Week 13 Assignment

Assignment #1:

The article on Focused ARA described the process of the assessment of students' progression. The techniques are simple and they let the student gain the perspective of what they need and how strong they are in areas. The student is assessed on the content-based standards; they are assessed in small groups to get the best results. The evaluator is able to give simple evaluations based on the assessment that is taken. Being organized is the key to the assessment process in the ARA assessment. The ARA assessment process uses the anecdotal records to monitor the standards that the student has been given. By labeling the records with the date and standards, there is no chance of the student being given the same assessment. Also the records could be easily evaluate months later due to the information being dated and neatly recorded. Anecdotal records are neatly recorded and the observations has simple methods of coding the observations. All the records should be written in past tense to maintain the accuracy of the records. This type of assessment is used to get to the accurate results from the classroom, instead of the results from a test at a certain time in the school year.

Assignment #2:

How do standards and benchmarks inform assessment?

Assessment can be built in your instruction by using the lessons of the day to assess the student. All the daily lessons are open opportunities to assess a few students. The assignments that the students produce give the teacher the materials for assessment, also you can monitor and assess some children as you work with them. Standards are set as a rule or convention as a model of how to teach, but not the way to teach. Benchmarks serve as measurement of the standards. They impact my teaching by allowing me to have a guideline in what to teach, but not how to teach. Also, the benchmarks monitors the standards taught. By knowing the end-of-year goals, the daily tasks are now in place for teaching; the teachers can assessment the level of understanding that is given throughout the year. Anecdotal records assist in finding the weaknesses of the students and can be managed by selecting a few students to assess daily.

What role can students play in their assessment?

Rubrics are guidelines to monitor the progression of the assignment and the expectations of the student. I would create a rubric that is geared to the different lessons, once I am in a classroom. By reviewing the rubric, the students are able to use the expectations to guide them into a progressive production. Portfolios are created by the teachers placing pieces of the students' work in a binder. The student and teacher review the work periodically to see the progression of the student. The selection of the pieces should not be only good, but all the work should be randomly selected to get a real view of the work. Students can select their own pieces to show their parents, they can use it to explain their choice of selection.

How can teachers prepare for high-stake tests?

High-stakes tests are not accurate because they are able to display the progression of the student. Tests can sometimes be a catalyst to a student, they are nervous or over think and do not give their best work. The student could be good the entire year in academics, but not be so good on the test. To prepare the students in the best way is by using the test guidelines in your lessons. Practice writing assignments on a timed basis and allow the students to improve their writing skills. Once they are strong in their writing, they can write for any genre.

How does assessment focus instruction?

Assessment helps in differentiate instruction by allowing the teacher to isolate, for all students, in the areas that they struggle the most. By using the assessments that they gained, the students that have similar struggles can work together. The instruction can be made for the group or individuals in the areas that they need. Once in the classroom, I will use daily assessments to measure the progress of the students.

Week 12 Assignment

Assignment #1:

I learned that there are many different methods of incorporating technological tools into a lesson. The websites and applications that were suggested and mentioned in the articles were very helpful. The articles suggested classroom techniques that would be allow the students to work together. Group setting work and assigning job to students is a great idea; they will feel more involved in the lessons and activities. But, there is also a better reason for the group and job assignments, the students are now focused on the corrections and critiques that they give their classmates. Each student will need to understand the critiques so that they can fix them and revise and edit their own work.

I would definitely use the story writing and publishing technique. I think that the activity that allows the students to write their own stories encourages the students to really work on the story creation. It is also a fun activity because they will be able to illustrate and design the piece of work. The movie making suggestions is an excellent method of recording the creations of the students. The applications that are easy to obtain lessens the pricey software, the free applications are even easy to use in the classroom.

Assignment #2:

• Phonemic awareness: http://prezi.com/tlao7agijeq0/circle-time-game/?kw=view-tlao7agijeq0&rc=ref-40226197
• Phonics: http://prezi.com/_8xwbu56d36h/finding-the-letter-n/?kw=view-_8xwbu56d36h&rc=ref-40226197
• Fluency: http://prezi.com/ngazrym4lclt/reading-bingo/?kw=view-ngazrym4lclt&rc=ref-40226197
• Vocabulary: http://prezi.com/z1tz9bvzuktf/climbing-the-prefix-ladder/?kw=view-z1tz9bvzuktf&rc=ref-40226197
• Spelling: http://prezi.com/ydlv45ibmltf/spelling-bees/?kw=view-ydlv45ibmltf&rc=ref-40226197
• Writing: http://prezi.com/wcbfthxjrh1y/journal-stories/?kw=view-wcbfthxjrh1y&rc=ref-40226197
• Comprehension: http://prezi.com/c9h-nj3lumnh/visual-stories/?kw=view-c9h-nj3lumnh&rc=ref-40226197

QRI-5 Assessment Forms

Week 11 Assignment

Assignment #1:

• Good readers are able to preview the text to get a feel of the story before reading. They use connections to relate the story details with real life; connecting the story to thoughts and experiences that they have. The students also can use their classmates to lead discussions on the text. These are some good points on practices of a good reader.
• Teachers can develop comprehension by using the following:

1. teach strategies
2. build vocabulary
3. build background knowledge
4. provide opportunities to comprehend
5. teach about text
6. enable discussion
7. encourage writing
8. ensure authenticity

They can have the student learn new strategies to connect with their reading. Comprehension can be developed with the constant use of strategies with their reading assignments.

• Teachers can help struggling students by giving more opportunities to practice their reading and writing. They can also get intense monitoring and coaching; all students need those strategies, but the struggling students need more encouragement.

Assignment #2:

• I think that the coaching and the student-led discussion groups stuck with me more than the rest. The methods that allow the students to lead their reading and idea gathering is important. The coaching from the teachers allows the students to feel more involved in their development.
• I am not in a classroom yet so all the strategies that were shown in the video was new to me. I would definitely use the monitoring and use personal connections with their reading selections and writing assignments.
• I would use the ideas presented in many hands-on activities, also in the assignments that I send home for the students to complete.

Assignment #3:

After reading the article on text structuring, I have learned that one of the keys to reading comprehension was text structuring. Teachers should train the students to structure text; they will be able to read text more efficiently. By using the text structure classifications in order, the student will learn to understand analyze text. The order of description, sequence, compare/contrast, cause/effect, and problem/solution would be the structure of the text comprehension. The text structure classifications should not be taught all at the same time. Informational text is better used than a story. One area should taught first and then another once there is an understanding gained by the student. Once the expository text structuring is developed the students can work on graphic organizers that are blank independently.

Mini-lessons:

Lesson: Family Tree

Grade: 2nd grade

Time: 45 minutes each day for 3 days

Graphic Organizer: Organizational Outline

Learning Outcome: The student will understand the structural design of an unit (family for instance). By using the family structure, the student will be able to design from the head of the family to the sub-units, allowing the student to create history using their own family.

Common Core Standards:

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.5 Know and use various text features (e.g., captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, indexes, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.6 Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe.
  

Lesson Plan:

• Student is given an organizational outline chart to take home to work with their parents to fill in the names.
• With the sheet completed with at least two generations of immediate family, the student will design a family outline.
• If needed, more sub-charts can be added to accommodate the family structure.
• The student will give a chronology of their family structure with their occupational and what they mean to them.
• They will write a story about their family in two to three paragraphs.
• After presented to the class, each student will show their understanding of the comparisons and contrast of this activity against story structure.

Lesson: Funny Animal Story

Time: 30 minutes each for one week

Graphic Organizer: Idea Web

Learning Outcome: The students will be able to create an entertaining story about the animal of their selection. They will be able to structure the form of a story from the title, body and conclusion. They can include illustrations at the end, but they will be constructing the foundation of the story.

Common Core Standards:

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.2 Identify the main topic of a multiparagraph text as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text.
  

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.6 Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe.
  

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.5 With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.6 With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.
  

Lesson Plan:

• The students will name several animals that they are familiar with.
• They will select from the animals listed, the one that their story will feature.
• In a group setting, the students will discuss funny scenarios to write about.
• Once they have brainstormed with each other, they will use the Idea Web to create a web of how the ideas will connect.
• The story will develop through the web of ideas and the placement that they will have.

Lesson:

Time: 45 minutes each day for three days

Graphic Organizer: Story Map

Learning Outcome: The students will learn to take the ideas that they created and add to the story map. This will encourage the understanding of the development of a story. Using the parts of a story will create the story structure.

Common Core Standards:

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.3 Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure.
  

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.5 With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.6 With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.
  

Lesson Plan:

• When the web, from the prior lesson is completed, the students will begin to develop their stories.
• They will use the Story Map to create the placement of text for the story
• They will develop a first draft of the story.
• The students will revise their work and have their work placed on the class wall when completed.

QRI-5 Report

Keystone Field Project: Assessment Reports

Professor Hsu

EDLI 636

By: Ayanna Brown

Due: April 2, 2013

Field Observation in the School:

I conducted my field observation at Explore Charter School in Brooklyn, New York. I was observing the 2^nd grade class; there were two teachers in the room, Ms.Lopez and Ms. Muira. The classroom was energetic and decorated in a manner that created a positive learning environment. During the observation, the students were allowed to select the Center Time choices. The choices were clear they were to select one choice and a bonus. Most of the students selected the independent reading and then for the bonus, they wanted to book shop (the students would go to the library and select new books for the week). The children that were in need of instruction in reading were placed in a small group with one teacher. They would go through the text together, while the other students completed the tasks that were assigned for them.

The students were given a sheet that displayed a pie chart. The chart represents the Center work that the students can choose, and then on the bottom of the sheet are the bonus choices. The children are to monitor their own progress; they shade in the part of the pie that they have completed. Once the tasks are completed, they then can select the bonus choice. The book shopping choice was the most popular with most of the students. The students were very eager to read, they loved to select books and to explain what the stories are about. The teacher used the instructional method of assisting in the reading groups with the identified students. They also applied the independent reading to the students that did not need to have a teacher assist them.

QRI-5 Reporting:

I conducted the testing on a Kindergarten student that was a member of the student population in the school. Keyno is in the second class of the Kindergarten body, he is a general education student with no identified special needs at this time. I used the First word list to determine his reading level. He only got 40% (words out of 20) correctly. He was not able to even try some of the words, such as enough, afraid and move. At some point in the reciting of these words, he was frustrated and did not want to continue. I then used the Primer word list, this list he was able to recite the words better. Keyno was able to initially identify 90% (18 out of 20) correctly, 2 of the words he self corrected without my assistance. The end result for this word list was 100%, so I determined that he would be able to read on a Primer level.

Keyno was very energetic and needed no assistance when it came to the Primer list, we took a break so that he could relax his mind and refocus on the task. The next step was to have him read two different reading passages to gain insight in his level of accurate reading. The QRI-5 helps to identify any issues or developmental needs for the students. We selected two Primer reading passages, “The Pig Who Learned to Read” and “Who Lives Near Lakes”. We decided to use “Who Lives Near Lakes” first because it was a shorter passage; I wanted to see if he could get through the passage with success. He was able to get through the passage with ease.

The concept questions that were connected to the passage (Lakes) he was able to answer 44% of the questions. Even though the passage was not long, he recalls scarce and basic details. The details that he recalled were enough to get a clear answer, but he did not elaborate or extend his answers. He did not seem familiar with the passage even after reading it. We did not do a recheck at first, but decided to do one after he answered the concept questions, so he could review the passage. When he was reading the passage, he recalled 13 ideas, which was 72% of the story. He could recall the details better than he could answer the questions about the story.

He needed instructional assistance to get the basis of the questions being asked. Keyno needs to be able to clearly think about the concept questions, but takes too long to develop an answer. He gets frustrated when he does have a ready answer and does not want to complete the task. He did enjoy retelling the story and was happy to give the details to me without me leading him to the details. He did not want to look at the story again, and wanted to give the details in his own words. For the retelling task, Keyno is very capable of relaying the details; he did not like the concept question task, even though it was about the same details that he relayed in the retelling task.

The general question tasks were just as frustrating for Keyno as the concept questions. He was ranged at frustration level; he got 2 explicit answers correct and 1 implicit answer correct. This test shows that Keyno would need to do recheck when answering questions about the story. He could maybe draw the story details first and then answer the questions. He does better with details where he retells the story, then to create a thought that answers the question given. He would need an instruction that will enhance his creative side and encourage him to express himself.

The second day of testing, we read the passage “The Pig Who Learned to Read”; this was a colorful story that sparked interest in Keyno. He was excited to read the story and it had more content than the prior passage. He was so into the story that he wanted to read it twice. Keyno still got 44% in the concept questions. He showed interest in the story, but still was unable to give details when questions are asked. He is an independent reader with a total of 4 miscues during his reading. He was fluent while reading with minimal stops or assistance from me. He self corrected more of the words than he got incorrect.

With the retelling task, he did not do as well as the prior passage; he recalled 9 ideas from the story. He recalled the part of the story that he enjoyed the most; Keyno gave more information just by speaking in a natural conversation. He spoke about the story and was very detailed on the topics that he liked in the story. He was very hesitant to recall any other details, even when prompted. He did do better in the questions task portion of the test. Keyno was raised to Instructional reading level; he got 3 explicit answers and 2 implicit answers.

The QRI-5 testing system is designed to identify the reading level of the student. After that is determined, the system will identify the strengths and weaknesses of the student while reading and the concept of understanding. Keyno demonstrated that he works well with the Primer words and reading selections. He needs to work on answering questions with clear detail. He also should work on being patient in determining the sound of the words.

I was very glad to assess the student in this manner; I am not in a classroom so this interactive experience brought the teaching realm to me. Since I am not in a classroom presently, I only get to practice on my own family. Keyno is my own child, so this assessment helped to determine the same things that his teacher has advised me of in his own class work. I am going to use the lesson that I prepare to practice on his comprehension and understanding of the passages that we select. I think that this will also get me prepared for the classroom and the needs of my future students.

The QRI-5 and the DICBELS assessments are both great instruments to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the students' literacy comprehension. The QRI-5 creates a testing opportunity for the student to not only be tested on comprehension, but also allowed the teacher to get the correct level of reading comprehension for the student. The student may be in one grade but reading at a lower or higher level, it is important to get the correct reading level for the student to receive the assistance needed. My son was given lower reading materials because he was placed in special needs for speech. He actually read at a higher level, which was determined grades later. The identification would have been better for him in his earlier grades. The DICBELS assessment is a possible indicator that the student may struggle in reading during the elementary years. It is used more in the Kindergarten to 3^rd grades than covering all of the elementary grades. It is a little more boxed in as compared to the QRI-5 which is more open to take levels of assessment to indicate the problems and successes; also bring in the areas that they are struggling.

Lesson Plan: https://w.taskstream.com/Lesson/View/F4A9C82C8565A3EE278C9EB97AE93FB2

Rubric: https://w.taskstream.com/RubricWizard/RubricPrintView/PrintView?encLegacyRubricId=fscucxcycrcycqcg&platform=LAT

Week 10 Assignment

Ayanna Brown

EDLI 636

Professor Hsu

Assignment: Week 10

Due: April 9, 2013

Assignment #1:

• The components of an effective writing program are personal connections, writing conventions and inventions. They are important because they are what make the writing interest and unique. Using the personal connections, the student put life to the words that she writes. The writing conventions is a great way to make sure that the writing is complete, and to monitor where they fall short.
• I would reschedule the morning activities, then I would have the students copy the morning message. By copying the message they will learn new vocabulary while getting the objective of the day. In general that exercise daily will create a stronger writing experience for the students. Some mornings, I would allow 15 minutes extra to have the students write in the missing words from the message. Usually it would be words from their vocabulary lessons. For particular writing assignments weekly, I would make some of the recreation time be assigned to Student Creation Time. This time would be about twice a week for 30 minutes a day, where the students would be able to write about their weekends, vacations or the favorite parts of their day. The writing time would allow them to focus on topics that they are closely related to. They will love to write about their favorite things to do.
• The students can make personal connections in the different subject areas by allowing them to select a topic and relate it to that subject area. For example, the students can write about their weekend and add mathematical references in them. Like they went shopping with their parents and bought oranges at $.25 each. They can relate the experience to the shopping to the lesson of mathematical topic.
• By reading the writings of the students, I can determine some areas of writing conventions need to be addressed with the students. We can review the conventions as we go along, all the students will be able to work on the conventions in this manner.
• During the independent reading time, I can then add on an additional 15 minutes to have the students work on their writings. They can use inventions or experiment with the different formats that we learned independently or in a group setting if they prefer.

Assignment #2:

• The factors that help student growth in writing are oral language, connecting reading and writing, and feedback. The students need to be able to connect their reading with their writing. Once they read their books, they will begin to adapt the method of writing from the stories. They will gain new vocabulary and the structure of correct writing. Feedback from the teachers should be help the student feel more attached to the writing.
• Personalized responses are very supportive to the writer, it encourages them to feel the work that they produce. The writer feels the importance of their work and recognizes that the feedback is to strengthen their production. I am not in the classroom as yet, so at this point I think that the comments that Ms. Ruiz made with the classroom examples are good.
• I could increase student discussion opportunities during the independent reading time, it could be that all the students are reading the same books. That way they can get the idea and feel of discussing the parts of lessons. I could also create more discussion time in the lesson periods that we have. During math time, we could use our words more to explain how we solve the problems. During science, we could discuss the lesson that is being practiced, such as the processes of the experiment or parts of bodies.
• I could provide the students with samples of writings previously done, something that was written by other students. The writings will reflect the familiar tones of students of their same grade levels. If I write something they may not feel like I understand some of the issues that they face, so their peers' writings will be better to use.
• I can allow the students to read some of the things that they have written. Also they can read to each other during a circle time in groups, they can use this time to reflect on their story ideas. Feeding off of each other, they can create a strong understanding of their peers' opinions and take notes from the audience.

Assignment #3:

• The benefits of the writing strategies that were proposed are that the student is really involved in the process. The portfolio allows reflection from both the student and the teacher. They work together to find goals that would benefit the student. The monthly writing assessment is great because it helps the student become familiarized with the writing formats and genres; not only for the test but also for future writing.
• The benefits are that the portfolio helps the student monitor their own progression. They can see the progress and work on the goals that would improve their weaker areas. The challenges are that the student may not recognize on their own where they are lacking and need support. They are to be encouraged to be in control of their goals, but it might deter them from wanting assistance in their problem areas.

Week 9 Assignment

Assignment #1:

After reviewing the information that was provided for DIBELS, I learned that is a test that was created to indicate the students that may need more instruction in reading. Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) is an set of assessments that are used for the progression and monitoring of the students' reading skills. The assessments are used within the K-6 grades, they are designed for the students to develop stronger reading skills. It was started in the University of Oregon and they are designed to help educators monitor potential instruction for struggling readers. The tests have benchmarks for each grade that determines the test that is given, the assessment level that they should achieve, and the results obtained from the assessments. The DIBELS measures are broken into many sets:

• ISF: Initial Sound Fluency
• LNF: Letter Naming Fluency
• PSF: Phoneme Segmentation Fluency
• NWF: Nonsense Word Fluency
• WUF: Word Use Fluency
• ORF: Oral Reading Fluency
• RTF: Retell Fluency

The students are given the assessments and timed to get the results that they complete the assessments in a specific time frame. The assessment are not as detailed in identifying the struggling areas as accurately as the QRI-5 to me, in reviewing the two systems.

Assignment #2:

The DIBELS is broken into areas of assessment and the measures are administered as follows:

Phonological Awareness:

• The Initial Sound Fluency (ISF) assessment is administered with the student being shown four pictures. They have 3 minutes to complete this assessment. The child is asked to identify the picture that represents the sound made by the examiner. For example, the examiner says /m/ to which the student selects the picture of milk. This assessment is to develop the student's knowledge of the beginning sounds and pictures that are determined by the amount of time taken and converts it into the correct number of initial sounds in 1 minute.
• The Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF) is used to assess a student's ability to segment 3- and 4-phoneme words into their individual phonemes. They are to break the words apart and acknowledge the phoneme sounds. The student is assessed on how fluently they are able to complete the task. The assessment is done in 2 minutes, the student hears the words and then gives the sounds. Scoring is done while the sounds are produced, and placed in a scoring booklet.

Alphabetic Principles:

• The Nonsense Word Fluency is an assessment that tests the student's alphabetic principle knowledge. The student has to demonstrate the ability to blend sounds. The words that are given do not have a sensible combination. The student can sound out or say the word as spelled; either way they will receive a 3-letter correct score for the task. This assessment has the student demonstrate their ability to pronounce unfamiliar words. They will be able to say the word and not just the letters, and to measure the speed of the word pronunciation.

Fluency with Connected Text:

• The Oral Reading Fluency assessment is designed to monitor the student while reading a passage. Any hesitations, omissions and/or substitutions is an error. The reading fluency of the student is measured by the 1-minute reading. Self-corrected texts are to be considered as read correctly, the student is correcting the word without assistance from the examiner. The number of words read correctly per minute is the reading fluency score. This assessment also measures the reading level of the student and what level they should be reading at to begin with.
• The Retell Fluency assessment provided a check for the ORF assessment; it is a comprehensive check that identifies students that has fluency, but the comprehension is not at the same level. The assessment check provides the ability to keep the examiner from practicing a misrule with the student. The comprehension of what the student is reading is an important part of the reading/learning process. The passage must have meaning recognized for the purpose of the text to be understood. It is apparent when a student can not retell the details of the passage that they were just reading the passage without comprehending. This check will eliminate the need to speed read and to place comprehension first.

Assignment #3:

The QRI-5 and the DIBELS are both assessment tools to monitor the the student's comprehension and fluency. The QRI-5 assessment is designed to monitor the comprehension of the student. Using this assessment identifies where there is an issue with the student. Detecting any struggling students with this assessment, but in the present, it does not evaluate for the future learning opportunities. The assessment results are processed and evaluated for the school year at the present time.

The DIBELS is more of a screening assessment in the areas of phonemic awareness, alphabetic principles, fluency and vocabulary. This assessment is used by the districts and schools; the district used the assessment to place children in the appropriate learning level. While the teachers use it to gauge the interventions that the student needs. The DIBELS can be used to also monitor lesson progression when there is a common issue amongst the students or a select group. The DIBELS assessment is less intensive as the QRI-5 assessments. Most districts use DIBELS because it is affordable during the times of budget cuts.

As different as they are in the manner of adminstration of the assessments, they work good together. The DIBELS is better in the realm of the K-3^rd grade level. They both assist in identifying the struggling students and where they are needing assistance. The most widely chosen assessment tool would be the QRI-5 because of the intensive nature. The schools can pinpoint the struggling student's issue and develop strategies that would effectively help them. I like the idea of the DIBELS, but I would prefer the QRI-5 much better in a classroom setting.

Week 8 Assignment

Assignment #1:

Sheila and John incorporates emergent literacy in their lessons by using the Word Wall to have the students write and read sentences. John used the missing word exercise to have the students complete the passage. He used the sight words to complete the sentences. The trial and error manner allows manner allows the students to demonstrate their vocabulary and sentence comprehension. The primary focus of the lesson were vocabulary and comprehension of the sentences. They both used the group setting to have the students participate orally in the lesson. They assisted their classmates and helped to complete the task without the teacher's assistance. The teachers used the Word Wall to have the students display their knowledge of the words they learned. Sheila used the opportunity to have them create their own sentences. John used the opportunity to have the students use the words on their wall to complete the sentences. They both had planned lessons, where the students had to use their sight words to complete the tasks. Sheila used one of the sentences that a student made; John used a paragraph with missing words.

Assignment#2:

Charmon and Shari both taught phonics lessons in the class. They chose to use different approaches because they had different lessons prepared. Charmon was teaching the a_e words before they were to read a story that had one of the words in it. She wanted them to become familiar with the words,so they could read the story clearly. Shari wanted to the teach the ug family words to the class. They used the phonics principles of finding family words and creating words with the same vowel structure and sound. The lesson that Shari created promotes more student engagement because they were allowed to select the words. Shari used her “Poem of the Week” to engage the students in a sing-song manner to learn the words. Becky's “Reader Theater” has the students practicing their scripts, which develops their vocabulary. In Shari's activity, all the students participated, but in the “Reader Theater” activity, the engagement was only from a select group of classmates.

The “Reader Theater” students would be assessed using the three stages of fluency as follows:

1. Connecting with the language: monitor the students as they practice the scripts before their presentation.
2. Getting comfortable in most situations: monitor and assess the way that the students read the script.
3. Constant improvement: while the students are presenting the script, I would assess the level of fluency when they are reading the script; compare it to the previous activities that the student completed.

Assignment #3:

The child that I practiced the QRI-5 assessment with was a Kindergarten student. He was very good with reading on a Primer level. He had some difficulty when answering the concept questions, but did better on the general questions. He needs to be assisted when developing answers in detail about the story. He will be able to move up a reading level by the end of the year, if there instructional assistance with developing question answers.

Week 7 Assignment

Assignment #1:
I. Print Awareness:
Pre-test: I got 9/10 questions correctly, I have a good understanding of the concept of print awareness
Intro & In Depth: I learned that there are many different aspects of print awareness than just reading the book. You have to be able to identify the parts of the text that make up the book. Also, books are not the only form of print, the internet and any text that is read can be viewed to create print awareness.
In practice: The aspects of the book should be reviewed with the students, they should know all parts of the print for recognition. The information that is gained about the book (for one aspect of print) will give them print awareness.
Assignments: The class can develop their knowledge of the book by  the sample format provided or by your own method of teaching it:
1. I would allow one student to select a book to be read to the class.
2. Once the book is received, I would ask another student to come up to the front of the class to demonstrate the front, back, sides and inside flaps of the book.
3. The class will demonstrate their knowledge of the author, illustrator and the difference between words and pictures.
4. After the initial introduction of the story, we will establish the characters of the story, then proceed with reading the story.
5. When the story is finished, I will ask the students: what is the purpose of the characters, who is their favorite character, and what they consider the best part of the story.
6. The students will draw and write a summary of the story.
Post-test: I got 9/10 questions correctly, I changed one of the answers that were originally correct.

II. The Sounds of Speech:
Pretest: I received 9/10 questions correctly, I did not know that there were 40 sounds in the English language.
Intro & In Depth: I learned that there are 42-44 sounds in speech. The development of a word is created by the sounds that are created to make the words. Students that are struggling may be able to distinguish the sounds, but not be able to articulate the words. Also, if the student has a hearing or auditory problem it can be detected in their area of learning and assessment.
In practice: I like Activity #1, where the student uses his vocal cords to hear the vibrations in the words. This is an easy exercise to practice with the students. All age groups can practice this and get the feel of the phonemes in the words given.
Assignments: I would use the spelling words that they have to study, recording the sounds and allowing the students to state the number of phonemes.
Post-test: I received 6/10 questions correct, I need to work on phonemes and recognizing the number of them in words.

III. Phonemic Awareness
Pretest: I got 5/10 questions correct, I need to get a better understanding of phonemic awareness and phonologic awareness.
Intro & In depth: I learned that there is a difference between phonics and phonemic awareness. Also I have gathered information on the differences between phonologic and phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is a part of phonological awareness, which is the bigger picture. The importance of phonemic awareness is the fact that is helping the students learn to spell and read.
In practice: The students will have effective phonemic instruction with isolation, blending, categorization, segmentation, deletion, addition and substitution. Activities that incorporate these abilities are the most effective.
Assignments: I would try a game that had the words: it, at, an, in, and et. The students will select letters that will allow them to blend, add, and substitute. We will create a bingo board with the letters and words that will blend the words. Each child will get a board and some chips. The goal is to get BINGO with the word created from the phonemes.
Post-test: I received 8/10 questions, I need to get more experience with phoneme blending.

IV. Phonics
Pretest: I got 7/10 questions correct, I need to understand phonics more clearly.
Intro & In depth: I learned that phonics is very involved with the sounds and letter/vowel  combination, to create words. The student will learn to spell and read effectively. I learned effective phonics instruction to give to the class. I gained the knowledge of how to teach phonics: using synthetic, analytic, analogy-based, phonics through spelling, embedded, and onset-rime. I have the knowledge of the phonics terms: graphophonemic relationships, letter-sound association, letter-sound correspondence, sound-symbol correspondence, and sound spellings.
In practice: I learned that short books and stories are reading materials that are suggested.  Practicing to write also assists in the  effectiveness of phonics instruction. Systematic instruction can be more effective than non systematic instruction.  The students are learning about relationships between words and sounds; also letter/vowels and letter/sound combinations. Phonics instruction in the first and kindergarten levels can help prevent difficulties in reading.
Assignments: I am not in a classroom as of yet, but I would like to maintain a simple reading program that would encourage phonics.  Using websites that can incorporate  activities with spelling and minor reading passages.  The student will then write their own stories.
Post-test: I got 7/10 correct, I need to gain more knowledge of the terms of phonics.

Assignment #5:
Child Name: Keyno Coleman
Age: 5 years old
Grade: Kindergarten

I. Print Awareness

Lesson: I selected a book from the library, and the student demonstrated his knowledge of the book structure.

Results: Keyno was able to identify the front, back and inside cover of the book. He demonstrated the knowledge of the author’s name and the illustrator. He was slightly confused on what the title meant, but he was able to understand the meaning after the explanation was given.

II. The Sounds of Speech

Lesson: The student selected an ABC book, so we could review the sounds of the letters of the alphabet. We then created three to four letter words with the sounds of the letters.

Results: Keyno was able to sound out the letters of the alphabet effectively. He was also able to create words using different sounds. He was able to create:
/b/ /a/ /t/ - bat
/b/ /a/ /g/ - bag
/c/ /a/ /t/ - cat
/d/ /o/ /g/ - dog

III. Phonemic Awareness

Lesson: I gave the student 5 words to sound out and read:
Bet
Let
Set
Pet
Get

After the words were read, the student then had to substitute with other vowels: i, a, o, and u

Results: Keyno was able to replace the vowels and recognize/read the new words. He also questioned the words that were unfamiliar to him.

IV. Phonics

Lesson: We used worksheets from the website, which allow the student to fill in the missing letters of the words selected. He also worked on rhyming words, where they had a root word, he selected the word that rhymed with the root word.

Results: Keyno was able to fill in the missing letters and select the correct word that rhymed.

Suggested websites:
1. www.littlebirdtales.com : phonemic awareness and print awareness
2. http://www.actionfactor.com/pages/lesson-plans/v1.06-rhyming-words-short-vowels.html : Phonics
3. http://www.angelfire.com/nj/speechlanguage/Onlineactivities.html : Sounds of Speech

Week 6 Assignment

Instructional Focus:

My instructional focus would be mainly on comprehension skills. Mary can fluently read the text, but she does not retain information past the basic, general details. She may not get the focus of the story, such as, she can remember the generic information, i.e. character names and places, but not their purpose. Her understanding needs to be extended and conditioned to focus on more important structures and details of the story.

Length of Intervention:

I would give Mary 45 minutes of intervention during the day. She would be given passages to read during the independent reading time. Short passages that give details that are easy to absorb. Each day the passages will hold more details without going over the reading level of Mary. Since it is independnet reading time, there will be no time taken form the rest of the class.

Intervention Structure:

I would use the intervention structure of expository structure and details. But, I would also ask her to draw and write the important details she can remember from the story. Also, allowing her to look back at the text.

Mini-Lesson:

Time: 45 minutes each day

Materials:

• 5 one-page passages about animals (easy text with range)
• Pencil
• Paper/construction paper

Instruction:

• Student will read one passage pages each day
• Student will draw the important details from the story up to 5 details
• Student will list details they can remember from the story
• Student will write a small summary for homework to relate that day's passage

Week 5 Assignment

Assignment #1:
Mary recognized 16 words out of the 20. She was able to identify 2 words on her own. I believe that based on the results from the QRI-5, she recognizes 90% of the Second Level list.

 

Assignment #2:
Mary was not able to identify the words on this list, except for 2 words. She is unable to identify or read the Level 3 word list. She is more able to read thr Level 2 word list from the prior example. Mary did not attempt to read the words that were unfamiliar to her. She would skip across the words, so she is not ready for the Level 3 words.

 

 

Assignment #3:

Mary recalled 14 ideas from the story, she was comfortable recalling the most important ideas for the story. She gave the basic information about whales and fish. She did not feel comfortable pushing past the information that she already given.

 

 

 

Assignment #4:

My assessment of Mary is that she is comfortable with reading the passages. She is fluent and can recall most ideas from the passages. Her reading is on a 2nd grade level, she needs more recall instruction, but she can move up to a 3rd grade level by the end of the school year. With more practice, she can be reading at a 3rd grade level by the end of the year with intense instruction.

 

 

 

Week 4 Assignment

Assignment #1: RTI

My understanding of Response to Intervention (RTI) is that it is a new approach to special education. It is used to provide support and intervention activities to struggling students. By using the RTI method, there should be a limit or reduction of reading difficulties. The concept is that the students that are struggling with their reading comprehension are to receive intervention to create an instruction to assist them. The RTI would be developed to suit the needs of the student. The teacher and teaching professional will assess the student to measure the progress, if any. The intervention programs will create an additional instruction program to structure extra learning opportunities to the student. The only issue is that many teaching professionals will use the results for the present issues, but it should future learning of the student.

Like all programs, the RTI was used to help identify learning disabilities in the students that possessed them. Progress data is collected and continuously to make sure that the instruction the student is receiving is correct and sufficient. Once the results are given, then the correct and necessary services can be established. This model allows for the students to receive the best instruction for this learning situation.

Assignment  #2:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/99459862/Week%204%20636%20RTI%20PPT.ppt

Assignment #3: QRI - 5

Qualitative Reading Inventory 5 is an informal reading activity that consists of many activities to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the reader. The assessment is used to put together several reading assessments that will show the progress and where the student needs assistance. The QRI-5 gives many assessment options for the evaluator/instructor to use. The form gives more leverage to getting the most accurate results for the student’s progression. The many assessments allows for a wider range of evaluation and better results. The word lists allows for the assessment of accuracy of word identification and the speed in process. The passages increase in difficulty to assess the level of comprehension of the student. The QRI-5 gives more accurate progression information than single assessment methods.

Week 3 Assignment

Assignment #1: Response to Article Readings

The articles that I read about Response to Intervention and The Assessment of Thoughtful Literacy in NAEP, they are very insightful to assessment situation. My son is in a special education and collaborative tea class. He had assessment in ELA because he needed the intervention to assist in his comprehension of text. I believe that intervention is necessary for more than just struggling children. The additional instruction that Mark received helped him to put his level of comprehension and fluency back in perspective. But, he needed the continued intervention, he needed to have the same effort placed in his future learning. The Assessment article described that the student should be familiar with the genre of reading, this allows the student to relate to the reading. They can draw the information from the characters because they relate to the reader or someone they know.

The results of the other states and the assessment percentages were interesting. The fact that California had the lowest testing rate compared to Texas, who had the highest were insightful to the education levels in the states. We all assume that we teach the same, but the different standards compete with the education gained in any state. I think that the Assessment article was expressing the demand that is needed in the education field for reading. I think that the RTI article expressed the fact that intervention is the best assistance to help a struggling or slightly in need student.

Assignment #2: Assessment to Measure Students' Outcomes

The assessments that are used to measure students' outcome are ones that really detail the needs or improvements of the students. Recording logs are used to determine the reading level of the students, and to maintain a progress report on the development. Also anecdotal notes would be good for all the sample tests that were presented. The teachers can use the anecdotal notes will help to observe and record the progression of the student over a time period.

Sample Lesson #1: The assessment that would be effective for this lesson is the Peer Assessment. The groups will be given a list of criteria to follow. They will evaluate the recordings of the other group, then they will record the evaluations. The teacher will collect all the information that is submitted by each group for their story assessment and the group assessments. The teacher will then put together a report on the information that is gained.

Sample Lesson #2: The assessment that would be good for this lesson would be the anecdotal notes. The teacher will take notes on each student during their presentation. This assessment will give information on the students that can be monitored throughout the year. The students will select the proposal that they want to present, then the teacher can use the comprehension and fluency that they put in the presentation.

Sample Lesson #3: The assessment that would be used for this lesson is to create a Blog to help with the podcast episodes. They can record the episodes to follow and they can describe how they created them. The progress of the project will be recorded in the blog and the students can create the blog in their own style.

 

Assignment #3: QRI5

• The QRI5 is an informal reading inventory that measures the comprehension and word identification of the students, also what word they can not correctly identify.
• The purpose of using the QRI5 is to pinpoint the students' reading levels, what the groups reading sessions can be arranged, or to select the appropriate reading materials.
• I would say that the Running Records are similar to the QRI5.
• I think that the QRI5 is a great way to assess may different aspects of reading for the students.

Week 1 Introduction

My name is Ayanna Brown and I am the mother of two boys, in the picture above, my sons and nephew are visible. I have wanted to be an educator from the earliest years of my life. I am currently two semesters (two classes) away from obtaining my Master's degree in Childhood Education. I am not a current teacher and have not been in the class My book title for my life and goals would be "Creative Life and Achievements: Overcoming Personal Hurdles to Become Successful". My favorite joke is the Nacho Cheese joke, it is really funny. Also some Chris Rock jokes that are funny, but may be too racy for this introduction. I am learning more about the new literacies and teaching language arts. At this time, I have no concerns in taking this course.