Tonia Bryan CHD 119 Teacher Interview Interviewer: Tonia Bryan Interviewee: Jamie Hamilton

Mrs. Jamie Hamilton is currently teaching first gra e at !rlington Tra itional "lementary #chool in !rlington$ %irginia. Mrs. Hamilton earne her Bachelor Degree at &oint &ar' (niversity in &itts)urgh &ennsylvania. !fter earning her Bachelor*s Mrs. Hamilton thought +re, 'in ergarten for two years at -in er Care .earning Center in &itts)urgh. #he then relocate here to %irginia where she has )een teaching for the +ast seven years$ she thought -in ergartener five of those seven years. /hile teaching 'in ergarten she earne her Master*s Degree in " ucation at 0eorge Mason (niversity. Mrs. Hamilton state that she en1oys )eing a first gra e teacher most of all2 #he sai with the ol er chil ren she get*s to +rovi e more challenges for them an watch them res+on to the challenges an e3am+le she give was2 she woul give the chil ren a new wor an as' them to write a sentence using that wor an most of not all of them are willing to o so. #he sai the rewar for her is to see the chil ren evelo+ a variety of learning levels an to )e a)le to fin ways to accommo ate their nee s. /hen ta'ing the a++roach to rea ing an writing Jamie use*s a variety of ifferent a++roaches in her classroom2 #he start*s out with testing the chil ren at the )eginning of the school year$ in oing this she woul have an

i ea of where her stu ents are in their rea ing an writing levels. !fter testing the stu ents are )ro'en u+ into rea ing grou+s these grou+s consist of chil ren that are struggling rea er to chil ren that are a)ove gra e level rea ers. #he sai her grou+s are calle 4flui rea ing grou+s52 this sim+ly mean that the chil ren in the grou+s can move u+ or own in the grou+s )ase on the im+rovements of their rea ing s'ills. !nother a++roach she ta'es is wor stu y grou+s2 wor stu y is one aily each wee'. Jamie share that each grou+ is given a list of wor s with a common s+elling +attern$ these wor s then have to )e sorte un er hea ings such as long or short vowels soun s an consonants an vowel )len s. #ome of the other activities one with the wor s are using them in sentences$ writing them in al+ha)etical or er or rawing a +icture to re+resent the wor . #tory Time is the rea ing curriculum Jamie use in her classroom$ the s'ills an strategy of the story time curriculum focuses on the 'ey elements of rea ing such as +honemic awareness$ +honics$ voca)ulary$ fluency an te3t com+rehension. The materials in this +rogram are ma e u+ of fiction an non,fiction literature$ such as news articles$ )iogra+hies$ +oems$ research an fantasies. /hen im+lementing the story time lesson in her classroom she uses the 676$ then review strategies$ these strategies are covere over a five,wee' +erio . !n e3am+le of these strategies are2 two wee's of concentrate instruction where she focuses on one 'ey s'ill an one 'ey strategy. ! 'ey s'ill she might )e to focus on is se8uences or cause an effect$ some strategies might focus on monitor of com+rehension$ 1ust ma'ing sure the stu ents un erstan what they have rea or what was rea to them. Then the ne3t two wee's she woul target another s'ill an strategy2 on the fifth wee' of instruction the stu ents review the s'ills an

strategies that was thought over the last four wee's. To hel+ with the reviewing she has what is calle a rea ers theater. In rea er theater the stu ents get to +resent the story from the lesson in a ramatic way. This hel+s to reinforce the stu ents9 s'ills in voca)ulary$ fluency an language s'ills. In writing Jamie uses the Being a /riter +rogram2 this writing curriculum is use in gra es ',:. ;ne of the goals of the +rogram is to evelo+ the creativity an s'ills of the writer. Jamie share that she really en1oys teaching her class the mini lessons in this +rogram using the tra e )oo's an the stu ent s'ill +ractice )oo'. !fter the mini lesson is thought the stu ents then wor' in centers using the s'ill +ractice )oo's. In her writing instruction Jamie also im+lement the writers wor'sho+$ the goal of writers wor'sho+ is to emerge early fluency rea ers into the +rocess of writing$ I writers wor'sho+ the stu ents are learning to use +honetics an also to )ecome aware of the use of +unctuation2 ;ne of the ways Jamie allow her class to wor' on these s'ills$ is )y using 1ournalism$ each chil has a 1ournal they write in it twice a wee'$ Jamie then rea s their entries an write )ac' to them2 the chil ren also get to share their writing with the class. Jamie share that her stu ents use a %arity of writing styles from +oetry$ fiction an non,fiction. (+on reflection of my interview with Mrs. Hamilton$ I really li'e her a++roach to )oth rea ing an writing. The materials she uses are create to meet the stu ent9s nee s at his<her rea ing an writing levels. I li'e the flui rea ing grou+s$ these grou+s allow the stu ents to wor' at their +ace to master the s'ills at han an )e a)le to move u+ or own in the grou+s as

teacher see the nee . In writing I love the 1ournalism a++roach$ where she writes )ac' to the stu ents an have them share their writing. I thin' her writing )ac' woul really encourage the stu ents to write$ chil ren at this age love to share their stories2 so with her writing )ac' it9s li'e having a conversation on +a+er. /ith the stu ents sharing their wor' I thin' woul also motivate writing among the stu ents again )ecause chil ren li'e to share they woul )e motivate to write so they coul have something to share2 another way I see this as motivation is that those stu ents who are in the lower level writing grou+s woul )e encourage<motivate to write when they hear writing that other chil ren they age have written.