1. Describe your target area for guided
lead teaching.
o The Target area that I
will be doing during my lead teaching is Comprehension. I choose this because
my students are continuing to work on it through Reading Street and I also
believe it is an important skill to have.
2. Approximately how much time per day
is allotted for your instruction in this area?
o During our day we have
from about 8:55-10:25 for both reading and writing. We usually do the writing
portion of our morning from about 10:25-11:30. This is then when they go to
lunch.
3. Which Common Core State Standard(s)
will you work toward?
o The Common Core
Standard that I will be working towards is guided interactive discussion. We
kind of do this now but I would like to expand on it a bit more. I might also
bring in a bit of responding to reading. This is also being worked on right now
a little bit in our class and I would like to expand on it as well.
4. How will teaching in this target
area provide opportunities for students
to learn important content and/or skills that relate to their lives? In what ways does this learning include
learning literacy, learning about literacy, and/or learning through literacy?
o If students are able
to comprehend what they are reading, then they are able to ably that knowledge
to their lives. Also if students can have an interactive discussion, they can
the look for deeper meanings in their readings. This will also help them know
they can do this in their life and find deeper meanings through life.
5. What types of classroom talk take
place within this target area? To what extent is the talk teacher-led,
student-led, or focused on higher-level thinking? What norms for interaction
would you like to build within your classroom as you teach in this target area
(e.g., see ideas in Chapter 6 of Strategies
that Work, the Berne & Clark 2008 article, or draw from some of the
readings done in TE 402 on classroom talk)?
o In our class we do
comprehension questions that come from reading street that go along with the
book that is being read that week. Most of the talk is teacher lead, with the
students answering the questions. Right now we are just trying to get the kids
to be able to recall what was read in the book. When I ask the students
questions, I try to go more in-depth then the questions from Reading
Street. I think I would like to
also incorporate other books so it’s not just the Reading Street books we are
working with.
6. Which ‘core practice’ do you want to
work on developing/improving as you teach in this target area (refer to
document “Resources for Developing Core Practices”)? How will focusing on this
core practice contribute to your own
professional learning?
o The core practice I
plan on developing/improving is respond to reading. I want to be able to
continue to respond to what I am reading or just those around me. There are
times were I just read something to get it done or just listen but I don’t
actually focus or really relate to what I might be reading. I think they more I
teach about this the better I will become. I believe that I need
to be at my best at something so that I can give my students the best
education.
7. What resources within the community,
neighborhood, school district, school or classroom do you have to work with in
this target area?
o In our school there
are a lot of books that I can use. In the school alone with have multiple book
rooms. Then in our own classroom we have a library that I can pull books from
that give the same message that Reading Street is teaching. I can also go to
the local library if I don’t find a book at the school that I would like to
use.
8. What additional resources do you
need to obtain?
o At this time I am not
sure what specific resources that I need to obtain. I will most likely know
more once I start planning my lesson.
9. How will you pre-assess your
students in your target area?
o I will continue to
watch how they do with the Reading Street lessons. Also when they do practice
centers, I will pull a small group of students aside and work with them on
their comprehension to really get a look at what they know and understand of
comprehension.
10. What else will you need to find out
about all students in your class to help you develop lesson plans for your Guided
Lead Teaching?
o I will need to find
out more of their interest so I can pick books or activities that will be fun
for them and keep their attention.
11. What else do you need/want to learn
about the ‘core practice’ to support your planning and teaching?
o I would like to have a
more in-depth look at what exactly is expected under the headings. I know we
can get a general idea from our past classes but I would like to know that the
common core means/wants.
12. What concerns, if any, do you have
about planning and teaching your unit?
o I don’t have any big
concerns because I have already been up in front of the class quite a bit. Plus my teacher is really great to work with and I know I can always go to her if I have questions.
Bethany: I love that you're going to tackle comprehension! It's so important yet so often over looked, and with Reading Street, I like that you are still going to try to incorporate a few of your ideas, even though it will be challenging. I think it will be important to establish student to student talking in a positive manner, but also fuel it throughout the rest of the school year. I think it would be a shame to start them on such a wonderful task and then let it be forgotten as soon as your teaching is over. I like that you yourself want to focus more on responding to reading, one thing I like and use a lot are post it notes. If I read something that I find interesting I flag it, and sometimes jot down why I thought it was important or interesting. This helps me when I go back to know what to look at more closely. To better gauge their interests, maybe you could hold a book fair, one day you share lots of different types of books with them and then they get to choose 1 or 2 they would like to read and really think about, maybe they could even partner up and start a mini book club?!
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