling assessment
 Instructional Strategies:
o Spelling Tree activity- students will participate in letter-sound correspondence
sorting words spelled with ‘kn’, ‘nn’, and ‘n’ as /n/.
o Students will read “The Band” and work in two different groups on worksheets
about the story, grouped by students who need more direct support and immediate
feedback, and those who can partner read.
 Assessment:
o Spelling assessment on 10 words learned and practiced in previous lessons and
take-home assignments.
o Informal assessment- measuring student understanding in Spelling Tree activity
o Informal assessment- student responses with comprehension from story reading of
“The Band”
Reflection Log-Planning

Prerequisite Knowledge
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OHM2 Task One: Developing a Reflective Practice
This lesson is the tenth lesson in a module of 25 lessons, the module is placed towards the

end of the school year—students are working with the /n/ sound and are expected to understand

the difference between vowels and consonants. In order to be able to sort words with /n/

spellings, students are also expected to know their letter sounds. In previous lessons, students

have learned and practiced the list of spelling words that are being assessed in this lesson.

Students also have previous knowledge and practice with partner reading and independently

working through worksheets pertaining to the lesson.

Student Characteristics

One characteristic of the students in my instructional setting is that I have 16 ELLs—7 of

them speak Russian/Ukrainian, and 9 speak Spanish as their first language. This is important to

keep in mind when planning and implementing this lesson because these students interchange

letter-sound correspondence with their native languages, and we are learning specific spelling

variations for sounds. Another characteristic that was important to consider in planning this

lesson is my students who read and write below grade level. This is important to consider in

planning whole-group and individual activities where students are to read and write to

participate.

Student Learning Needs

The students who read and write below grade level have needs for extra support and

modifications to their reading material and providing written responses. This needed to be

considered in planning this lesson—particularly with the small group reading and reading and

writing words for the spelling tree. Because of the level they read at, these students sometimes

need help in sounding out words with a partner or teacher.

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OHM2 Task One: Developing a Reflective Practice
Another student learning need that was important to consider in planning this lesson is

my two students with ADHD who need to be placed towards the front of the class for whole

group, be near the teacher for small group, and be encouraged to stay on task. This need is

relevant with the whole group spelling tree activity because they need reminders to stay on task

and participate, and when we split into small groups for the reading and answering questions,

they need to be monitored.

Instructional Strategies

Instructional strategies used in this lesson include independent work for the spelling test,

a whole group activity where students participate in sorting spellings of the /n/ sound, and a

small group activity where students are divided into leveled reading groups to read the story and

answer questions. During the whole group activity—to ensure participation—students will be

called upon at random to place a word on the tree and/or provide a new one. This activity was

chosen to practice spellings as a whole group and create a chart for students to reference in the

future. Prior to the small group activity, we will preview the spelling and vocabulary words that

will be used within the story. These words will be written on a chart with various spelling

examples. Students who read and write below grade level and ELLs will be able to reference this

chart when they are working in their small groups with or without the teacher. The students who

also need extra support with reading and writing will be placed in a small group to work with the

teacher.

Assessment

One assessment within this lesson is a spelling test on a group of words that have

previously been taught and practiced. There have been multiple activities and homework

assignments to practice these. I will review the words as a whole group prior to the assessment
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OHM2 Task One: Developing a Reflective Practice
for those who need extra support. According to the objectives in the lesson, all students will spell

and write one- and two- syllable words/tricky words in the weekly spelling assessment. Another

form of assessment—the informal assessment—is given throughout our Spelling Tree activity. I

will measure student understanding as they respond and participate. Students will participate in

sorting word spellings with the /n/ sound (i.e., ‘n’, ‘nn’, ‘kn’) and will be coming up with

spellings that will also be sorted. This will show their level of understanding and who needs

more practice with this sound. Students will also be informally assessed on their comprehension

of the story, “The Band.” One group of students who need extra support will meet with me to

read and answer questions together on a worksheet, and the other group will partner read and

then complete the same questions. We will then come together and discuss, and I will measure

their understanding through responses to the worksheets and their oral responses through our

discussion.

Reflection Log-Outcomes

Observations

During the Spelling Assessment there was 100% student engagement. My two students

with ADHD needed me to walk near their desks between each word as I repeated the words in

order for them to stay on task.

During the Spelling Tree activity, engagement varied. I had 100% as we read through and

practiced the spellings of each sound. Each student was given a word that would correlate with a

spelling of the /n/ sound on the tree and when it was their turn, they were to place their word on

the tree and pronounce the word correctly. During this, I lost engagement from many of the

students when it wasn’t their turn to be up at the chart. I also had a group of “odd ducks” for the

tree where students were to come up with spellings of /n/ that didn’t fit into any of the categories
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OHM2 Task One: Developing a Reflective Practice
on the tree. I had about 50% engagement during this portion—about 5 students offered up words,

and the rest of that 50% were showing they were listening by repeating the words.

When we split into two groups for the story read and answering questions, I had about

85% student engagement. One of my ADHD students was in my group with consistent reminders

to follow along and participate. All students in the other group who could partner-read and

answer questions independently were on task except for one partnership.

Assessment Reflection

All students completed the spelling assessment and scores varied out of ten words. 12 out

of 20 students read and write below grade level, 6 of those being ELLs. The 8 students that read

at or above grade level all scored 70% or higher. The other 12 scored between 30% and 60%.

In my informal evaluation during the Spelling Tree activity, 4 of my students who read

and write below grade level did not place their word onto the correct branch, which showed me

that they did not fully grasp the concept of the /n/ sound having multiple spellings. Those same

students did not participate in creating words for the “odd ducks” branch for words such as gnat

and gnome. Students were supposed to be able to read words spelled with ‘kn’, ‘nn’, and ‘n’.

In my informal evaluation of student comprehension of the story “The Band” I had 7

students in my group who need extra support, while the rest worked in partners and

independently. From my small group, 2 students could answer the literal questions but not the

inferential questions in our discussion of the story. As a small group, I modeled how to write

sentences in answering the questions on our worksheet about the story. We came up with the

answer as a group and wrote it as a group—these students still need scaffolding with sentence

structure. The rest of the students in the other group all answered the comprehension questions

correctly on their worksheets. By the end of the lesson, students were supposed to be able to read
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OHM2 Task One: Developing a Reflective Practice
and understand the text in the story “The Band” that incorporates the letter-sound

correspondences taught and reread as necessary when using phonics skills and context for word

recognition and understanding.

Successful Lesson Elements

In the lesson it suggested having words pre-written out on leaves, shuffle them, and then

show each leaf to the students, asking a student to read the leaf and then place it on the Spelling

Tree. I wanted all students to participate, so I wrote enough words for all students to have at least

one leaf. I had them come up one-by-one, read their word (asking for assistance if needed after

attempting), and placing it on the correct branch themselves. This was a successful lesson

element because the students were physically able to practice and participate in creating our

Spelling Tree.

Another successful lesson element was previewing the vocabulary before dividing into

groups to read the story. We went through each word and I provided a picture or video of each

word with its definition so that the students could have a mental image of the vocabulary when

reading through the story. We discussed each word to clarify their meanings and reviewed them

after the reading and worksheet as part of our whole group discussion questions at the end of the

lesson. I feel that this helped to improve their comprehension of the story.

Lesson Elements to Improve

Although it was successful in having each student bring their word up to the Spelling

Tree chart because they all had practice in sorting the spellings, one lesson element to improve

would be planning the transition between students better so that all students could continue to be

engaged—there were students who were off-task when it wasn’t their turn. This caused

distraction away from the lesson multiple times.

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OHM2 Task One: Developing a Reflective Practice
Another lesson element that needs slight improvement is having so many students work

with a partner or independently—as there were two students who were off-task. This was not

only a distraction to themselves but to the students in my small group because I had to stop and

refocus them.

Next Steps

In correlation with the spelling assessment within this lesson, I reviewed their scores and

analyzed student errors. The words on the assessment are grouped according to spelling patterns

so I was able to identify what areas needed to be clarified with specific students or whole group.

An example is if a student or multiple students missed a word in column 3 (the spelling ‘ss’ for

the /s/ sound) the student(s) needs practice encoding words with that spelling.

In the following lesson, students will be practicing the spelling alternatives that they have

learned up until now in the unit. They will be practicing via worksheets and be able to reference

the Spelling Tree chart that we created.

Justification of Next Steps

In analyzing the students spelling errors, I am able to figure out if it’s a simple mix up

that can be addressed and fixed through explanation, or if a student or students need remediation

for that concept or multiple concepts. If there is a pattern of majority of students with the same

errors, there needs to be more instruction on the concept.

The first worksheet they will be completing in the following lesson has the students

sorting words by their spellings for /n/. The next worksheet has a char with root words and

students are to fill in the spaces for each -ed word and -ing word (i.e., tan=tanned, tanning). This

will help students to see the pattern for the ‘nn’ spelling of /n/ and give them more practice with

this spelling alternative. The third worksheet has students labeling pictures with words that
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OHM2 Task One: Developing a Reflective Practice
contain spelling alternatives that they have learned for /n/ and /s/--give students even more

repetition and exposure to spelling. This will also help me to evaluate student understanding and

see who needs more instruction on spelling alternatives for these sounds, and I can further plan

small group instruction if needed. Students who were off task or working with me may need

more small-group instruction.

Insight Examples

One insight relevant to student learning that I gained as I reflected on this lesson that will

influence how I plan instruction in the future is that student engagement drops when we are

doing whole-group instruction and taking turns one-by-one. Although it was effective to have

each student participate, I need to plan for transitions better to ensure that students stay on task.

Another insight that I gained as I reflected on this lesson is that when working with my

small group for the story and comprehension questions, I sometimes provide too much

scaffolding to the students who read and write below grade level. In doing so, I sometimes do not

get active participation or ample efforts from students because they expect me to provide some

sort of modeling for them to follow in answering questions. In planning small group in the

future, I need to plan for ways to motivate students to do their best, even if it is not 100% correct.

I can still include modeling but allow for them to practice working more independently.

Methods of Reflection

One method of reflection that I think will be most effective in my future practice is

arranging for peer observation where I have a colleague observe my lesson and take notes on

everything that was said and done, including student engagement. I would also have a section

where the observer can make suggestions. These notes will be for my viewing and will not be

graded but will be a way that I can view my teaching and reflect on it.
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OHM2 Task One: Developing a Reflective Practice
Another method of reflection that I think will be most effective in my future practice is a

teaching log. I can record my own notes on each lesson at the end of the lesson or day and watch

for patterns of student behaviors, lessons or elements that are effective or not, and areas of

instruction that I may need to modify or adjust.

Effectiveness of Methods

I can review my observer’s notes and collaborate with colleagues on how to implement

practices that can better situations. I can also arrange to observe their lessons to gather ideas on

how to be more effective. When I take a step outside of my classroom and view how other

teachers teach, or likewise have a teacher observe my teaching, I am able to get a fresh

perspective on things I would not otherwise pick up on—especially if there is an area I am

struggling with. A fresh set of eyes and ears can help me to point out what is missing and make

appropriate adjustments.

I can use my teacher logs, or reflective journaling, to improve my practices and create

areas of growth. I can make note of those patterns of behavior and make modifications to avoid

or promote certain behaviors. I can also make note of progress and effectiveness of lessons so

that if there is a deficit later on, I can go back to logs for specific lessons or days and see what

went wrong. It is a method I can continually utilize throughout a school year or multiple years.
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OHM2 Task One: Developing a Reflective Practice
Sources

EngageNY. (2013). Engage NY: Grade 1 Skills Unit 6 Lesson 10 Spelling Alternatives. Retrieved

from: http://mc-14193-39844713.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com/resource/grade-1-skills-

unit-6-teacher-guide/file/24306.