Book Club Posts for Reflection on Lessons

Reflection 1:

            During my lesson the students were eager to come to group time. In my A group there are 3 students that are all reading at an A level. My lesson was centered on phonics/word study and how learning the first sound of the word can be very helpful in solving a tricky word. The students have been working on this for many weeks. All the students were easily able too place the picture cards and word cards under the letter they went with and were able to also tell me the sound of the letter.  Based on the students ability to be able to sort the pictures and word with also being able to come up with words that had the same beginning sound as a word given I believe the students grasped a majority of the strategy. One of the three students took a little longer to come up with a word, but I believe it more had to do with her being shy and that sometimes she feels uncomfortable around the other students who loud and outgoing. I have tried not to single her out to respond, but I do need to know what she is thinking. I am trying to make her feel comfortable and I am seeing her respond more and more by herself, showing me she as well as a understanding of these sounds. I believe therefore that all the students have an understanding of the beginning consonant sounds in words. However I believe the students are still struggling with using this strategy all the time in their reading. When the students are reading I see them guessing words for the words they are not sure of. The students look at the picture for clues, but not always do they begin with the same letter as the tricky word. The students that are guessing words that do not begin with the same letter as the actual are normally the loud and outgoing two students. They are more so rushing through the text. Therefore I am trying to slow them down and have them point to each word. I want them to not be reading at a snail pace when they know the words, but because they are at a very low Tier 3 level it is important for them to take in each word slowly and use the strategies as well.  Sometimes however when they are guessing the word it does begin with the same letter as the word given, but if you look at the word they said and the word on the page it does not make sense. The students need to continue at combining all the tricky word strategies, including this one while slowing down while reading. When the students slow down they are able to grasp the strategy and use it. The student who is shy never guesses and therefore will take the time to really think about it. I see this as a student who takes her time and also I see her using the strategy. She looks at the picture and she also always guesses a word with the same beginning sound. Normally she gets the correct word, but sometimes when it’s not right the beginning letter is right. Therefore I believe she has a strong understanding of the beginning sounds.

            I believe that some other interpretations of this material could be that the students understand that “t” makes a certain sound, but are unable to apply it. I think some sources may argue that the students who are loud cannot apply it since they can’t apply it outside of a structured activity of just working on the sounds, such as reading. They may say the students understand the procedural aspect of the strategy, but can’t conceptually think about the strategy in their reading. However someone may also say that they are in the beginning stages of this conceptual knowledge because of the fact that they do in some cases apply it and also that they are looking at strategies to use when they get to these parts in their texts. I could see sources also agreeing with me that the students understand and they simply need to slow down. I think an argument of this could be that if the students are reading to fast then they aren’t really reading. However the students are able to comprehend and retell the story. The books they are reading are heavily repetitive and simply just changing one word per page, which could make a difference as well. The students want to read it fast because it is so repetitive. I am hoping to see the students using these strategies more as the text complexity increases.  As far as the student who is shy and does appear to be using the strategy I could see sources arguing that the process of knowing the letter sound and looking at the picture for a clue would result in a much quicker response. Is the student really using the strategy or are they doing something else? However I believe the counterargument is that because she is at a beginning level that just might be how her brain is functioning. I think most sources would agree that as long as it’s not a heavily lengthy amount of time she is grasping the strategy.

            Beyond my objectives I have learned that the one student really wants to learn. She is dedicated to trying to learn these strategies, but she can get off task and rushes through the material. She believes that since she grasped the topic once she will automatically know it again. However this is not the case because when she rushes through the material she misses words and mistakes words for others. She is then not using the strategies. I have realized the first strategy she uses is looking at the picture. I have also learned that she enjoy writing and writing about her reading. She has a strong understanding of onset and rime as well. Beyond my objectives the second outgoing and loud student also needs to slow down when reading. He reads faster than anyone in the group. I believe because it is so repetitive he is simply turning the page and reading the prior sentence because he is assuming it will be the same. However many times the sentence may change on the last page and then he stumbles. He needs to slow down and point to each word. I think a lot of what he is reading is going into memory and not conceptual knowledge of the word and why it is pronounced that way. I have also learned that he is unmotivated about school when around others and works much better one on one with a teacher. Even in a small group he likes to act like he doesn’t care, which has impacted me as a teacher trying to motivate him. Regarding the third student I have learned that she needs wait time. She takes a little longer to answer and I need to sit back and let her think without keep asking or restating my question. She takes a minute to comprehend what I have said. She also uses the picture when she is unsure as the first strategy she uses while reading. All the students in general automatically want to tell you the sound of the letter when I ask for the letter name. This shows me that the students have an automatic response to answer with the sound about the letter, which shows letter sound knowledge. All the students also need to work on self-correction; they make one guess and do not go back to make sure it makes sense.

            Some of the students may need continued practice with this to make sure they are making accurate guesses and also going back to make sure the word makes sense based on using the first sound by looking at the rest of the word. This concept is continuously enforced throughout the next couple lessons phonics aspect. I will also be continuously supporting them and reminding them during their reading in the lessons and also in the independent reading. During independent reading time the students are reading by themselves and the teachers conference with the students. This could be a time I could help reinforce this strategy with the students and continue to have them practice it. I also could reinforce it when the students ask what a word is or how to write a word during writing. Sounding out the word starting with the first sound is a great way to start writing a word if you are unsure of how to spell it. A lot of the LLI (Leveled Literacy Intervention) program is working on the strategies then reading to use them. I am hoping to see them use the letter sounds we worked on this week in their reading for next week in one of the words that’s tricky with that letter. However not all the words that are in the next weeks book are tricky for that student with the letters from the previous weeks. If I could change something about my lesson and the program that I am following I would insert words with these beginning letters that should be tricky for the students in the next weeks book so it was a more accurate form of assessment. That’s a change I would suggest to the program or if I could incorporate another book with the lesson I would that had tricky words with these letters. However since it is such a scripted program I am unable to add elements to teach. If I could suggest another element to the program I would have the students write a “t” word on the t page instead of just saying the letter, sound, and the t word of the picture. I like the repetition, but I think for students that are 2^nd graders working on a low first grade program they need something more to do that doesn’t seem boring. I would also use more games and interactive activities, such as jumping jacks for onset and rime. I believe that just because it is an intervention program doesn’t mean it can’t be more fun and interactive for the students.

            In implementing my core practice I realized that word study and the learning of words and their parts needs to be repetitive. The students need many examples and activities that are the same so that they can make connections. I have learned that students may seem to have grasped the topic, but it’s not till you put them in a place to use it will you really see if they are grasping it. In general I think I have learned the power of not rushing. I think that as teachers we tend to think about all the things we need to accomplish and it gets overwhelming. I think we all need to take a step back and understand the importance of teaching till they get it. I think that’s highly important in word study and reading strategies in general because if not they will not continue to increase their reading level. To continue my professional learning I think I need to work with other levels of students, for example some students at or closer to grade level to see what they are doing to solve a tricky word or how they approach phonics work. That would give me a benchmark of where the students need to be and what it looks like. I am a visual learner therefore it is hard for me to read about where a student needs to be without seeing it. That way I can structure a path in my head that students need to reach with checkpoints along the way. I think in order to continue my professional learning I need to learn how to keep data and how to organize that so it is more clear a student’s progress as well and how would you keep data for this type of phonics work.

Refection 2: 
The students came into the lesson excited. They enjoy getting to move to a different room and work in a group. Upon entering our lesson I saw the students truly be able to grasp the idea for the phonics that day, but not have a full conceptual understanding of how to use it. The major big idea or concept that students were to grasp was recognizing and using simple phonograms with a VC pattern. For example the two phonograms that we looked at in this lesson were –at and –an. The students grasped that both –at and –an were words that we know and that they make the same sound as the individual words when they are in a word such as bat or man. We still hear the small word within the word with an added sound. One student was able to grasp that even all the words under that category rhymed because they had the same ending. All of the students were able to easily pronounce the words written under each category and able to tell me the part or pattern in the word. They picked up on that there’s a sound and a part in the word. When I told the students that this relates to our reading workshop lesson of looking for little words in our larger words the students were all able to give an example of a time when they used the strategy of finding a small word in a big word to sound it out. They weren’t able to tell me the exact little word (2 out of 3 students couldn’t) but they recalled a time using this strategy. This told me that the students understand that little words are in words and sometimes those words are phonograms as well. It will be interesting to see if the students can have the same understanding when we discuss phonograms that aren’t little words. I made sure to stress that these are little parts despite them looking like little words. The students were able to easily highlight the pattern in the word they wrote it easily. The students said the first sound of the word they were going to spell and then added the part with no help. I believe this shows understanding of the part and how you can use onset and rime, writing the first sound and then the part. The students struggled when I asked them what type of “a” was in the words. They paused and then one student said it’s short after I followed up with the question is it a short or long “a” sound in these parts? I do not know exactly if the students picked up on the type of “a” it was that was being used or if they were guessing or possibly even assuming based on our prior work with short vowels. In prior lessons the students worked on short vowel sounds and now doing patterns with short vowels. Once I had the students say some of the words and asked what sound the  “a” makes in them all of the students said the short “a” sound. I then reiterated the fact that is it’s short sound and the long sound is when a vowel says it name. This shows the students have struggled to make connections between the previous units and this one. This is something that the students all struggled with and therefore as a teacher I will need to keep reiterating that difference of the two “a” sounds and the sound of the vowel within the part. Therefore if I was to teach this lesson over again I would make sure I was discussing with the students more about the short “a” and how we can hear it in –at (just the part) and also in the words. Also experiment if we can find any –at words that don’t have a short “a” sound. The LLI program however is structured therefore it would be something that I would change about the program because I believe that despite us just talking about the short a I believe the students need explicit instruction on the connections between them because some students may not see them if not. All of the word strategies go together and I believe as a whole the students are struggling with fitting these connections and strategies together. I also believe that the students struggled with the fact that this can be used in their reading as a strategy. They were unable to give me a direct answer at the end of a lesson as to how to use it. They said the part is in the word and another student stated we could sound it out. However they did not grasp that since we know the part it’s easy. Quick onset and rime blended to pronounce the word. Look for the parts we can solve tricky words that have these parts. I think students are caught up on looking for little words, which at and an are little words, but they may struggle when we get to patterns such as –et and –en that are not little words.
I believe some alternative reads on my students could be that the students just saw a pattern and ran with it, just like rhyming words. Despite these being patterns the students did not grasp the real idea of them in words because the students were unable to pick up that it was a short a (showing not clear understanding of the parts of the pattern) and that they do not see it as a strategy, which is the point of learning it. I could also see others saying the students do not understand because of their prior knowledge of the word “at” and “an” that they do not grasp that it is a part (see it as a little word) and therefore do not have understanding of parts and patterns in words. They more so understand little words within big words. I could also see others saying that they did fully grasp it because they were able to say all the words, picked up on the endings were the same that’s why they rhymed, and understand that you can make more words from the fact that they understand the onset and rime in spelling the words. However in general I think the consensus would be that the students could grasp the topic of a part in a word they know and that to pronounce a word it is blending the sounds. The conceptual understanding may not be they’re of using it while reading or writing, but they have an idea. This lack of conceptual knowledge may be more difficult as the students move into words with letters on both sides of the pattern. In the upcoming weeks the students will review old patterns and build on new ones. These ideas will need to be stressed to the students so that they can move into the conceptual knowledge. However the LLI program is for the students to grasp the topic so stating these ideas to the students are something I would add in this lesson and in upcoming so they aren’t just gaining an idea of a topic.
The literacy practices that I learned about my students that go beyond my objectives are highly based on their ability to not make connections. I was somewhat surprised that not any of the three students were able to truly grasp a large understanding of the fact that the vowel sound in the word was a short a. This has led me to think about their literacy practices in general and that the students may not be making connections therefore not progressing in their reading. I believe a strong focus of mine will be to make these ideas more explicit and them in the next lesson see if they can make the connections because I can’t always be telling them. They need to uncover these ideas as well. I noticed in the one student that they really do not listen to modeling or instruction and then are somehow thinking they can just figure it out and do it. I believe this is truly hurting his literacy advancement. During mini- lessons and instruction that’s when you get the ideas and concepts you need in order to do the work. This has led me to think that this student is being held back because of his attention to the instruction. I also learned that this student has a strong understanding of rhyming words, and how rhyming words have the same ending. The second student that I learned about was that this student has a strong sense of reading strategy knowledge because when I did mention that this is a strategy we can use she went off on a large list of other strategies. I was confused why she did not pick up on this one as a strategy and it made me think she has simply just memorized them and not truly thought about how they are used or could be used. The third student I learned about his knowledge of onset and rime, all the students had a strong knowledge of it but I truly saw how he in particular said the beginning sound, the part, wrote both, and then said the word. He was almost modeling the strategy in blending word parts. I also learned that he picks up on a pattern and can keep going. He listed off multiple words as I was trying to fill in the chart with the words the program wanted me to with each part. He also is able to come up with words and know that the word can have two different meanings, for example bat. This told me he has knowledge of word meanings and that the same word can have two depending on the context of it.
Since I believe that the students do not completely conceptually understand parts in words I am going to make sure to stress these in lessons I teach outside of the LLI groups if I notice them, I will point them out in their reading during independent reading time conferences, and also stress them in our upcoming LLI lessons with new patterns. We keep going over parts in the next couple lessons therefore the ideas about vowels and how they are more than little words are ideas I am going to stress as we continue to work through parts in words. The LLI program is structured therefore I can not change major aspects of it to re-teach, but sliding words in with these parts that have consonants on both sides so that the students can see is something I am gong to do so that they have a more conceptual understanding and it’s not just an ending in a word.
I have learned that my core practice is difficult. The English language is difficult and there are many components of it that all fit together. Just like my A group I think I have learned the importance of connections and that students see all of these aspects of parts to learning about words. They aren’t just things that they are learning, but all fit together so we can understand literacy as a whole. I think that’s something that students need to know. I want to tell my students this in the upcoming lessons and stress adding it to our knowledge of literacy. I have learned that word parts can be confusing because you learn them and learn to look for them, but then you go from looking for them to knowing them and just reading without noticing them. I realize that this will not be for a while, but it’s the goal I need students to work too. That all these strategies are important, they will work at them, but then they will just know it cause they have used strategies in the past. In order to continue my professional learning I think I need to learn about all the parts in words that the students need to know in order to understand how they build and what I need to do to help students make the needed connections between them (despite similarities and differences).