Keystone Assignment- ELL Reader Case Study

Click here to view my ELL Reader Case Study.

Keystone Assignment- Thematic Unit

Click here to view my Thematic Unit- Keystone Assignment

Week #10- Assignment 2

Click here to view my screen-cast narration on strategies for ELL Learners

Week #9- Assignment 3

Click here to view my lesson plan on reading comprehension.

Week #7- Assignment 3

• Explain the three levels of words and how you can use word levels to decide which words to teach?

Familiar words- (ex: look and run) they are words that are familiar to students that don't have to be taught 

Frequent words- (freeway and democracy) these are words  that come up frequently in texts and content being taught and are applicable to the children's lives and are the most important to teach to students.

Highly technical words- words that are from different subjects like chemistry and biology that are difficult and unique and should be taught the the subject teachers.

• How do you teach your students to "chunk" words as a strategy for decoding unfamiliar words? When do you provide this instruction?

First, start by writing the words onto strips and then tear it and have the student read the words in separate chunks. Then, gradually put the pieces together and have the child fully read the word. students, can also practice using this strategy by using their thumbs to chunk the words and make it easier to read in separate pieces. Eventually, the student will become more familiar with being able to decode unfamiliar words independently.

• Based on Professor's Allington's comment and the classroom examples, what are some ways you might foster word study in your classroom?

Firstly, I will ensure that there is always plenty of reading material accessible to my students and that they are provided with books and texts that are rich in content and vocabulary. Secondly, I will focus on the different strategies I learned about, to help my students decode all different types of words that they may come across in their learning experience and on their journey of becoming fluent readers.

Week #7- Assignment 2

• How can you ensure that your struggling readers have access to texts they can easily read?

There should be a class library with many appropriate books that are categorized according to genres and students' levels. The texts should be based on the students' background knowledge and topics that they find interest in.

• How can you foster a learning environment in which students have many opportunities to practice reading?

By having many reading and learning centers in the classroom, students will be given the fair amounts of opportunities to practice reading. in addition, there should be a balance of group instruction and individual coaching.

• Describe ways in which you can model fluent reading in you classroom throughout the day?

During a read-aloud the teacher can model fluency with decoding words, tone of voice and internal dialogue. During individual coaching, teachers should practice a non-interrupting reading and listening strategy. By allowing the students to finish each sentence and not interrupting them to correct words or inaccuracies, the teacher can model true reading fluency. 

Week #7- Assignment 1

The following is the link to my Fluency and Word Study Chart:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y0dtwkJG4LDPkycvF3dremKlOP77XFHw/view?usp=sharing

• What texts and materials do teachers have in their classrooms that support students' development of fluent reading?

Teachers should ensure that there are appropriate texts that peak students interests and are at each individual student's level. There should also be a rich supply of reading material all over the classroom that are connected to what they are learning. (For example: Bulletin Boards) 

• How do they select vocabulary to teach in all areas of your curriculum?

The teacher selects the list of vocabulary words that she teaches based on the lesson plans that she will be teaching. The words that she is teaching are words that are relate-able and interesting to the students based on what they are currently learning. This ensures that they comprehend and retain the vocabulary being taught.

• How much time do they allocate to word study?

The time for word study will vary based on what the students are succeeding or failing with. The teacher will spend more time to review and go over the words that students are having a difficult time with.

• What word study routines do they teach and encourage their students to use?

The teacher uses many word strategies and models them to the stdents. One of them is the ability to be able to understand the meaning of a word based on its surrounding context. For example, she encourages them to try to make educated guesses on what they think a word means based on the sentence it is in. This helps the students learn vocabulary words in a stimulating and independent way.

• How do they differentiate instruction and tasks based on their students' needs?

The balance of group reading, individual reading and read alouds is vital to help the teacher focus on all students different needs. During independent reading, the teacher focuses on each student's individual needs and areas that they might be lacking in and gets a clear understanding of where they are holding. Read-aloud has many benefits to model fluency, tone of voice and internal dialogue. It is crucial for a teacher to create her lessons in ways that enable different instruction to suit every student's individual needs!