Inquiry 2, Part A

1.       Describe your target area for guided lead teaching.

Our class follows the written curriculum of The Waterford School District for ELA. Guided lead teaching is expected to fall during the unit of “reading emergent storybooks”. The target area that applies would be, “Acquisition, Use and Assessment of Foundational Skills” because students will be developing introductory concepts and skills of reading.

2.       Approximately how much time per day is allotted for your instruction in this area?

We have allotted 35 minutes per day for readers workshop.

3.       Which Common Core State Standard(s) will you work toward?

Key Ideas and Details (RL.K.2,RL.K.3)

o  With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details.

o  With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

                        Integration of Knowledge and Ideas (RL.K.9)

o  With prompting and support, compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in familiar stories. 

Reading Foundation (RF.K.4)

o  Read emergent-reader texts with purpose and understanding.

Speaking and Listening

Comprehension and Collaboration (SL.K.1,SL.K.2,SL.K.6)

o  Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

a.  Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others and taking turns speaking about the topics and texts under discussion).

b.                        Continue a conversation through multiple exchanges.

o  Confirm understanding of a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media by asking and answering questions about key details and requesting clarification if something is not understood.

o  Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly

     (Waterford School District)

4.       How will teaching in this target area provide opportunities for students to learn important content and/or skills that relate to their lives?  In what ways does this learning include learning literacy, learning about literacy, and/or learning through literacy?

Teaching this area will provide students the opportunities and support in reading emergent books as they are expected to by the Common Core Standards by the end of Kindergarten. As students continue exploring and reading books, they are building on their concepts of print, developing storybook knowledge, meaning and vocabulary.

5.       What types of classroom talk take place within this target area? To what extent is the talk teacher-led, student-led, or focused on higher-level thinking? What norms for interaction would you like to build within your classroom as you teach in this target area (e.g., see ideas in Chapter 6 of Strategies that Work, the Berne & Clark 2008 article, or draw from some of the readings done in TE 402 on classroom talk)?

Within this target area, we will engage in teacher-led and partner-led discussions. Students will have the chance to “read privately” for a minimum of five minutes before reading with a partner for  a minimum of 10 minutes. Before each reading session, the teacher will go over what quiet and partner reading “looks like and sounds like”. Students are encouraged to share their ideas about the readings with their partners.

6.       Which ‘core practice’ do you want to work on developing/improving as you teach in this target area (refer to document “Resources for Developing Core Practices”)? How will focusing on this core practice contribute to your own professional learning?

I would like to work on “assessing foundational skills to inform instruction”. I think it is important to recognize that all my students are at different abilities and that I need to assess what they know and where they are so that I can provide effective instruction to my students. “Explicit teaching and authentic application activities” is something we have been implementing in our daily activities, anyway, through our Word Study activities (nursery rhymes, sound cards etc).

7.       What resources within the community, neighborhood, school district, school or classroom do you have to work with in this target area?

In this target area, we will be working with our Emergent Story books—mainly our Sulzby Star Books (Are You My Mother?, The Best Nest, Mean Soup, Stellaluna, Make Way for Ducklings, The Carrot Seed, Caps for Sale, The Snowy Day, Whistle for Willie, Tacky the Penguin).

8.       What additional resources do you need to obtain?

There are no additional resources needed as of now.

9.       How will you pre-assess your students in your target area?

We have completed the process of pre-accessing our students upper and lower case letter recognition and sounds. We will continue to informally assess students during their private and partner reading through discussion.

10.    What else will you need to find out about all students in your class to help you develop lesson plans for your Guided Lead Teaching?

We have several students that may be ELL. I would like to know how much support they need and what kind of accommodations would best facilitate their learning.

11.    What else do you need/want to learn about the ‘core practice’ to support your planning and teaching?

“Assessing Foundational Skills to Inform Instruction” seems like such a broad practice. I would like to know, specifically, what I should be looking for and the types of instructional practices that could benefit my students.

12.   What concerns, if any, do you have about planning and teaching your unit?

I am concerned with planning and teaching a unit that would support all my learners—when I have such a diverse group (academically, socially and linguistically). Furthermore, what are the best ways to group students in pairs? How can I divide the limited instruction time I have to ensure that my students are staying on task?