1.
Describe your target area for guided lead
teaching. Comprehension Strategy
Instruction and Assessment: Compare & Contrast
2. Approximately
how much time per day is allotted for your instruction in this area? 40
3. Which
Common Core State Standard(s) will you work toward?
RL 4.6 I can identify first and third
person point of view. I can compare and
contrast the first and third person point of view in a narrative text.
RL 4.9 I can compare and contrast themes
and topics in narrative texts
RL 4.3 I can describe a character, setting,
or event using specific details from the text.
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?
Reading for comprehension is a key skill
for students of any age. An individual
is well off when they can read for information and understand what they are
reading. This skill is vital for their
further education and for a life skill that can be used in any job position.
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)?
Teaching this target area will provide a
large variety of activities that will involve teacher-led and student-led
lessons as well as higher-level thinking as they make connections to
texts. Students will be working on tasks
individually at times, but many will be group or partner work. Students should be using language referring
to literature and texts we use as well as story elements. I will use different forms of discussion
within the class as well. I know I would
like to try a fish bowl discussion.
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?
I want to focus on practices to facilitate comprehension instruction including guided interactive discussion, shared reading, and thinking out loud.
7. What
resources within the community, neighborhood, school district, school or
classroom do you have to work with in this target area?
There is a large selection of books in the
classroom library or in the school library for the students to pick out and for
me to use with them in the class. We can
pick books to read and compare.
8. What
additional resources do you need to obtain?
None that I know of right now. There is a collection of narrative picture
books that I will use in the class, but I have them all right now or I have
access to them.
9. How
will you pre-assess your students in your target area?
We are currently doing some MEAP prep with
compare and contrast writing, so I can look at these to see where they are at
in comparing and contrasting. An
informal class discussion can also be done at the first day of the unit.
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?
I will need to know if students know all
the story elements of a book so that we can identify them and use them for
comparing narratives.
11. What
else do you need/want to learn about the ‘core practice’ to support your
planning and teaching?
I will be working specifically with compare
and contrast (a unit integrated in the language arts curriculum) so I want to
know which core practices would be best to work with for my unit lesson.
12. What
concerns, if any, do you have about planning and teaching your unit?
One of my areas of weakness in reading has
always been comprehension. I am hoping
that I can help to make my students feel more confident in an area I have never
felt confident in. I am passionate about
helping these students learn comprehension strategies, but I also worry that
with my lack of ability in this area that I might not be the best at teaching
it.
I really like when on question 6 you talked about how your classroom will have a mixture of teacher-led and student-led discussions and that "Students should be using language referring to literature and texts we use as well as story elements. I will use different forms of discussion within the class as well. I know I would like to try a fish bowl discussion." I like that you are bringing different forms of discussion to your lessons, as well as specific examples such a s a fish bowl. This opens opportunities for me to see these ideas and also try them in my classroom (where I might have just not even thought about that kind of discussion). This also supports your thinking of how you are going in incorporate different forms.
ReplyDeleteWhen you said "One of my areas of weakness in reading has always been comprehension" in the last question, it made me think of how you are making yourself relate able to the students as well as putting yourself in their shoes and thinking about how you personally could benefit from this lesson.
Perhaps you could try re-reading the chapters about the core practices, do more research on the internet, and even talk about the different practices with your Mentor teacher to see if She/He has any input on what has worked in past experiences with the lesson (topic) you are teaching.
thank you and I like your suggestion in the last paragraph!!
DeleteSarah, I love that you have chosen a strategy that you are not very comfortable with in order to push your thinking and learning. That is what your intern year is all about! Comparing and Contrasting is a large focus that you may want to narrow. Keep in mind that in order to compare and contrast any element of a story, they will need to already have a good understanding of that element (whether it be theme, setting, plot, characters, etc.) As you have already considered, determining what they already know will be important.
ReplyDeleteSarah
ReplyDeleteLike I said before I think comprehension is a great strategy to work on with your students. Chapter 3 of Strategies that Work would be a great resource for you! You said "Teaching this target area will provide a large variety of activities that will involve teacher-led and student-led lessons as well as higher-level thinking as they make connections to texts" and effective comprehension instruction means that we want to show students how to construct meaning when they read (making the connections to text you referred to). Some strategies for you to think about for instruction might include:
* Remind students that the purpose for using a strategy is to construct meaning and engage in the text
* Gradually release responsibility for using strategies to the students, always moving them toward independent thinking and reading (this would be great when keeping in mind moving from teacher-led to student-led).
When thinking about assessing your students throughout your unit, you might want to use "student work and talk to assess past instruction, guide future instruction, and asses and evaluate student performance".
When "releasing" your students to be on their own there was a great gradual release framework in the chapter:
1. Teacher modeling
2. Guided Practice
3. Collaborative Practice
4. Independent Practice
5. leading to Application of strategy in authentic reading situations
Hope some of these ideas help and point you in places too look as resources (when thinking about the texts!)