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Clinical Field Experience: Small or Whole Group Instruction

Student’s Name

University

Course

Professor

Date
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Clinical Field Experience: Small or Whole Group Instruction

Description of Small Group Instruction

In a recent session, I worked with a small group of students trying to improve their literacy

skills, especially their reading fluency and comprehension. The heart of our lesson was the

development of how dyslexia and learning disabilities are addressed in schools. In the

beginning, I presented dyslexia and learning disabilities to the participants by combining

diagrams, writings, and oral descriptions for distinct learning styles. We talked about the

typical misunderstandings of dyslexia and how it influences reading and learning procedures.

Finally, we specifically discussed how classroom strategies and accommodations for students

with dyslexia can be effective. Throughout the lesson, I adopted several teaching strategies,

including the guided reading approach, where students were to read various passages aloud

and reciprocal teaching, where students summarized, questioned, clarified and predicted as

they went through the text. Besides, I also used multimedia resources and practical activities

to make learning more interesting and more understandable.

Mentor Feedback

My mentor's feedback was so thoughtful that it helped me to see my teaching path

clearly. They approved my ability in students engaging and pursuing the multiple learning

approaches by the student. However, they astutely noted an area ripe for enhancement:

enhancing the independent reading and the techniques perused. This is a way of saying that

the student should be allowed to make his or her own decisions and learn by doing things. I

am truly grateful for such guidance and I promise to incorporate these inputs towards

achieving a more desirable outcome for my students.

Additional Instructional Strategies

To further integrate literacy development into the lesson and provide support for

readers and writers of all levels, I would incorporate the following strategies:
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● Differentiated Instruction: Because students have different needs, the teachers provide

alternatives to the main readings with adapted texts at multiple difficulty levels.

● Explicit Instruction: Creating awareness of starting points, such as decoding

strategies, phonics rules, and vocabulary development, that they can use to support

their struggling readers.

● Peer Tutoring: Matching students according to their reading levels to participate in

peer tutoring activities during which they read, take turns, and give feedback to each

other.

● Assistive Technology: Introducing tools such as text-to-speech software or

audiobooks to assist students with reading difficulties.

By implementing these supplementary strategies, I want to help develop an enriched

learning environment that accommodates every student and enables their literacy

development.

Effect on Students' Understanding

The students' reading skills and comprehension knowledge were the main

determinants of what they understood. The students who had stronger reading abilities were

able to understand the material better and participate in more in-depth discussions.

Nevertheless, the reading skills of those with weak reading skills, on the other hand, were not

able to decode the words, let alone understand the text, which posed a challenge in the

learning process.

Literacy-Focused Activity

As to literacy-oriented activity, I suggest a peer-guided reading course using dyslexia-

friendly materials. The activity will involve:

● The author has already chosen a dyslexia-friendly text that is related to the subject of

dyslexia and learning disabilities.

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● I organized the text into short, doable parts and distributed each part to every student.

● I am conducting a reading session in which students can take turns reading the text

aloud, with my peers and my involvement.

● Comprehension questions and discussion prompts can be integrated to improve

comprehension and stimulate critical thinking.

● Scaffolding and accommodating on request, e.g., by highlighting key vocabulary

words.

Prior to implementing the activity, I will work with my mentor to fine-tune the lesson plan

and garner feedback on how to extend appropriate support to students with varied reading and

writing competencies. I will also keep track of the student's progress, and the activity will be

modified as needed so that the best learning results are achieved.