CEP 804a

Literacy Methods for Students with Language and Learning Disabilities

Assignment #4: Teaching Reading

Section I: Information About Students

This semester, I have had the opportunity to work with a 2nd grade general

education class. This wonderful group was comprised of 24 seven and eight year olds.

They are of a diverse group of students, with a range of needs and cultural backgrounds.

In my class, there are two English language learners: one whose parents speak an Indian

language at home, and one who was born deaf and raised with sign language, who has

started speaking since January 2016 when she received a cochlear implant and hearing

aids. Additionally, one student has relatively high functioning ASD, although he receives

resource support in language arts and math. There is also a student who has a cognitive

impairment and receives resource support in language arts and math, social work, and

language services. One student has a speech and language impairment, but he functions

well in reading and writing. In addition to these students, my class has a few students

who receive Title I support for reading, which means an interventionist pushes in to read

with them for a few minutes every day.

Overall, a majority of my students are reading at or above grade level according

to Teachers College running records. We typically follow a reading and writing

workshop instruction style with a mini-lesson on a strategy and time to practice

independently or in partners. During independent work time, my mentor teacher and I

conference with individuals or small groups and take notes on their progress with

whatever strategy we are focusing on that day. At the end, we usually come together as a

class so students have an opportunity to share.

Section II: PRE-READING STRATEGIES

a. My goals for pre-readingwhat I wanted to accomplish

My goals for pre-reading were to get students warmed up and activate their

background knowledge. In order to think about what they are doing while they read,

I wanted them to use metacognitive strategies. During pre-reading, I wanted

students to predict and ask questions by examining the cover, pictures, and title.

With experience, these are all things that good readers do, without necessarily even

thinking about it.

b. Description of the lesson, including evidence of some of the pre-reading

strategies/goals attempted

To teach these pre-reading strategies, I used mini-lessons during our folktales unit

where I described a strategy, why it was important for good readers to use, and how

to use it. For instance, one of my lessons started like this: today, we are going to use

a strategy called making predictions. When you make a prediction, you guess

something about the story based on the things you already know. This book is called

The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig. Since we have read a story called The

Three Little Pigs, I predict that it is going to be a different version of that folktale. I

can see on the cover that there are bricks in the background and theres a hard hat. I

predict that one of the wolves will build a brick house. Maybe he will have the

strongest house, like the 3rd little pig. When I read this story, I want to think about

my predictions to see if I was right, but it is okay if Im not. Whats important is that I

think about and notice them, because thats what good readers do. When I read the

story, I would have students make predictions based on the illustrations before I
read the page, and then I would have them check if their prediction was correct after

reading. Then, I would have students work on the strategy independently or in

partners.

c. Reflection and Critique: What were the strengths of my pre-reading

activities? Weaknesses? What would I do next time?

I think my pre-reading strategy activities were effective because I used an explicit

instruction model where I modeled with a think aloud, had students practice with

guidance, and then had students work independently. Although we have not been

explicitly discussing this strategy during our nonfiction unit, students still make

endless predictions and raise their hands to share the strategies they use every time

we read in class.

Next time I teach pre-reading strategies, I might make some kind of concrete

reference for students about the strategies and how to use them. Students were able

to succeed without this, but some of my struggling readers might be able to

understand more thoroughly with a cue card of some sort.

Section III: DURING/AFTER READING STRATEGIES

a. My goals for during/after readingwhat I wanted to accomplish

During reading, I wanted to explicitly teach students how a good reader uses a

variety of strategies to make sense of their reading. After reading, I wanted students

to be able to retell stories (specifically folktales), per the 2nd grade CCSS. Overall, I

wanted to make my thinking visible so students knew the exact thought process that

a good reader goes through and how to comprehend with metacognitive strategies.

b. Description of the lesson, including evidence of some of the during/after

reading strategies/goals attempted
To teach during reading strategies, I taught a series of mini-lessons during our

folktales unit where I described a strategy, why it was important for good readers to

use, and how to use it. I demonstrated by doing interactive read alouds. Each day, I

read a folktale to the class and thought aloud when I was using a specific strategy.

After modeling, I would pause and ask students how they used the strategy when

they listened to me read. Sometimes I would have students raise their hand to share,

and sometimes I would have them turn and talk to a partner. After this mini lesson, I

would have students practice the specific strategy by reading out of their book

boxes or reading a folktale. I rotated having them read independently or with a

partner. While students read independently, I had them record the strategy (text to

text connection, question, prediction, etc.) on a sticky note that they placed on the

page. While students were practicing, I would conference with them. Afterward, we

would come together as a class for students to share one instance of strategy use

during our time. After we practiced each strategy a couple of times, I would have

students read while consciously using a strategy of their choice or a combination of

strategies to share.

The main after-reading strategy we worked on with our folktales was a retell.

Good readers pay close attention to the important parts of a story and are able to

retell a story including all of its parts. If students are unable to retell a story, they

may need to go back in the text and pay closer attention. I taught this concept with a

5-finger retell, something I had used in the resource room last semester. The main

parts of a retell were each assigned a finger: who (characters), where (setting),

problem, solution, and end. I had students copy the depiction below in their
notebooks to reference while reading or retelling a story. We practiced this strategy

with the same mini-lesson, workshop, conference, and share structure.

c. Reflection and Critique: What were the strengths of my during/after

reading activities? Weaknesses? What would I do next time?

I think the during/after reading activities were effective for teaching and practice

these strategies in a metacognitive way. Students were held accountable by working

with their sticky notes, and using sticky notes proved to be surprisingly engaging. I

think the workshop structure worked really well (mini-lesson of modeling, working,

conferencing, and sharing). Most of the time was spent actively practicing the

strategies rather than hearing me talk about them, which I think is very beneficial to

the students. I also think the 5 finger retell was very effective for teaching students

how to retell a story. This might be because of its kinesthetic nature; with practice,

students were able to simply look at their fingers to mark of each piece of a retell.

When we did our running records to assess students in reading, most of the

students chose to use their 5 finger retell when asked to tell about what happened in

the story, and all of them scored very well in this area.
While we keep a list of reading strategies on a board that we continually add to, I

think it might be useful for each student to have a bookmark or something concrete

in their book boxes to refer to for strategy use. In the future, I would probably hand

each student a bookmark with the strategy, how its used, and an example. This

would make is much easier for them to use during reading times when we are not

explicitly talking about the strategies.

Section IV: TEACHING PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES

a. My goals for teaching principles and practiceswhat I wanted to

accomplish (e.g., making visible the invisible; modeling the language of
good readers)

Overall, my goal for teaching principles and practices was to help my students

develop a variety of strategies. I also wanted to make visible the invisible by

making my thinking clear to them and asking them to share their thinking. I also

wanted students to be able to start using these strategies on their own every time

they read to be successful learners. As always when I am teaching, my goal was also

to have student engagement and participation.

b. Description of some of the teaching principles and practices that you

attempted throughout all phases of the lesson
When I taught, I used a lot of thinking aloud about the strategies I use when I read. I

also provided many opportunities for kids to share their thinking so students could

learn from each other and become aware of their own strategy use. This really

helped to make visible the invisible. In each lesson, I provided a variety of

engagement structures time for whole class, partners, and independent work.

Since I explicitly taught a variety of strategies, students were able to have a wide

arrange to choose from for their own use.

 c. Reflection and Critique: What were the strengths of teaching principles
and practices? What worked? What didnt? Why? Weaknesses? What
would I do next time?

Through this reading unit, I think I developed a lot of strengths in my teaching

practices and principles. I successfully reached the goals I attempted. I especially

used a lot of thinking out loud, which helped to make visible the invisible. I think

this worked very well. I also provided a variety of engagement styles for students to

work together, and students were always actively engaged in their learning. I

avoided too much direct instruction to provide students with more opportunities to

participate. In some whole group instances, I had students do things like touch their

nose every time they made a prediction or a connection so they were aware that

they were doing it, and I could quickly see who seemed to be getting it.

One area I could improve is teaching with non-examples. I taught with a lot of

examples (students and my own), but it was essentially modeling. I think it could be

beneficial to use more non-examples to show students that I think this story will be

about pigs is not the best prediction for The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig.

Next time I could provide a concrete definition of different strategies with examples

and non-examples.

Section V: TEACHING TOOLS AND PRACTICES

a. My goals for teaching toolswhat I wanted to create to support learners

and learning (e.g., tools for teaching and students presenting their
learning in multiple ways)

Like many parts of teaching reading, my goals for teaching tools were to make

visible the invisible. I also wanted students to be able to actively participate,

activate their background knowledge, and be interested in our learning.

Additionally, I wanted students to be able to present their learning in multiple ways.

b. Description of the teaching tools used throughout all phases of the lesson

The main teaching tools we used throughout all phases of reading folktales was

surprise books! My MT and I collected a variety of the school librarys folktales and

we also had a selection of simple folktales for the second grade class, all of which we

displayed throughout the unit. One of the other main tools I used was sticky notes.

Students used these to help keep track of their strategy use, and they were really

effective for indicating the part of the text they were referring to with their note. For

the retelling strategy, all students also had a copy of the retelling hand, and we

kept one on the board throughout our folktales unit.

c. Reflection and Critique: What were the strengths of my teaching tools

and practices? What did I feel I did well? What do I still need to work on?
What, if anything, would I do next time? Was I effective as an apprentice
into good reading strategies and habits?

I felt that these tools lots of books and sticky notes were really helpful for my

students to practice their reading strategies. They made the process accessible to all

students. I did not feel that we missed out on anything by not using more

technology, but that is an area where I feel I could improve. I think technology can

be engaging for a lot of students, and it has been every time Ive used it in all other

subject areas, so it may be helpful for me to refine my own strategies with

technology for reading.

Overall, I think I was an effective apprentice into good reading strategies and

habits. All of my students were using a variety of strategies, and that is due mostly in
part to my thinking aloud and modeling of the strategies, along with their sharing in

a variety of ways.
 Lesson Plan Components

Section #1: Information About Students

Include information about your student population----just for the group of students
that you are working with on the reading project---this may be an individual, pair,
small group, or the entire class. Please do not use the name of your school, your CT,
or the name of any student---use pseudonyms (false names) only. If you are in a
general education setting with a large group, you do NOT need to provide detailed
information about the whole class. Only provide more detailed information about
students with disabilities within your classroom. Some of the things you may
include in this first section are as follows:
____Age and grade level of students ____Reading achievement

____Gender, ethnicity ____IQ and background

____Setting: Gen. Ed., Resource, Self-Contained ____Disability categories (LD, EI, CI)

____General achievement ____Behavior, social, motivation

____Typical instruction students receive ____Specific learning challenges

____Attention, impulsivity, distractibility ____Other:

GOALS OF STUDENT INFORMATION: Planning instruction with students skills and abilities in mind;
accuracy of prescription; good kid watching; considering developmental, maturational, and
motivational levels in planning appropriate lessons; understanding independent, instructional, and
frustration levels;

Section #2: Pre-Reading Activities (10 points)

Evidence of PRE-READING Strategies related to either expository or narrative

reading, and may include several of the following strategies
____Preview of text to be read ____Skimming/Scanning

____Pictures and/or Captions ____Title--Predicting

____Cues or clues about content ____Reading short segment (teaser)

____Telling a story that relates theme/topic ____Showing artifact related to passage

____Sharing a personal connection you have ____Key Vocabulary/Pre-Teach Vocab.

____Images: Video, Pictures, Animations ____Model and Think Aloud Strategies

____What We Know ____What we Want to KnowQuestions

____Activating Background Knowledge ____Building Background Knowledge

 ____Procedural Facilitation: What good readers do before they begin reading (e.g., cue cards,
mobile, laminated strategy card)Modeling the language of good readers? (e.g, I
predict thatI remember a time when One question I have is. I know that.

____Scaffolding Learning: Talk, Tools, Objects to Help Support Thinking

____Others:

GOALS of PRE-READING: Engagement, Motivation, Getting Warmed Up, Piquing Interest and
Curiosity, Activating Background Knowledge, Becoming Meta-cognitive of What Good Readers Do
Before Reading, Building Background Knowledge

______________/10 points

Component #3: During and After Reading Activities (10 points)

Evidence of DURING AND AFTER READING STRATEGIES related to reading either

expository or narrative texts, and may include several of the following strategies
____Connect to self, text, or world ____Summarize

____Identify Main Idea and key details ____ClarificationUnclear word/ideas

____Map Main Ideas and key details ____Predict---what comes next? Why?

____Question: Whats a question you have? ____Model and Think Aloud Strategies

____Look back to predictions in PRE-READING ____Mark text, Post It notes, Notes

____Mark It symbols (?, BK, *, MI, D, CS, CT, CW) ____Highlight main ideas/key details

____Text Structure (timeline/sequence ____Story elements (setting, characters,

compare/contrast; cause/effect; prob/solut) problem, solution/resolution)

____Procedural Facilitation: What good readers do while they read (e.g., cue cards, mobile,
laminated strategy card)Modeling the language of good readers? (e..g, I think the main
idea isThe reason I think the main idea is.because.I can connect that to (text, self,
world) by I need a word clarification for the word.)

________Scaffolding Learning: Talk, Tools, Objects to Help Support Thinking

____Other:

GOALS of DURING and AFTER READING: Understanding, Discussion, Making Visible Thinking as
Members Struggle to Understand Meaning, Connecting Content to other Texts, to Personal Experiences,
or World Events, Building Language/Vocabulary, Explicitly Teach Students What and How a Self-
Regulated Readers Builds Meaning by Having a Constant Conversation with the Text to Try and Make
Sense of what they are reading, Engagement, Wonderment---Predicting What Comes Next

______________/10 points
 Component #4: Teaching Principles and Effective (Best) Practices (10
points)

Pedagogical Practices Demonstrated---Teaching Principles and Practices for

Teaching as Cognitive Apprenticeship (This represents teaching techniques or how
we teach).
_____Time management (pacing) _____Classroom management

_____Modeling and thinking aloud of strategies _____Instructional dialogues

_____Working in students ZPD _____Gaining attention (signals)

_____Using Examples/Non-examples _____Breaking task down into parts

_____Using a rubric to highlight _____Active engagement of students

_____Teacher talks about good readers strategies _____Creativityartifacts, color, size

_____Differentiate instruction for different abilities _____Motivation

_____Frequent, specific, positive feedback _____PurposeWhy strategy is important

_____Structuring Up the content _____Structuring Up the social skills

____Clarity of directions for all expectations _____Transfer of control of dialogue to

students as the are able

____Grouping arrangements (pair, small, whole) _____Leadership-Confidence

Other:

GOALS OF PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICES: Developing strategic and self-regulated learners; exposure to

the thinking of more able readers and thinkers; making visible the invisible thinking of
knowledgeable othersbut also having students make visible their thinking to support their learning;
an apprenticeship into becoming better thinkers---that students are expected to grow in the depth and
quality of their thinking over time; critical engagement and interpretation---active, not just passive
learners; teacher serves as inquisitive model of a thinker/learner

______________/10 points

Component #5: Teaching Tools, Creativity, Effort, Artifacts, Props, and

Universal Design (10 points)

Evidence of ATTEMPT TO MEDIATE LEARNING AND MOTIVATION IN

THOUGHTFUL WAYS related to reading either expository or narrative texts, and
may include several of the following strategies

____Procedural facilitation (cue cards, posters) _____Strategy cards, mobiles

____Technology: Elmo, Image Projection, PPT _____Student Represent Learning in

____Real audience and real purpose _____Artifacts to heighten reading

____Power Point _____Video, animation, simulation

____Movement/Kinisthetic _____Size, color, images, graphics, fonts

____Modality: Oral, Visual, Tactile, Music, Sound _____

GOALS OF TEACHING TOOLS: Creativity; modalitysound, images, movement, color; multiple ways
to represent knowledge; to make visible the invisible thinking and/or language of more able
readers and writers; to gain and focus attention; to excite and motivate learners; the WOW! and
COOL! factor; building anticipation; building background knowledge (e.g., walking into classroom
and seeing 30 new books on the theme around the room or posters or mobiles); using technology in
ways that help capture interest---e.g., simulations, animations, videos; tools support and facilitate
discussion or serve to help students to become metacogntive of complex processes---e.g., POWER or
POSSE posters, Hamburger Paragraph, rubrics of inquiry unit, large chart paper of Looks Like and
Sounds Like for teaching social skills.

______________/10 points