This morning I taught my final lesson on phonemic awareness and the letter Ff. I was happily surprised that the students were extremly well behaved, especially for it being the day after Halloween. Mrs. Hearn, the teachers aid, told me that this particular class gets incredibly chatting in the afternoon, around the time that we usually come. I really enjoyed teaching the phonics lesson where I had the students identify the beginning sound in words I said orally. I tried to call on all students at least once which was challenging with 27 students, but from those that I did call on, it was very obvious who struggled with this and who could easily attest to the sound. When I asked for the beginning sound, the students often told me the letter. It's great that they could tell me the letter, but they have to distinguish between sound and letter. I was consistently having to remind them of this, but by the end of the whole group lesson, they seemed to have gotten it.
I worked in small reading groups with the children reading their My Ff Book. First I worked with the lowest students in the class, which includes 3 ESL learners. I enjoyed working with them to decode unknown words and consistently reminding them to use their reading hand and finger to ensure that they read each word on the page and in the appropriate order. The children usually have to circle the letter that the book is about, for example all the B's in their My Bb Book. I had them circle all of the F's and underline the words in the book that began with F. I am really glad I added this on because many still have confusion between a word and a letter. Being able to break paragraphs into sentences, sentences into words, and words into letters is a skill that children need to have. I also got to work with the highest students in the class. It was pretty intersting to see how large the gap is. They could easily read all the pages in the book and they were also writing extra words with their pictures, such as the color that they were using to color in their pictures. This lesson definitely reminded me of the importance of differentiating your teaching techniques.
I really enjoyed reading Chapter 10 of the Grant book. Alot of the chapter discussed that the family and the community are the child's first teacher. We have discussed how many parents don't know how to work with their children to enhane skills they are being taught at school. I think its so important to educate your parents on small things they can do at home that are fun activites for both the child and parent. Some examples might be talking about your favorite part of the day during dinner, or having the child work on counting by setting the table. Because the community and family are the child's first teacher, we as teachers need to know as much as we can about them since they effect what the child is like.
Hey Allison! I really like reading about how you were able to work with the different students in your class. This shopws how you were able to scaffold your lesson in order to reach every child's skill level. I know that this is a daily challenge that all teachers face, so it is great to see that you were able to practice differentiating your lesson to reach each child's needs! Also, I agree with you and Grant and Ray when they say that the community that a child is raised in has a major impact on them. It is important for teachers to get to know each of their students because of this.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a great idea to have students circle and underline all of the f's when you are focusing on that letter! I will definitely use that technique in the future. The students in my kindergarten class are also very different in their skills. While some students can write complete sentences, adding various details and punctuation, others are still struggling with writing their letters. Differentiated instruction is so important for all skill levels, not just those behind. I find that a lot of the students that are above others become bored. DI is a great way to show them how to move forward and go on to the next thing. For those struggling it is a great way to catch them up to the rest of the class.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the activities that can be done at home or in the community are very simple. But without guidance from the teacher, parents do not have a way of knowing how to help their children succeed.