Journal Reflection 3

RICA Domain 5: Comprehension

RICA Competency 13 : Comprehension: Instruction and assessment – before children read, while children read and after children read

Grade Level: First Grade

      I observed Mrs. D teach a comprehension strategy after reading a book to the class. The strategy was sharing personal perspectives (page 99). During the read aloud, Mrs. D asked the students to predict what might happen in the story. She also asked the students to think about which part in the story they like best. Mrs. D allowed students to share their favorite parts during a think-pair-share at the end. When the story and discussion were finished, Mrs. D modeled the task she wanted the class to complete. She wrote about her personal favorite part of the story. Then she drew a picture of that part. Since most of her students are English Language Learners, she has worksheets with sentence starters. The students had to say the word while tracing each letter of the word. After writing the complete sentence, they drew a picture of their favorite part of the story. The teacher walked around to check student work and ask why they chose to illustrate and write about that part in the story. If a student needed help, they could get clues from the posters in the reading corner. 

     This “favorite part” activity is a post reading task that falls under the category of sharing personal perspectives in competency 13. I think one of the most important elements of comprehension for first graders is having them make personal connections. It seems like the students can comprehend events in a story if they make personal connections. The visual representation of their favorite part also helps their comprehension. Mrs. D’s room is filled with visual clues for how to comprehend after reading. I took a picture of one of the clues that some students were using during the writing activity.   

           

Feild Observation #2

Lindsey Payne

RICA Domain 4: Vocabulary, Academic Language, and Background Knowledge

RICA Competency 11: Vocabulary, academic language and background knowledge: instruction and assessment

Grade Level: First grade

            I observed Mrs. T teach her class about word families and relations. She used a semantic map or word map to illustrate the relation of word meanings. It is also called a semantic web. Mrs. T’s lesson falls under direct teaching of specific words in competency eleven. Mrs. T began with an anticipatory set by asking each student to think of what a family is. She went around the room calling on students who had their hand raised. Several students mentioned specific people in their family. Almost everyone could name several definitions of a family. This discussion activated their prior knowledge. Mrs. T then asked the students to name someone in their family. She wrote the student’s responses on the word map as they were given to her. The students were reminded that each relation connected with the category of family. When she wrote sisters and brothers, she connected boy and girl to further relate the concept. Then Mrs. T wrote a small cloud with the word pets at the bottom. She only wrote one word because she wanted to use it for a subsequent lesson. The word map is posted on the classroom wall for future reference. Last week I directed students to look at the word map when they were working on writing sentences.

            Mrs. T’s use of the word map is very helpful for students. As the RICA text states, “They not only teach the meanings of words but also help children activate their prior knowledge of key concepts associated with the target word.”(Zarrillo 81). Every student knew what a family was before the lesson. They understood the concept of both a brother and a grandmother being considered family. One student mentioned their babysitter during the class discussion. Mrs. T said that a babysitter can be considered family based on the definition the class came up with. The word map introduced the concept that even a non-blood relative like a babysitter could be considered family. The word map helps with contextual redefinition.

Field Observation Report #1

Lindsey Payne

RICA Domain: Word Analysis

RICA Competency: Phonics and sight words

Grade Level: First grade

            I observed Mrs. T teaching phonics to her first grade class. For her anticipatory set, the teacher asked students if they remembered how to sound out letters. She held up a card and asked the students to name the letter and make the corresponding sound. Mrs. T went through most of the letters with the class and included short and long vowel sounds. After this review of phonemic awareness, Mrs. T asked the students to sound out parts of the word cat. The teacher isolated each sound and the student’s responded as a class with /c/ /a/ /t/. They all held up one finger for the first sound /c/ put up a second finger for the short /a/ and a third for the /t/ sound. The teacher modeled blending as she joined all three fingers to say the complete word. She told the class to repeat this blending method with their “shoulder partner”. This was a great example of cooperative learning and peer interaction. Next, Mrs. T gave the students a clipboard with a blank piece of paper and asked them to copy each sight word on their word wall to their paper. As they were working she told them to remember that there should be a space between each word. She asked the students to place the clipboard under their chin so she could check their work when they were done. When most of the students were finished she read the sentence “I see a cat.” And asked them to write the sentence while remembering how to sound out the word. Mrs. T read the sentence three times and told the students to write it and then write it again if they had time. When they finished, they held the clipboard under their chin so the teacher could help them make corrections if needed.  After the lesson, each student placed their paper on their desk and went to recess. Mrs. T could assess which students needed help with sounding out their words by viewing their papers. She explained to me that she differentiates her lesson by allowing English learners to complete their work later. Her more advanced students are instructed to keep writing. The picture below shows two student’s work for this activity. One is a GATE student and the other is an English learner.

            The instructional setting provided various supports for phonics. There is a word wall with high frequency words, a pocket chart with each letter in upper case and lower case, and letters of the alphabet with a corresponding animal posted in front of the class. There are also word maps posted around the room with words that have similar relationships. When asked how to spell a word, Mrs. T reminds them to use the clues in her room.