1. Matthew Kenneth
Presentation of Winter
Term AddSped
Student Teaching Practice
2. Unit Goal
Given 10 questions about story elements and after a small group read
aloud of a 2nd grade instructional level story in a corrective reading
curriculum called Decoding Strategies, the students will correctly write
answers to 8 of 10 questions that demonstrate their understanding of the
story elements, and correctly sequence 3 events.
3. After a review of the student files, observations and instruction of
the group, conversations with the cooperating teacher, and
analysis of skills being taught in their current curriculum I
decided to focus this on comprehension skills.
The work sample group is comprised of five students that are working
on building decoding, fluency and comprehension skills through the
Corrective Reading Decoding Strategies curriculum.
4. IEP Reading Goals for Reading Group (at-a-
The work sample group is comprised of five students that are working on building decoding,
fluency and comprehension skills through the Corrective Reading Decoding Strategies
curriculum.
The students in the group are all fourth graders. All five of the students read at the second /
third grade instructional level and are placed in a second grade reading curriculum. Therefore,
all five students are receiving specially designed instruction to support access to meeting the
following Oregon 4th grade level benchmarks for reading. The following 4th grade standards
are applicable to this unit:
4.RF.4 Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to
support comprehension.
5. Pre-Test (excerpt)
1. What do we mean by the word character when talking about a story?
(Choose a., b. or c. and put that letter in the space.)
__________
a. time and place of the story
6. Pre-test Data
(on a 10 question pre-test)
student Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q 10 Total
correct
BM * * * 3/10
FM * * * * * 5/10
JM * * * 3/10
AW * * * 3/10
ID * * * * * 5/10
7. When given four vocabulary words/concepts
(character, setting, event, sequence of events), the
students will match the correct definition of each with
100% accuracy.
8. Probe for Sequence Step 1.
setting __ character __ event __ sequence __
a. Person, animal or b. Time and place of the c. The order in which d. Something that
living thing that does story. things happen. happens in the story.
something in the story.
9. Lesson Plan
Lesson Topic:
Word decoding, word attack and word and whole text
comprehension
Lesson Objective:
When presented with a story from a lesson from the Decoding
Strategies (Corrective Reading curriculum), the students will
individually read and answer questions about the four story elements
(setting, character, event, sequence of events) until mastered (100%)
10. Lesson Plan
Let’s review last lesson’s story. I will read from it.
As I read, listen for character, setting, event and
sequence of events. As you hear them, write them
in your story map.
Afterwards I go over their story maps with prompt/teacher
copy on Elmo
Great! I will collect these. Let’s start today’s
lesson.
12. Lesson Plan
The words below are posted on the Elmo.
rail
main
sail
bait
Let’s say these words together…(above words).
Now let’s read them individually.
Open your student books/hard books to Lesson 36. Touch part 1.
Say the sound, then the word. Go.
1.
sleeving fresh store slabs score
checkers slap chomp gromp
13. Lesson Plan
Body of Lesson Part 3 (word attack/comprehension/story elements)
Students take turns reading to the end of the part 1 of text
I ask them the following comprehension questions:
Who can name one of the characters? Remember that character is a person or animal
or living thing that does something in the story. (Rop/Chee)
Who can name the other character? (Rop/Chee)
What is the setting of this story? Remember setting is where and when the story
happens (Sleeve Plant)
Students take turns reading to the end of the part 2 of text
I ask them the following comprehension questions:
What was the first event in the story? (Seeing how fast they could eat)
What did Rop tell the worker to get? (2 slabs of meat that were the same.
Why did the slabs have to be the same weight? (so it would be fair)
14. Lesson Plan
Body Of Lesson Part 4
Closing/Transitions:
Good job today everyone. You got through a lot of words and the
story! Stay seated please. Keep your books open to the story
I explain probe.
They are to match the story element term with the appropriate excerpt of text from the story
Follow-up Activity:
I hand out “exit slips” (probes)
When you're done, leave them on your desk. This is your exit slip that lets you line
up to
leave the classroom.
I will give you your Shadow bucks as you leave.
16. Weekly Interpretation of Learning Gains (week 1)
What I would have done differently would have been to give him a slightly
modified review/story map and probe and differentiated his instruction by
giving him more opportunities to respond verbally instead written.
Because JM’s present level of performance is lower on average than his
classmates for decoding, fluency and comprehension, I should have
differentiated instruction for him by going over vocabulary words with him
ahead of time to check for more thorough comprehension.
I would have given him opportunities to read for me individually so that I could
employ a more thorough corrective feedback procedure.
Because of his slower reading speed and lower word attack skills I would have
given him less text to read and gone over story elements more thoroughly and
reviewed them more thoroughly each day at the end of class or as a pull-out,
outside of reading group.
19. Reflection (unexpected events)
There were so many unexpected events. The first one that comes
to mind is the first day of the unit. It was Valentine's Day. There
will always be days when students have special functions at
school or special holidays when students are distracted by other
things.
The outcome of this was good practice for my emerging behavior
management skills, for effective redirects, prompts, and
corrective feedback.
20. Reflection (Routines)
The reading group is accustomed to their routines and any break in
their routine is a learning experience for me to determine how best to
focus on the routines that are still in place.
Changes in routines also gave me the opportunity to be flexible and
work around those changes. I learned to validate their distress over any
changes and to remind them that it is only a temporary bump and that
they will be back to their regular routine again.
I also stressed that learning to be flexible is as important to me as it is
to them and that it's an important life skill to have.
21. Reflection (Changing something that isn’t working)
One challenge for me during the unit was understanding why the
students did not follow a consistent upward trajectory toward mastery
of story elements as evidenced by the probes I gave them.
I tried changing the probe and when I realized that wasn't working
I changed the way I gave the probe. The data showed that I needed to
try something else so I did. Once I did the probe in a quiet, distraction-
free one-on-one setting, the correct responses came from them more
readily.
22. Reflection (keeping/tracking data)
I learned the importance of keeping data and
tracking student progress.
The use of both the story map and probe was
instructional for me because I realized by looking at
their answers on the story maps and seeing trends in
their progress I could adapt and change the lesson
delivery to maximize their learning potential.
23. Reflection (additional uses of skill and
generalization)
When a person understands basic story elements it makes reading more
enjoyable because this makes it easier for the reader to understand what is
important in the story.
Understanding story elements allows a reader to organize or “map” the story
they read by story elements, which I see as the basic building blocks of
comprehension.
This is perhaps as important as decoding and phonological awareness for
gaining meaning.
Additionally, I feel that knowing story elements allows students to understand
other genres of literature or even describe their favorite comic book, movie or
film better.
Being a successful reader means being a lifelong reader.
24. Reflection (The implications and
recommendations )
The implications and recommendations that come to mind for instruction after
the work sample are reading standards/benchmarks for the 4th grade.
My unit touched on benchmarks that ask the student to refer to details and
examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when
drawing inferences from the text.
This gives them good practice for looking closely for other details for other
purposes.
Another benchmark asks the student to describe in depth a character, setting,
or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a
character’s thoughts, words, or actions).
My unit taught these concepts explicitly and directly. These benchmarks are
within their reach because they are closing the gap between their grade-level
(4th) and present level of performance at the beginning of the school year
(2nd-3rd grade).
25. Reflection (Behavior Management)
It's ongoing and never without effort but at the same time it is
never without rewards.
With this group of students impacted by ADHD and/or LD, the
challenges they have modulating their activity level make it difficult for
them to focus, attend, stay on task and this in turn leads to behavioral
challenges.
The result of this difficulty is often a stumbling block toward
academic achievement. Giving tools and strategies to help students
overcome this stumbling block is key to academic achievement.
Without behavior management, the learning environment is
compromised and achievement is compromised.
26. Reflection (Transitions)
I learned is how important it is to help students with transitions.
I realize now that students with ADHD and LD often can have a
difficult time with transitions.
I learned how to effectively signal an upcoming transition and to
remind them what steps are involved in that transition.
Transitions give students time to switch gears and get ready for
the next thing they will attend to.
27. Reflection (one-on-one support and
additional opportunities to respond)
I learned the importance of finding time to work one-on-one
with students.
It is really remarkable how much more a student can attend
to when there are not other distractions around them.
However it is also important for students to get some of their
instruction in a group setting as this is an important life skill and
in fact is how most people receive their education post high
school.
28. Reflection (Accomodations)
Another thing I learned is the importance of
limiting the information they are exposed to chunks
that can be easily digested.
Clear, concise steps is key. Focusing only on one
step at a time keeps students from feeling
overwhelmed and tuning out.
limiting information being processed at one
29. Reflection (modulating energy levels/calming)
My CT made a good case for the need for students to
modulate their energy levels.
She showed me how to engage them in quick breathing and
calming activities that work well with them.
When I did this with them I saw a noticeable improvement
in their ability to attend to instruction. I will continue to do
this in my own teaching practice.
30. Reflection (Taking and keeping control of the situation)
I learned the importance of telling not asking and using “I”
statements. I learned from my CT how to have a stronger
presence and be clear about expectations and firm with my
redirects.
Another thing I learned is the importance of a quick and efficient
pace. The pace isn't about “covering content” or rushing through
a lesson but rather it is about keeping their attention and not
lagging. They have a lot of energy and they respond best to a
quick pace and it makes the lesson go more efficiently
31. Reflection (transitions)
I learned that even though the lesson is over they still need to be
reminded to put cubbies away and push chairs in because there's
always another group that follows.
The end of lesson is as important as the beginning of lesson in
terms of transitions.
Also, it shows consideration for other students and sets the stage
for a successful lesson to come. Being considerate and respectful
of others is a good life skill to have and promotes responsible
citizenship.
32. Reflection (Direct Instruction)
A goal area I set out to work towards professionally is the use and mastery of a
direct instruction curriculum.
I learned how to use a direct instruction curriculum for both my reading and
my math group. There's an art and a challenge to using such a curriculum. The
art is to enhance it and supplement it but still maintaining its efficacy. The
challenge is to make it engaging for the students.
However I do understand its merits as it is backed by research and has been
shown to be effective in teaching to special needs populations.
