RVE Study Guide: Information and Extra Resources

-          General vocabulary

o   Prosody: intonation and phrasing

o   Fluency: prosody + meaning and/or enjoyment

o   Reader’s theatre: turning a book into a script to work on intonation and emotion

o   DRTA: During Reading Think-Aloud

o   Graphic organizer: helps children organize thoughts during reading

o   Character map: like a graphic organizer about a particular character

o   Lit Circle: discuss a book they have chosen to read with others who are reading the same book

o   DEAR: Drop Everything and Read

o   Book talk: teacher “advertises” book by reading a few pages or describing general plot

o   Writer’s Conference: Focus on one area of writing improvement with an individual child

o   RAFT: Role, Audience, Format, Topic (to structure writing)

-          Assessment

o   Accelerated Reader: progress by comprehension

o   Aimsweb: Online, monitors progress

o   DIEBELS: Number of words/ minute for fluency and speed

o   QRI: Qualitative Reading Inventory (includes WRI, spelling, reading out loud while you mark the passage, and comprehension questions for the passage)

§  WRI: Words Recognized in Isolation, best measure of reading level

§  WRC: Words Recognized in Context

§  Key for read aloud:

·         ~~~~= repeated/ reread

·         ^= insertion/ substitution

·         /= misspoke

·         O= omitted

·         √= self correction

§  Be sure to keep time for read-aloud

§  Always start at pre-primer (PP) level

o   DRA: Developmental Reading Assessment (also: DSA, DSPA)

§  Spelling

§  2 points for correct spelling, 1 point if the identified feature is correct

§  Stage score: 0-25 for each list (per spelling stage)

§  Feature score: 0-5 for each spelling feature

	WRC	Comprehension	Fluency	Spelling
Independent Level	98-100	90	3	Above grade level
Instructional level	90-97	75-89	2	Grade level
Frustration level	<90	<75	1	Below grade level

 

-          Grouping by readiness level

o   Better to group low when there are doubts (easier to move them up than down)

o   12-20 out of 25 correct is ideal for them to be working with that spelling list

o   3-4 groups depending on class

o   Reading levels: Emergent, Letter Name, Within Word Pattern, Syllables and Affixes, Derivational Relations

 

- Extra Resources:

1. Official study guide

2. Glossary

3. 'Words Their Way' textbook

 

 

My Text Set: 5th Grade Science Life Cycles

Along with two classmates, I designed a set of 11 books that could be used while teaching about animal life cycles in fifth grade.  This SOL includes the topics of animal habitats, diets, survival mechanisms, relationships with one another and other species, and fossils.  We chose books written not only on a fifth grade level but on many reading levels so that all children in the classroom could be appropriately challenged when learning this material.  We have included these Flesch-Kinkaid reading levels, as well as a citation, summary, and suggested literacy-building activity for each book.

Word Study Mini-Lesson

I asked my cooperating teacher which reading group could most use a word study reinforcement activity, and she sent me home to work with the low reading group’s spelling list.  These children have just entered the Within Word Pattern stage of spelling, and they were currently working with the CVCe long vowel rule.  I found a great idea in our Words Their Way book for a word study game based on Within Word Patterns: a game that is very similar to the card game Go Fish.  I tweaked the activity, added a few words to their spelling list so that everything had a good match, and set up my “Fish Pond” game.

                The game included a game board, cards, and a sheet of rules.  Basically, each child was dealt five cards with a spelling word.  These words fit into one of the following categories: Long vowel ending in e (A, I, O, or U), “oddball” (ending in E with short vowel sound), or short vowel not ending in e (A, I, O).  So if a child had the word “lace,” they would ask their partner “Do you have any long A words that end in e?”  Their partner would either give them such a word to make a pair, or tell them to “go fish.”  In this case, the child would draw the next card from the “fish pond.”  The game ends when all the cards have been put in pairs.  The rules were fairly complicated and wordy written out, but I offered them for those children who could use that reinforcement. However, I started the lesson by reviewing the game rules out loud while modeling for the reading group.  I put the six children into three groups, and helped them decide fairly who would go first.  I had to monitor the groups- and especially one group- carefully to be sure the children didn’t have pairs in their hands that they had missed, or that they weren’t accidentally (or worse- purposely!) withholding a card when their partner asked for that spelling pattern.  I also had to review long vs. short vowels more frequently than I had expected.

                I think the game went really well!  The children were highly engaged the whole time, and I could tell that some of them got better through the game at identifying long and short vowel sounds.  The “oddball” words especially threw them off at first, but they got used to looking for the short vowel along with the ending E.  All in all, this was a great way for them to get practice sorting the words without doing the same sorts they always do- or, hopefully, even feeling like they were doing a sort at all!

Comprehension and Writing Mini-Lesson

For this lesson, I worked with a book called ‘Ming-Lo Moves the Mountain,’ as part of the children’s unit on ancient China.  In the book, Ming-Lo and his wife live beneath a huge mountain.  The shadow of this mountain makes it impossible for them to grow crops, and rocks are constantly falling on their house and damaging their roof.  Mingo-Lo goes to the village wise man for advice on how to move the mountain on various occasions.  Each time, the wise man thinks for longer, so more smoke builds up from his pipe.  He tells Ming-Lo to try moving the mountain by pushing against it with a large tree he has cut down, by pleasing the mountain gods with food, and by making lots of noise and frightening the mountain away.  Finally, when none of these things work, he tricks Ming-Lo and his wife into “moving the mountain” by doing the dance of the mountain.  They are to pack their belongings, including the sticks making up their very house, and do a dance that is really just walking backwards with their eyes closed.  He is successful in tricking them, and Ming-Lo and his wife are convinced they have moved the mountain, and live happily ever after away from the mountain.   All of these details are important to know when you read the student work samples attached to this page.

                I read the book with each of the three ability groups for reading in the classroom, and it was definitely interesting to see how each group responded differently to the text.  I first gave each group a minute or two to look through the pictures and at the title, and we talked about what the book might beabout based on this evidence.  As we read round-robin style, I asked questions to check for comprehension.  I had the students predict if each idea was going to work in moving the mountain, and helped define some new vocabulary words.  My cooperating teacher observed this lesson, and recommended to me that I move away from round-robin reading, as students get nervous and it takes from comprehension.  She like my opening activity, and the closing writing activity which I will explain momentarily, but said that I should have something more engaging for the students during the reading, like a Venn diagram or character map to work with.  I am so glad she gave me so much feedback, and I will definitely keep this in mind!

                For the comprehension activity, I had the students write a letter to the wise man from the story, from either Ming-Lo or his wife.  I gave some vague ideas about how their letter might go, and they really had some interesting ideas!  Some students, like Layla and Will, pretended to have figured out the wise man’s trick after the story’s close- and some showed some real anger in their responses!  Others, like Bailee, assumed the position of the blissfully-unaware couple at the story’s end and just thanked the wise man for his help.  Ethan, a student who is very clearly gifted and talented, wrote more than two pages, explaining his feelings throughout the story.  I was impressed by the children’s abilities to assume another point of view so well, and I liked that this particular assignment allowed them to write in many different ways.  The one student who didn’t show an ability to write from another point of view was Logan, from the low readiness group.  He wrote a third-person summary of the story instead, but he still showed decent comprehension of the story, which was encouraging.  I think having them write these letters was a great alternative assessment of their comprehension, letter writing skills, and ability to see things from a point of view that is not their own.  I will definitely be using this sort of activity in the future!  These letters, by the way, are the first, unedited drafts.  The next day I was able to take some time to help the children edit their letters, and these will be an official writing grade for them this quarter since my teacher really liked the assignment.

Fluency Mini-Lesson

I decided to work with a reader’s theatre script because it looked like so much fun.  My teacher recommended that I work with just one reading group so that each person could have a distinct part, and we decided together that the low reading group would benefit most from this extra practice with reading out loud to improve fluency.  My teacher provided me with a short book the group had recently finished: ‘Balto: The Bravest Dog Ever,’ which I translated into a script.  Some of the lines were copied word for word out of the book, while others were shortened or cut out completely to make it a manageable length.  Still, I made sure that the gist of the storyline was still included in the script.  I gave out parts according to gender, and then children with few character lines were also given narrating parts.  I chose to give the lead role of Gunnar to a child who I have particularly seen struggling with reading, Ryan, hoping that he would rise to the occasion and practice his lines until they were fluent.

                I introduced the reader’s theatre on February 13^th.  The previous week was the hundredth day of school, and I had also led a reader’s theatre that day so I knew that the children had experience with the concept and I had some strategies in mind about how to present the script.  I reminded the six children that they were my actors, and that an actor’s job is to show the audience how his character feels.  Since they were going to be standing in one place and didn’t have a set or costumes, I told the children that they would have to show all these emotions just with their voices.  This, I explained, was called reading with fluency.  They already knew this, and were able to give me examples of reading a line with and without fluency.  I gave each child a highlighter, and they went through to highlight their lines.  Next, I asked them to read over their lines to make sure they knew all the words and to put clouds around cloudy words.  I asked early finishers to look through everyone else’s lines for new cloudy words, too.  I let the children direct a review of any words their peers had “clouded” since I knew they had seen all of the words before when they read the book.  Once everyone was comfortable with the vocabulary, I called for quiet on the set and we ran through the script.  Some children, particularly Collin and Abby, were more expressive with their lines and engaged in the activity from the get-go.  Others, including (to my disappointment) Ryan, had trouble paying attention enough to follow everyone else’s lines. Thus Ryan and occasionally other children were constantly being reminded by the other children that it was their turn.  Throughout the script, and especially once we finished, I reminded the children to follow along with all the lines, not only their own, because good actors are always prepared for their next line to come up and do not have to be reminded that it is their turn.  I tried to get the children excited about having a whole week to practice the script before they performed it again, and some did seem enthusiastic, promising they would practice every night.

                The next week, I met with the group again.  Unfortunately, three of my six actors had lost their script at some point in the week, so we had to re-copy and re-highlight lines.  Still, I noticed that all six children read their lines more fluently to some extent.  Ryan still had to be reminded several times to follow along, but when his lines came up, he usually read them with emotion, however slowly.  If he or the other children didn’t use emotion this time through, I stopped the show and had them try again.  Only a few vocabulary words proved problematic this time through, far less than the first time, and even these the students either self-corrected or peer-corrected before I had to step in.

                I think that overall the reader’s theatre went well.  The children told me they enjoyed it, and this showed through in most of their reading.  I also saw improvement in word recognition, reading speed, expression and fluency.  I learned the hard way, though, that it is near impossible to be sure all children are practicing their learning at home as you ask them to, so I think reader’s theatre might be better served with daily practice only within the classroom.

Seminar on Interviewing

At seminar yesterday, we learned a lot of important information about how to interview for teaching jobs.  Some of the best, which I have worked on already (see links):

1. Start contact with an email, and follow-up immediately after with another email.  Reference specific things you like about that school, and how you think you would fit in well there.
2. Develop a statement of purpose and philosophy. 
3. Join LinkedIn to develop a network of professional contacts.
4. Attach a photograph to my resume.
5. Develop a response to the prompt "tell us a little about yourself."

School Security

I attended the panel discussion on Sandy Hook and school security last week.  The principal and one of the teachers on the panel were from the school where I do my practicum, so it was definitely interesting to hear the insider information about why the school is run the way it is.  I got some good advice about how to keep my children safe, and the discussion helped me think about a few things I hadn't thought about before with regards to school safety, such as keeping the parents calm.  I know that many parents came to my school on September 11th to claim their children, and I may have to deal with that one day if any kind of calamity or threat occurs during the school day.  I also had not thought much about how non-violent tragedies, such as the death of a teacher or faculty member due to illness, can affect the school community.  These are sensitive issues, especially when discussed with children, and I am grateful to have gotten some advice about them.