RICA DOMAIN 4

TC NAME: Melissa Pitcher

RICA Domain: Vocabulary, Academic Language, and Background Knowledge

RICA Competency: Instruction and Assessment

Grade Level: Kindergarten

Any Addition Descriptors: SEI Class

I observed Ms. F. demonstrating an instructional activity to support what students have learned through listening and speaking. Ms. F sat in a chair in the middle of the carpet while the students sat at their group tables. She turned out the most of the lights to calm the room and the students could focus. Ms.F.  did a quick “book walk”, she read the title, asked what they thought the story was going to be about, they were to raise their hands if they had an idea, she called on them to share. Then she looked at the front cover picture and asked the student to tell their “eye” partner what they thought the picture was about. Then she read a story while the students sat quietly activity listening. When it came to a new vocabulary word she would write it on a board that was next to her, ask the students if they knew what it meant, reminded/gave a quick definition then moved on to the rest of the story. The students could draw pictures of key ideas they had from the story to refer to later. After the story was done Ms.F. asked the student to “think in their brains” (close their eyes, touch their temples and lead forward) about what they had just listened to and how they want. When she gave the cue they turned to their elbow partner and they each had a turn recalling the story.  She walked around the class and listened to what the students were telling each other.

Instructional Setting:

Ms. F. then had the students open their journal and write two sentences trying to use the new vocabulary the she had written on the board. The students could talk, look around the room for more ideas and refer to the white board to finish their thoughts. When the class was done, she called on the students that wanted to sharetheir work that the teacher would display on the doc.cam for the whole class to see, then they would discuss the idea as a class.

RICA DOMAIN 3

TC NAME: Melissa Pitcher

RICA: Fluency

RICA Competency: Fluency

Grade Level: Kindergarten

Any Additional Descriptors: SEI class

I observed Ms. E teaching Fluency. The teacher sat at a rainbow shaped table-she sat on the inside and the students sat around it. There were 6 students at her table and there was a white board behind her to draw, write and put up pictures. Ms E. first gave each student the same book. It was an “I See a_____,  The______ eats_______” book. The teacher looked at the front page and asked what  the students  thought the book was about in their heads. She modeled reading the book with fluency, she spoke clearly and at a slow pace for every student to follow along. She also used a lot of expression. She repeated to the students that she was looking for them to read just like the way she did and wrote on the board the key ways she wanted them to read: Clearly, slowly and with Expression. One at a time she read with the students. The students that were not reading with her at that time were to read in a whisper voice until she got to them.  The whisper voice was for them to still hear themselves and she could keep an eye (ear) on them too. Ms E. would make markings on each students page of their book, where they had trouble with a word, if they tried sounding it out, said something else, skipped a word, etc.( a modified running record). If the students read too fast she held up her hand a fanned it forward at the reader(hand signal “slow down”)to slow down. If the student got stuck on a word, the teacher would say” look at the picture” or “think about what you just read or what word do you think will be next”. She gave instant feedback. This would happen fast so the student would correct the mistake and not have enough time to think about the mistake or dwell on it. Ms. E had the student read a sentence, she would repeat it the way she wanted it to sound, then student would repeat the teacher again the right way. When the students were done reading one on one with Ms. E, she would have them read to each other.

In this lesson the teacher read first, had the students read-she gave immediate feedback if needed, repeated what the student read (correcting if needed ), the student repeated the correct way and then  let the students read to each other.

Ms. E had many different level reading books and gave each student the appropriate one. Some had shorter sentences, smaller words, one sentence, fill in the blank and bigger print. Each group was at similar reading levels.

 

INSTRUCTIONAL SETTING:

The activity that I observed was for all the students. Ms.E  had five sentence strips that were from the books they had just read that were also numbered. Each student received one strip of paper with the number and sentence on it. The teacher numbered five tables with a numbers one through five. She then explained that she will play music for the students to dance, when the music stops then she wants the students to make their way to the table with the same number on their paper sentence strip. When everyone gets to the table they see their names on a list, this will tell the students the order in which the students can say their sentence. All the other students had to look at the paper and read along in their head while the student read it out loud, if they had a mistake the other students would help correct it immediately. The students felt confident in reading their sentence because it was specially picked for each students reading level.  

RICA DOMAIN 5

TC NAME: Melissa Pitcher

RICA DOMAIN: Comprehension

RICA COMPETENCY: Comprehension

Grade Level: Kindergarten

Any Additional: Descriptors: SEI class

 

INSTRUCTION:

I observed Ms.F teaching Comprehension. She started the lesson by asking what they thought about when they heard the word “gingerbread”. Ms.F asked the students to raise a thumb if they thought of something they wanted to share with the class. She then showed a picture of a gingerbread cookies and had the students to talk to their “elbow partner” about what they knew. She asked them to raise their hand and share with the class. She then showed a picture of a Gingerbread man and ask if anyone has ever seen one. (Only two students had ever heard of it). Ms.F then started her picture-walk . She held up “The Gingerbread Man book” for the class to see and asked what they thought was happening  on the front cover. She went through every page and asked the students to tell her what they thought was happening and to predict what might happen next. Last she stated the reason why they were going to read the story, ”Class today we are going to read a story about a Gingerbread man and follow him on his adventure, let’s see what happens next!”

Ms. F starts to read the book and on each page she asked a question about what they just read. (The answer to her question was on the page they just read). Ms.F asked the class if they know the answer and to point to the top of their head if they do. If they answered wrong she would immediately pick the student next to them, let them discuss it for a few seconds and they would give her the answer. When the teacher would come to a new vocabulary word, she stopped, asked them to think “ in their brains”(lean forward, eyes closed and touch their temples and concentrate) if they had heard it before, she then would give a brief definition, tell them to think” in their brains” about the new definition and then move on with the story.

INSTRUCTIONAL SETTING

When the story was done, she asked the students to turn their elbow partners and have them tell each other about the story they just read(summarize). She asked the students what their favorite part of the story was and why(sharing personal perspective). She called on a few student for their answers,  then asked other open ended questions for the student to relate (connect) with.She also asked if they knew about any other stories, books or video that might be similar(text-to-text, text-to-text and text-to-world connection) The teacher then summarized the story and passed out a picture of an outline of a gingerbread man to each student. The students then colored the outlined gingerbread man (visual/graphic representations of what was read)and wrote what they liked most about the book on the back(one sentence).

I got to observe the beginning, during and after reading strategies, she was also constantly checking for understanding. Not only did she assess them for understanding, the other student got to assess each other.( young students are quick to correct each other and like to talk)

This lesson went on for a few weeks and they would read different versions of the gingerbread man and discuss how they were different or the same.

 

                 

RICA DOMAIN 1

TC NAME: Melissa Pitcher

RICA Domain: “Planning Reading Instruction based on Assessment”

RICA Competency: Planning Reading Instruction

Grade Level: Kindergarten

Any Additional Descriptors : SEI class

INSTRUCTION:

I observed Ms. F during her Planning Reading Instruction. She does a math lesson first thing in the morning. First she reviews the numbers that they have already learned, in this case 1-3, to get them oriented  and ready to for the lesson. She does a “book walk” on the same book that they have been reading before they move on to the next number. They talk about what numbers they know and the different ways they can write it (with dots, addition problem, symbols, tallys, number itself, what it looks like on a die and  fun drawings). Ms. F then began her presentation on the number four. She puts up a piece of big poster paper on the board so everyone can see it and they talk about the number four. Ms. F  slowly writes the number four as she talks her way through it “start at the top line, go down to the dotted go right , stop. Start at the top line again then draw straight line all the way to the bottom line”, she makes four dots on the number she just wrote  and has the class counts them all together. She asked them to show her how many fingers four is, how they can write it (dots, addition problem, numbers, tallys, pictures and what it looks like on a  die)and they have to explain to her how they came up with their idea on how to write the number. For structured practice, the students are grouped at tables so they can talk about what they just learned with the other students, then she gives each student a work sheet that has four pictures at the top to color, two lines that have the number 4 dotted on it to trace and the last line is blank for them to write their own number four, to me this reminded me of a small version of scaffolding. For guided practice, Ms. F walks around the class and looks at every students work as they work and re-models if necessary, asks questions and gives feedback “make sure you don’t have any  ghost numbers”(meaning  the number didn’t touch the top and/or bottom line).  When they are done writing out their numbers, for independent practice she has them flip over their paper and make groups of four  with any symbol, shape or number they want and circle it so she can come back around and count with them.

INSTRUCTIONAL SETTING:

I learned that Ms. F uses many different types of strategies and supports to teach her lesson: a review in their heads, a book, poster-the many different ways to write the number, addition problem, coloring, writing the number and making groups of four on the back of their paper. This lesson will affect ALL students learning styles.

It is not televison anymore!Designing digital video for learning and assessment

In this article the Authors tell us that using videos and other technology in the classrooms are very beneficial to our students. It will help them learn, see things in a new way and even get to see themselves. This is a great idea for visual learners like me. If I can see it done, then I can do it. Kids already relate to videos, tv, computer and other technology device outside of school, so lets bring them into the classroom and make it fun from them to learn. One of the authors states that we model what we see on the screen.If we can see someone else doing the right thing then we will simulate them and do the right thing. This is even true with watching ourselves on video. We can see what we are doing wrong and fix it. This for every student, even special needs. Video helps improve skills. I also like how we, as teachers can use video or computers to introduce new material. It takes away from the teacher talking and can be animated, funny or even the students teaching something. The authors say that there are 4 key ingredients to  great and informative video: seeing-if they miss what you told them, then they can see it, engaging- and interesting idea or topic that will keep their attention, doing-having a good attitude toward learning and taking the effort to do it, and saying-different ways to present your information. I feel that it is a great tool for the students/teachers and parents to learn!It gives the students an opportunity to be creative and that is what we as teachers are looking for.

Rubric

Understanding Rubrics

In the article Understanding Rubric by Heidi Goodrich ,she defines what rubric is and how and why you can use it.  A rubric is a list of criteria that is expected in a piece of work.  It is use to support and assess students learning.  A rubric tells the students exactly what the teacher is looking for.  The question is: do we as teachers and students like it?

A rubric is described as a list that is divided into columns labeled from excellent to poor.  The columns are divided into a grid.  Each box has an explanation of what is expected in each column.  It can be looking for: purpose, organization, details, voice and mechanics.  Each of these examples should be specific on what is considered a good  work.

The author gives five reasons of why teachers should use a rubric.  First, it can improve student performance as well as monitor it by making teacher’s expectations clear.  Second, they help students become more thoughtful in judging of quality of their own and other students work.  Third, teachers  can spend less time grading students’ work.   Fourth, it promotes flexibility in learning styles.  It is for every student and their individual learning styles.  Fifth, they are self-explanatory. 

Creating a rubric should be modified to each instructors teaching style.  Here are the author’s seven steps to creating a quality rubric:

1.  Look at models: provide students with a good paper and a bad paper.

 2.  List criteria: what is important in a project.

 3. Articulate gradations of quality: Describe excellent and poor levels of quality.

 4. Practice on models: Practice on example papers. 

5. Use self- and peer- assessment: Have the students get started and observe their assessments. 

6. Revise:  After feedback, let students revise their work. 

7. Use teacher assessment: Use same rubric as students to assess their work.

The NETS for students would fall under Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making.   It is this standard because it teaches to students to find out what is expected of them for each project.  

A rubric is beneficial to teachers and students because it is an important tool to support and evaluate learning. It is for all students’ learning styles and with the students and teachers working together to create it there is a greater understanding of what is exactly is expected of them.

3 Method to Create a Site

The Author, Elizabeth A. Baker wrote an article talking about that there are 3 Methods to make your own Web Site as a teacher. Method 1, for those of us that don’t know much about computers or how to make a web site, there are free web sites that have everything all set up for teachers. These sites, help the teachers with step by step ideas for their web sites, they are simple, may not have that many options for design or content but will get the job done.

The second Method is for those that know a little more about computer and are brave enough to go a little further in the "computer world"…These sites have templates that are ready to use. They also provide more flexibility and multiple users can use that same site. The students can add, remove and edit their work. There is also room for online discussion. This is a good method for the students because there are many employers that will expect the students to know how to make a web site when they get into the “job world”. If the students know a little more or feel comfortable to move forward they can link their work to Method 3. In Method 2, the teachers can give permission to the students to change their sites. The students can post their own work and have online discussions. Parents can also get a password to go on the sites to see their children’s’ work.  

Now, for Method 3…this is for the computer savvy. Anyone can get to this point, it will take a little more time. A down side is that software is involved and the student or teacher will have to take more time to learn the software to make the site. There are already some sites that come with some computers so you may not have to download…which may save you moneyJ. As a teacher, you may have to check with the computer specialist to upload the software at the school. All these are great ideas and suggestions for the different computer levels of teachers and students.

I really like how the author broke down the three methods to make a web site and also listed the websites to help the development of a site. It is important to pass information like this to other teachers to make creating websites easier. There are teachers and students that know little or a lot about computers and these sites are for every level.

NETS: Technology Operations and Concepts: select and use applications effectively and productively. The students have to learn to make a web site, collaborate and have online discussions. The teachers and parents can go onto the site (with permission and a password) and add to the discussions. This is a great communication tool for teachers, students and parents!