1.

Describe the assessments you will use for instructional level

readers, define the levels (independent, instructional,
frustration), and explain the factors that will influence your
grouping for instruction.

I plan on use a QRI assessment to gauge students reading levels.

Within this assessment I want to look at the different scores that are
coming from the childs WRI (words recognized in isolation) and WRC
(words recognized in context). By performing this assessment I can see
if students are at the independent, instructional, or frustrational stage
and make my groups accordingly.

At the independent level the child should be reading his the text on
his/her own with ease. Few errors are made and the child is
understanding what they are reading. Reading confidence and fluency
skills at this level are high. In order to be classified as an independent
reader the child should be reading at above a 95% accuracy rate. At
the instructional level the student needs support of the teacher or
parent. At this level new vocabulary and concepts are introduced and
the most progress in reading ability occurs. Guided reading groups are
ideal for instructional readers. Instructional readers should be reading
with 90-95% accuracy. The frustrational level has students decoding
words, and having difficulty with vocabulary and concepts. The test is
best often read to the student so he/she can be exposed to high level
vocabulary as well as listen to a fluent reader. Students at the
frustrational level are below 90% accuracy.

The factors that will play a role in the way that I group students will be
primarily based off their reading level and performance. Homogeneous
groups have proven to be the most beneficial to reading instruction, so
I play on making my reading groups include readers at a similar level.
One of the most important ways I will create these groups is by looking
for patterns in the areas that students struggle with the most. Those
who frequently misuse and confuse similar concepts will most likely be
grouped together.

2. Define fluency and describe how you will teach it, including
examples and resources from class.

The two important aspects to fluency to keep in mind is the students

automatic recognition to words and the appropriateness of students
phrasing and expression. In other words fluency should be based off a
students speed, accuracy, and expression. Fluency should make up
20% of the language arts diet.
In my classroom I hope for first and foremost, model good fluency for
my students when doing read alouds. In terms of an activity I could do
with students, my fluency mini-lesson this year I decided to do a
readers theatre. I consulted with my teacher weeks in advance and
chose a readers theatre around the genre of a tall tale (a genre my
students had not yet learned about). There were many different
aspects that went into planning this fluency lesson. I plan on using a
readers theatre in my own classroom one day as a way to help
promote better fluency in students.

3. Compare word study to the method used when you learned

to spell.

When I was in elementary school there was a heavy emphasis on route

memorization of words and then being tested on them at the end of
the week. We were typically given a list of words and a packet to
complete on them and then would have our spelling test approximately
a week later. There was very little context given to these words and
often times we would forget the spelling, since we would just memorize
them for a spelling test.

From what I have learned, word study has changed greatly since then.
There is now less of an emphasis on talking about the rules that
classify words and more of an emphasis on having students look at the
different patterns between words. One way we can do this is by having
students sort their words into categories where they recognize patterns
within words. It is now known that 20% of the language arts diet should
revolve around word study, which is substantially more than I had
growing up.

4. What do we use before, during, and after activities for

comprehension? Name at least one comprehension activity for
each (before, during, and after) with resources from class.

When it comes to comprehension we use before, during, and after

activities for very specific reasons. We use a before activity as way to
activate prior knowledge in students, gauge what students already
know, and have students get motivated for learning. During we use
activities for comprehension to monitor attention as well as see what
students are taking from the text. After the reading activities as used
to influence and gauge how students are applying their prior
knowledge to the text they just read.

In terms of what I plan on using for before, during, and after activities
in my own comprehension lesson, I found 3 activities that worked well
in my mini lesson for comprehension this semester. The first being a
story words for my pre-reading activity. For this activity I had a list of
words that would be in the reading for the student to read prior to
reading the chapter. I made sure that I included some words he might
not know and some words that could help give an inclination to what
the reading was about. At the bottom of the word list was a space for
the student to make a title predication and a paragraph prediction. For
the during activity I had the student read the first paragraph of the
section and then closed the book and asked, So now that we know
that this reading is about the deadliest animals on the planet, what are
some of your guesses about the animals we will read about? and we
held a brief discussion. Then I let him continue reading through the
different animals on the page. When we got to the hippo he read about
the strength of their jaws and how they kill almost 100 people every
year. Here we took a break again and I used my IPhone to pull up a
YouTube video I had found on a hippo at a zoo eating watermelons
whole by crushing them with his jaw. Lastly for my after activity I asked
the student a series of follow up questions and held an informal
discussion with him. I also incorporated a writing piece in for the
student to write on a creative sentence a reflection to what he had
read.

5. Compare our writing activities to what you see in practicum.

Luckily I am in a practicum placement where the teacher does a good

job at letting kids express themselves through writing. Students are
often encouraged to write narratives and creative stories. My students
seem to enjoy writing seeing as a lot of them tend to choose to write in
their journal during free time. One thing I have not gotten to look at as
much as I would like is my CTs comments on childrens writing. We
talked about in class how 2-3 positive comments should be written on
students papers for every 1 negative comment written, so I would like
to see my CTs evaluation process when it comes to writing in my
practicum classroom.

6. In class exit slip- write your own information sheet for

parents night (for instructional level readers, grade of your
choice). Use handouts from class as an example.

Dear Parents,

Thank you so much for all you do to help and support your child
as they have begun to build their reading skills and capabilities. As we
move forward this school year I hope to continue students growth and
development when it comes to reading and ask for continued at-home
support.
 Currently your children may be beginning to read books by their
self. These books are often books we worked on in class, and are most
likely being read to you from route memorization. Please encourage
this with your children and follow along as they can gain confidence
and experience through this. I also encourage you to continue to read
to your child as much as possible and be aware of the sight words they
might be recognizing.
When it comes to writing, all students at this point in the year
should be able to write their names. We are currently working on
having students remember that names and the first word of a sentence
begin with an uppercase letter. Your child may use invented spelling to
spell words that incorrectly. Please allow your child to spell the word
how it sounds to him/her, as this is a crucial part of their literacy
development.
Thank you again for all of the support this year and moving
forward!

Best, Mrs. OConnor