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. 

Ms. Perez Class

How does this activity engage students who are at different levels of literacy development?  During her explicit phonics lesson, how does Ms. Perez support students' problem-solving skills?  Based on what you saw in the video, what are the different ways that shared reading can be used to promote literacy?

• A read aloud engages all students to read at different literacy levels and have support while reading. The poem was kid friendly, and it was relatable to the students in the classroom. The sight words students sounded out was familiar to them, and it helped with the fluency in the reading.  During Ms. Perez explicit phonics lesson, she scaffold the questions to help students sound out the words. She already identified misconceptions in the lesson to help guide students that may of needed extra help. For example, when the male student confused the pronunciation of dot with bot she guided the student with the correction pronunciation and helped him identify his mistake by confusing the b sound with the d sound. 

 Why does she think it's important for students to verbalize their strategies? What else do you notice about how she helps students build meaning in text?

• Ms. Perez thinks it is important for student to verbalize their strategies because the more they verbalize, the more it gets internalized. Then students start to verbalize the skills they used.  I noticed many different strategies in her guided reading block to help students that are reading below proficient enhance their fluency. 
• Ms. Perez used a card to cover parts of the words to help students break the sounds apart. She found smaller words within the bigger word to help students sound the way. She used post it to cover words within a sentence. She used the cueing system for students to think what makes sense in the missing space. It build the student's comprehension and phonological awareness. 

  How does Ms. Perez organize her classroom to support a wide range of learners?  How are reading and writing connected in classroom activities?

The students were broken into groups on the same reading level. Each station had a different activity.
•    Some students worked on site words
•    Some students read independently and took notes
•    Some students used the computers
•    Some students worked with the student teacher

• Reading and writing are connected in her classroom  by allowing students to take notes while they read and answer questions while they are reading independently.  Additionally, reading and sounding out words helps students become a better writer.  Students must be exposed to the phonics and multiple texts to become successful in both content areas.

How does Ms. Perez use ongoing individual assessment to guide her instruction? How can the class profile be used to help group students and differentiate instruction? How can ongoing assessment be integrated into your own classroom practice?

• The class profile can be used to group students into same level reading groups. Additionally, the teacher can track the progress of each student in the reading groups to determine how to differentiate her instruction. For example:
• Students reading below grade level can work with the student teacher in the video to practice sight words
• Students reading on grade level can  partner read. 
•   Students reading above grade level can partner read and answer comprehension questions independently. 

I deleted my introduction by accident....

  

Lesson Plan Critique

      For my lesson critique, I reviewed a third grade social studies lesson plan. The lesson plan was heavily aligned to the common core standards. Students that successful complete their classwork will be able to  evaluate the government set up by the Pilgrims of Plymouth MA by distinguishing their  point of view from that of the Pilgrims. Additionally, students will  retain big ideas from the content, as well as the skills essential to the budding social scientist. 

     The lesson plan is divided into fours parts a reading,  guided inquiry, writing and comprehension portion.  In the reading, students engaged with the text through shared reading, partner reading, or independent reading.  In the reading, scholars listened to a CD recording while they followed along in their textbooks. Technology  is also integrated into the lesson plan. Students looked at visuals on the smart board while listening to the recording. In the discussion section, small groups are designed to help students process key content.  Some of the discussion question included observations about the visuals of Plymouth MA. In the guided inquiry section,  the teacher implemented   a modeling approach  and  guided inquiry approach to pair the learning experience to the text. In the guided inquiry, students discussed the type of government they would suggest for the passengers aboard The Mayflower. Lastly, in the application section students had the opportunity to independently apply new ideas and thinking in a task that required students to integrate the content of the day with the reading, writing, speaking, listening, and/or social studies-specific skill taught.  On the lesson plan in the application section, the teacher included an exemplar response and criteria for success checklist. The standard used in the lesson was RI.3.6 Distinguish their own point of view from that of the author of a text. SL.3.2 Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

      Overall, the lesson was well-planned out for every minute allocated in class. The lesson did not have differentiated instruction designed into the activity. Nonetheless, there are different areas that scholars can learn within the lesson.

A Review of Ms. Owen's Teaching Lesson..

The video shows the scaffolding ( gradual release model) method in a kindergarten reading class. She starts by reading a book that is above her students reading level aloud. Then she adds the sharing reading for students to decode new words. Next, she puts the heavy lifting on the students most of the work in guided reading. Finally, she lets the students do independent reading to build their fluency, accuracy, and comprehension of the book. For younger children, I feel it is important to guide students through reading. Younger students are still learning to decode words and build fluency within reading. Using the scaffolding model sets students up for success to eventually be able to read independently. 

COMMON CORE ELA STANDARDS REVIEW

Write a short reflection on your understanding of the ELA instruction and post it on your blog.

Common core is a college readiness program preparing students from K-12^th for college. Common core focuses on developing the critical –thinking, problem-solving and analytical skills students will need to be successful in college. Common core is measure by how prepared a student is entering their career.  The program is a state-wide program that has been adapted in over 40 states. States have come together to create a more rigorous academic curriculum to have students be well equip after graduating college. Additionally, common core goal is to reduce the num

ber of students entering college taking remedial courses. Lastly, common core creates a state wide measure that teachers can use to compare state by state academic success and it shows what each state still needs to work on.

The common core components are divided into two parts K-5 and 6-12^th.  Kindergarten through fifth grade students’ focuses heavily on reading, writing, speaking and language in the program. In grades 6-12^th students’ focuses on aligning the subject into more detailed categories such as history/social studies, writing, science, and technical subjects.  The program sets the foundation in k-5 to build on the remedial skills to apply the rigor component in 6-12^th.  For example:

·         Students learn in k-5 how to use critical thinking skills to apply to non-fiction pieces.  As a result, when students enter 6^th  grade they are prepared to cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

 ·         Students in k-5 are able to respond to literature by making text to connect relationships to real life events. As a result, when students are in high school they are able to make connections with a NY times article about war and relate it to their government system in the U.S.

·      Students  in k-5 range of reading and text complexity is increased over time so when they enter middle school students are able to respond to literature pieces of more complex writing.

·         Students in K-5 also able to analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.

·As a result, in high school students are prepared to have a debate on a topic that requires to be well knowledgeable of multiple sources.