Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Shelby Rose
Rose LLAP 2
Rose LLAP 3
Rasheed and Wahid state, “The theory of differentiated instruction is one of the sensational
theories in education which changed the way a teacher teaches according to the needs of the learner
(2018).” Additionally, Bender (2012) draws from a multitude of research in his statement, “In
addition to the broadening theoretical basis for differentiated instruction, there are other changes in
emphasis within the broader differentiated instructional paradigm. In particular, the work on the
physiology of learning process has come to influence the differentiated instructional approach much
more since 1999 (Sousa & Tomlinson, 2011). Of course, much of the work on the physiology and
neurochemistry of learning has been undertaken since the original differentiated instructional concept
was described by Tomlinson (1999), and this research, both theoretical and practical in nature, has
clear implications for differentiating instruction in both reading and mathematics (Bender, 2009a;
2008; Caine & Caine, 2006; Coch, 2010; Devlin, 2010; Shah, 2012; Sousa, 2010; Sousa &
Tomlinson, 2011).
“In differentiated classrooms, teachers begin with two critical “givens”: there are content
requirements—often in the form of “standards”—that will serve as destination points for their
students, and there are students who will inevitably vary as learners. Thus, teachers in
differentiated classrooms accept and act on the premise that they must be ready to engage
interests, and by using varied rates of instruction along with varied degrees of complexity and
differing support systems. In differentiated classrooms, teachers ensure that students compete
against themselves as they grow and develop more than they compete against one another,
always moving toward—and often beyond—designated content goals. In other words, teachers
who differentiate provide specific alternatives for individuals to learn as deeply as possible and
Rose LLAP 4
as quickly as possible, without assuming one student’s road map for learning is identical to
Differentiation is a necessary implementation for teachers to meet the needs of all diverse
learners within one classroom because not all students understand, comprehend, or retain information
in the same ways. Additionally, all students are entering a classroom at a different starting point and
As a third grade teacher, differentiating instruction is something I must do on a daily basis. It is
Therefore, I regularly attend professional developments, online courses, or webinars, that I believe
will allow me to continue to improve my teaching methods. One of the things I strive to do when
working to improve is to ensure I am consistently meeting the needs of ALL learners within my
classroom. Throughout a school year, I must regularly assess and differentiate reading instruction for
my third grade students. This is done through formal assessments, such as the Fountas and Pinnell
benchmark tests I give throughout the year, as well as informal asssessment such as anecdotal noting
during guided reading. Both drive later student instruction during my reading block. This project will
allow me to ensure I am participating in best practices that are backed by research, and provide me
with new ways to assess, monitor, and implement instruction for the diverse learners within my
classroom.
Grayson is a 5 year old male who will be entering kindergarten in September 2019. He has
previously attended 2 years of public preschool school, however he has not been formally assessed
Grayson is a caucasian male who is proficient in English. English is the only language spoken in
his home. He does not have any disability and does not receive any type of special education
services. He lives with his single mother, who receives significant support from immediate family
Rose LLAP 5
members. Grayson is strongly influenced by his grandparents, aunts and uncles, whom he sees on a
weekly basis.
Literacy is a large component of Grayson’s life. He is regularly read to by his mom, grandparents,
and other immediate family members. Reading at least one book before bed is a standard ritual in his
daily schedule. He has a decent-sized home library that is composed of various genres including
fiction and non-fiction texts. He is able to participate in conversations regarding books he has been
read, and can make connections to this books when encountering a connection in daily life. Often,
this is related to the informational texts he is read and later connecting it to repeating a fact he
remembered.
immediate family. His uncles are still in high school/college and he regularly sees them reading and
completing homework. Grayon’s mother is an avid reader and they take regular trips to the public
library to check out books for both of them. He is provided support with reading flashcards, letter and
sound identifications through intentional learning times and with provided materials from his
preschool.
I will be working with Grayson in his home over the summer months, so the learning climate will
be different than that of a typical classroom. Grayson is very independent at home. I have been told
that he is a bit more shy in school than at home, which is typically of students his age. At home, he is
surrounded by people who care for his well-being, and work to foster his independence regarding
age-appropriate activities.
Grayson is a very eager learner. He is constantly wanting to “do homework”, read, and take part in
activities he feels will prepare him for kindergarten. He is inquisitive and often asking “what does
this say?” or “what does that mean?” when engaging in literacy activities with this family member.
Because Grayson can not yet read on his own, he has very little frustrations with reading. He has
repeatedly expressed the desire to be able to read, which may later become a frustration, but it eager
Rose LLAP 6
about it now. I do note minor frustration in common speech difficulties for students his age, lack of
r’s and l’s. This frustration often stems from adults not being able to understand what he is trying to
say. However, these speech concepts are not expected to develop in children his age yet and are not a
concern area. Reading is a very enjoyable activity for him to take part in, and often looked at as a
bonding time for him and the family member reading with him. The only time he expresses
disinterest in reading is if he does not like the book or topic he is reading and he will simply pick a
Reading is treated as a leisure activity in Grayson’s household and therefore appears rewarding
because it is something he “gets to do”, not something he “has to do”. His preschool homework often
includes reading a book with parents throughout the week and he was rewarded for completing
weekly homework at school. He is often rewarded with getting to pick a new book from the store, in
lieu of a toy, after an accomplishment such as doing his chores for the week.
I have not witnessed Grayson have issues pertaining to motivation. Every time I have encountered
him reading, he is motivated to listen or learn more. Every five year old boy will encounter issues of
engagement if asked to devote attention for an extended period of time and Grayson appears within
this norm. He will often move on to a different activity and return at a later time.
Grayson has been enrolled in a public preschool program for the past two school years. He
attended for 3 hours a day, 3 days a week. During this time, he participated in literacy instruction that
is common for the preschool grade level such as read alouds, tracing letters, and letter sing alongs to
introduce letter sounds. Additionally, he is read to every night by family members, and encouraged to
As previously noted, Grayson has attended a public preschool program for the past two years.
While I am not sure of the specific curriculum that is followed by his particular school, he has been
exposed to the early stages of literacy instruction including identifying letter symbols and sounds,
and concepts of print. He will begin kindergarten in less than a month, however he has not yet been
exposed to this curriculum. As a result of the instruction he has received, Grayson has basic print
concepts knowledge, and can identify the majority of letter symbols and sounds. Most importantly,
the literacy instruction he has so far received has developed a motivation for reading within Grayson.
This is evident through his desire to learn how to read, as well as his excitement in receiving and
The current challenge that arises when working with Grayson is that he is in the very early stages
of literacy instruction and understanding. While he has attended a preschool that is sanctioned in a
public school, he has never attended full day schooling with a solid literacy block, where he would be
exposed to frequent informal assessment and guiding reading. The main source of his literacy
knowledge stems from the work his mom and family have done with him at home and therefore, is
In order to assess Grayson’s current knowledge and understanding of early literacy, I have
● DIBELS Letter Naming Fluency to see how many letters Grayson is able to identify in both
● book handling knowledge assessment derived from McKenna and Stahl’s Assessment for
Reading Instruction which will allow me to better understand Grayson’s knowledge of the
action of reading including where to start and stop reading and overall book handling
These tests were chosen because Grayson is a very early reader and these assessments allow me to
gauge where he currently stands in relation to early literacy practices. I know Grayson can not read
independently and has not yet begun kindergarten instruction, so assessments that can guide me
toward his current understanding of book handling and letter-sound recognition would be most
appropriate. These will allow me to plan lessons that will use what Grayson already knows, while
The DIBELS Letter Naming Fluency assessment presented Grayson with random uppercase and
lowercase letters, asking him to identify by lines of 10 letters. The assessment is scored by how many
letters he is able to name in 1 minute. The University of Oregon states, “Although letter names
comprise a set of teachable skills, teaching letter names does not lead directly to improvements in
student reading outcomes in the ways characterized by the foundational skills of early literacy
(Adams, 1990). However, because the measure is highly predictive of later reading success, it is
included as an indicator for students who may require additional instructional support on the Basic
Early Literacy Skills.” Grayson scored 89 out of 100 letters in just over 1 minute. I allowed him to
continue over the suggested time because he was continuing to be successful. The benchmark for the
mastery level for his current grade. Letter naming is definitely a strength for Grayson and shows me
that instead of focusing on letters, we can move to phonological awareness and letter-sound
The book handling knowledge assessment is a portion of McKenna and Stahl’s overall concepts of
print assessment. I felt this assessment would be useful because I know Grayson is a very emergent
reader, and this is one of the earliest assessments provided by McKenna and Stahl to determine a
student’s current standing on the reading continuum. This assessment asked Grayson to show
knowledge of skills such as book orientation, directionality of reading, punctuation, capital and
lowercase letters. Grayson showed mastery of the book orientation, directionality of reading, and
capital and lowercase letters. However, he is very unfamiliar with punctuation, speech-to-print
matching, and knowledge of letters within words. He is still showing strength in reading comparative
Rose LLAP 9
to his current grade level, however it shows me that we can introduce speech-to-print matching in the
letter-sound correlations, rather than just the knowledge of letter symbols. It asks students to show
knowledge of rhyming, blending, phoneme identity, isolation, addition, deletion, substitution, and
categorization. These are all skills Grayson would need for emergent literacy because he needs to be
able to break down words into their smallest sounds as he attempts to sound them out and read. It is
also useful to know where to begin scaffolding his lesson plans. Grayson showed mastery of the
rhyming, blending, and phoneme identity but really struggled with the other portions of the
assessment. This tells me he knows many of his basic letter sounds, but needs additional practice
with the remaining portions of phonological awareness. As I look to plan Grayson’s lessons, I will be
Objectives (include
performance, Instructional
conditions, and materials (what will Ongoing assessment (to
Lesson #1 Foci and
criterion. State the you use to deliver measure attainment of
Date
Common Core State the main objectives objectives)
Standard a t the end of of the lesson)
each objective.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.
RF.K.2.E
Add or substitute
8.9.19
individual sounds
(phonemes) in simple,
one-syllable words to
make new words.
Rose LLAP 10
Objectives (include
performance, Instructional
conditions, and materials (what will Ongoing assessment (to
Lesson #2 Foci and
criterion. State the you use to deliver the measure attainment of
Date
Common Core State main objectives of objectives)
Standard a t the end of the lesson)
each objective.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.
RF.K.1.B
Recognize that spoken
8.11.19 words are represented in
written language by
specific sequences of
letters.
Objectives (include
performance, Instructional
conditions, and materials (what will Ongoing assessment (to
Lesson #3 Foci and
criterion. State the you use to deliver the measure attainment of
Date
Common Core State main objectives of objectives)
Standard a t the end of the lesson)
each objective.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.
RF.K.1
Demonstrate
8.12.19
understanding of the
organization and basic
features of print.
VII. Reflection
During my lesson times with Grayson, I attempted to make the work as fun as possible. As
previously noted, he will be attending kindergarten at the beginning of next month and is very excited
for that. The lessons were posed as “getting him ready for what kindergarten will be like” and he was
Rose LLAP 11
very eager to participate. In our first lesson, we talked about how we can change words to make new
words. This was chosen through support of Gambrell and Morrow(2015), that state “Presenting
young children with rhyming texts and activities, games that require them to change and move
sounds within words to create new words, and small objects to sort according to their beginning,
middle, and ending sounds will help strengthen their phonological and phonemic awareness
abilities.” Grayson noted “yeah, like words that rhyme!”, which was a great input of his
understanding. As we progressed through the lessons and completed the worksheets for phoneme
addition, blending, and the flashcards for punctuation, Grayson was able to easily complete the last
I initially provided direct instruction for all lessons, because I know that Grayson thrives on
explicit explanation before he attempts something. After the initial direct instruction, I retracted to
more of a reciprocal teaching approach and allowed Grayson to do much of the talking, as he would
often talk through the answer and his explanation. This seemed to be very beneficial for Grayson,
because he was able to correct a few minor mistakes that he realized he had made as he talked it out.
The reciprocal teaching approach allowed me to evaluate that Grayson had achieved the instructional
goals I had set because by the end of the lessons, he was able to not only answer worksheet questions
Throughout the lessons, there were a few critical moments that impacted the direction in which
the lessons went and the decisions I made. In the first lesson, Grayson was quickly able to identify
the letter symbol and the picture for phoneme addition, but the slashes surrounding the letter sound
seemed to confuse him. I ended up using whiteout to take away the slashes, which eliminated
Grayson’s confusion. In future lessons, I would be sure to choose easily readable and understandable
worksheets, that are at his kindergarten level. Additionally, a critical moment was when I realized
just how quickly Grayson was getting through the lessons. Once he understood the objectives, he was
going very quickly through the work. While I was happy with his progress, I should have prepared
additional material at a more challenging level in anticipation that he might fly through what I had
planned. I believe the preassessments accurately informed me of skills Grayson needed instruction in,
but I was simply not anticipated how quickly he would grasp the concept. This could be noted for
Rose LLAP 12
future lessons, where I could have had materials at a higher level within the same skills already
prepared.
As I look to Grayson’s development level, he is quite a tricky kid. These lessons were planned
directly from the results of his preassessments, which would make me think they would be
developmentally appropriate for him. However, he seems to learn new skills very quickly and in
order to be responsive to his needs, I would have prepared additional pieces that got increasing
difficult as we progressed, to keep him challenged. I was more focused on Grayson achieving the
Common Core Standard I had placed on the lesson, rather than focusing on letting him guide my
teaching. Alber (2014) notes “Don't get me wrong. I'm fine with standards. I like the guidance and
the specificity. But this time around, we need to insist that trust be given to teachers to do their jobs.”
This is definitely something I will take away from the course. Overall, these lessons were very
beneficial for Grayson, as well as allowing me to implement the new techniques and best practices
Dear Teacher,
I had the opportunity to work with Grayson on his reading skills throughout the course of this
summer. I thought it would be useful to you to pass on the information I have gathered as it pertains
patterns. Additionally, he is a very motivated and fast learner. My lessons with Grayson this summer
focused primarily on phomenic awareness, such as phoneme addition and blending, as well as
punctuation identification.
I have identified that Grayson could use additional instruction in phonemic deletion,
segmentation, and categorization. Simple worksheets or flashcards that work toward these skills
could be beneficial to Grayson in future reading instruction. Because Grayson is such a quick-paced
Rose LLAP 13
learner, he would be an excellent “helper” to other students on worksheets or flashcards once he has
mastered a particular concept. This allows him to scaffold his learning through teaching others.
Grayson is a very fast paced learner and I suggest having increasingly challenging activities as
you continue to work with him throughout the year. Additionally, through my work with Grayson I
have identified that a quick direct teaching mini lesson followed by a reciprocal teaching approach,
where Grayson is the one “teaching” you what needs to be done, through explanation of his answers
and thinking, seems to really work well for his learning style.
Lastly, Grayson is interested in books that pertain to dinosaurs, sports, and science. If you are able
to incorporate books of these topics into your lessons with Grayson, I have no doubt he will continue
to show you his best reading work. Feel free to reach out to me if you have additional questions or
concerns that pertain to Grayson’s progress in reading this year. I hope you have a wonderful school
Sincerely,
Shelby Rose
First off, thank you so much for the opportunity to work with Grayson throughout the course of
these last few weeks. It has been such a pleasure to see his abilties and work with him toward his
kindergarten preparation!
As I assessed Grayson, I was able to gather that he already possesses many skills that teachers
look for in a kindergarten student. You are doing a great job preparing him for this upcoming school
year! He has strong skills in letter recognition and rhyming, as well as the basics of book handling
such as where to start and stop reading and the direction to read the words. I worked with Grayson on
some letter-sound skills such as making new words by adding one sound to a one-syllable word. You
can continue to work on these skills by asking questions in everyday conversation such as “what
In your nightly readings with Grayson, ask him to follow along with what your reading with his
finger. This will help him to make the natural connection between the letter he’s seeing and the
Rose LLAP 14
sounds he’s hearing you read. Occasionally stopping to ask questions such as “what letter do you
hear at the beginning of the word ____?” could be very helpful to him! Additionally, we worked on
punctuation identification, so be sure to stop at the punctuation marks or emphasize their meaning
(questions end in a question mark, use exclamation points when excited, etc).
As I’m sure you already know, Grayson is very interested in books pertaining to dinosaurs,
science, and sports. While he needs little motivation to read because he’s already so interested,
finding books that related to these topics can continue to guide Grayson’s reading progress
Thank you again for allowing me to work with Grayson. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me
Sincerely,
Shelby Rose
A. Lesson Plan 1
Date: 8.9.19
Objective(s) for today’s lesson: The student will make a new one-syllable word by adding a
single phoneme to preexisting word.
Procedures and approximate time allocated for each event Academic, Social and
Linguistic Support during
• Introduction to the lesson (2 minutes) each event:
“Today, we’re going to work on some skills that are going to ● Annotated responses
help you become a better reader and get you ready for written for student
kindergarten!”
“We’re going to practice making new words by adding a
sound to the picture you see on the page. Look, this first one
is already done for us. What is that a picture of? (Guided
response- a pot). What happens if I add the sound /s/ to the
beginning of that word? (Guided response- spot) Great!
Let’s try more!”
B. Lesson Plan 2
Rose LLAP 17
Date: 8.11.19
Objective(s) for today’s lesson: Student will be able to identify word by recognizing
and blending individual phoneme sounds.
Procedures and approximate time allocated for each event Academic, Social and
Linguistic Support during
• Introduction to the lesson (5 minutes) each event:
-Review phoneme addition from previous lesson ● Annotated written
-Introduce phoneme separation and blending response done for
-”We’re going to practice sounding out words by looking at student when
their letters. What word do you hear in /s/ /o/ /c/ /k/ necessary
(Guided response- sock) Great, we’ll circle the letter sounds
we used to make the word. Let’s try more!”
X. Bibliography
Rose LLAP 24
Alber, R. (2014, February 28). Teaching Students Not Standards. Retrieved from
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/teaching-students-not-standards-rebecca-alber
Bender, W. N. (2012). Differentiating instruction for students with learning disabilities: Best teaching
practices for general and special educators (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA, US: Corwin Press;
Good, R.H., & Kaminski, R. A. (Eds.) (2002). Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (6th
http://dibels.uoregon.edu/
McKenna, M.C., & Stahl, K.A.D. (2017). Assessment for Reading Instruction. Third Edition. New
Morrow, L. M., & Gambrell, L. B. (2019). Best practices in literacy instruction. New York: The
Guilford Press.
National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers.
(2010). Common Core State Standards for English language arts and literacy in history/social
Rasheed, Fareeha & Wahid, Abdul. (2018). THE THEORY OF DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION
Tomlinson, C. A. (2014). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners.
Rose LLAP 25
Rubric
Recommendations (6 pts)
● Goal/focus of lessons
● Student’s strengths and areas of
improvement
● Ideas for follow-up instruction,
intervention, assessment, etc.
● Specific text recommendations
Bibliography (3 pts)
● 8-10 references (i.e., assessments,
instructional texts, articles or
chapters referenced)