Glogster

I decided to create a presentation from my digital book assignment

http://nlander1.edu.glogster.com/hershey-pa/

Advantages for using Glogster	Disadvantages of using Glogster
·         “Eye catcher” it will keep students engaged	·         Teachers and students that are not well aware of how to use technology will have challenges
·         Usage of technology in the classroom	·         The program only works for older students
·         Alternative way for students to interrupt the material learned	·         Not all schools have computers accessible for all students/ teachers
·         Independent work	·         Hard to include all content of lesson on one presentation

Keystone Thematic Unit

Enjoy comment!!

Keystone Thematic Unit

Week 11 Assignment #1

Three things I learned from the article “ Trade Books in the Content Classroom” is that most textbooks are geared to a specific style of writing. The books do not target struggling or advanced readers in their content style. It is important to have supporting resources to help students build content knowledge on their reading level to use with the textbooks in class.  Additionally,  I learned the concept teaching with “Twin Texts’. It is useful to supplement student's fiction reading with nonfiction text for extra support.  I learned that students are used to reading many fiction pieces from beginning to end. Students need to learn how to read different types of reading. Informational textbooks are a great resource for students to learn how to read with a purpose. Students learn how to read text captions. Pull information from a certain chapter because there is no specific story line. Informational text pairing with fiction books is a great supplement for students to learn outside the literature fiction text. Lastly, I learned that trading non-fiction books in the classroom can provide students with authentic reading experiences that they can connect with their lives to expand their knowledge of the subject. 

Two things I will like to bring to the classroom is for students to trade books on their reading level in class and "Twin Text" sharing. I think it is important for students to have nonfiction supplements to the material they are reading in literature. Additionally, I think it’s important for students to shop for their books.  Students will be more invested in the reading if they choose their own material. 

One thing I will like to know is how often do students trade books. I am curious on how students hold students accountable for reading the book of their choice. Do the students write a report or take a mini quiz to show their comprehension? 

Week 7 Building Vocabulary Assignments 1-3

1.    How can you ensure that your struggling readers have access to texts they can easily read?
a.    In my classroom, I will include a library of various books on all reading levels. Students will have access to nonfiction and fiction pieces they can easily choose from to read. I will make sure struggling students are doing partner reading, group reading and independent reading to strengthen their reading skills. I will monitor the struggling readers growth using running records each month. Students that does not improve I will give extra support for parents to work on at home. Some suggestions I would recommend is for parents to practice sight words  and computer programs that challenge students to recite the words.

2.    How can you foster a learning environment in which students have many opportunities to practice reading?
a.    I would foster a learning environment in which students have many opportunities to practice reading by introducing a classroom library. Reading should be a part of the lesson plans each day. Additionally, Students should be introduced to non-fiction and fiction pieces daily. Each day a student should have 30 minutes to read a book of their choice. The book the student should read should be on their reading level. 

3.    Describe ways in which you can model fluent reading in your classroom throughout the day.
a.    I hold students accountable for sounding out words and decoding words better looking for help. Each morning I would read the current events article in class to model the fluency and pacing of my words. Throughout the day, I would have students focus on a certain skill that I would look for during their reading block. For example:
i.    Reading words loud and proud
ii.    Breaking down the smaller words in the bigger word
iii.    Reading crisp and clear
iv.    Decoding words
v.    Using context clues

4.     Explain the three levels of words and how you can use word levels to decide which words to teach.
a.    Familiar words: looks, jump hop
b.    Words that often appear  in conversation or the news: hurricane, democracy, diplomat 
c.    Highly technical  words- words you hear in science class, words that are removed that is not so common.

5.    How do you teach your students to "chunk" words as a strategy for decoding unfamiliar words? When do you provide this instruction?
a.    To chuck a word, a student will have to separate the beginning and end of the word. Students will identify a smaller word within the bigger word. The goal is for the student to break down the sound chuck words at a time until the skill is not necessary anymore. 

6.    Based on Professor Allington's comments and the classroom examples, what are some ways you might foster word study in your classroom?
a.    Draw the words from the materials students are reading.
b.    Using comprehension and context clues to determine the meaning of the words. 
c.    Look for familiar text that students will be interested in learning. 
d.    Look for text that students will use in their daily conversations. 

Running Record and Lesson plan week 5

I was unable to test a student this week. I have been under the weather and out of work due to a cold. Instead I will give two suggestions on a mini lesson that could be used for the student I watch on the video last week.

The student in the video was struggling decoding sight words. Sight words are words students should recognize immediately upon reading. A mini lesson I would used in the classroom is sight word bingo. It is an interactive game and engages students to learn the words.
Sight word bingo can be used on paper or can be found online at :http://www.abcya.com/dolch_sight_word_bingo.htm


How to play the game:

 Listen to the word the BINGO bug speaks and click on the corresponding sight word on the screen. Get four words correct vertically, horizontally or diagonally to get BINGO and win!




Additionally, I would work on a paragraph fluency worksheet that list words with and without the "S- ending". The student struggled with pronouncing the s in the words.  First, I will model the paragraph. Next I will do a guided reading with the student emphasizing the S-ending. Then, I will have the student read the paragraph out loud independently. Lastly, I will track the errors the students make while reading the paragraph out loud the second time. 

Running Record- Week 4

Yes	Can the student tell you what happened in the story or the subject of the book in her or his own words?
Yes/Yes	Does the student include details about the characters in the retelling? Can she or he explain the relationships between the characters?
Yes	Can the student describe the setting? How detailed is the description?
Yes	Can the student recall the events of the story, and can she or he place them in the correct sequence?
Did not ask	Can the student identify the problem and the resolution?
Yes	Does the student use vocabulary from the text?
Yes	Does the student's retelling demonstrate minimal, adequate, or very complete and detailed understanding of the text?

The student reading skills is on grade level. The student made 11 errors. Most of the errors made were visual. Visual errors should be easier to correct than structure. The student will have to learn to track with their finger and read each word slower to pick up the mistakes. For example, the student left the “s” off of the word sides. The mistake can be correctly quickly by slowing down and pay attention to each word. The student fluency was average. The student primarily read in two-word phrases with some three and four-word groups and some word by word reading. There was no pausing guided by the author's meaning. The student comprehension skills reflected satisfactory understanding of the text.   The student was able to recall information from the story using the section vocabulary. The student recognized the relationship between a whale and fish. For example “The student mention that the whale and fish both have fins, and they both need food” The student also identified the differences between the whale and fish. For example “the whale and fish was born differently.”

Informal Testing

     Informal assessment is important in the classroom to measure the growth or any necessary areas that a student needs to work on. Formal assessments are necessary for the whole class data and school wide results. Nonetheless, to determine how successful a teacher class is progressing a teacher must know the strengths and weaknesses of their students. Some students may be strong in one content area and struggling in a different subject area. Furthermore, a scholar may have advance in a content area then decrease in another content area. Another example is student’s literacy levels tend to drop a reading level if they did not work on their reading skills over the summer.  As a result, informal assessment will help teachers identify these triggers and help set up a plan for each student if needed. Examples of informal assessments are F/P testing,  STEP testing, sight word testing, and speech. There is a ton of programs that can be implemented to get a student on the right track. 


      In the video, a teacher stated if a student  is slow at the beginning, it doesn't necessarily mean that they are going to "catch up. I disagree with this statement. If a student is tested early in the school year and the problem is discovered with the help of independent programs and teacher pull outs ( small group programs), the student can catch up to the grade level. I have seen first handed students who have transferred into my school that were reading level 4 levels below the grade level that

t has become proficient by the end of the school year. To help students struggling it takes a lot of dedication and multiple running records assessment to determine each problem quickly. Nonetheless with the data from a running record teachers can make a plan for a student to improved the struggling area at school. In addition, the plan created must also be implemented at home for the plan to work. Parents that are fully invested in their child’s education can work with teachers to indeed "catch up” their child. I found that the statement was overly generalized with little evidence to prove his claim.