courtanyesykora.weebly.com · Web viewTeaching Work Sample. Courtany Sykora. Movement/Investigating ‘C’ and ‘P’ Koch Elementary, Milbank, South Dakota. Kindergarten. 2 December

Teaching Work Sample

Courtany Sykora

Movement/Investigating ‘C’ and ‘P’

Koch Elementary, Milbank, South Dakota

Kindergarten

2 December 2016

Link: Table of Contents

Introduction to Teaching Work Sample

The following unit was completed to meet the requirements set by the Dakota State University College of Education. It includes a description of the community, school district, and classroom the unit takes place in as well as ten lesson plans completed in consecutive lessons. The cooperating classroom is an inclusion kindergarten classroom, meaning both students with special needs and students without special needs work together to learn and grow. The unit topic was movement, including how animals and humans move as well as machines and wheels. Along with this, the lesson focused on the letters ‘C’ and ‘P’.


Table of ContentsCONTEXTUAL FACTORS

Community

District/School

Classroom

Implications for Instruction

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

TIME LINE AND LESSON PLANS

Time Line

Lesson Plans

Reflection Log

ASSESSMENT

Pre-Assessment

Ongoing Assessment

Post Assessment

Student Work Document

DATA ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Individual Students

Whole Class

SUMMARY OF STUDENT PROGRESS

Example: Letter to Parents

Example: Unit Summary for Class Website

BIBLIOGRAPHY


CONTEXTUAL FACTORS

Community – Milbank, located in the northeast corner of South Dakota, had population of 3,269 according to the 2014 census; the town has a fairly low people per square mile ration at 1,228 people per square mile (City Data). The median resident age is 43 years, which is higher than the state’s median age of 36.6 years. Along with this, Milbank’s median income in 2013 was $39,116, lower than the state’s median household income of $48,947; as of 2013, 15.4% of residents were living in poverty. According to City Data, 95.4% of the citizens of Milbank are white while 3.2% are Hispanic. The crime rates in Milbank are low, especially when compared to the United States’ crime rates. In 2003, there were no murders, rapes, robberies, or assaults. Also, the amount of full-time law enforcement employee per 1,000 residents is over 2; this is just above South Dakota’s average full-time law enforcement employee per 1,000 residents. Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting provide 25% of Milbank’s industry while wholesale trade and manufacturing both provide 14% respectively (City Data). Along with this, retail trade, construction, accommodation and food services, and other services also add to Milbank’s industry. Milbank has a new hospital, municipal airport, public school district, private elementary school, and a library as well as other locally owned businesses.

District/School – Milbank School District, with the mission statement “Empowering All Students to Meet Life’s Transitions and Future Challenges,” includes Koch Elementary and a combined middle/high school. The school prides itself on seamlessly integrating technology at every level including the use of iPads, chrome books, computer labs, individual laptop computers, and Promethean boards spread throughout the district. Along with this, the Milbank School District is very involved with Google Applications, using them to aid both teachers and students in being successful. 93.4% of students that attend Milbank Public School identify as Caucasian, meaning the school district has a similar ethnic distribution as the community itself. Along with this, the school district has an almost equal balance of males and females. Milbank School District has a higher graduation rate than the average of South Dakota as a whole, and has for many years.

Koch Elementary includes students in kindergarten through fifth grade as well as junior kindergarten and preschool. Parents are encouraged to get their students in school as early as possible to help make the transition into kindergarten as easy as possible, both academically, socially, and emotionally. There are at least three sections of every grade level; the teachers of each grade level are a ‘team’ that works together and supports each other through the year.

Classroom – This unit will be completed in an inclusion kindergarten classroom, meaning there are both students with and without special needs in the class; within this classroom, there are several students with Individualized Education Plans (IEP) or a 504 plan. The classroom management technique used in this classroom is Love and Logic, which focuses on giving students a choice to choose their own consequences and behavior. The students can be reminded to “look and sound right” when their behavior is not as it should be. There is a full time teacher’s assistant in the classroom, mainly to work one-on-one with students throughout the day. The daily lessons will take place after the students complete their morning jobs including: putting their things away in their locker, emptying their folders, answering the question of the day,


buying a pet, and completing an ‘I can’ job, if time allows. At 8:20, the teacher announces to the class that when the timer goes off, the students are to clean up their work and find their spot for morning meeting. Each student has a number to sit on for morning meeting; the students know their number, but if they need a reminder, there is a list posted on the board. The students are expected to find their number prior to the morning song starting. A common transition used in this classroom is a timer on the Promethean board; the chime signals to the class it is time to clean up. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, a variety of students will leave for specialists including physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy; the specialists will come to the class to get them.

Student A has Type 1 diabetes and has an insulin pump inserted into his side; the pump is connected to his monitor, blue pack on a lanyard holding an iPhone, via Bluetooth. The monitor will alert the teachers if his blood sugar levels are changing too much. If the blood sugar level goes down, the monitor will alert the teachers by making a downward musical scale. If the blood sugar level goes up, the monitor will beep twice. The school nurse will come in to attend to him if his blood sugar levels are changing too much. There are emergency numbers next to the phone; there is also an emergency food kit on the shelf under the phone, labeled with his name and a picture, with directions on the top to follow in case of an emergency. Having said this, the school nurse is watching his numbers very closely and in case of an emergency will be in the room to take control of the situation.

Student B has been diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and will receive medication at 12:30, prior to going out to recess; send him to the nurse before sending him out to recess. Sometimes, the school nurse will meet him in the hallway to administer his medication. During morning meeting, he sits in the front row to aid him in staying engaged and paying attention to the lesson and any accompanying activities. Depending on the day, he may need quite a few reminders to “look and sound right” during class.

Student C has some trouble communicating verbally and he will commonly work one-on-one with the teacher’s assistant in the room during morning meeting. He receives services from the speech language pathologist to help with articulation and language. He also often loses his balance and falls down when walking around the classroom, especially when he is required to change directions quickly. He may need assistance navigating the classroom at times as well as prompting questions and assistance if he is required to talk in front of the class. Along with this, he often needs assistance completing reading, writing, and mathematic activities; some modifications are needed and will be noted later in this lesson plan.

Student D has been diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy (MD) which causes him to fall and tire easily when he is running or doing other physical exercise for an extended period of time. He also needs assistance when completing reading, writing, or mathematic activities. He will often receive individual help from the teacher or teacher’s assistant; some modifications are needed and will be noted later in this lesson plan.


Student E has been diagnosed with Hypophospatasia (HPP) which affects his balance and speed when walking and getting up from a seated position. He wears braces to help add stability as well as uses a walker, when he chooses, to give him more speed in the hallways and during recess. He will take care of the walker when he chooses to use it; it is stored in the far back corner of the room. In the mornings, he will eat his breakfast while he completes his other jobs; if he does not bring his own breakfast from home, the teacher’s assistant will help him go get breakfast from the lunch room.

Student F has been diagnosed with Down syndrome. He will need many modifications and accommodations that will be noted throughout the lesson. He uses and understands some sign language including: done, sit down, stand up, yes, no, bathroom, movies, mom, and dad. He will need help remaining seated during the lesson. He does spend time with specialists noted above on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the day. He usually enjoys listening to stories and signing the morning meeting songs. If needed, the teacher’s assistance will help keep him engaged in the lesson or pull him aside to participate in different activities.

Student G and Student H both see the speech language pathologist to help them with articulation and language skills. Student H also may need assistance completing reading and writing activities, depending on the activity. Student I receives services from the speech language pathologist to help with articulation and language. Due to being the youngest student in the class and immaturity, he will also often blurt out during the lesson without raising his hand; the teacher needs to remind him to raise his hand and not acknowledge what he says until he raises his hand quietly.

Implications for Instruction – The contextual factors explained above affect instruction greatly. Many students will need adaptions and modifications including extra help throughout the lesson, increased reminders to look and sound right, extra bathroom breaks, and one-on-one assistance. Along with this, as this group of students is fairly young, integrating movement, songs, and other engaging activities throughout the unit is necessary to keep them engaged and enjoying learning. There is a full-time teacher’s assistant in the room to assist in meeting the needs of some of the students; I will have her help me make sure students are looking and sounding right. She will also be pulling aside students to work on specific IEP goals. In this classroom, units are five days long. Because of this, I have chosen two topics that combine together, machines and movement, to focus on while working towards the goals and objectives. Also, each week, the class focuses on a new letter from the alphabet as they are still learning the names and sounds of each letter; a new high-frequency word is introduced each week as well.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Students will isolate and pronounce the first sound in words that begin with /k/ with 75% accuracy.


Students will identify the letter ‘C’ and ‘c’ with 75% accuracy.

Students will sign the letter ‘C’ using American Sign Language with 75% accuracy.

Students will identify the sound for letter ‘C’ and ‘c’ as /k/ with 75% accuracy.

Students will answer questions about a text with 75% accuracy.

As a group, the students will spell and identify the following site words: a, we, I, see, and, the with 75% accuracy.

Students will compare and contrast characters from a text with 75% accuracy.

Students will isolate and pronounce the first sound in words that begin with /p/ with 75% accuracy.

Students will identify the letter ‘p’ and ‘p’ with 75% accuracy.

Students will sign the letter ‘P’ using American Sign Language with 75% accuracy.

Students will identify the sound for letter ‘P’ and ‘p’ as /p/ with 75% accuracy.

As a group, the students will retell the main events from a story with 75% accuracy.

TIMELINE AND LESSON PLANS

Timeline

Date of 8 November 2016

Objective -- Students will isolate and pronounce the first sound in words that begin with /k/ with 75% accuracy.




Introduction – Students will sing the sing language song using actions.

Content Delivery – I will introduce Callie the Cat and the letter ‘C’; students will investigate the letter using picture cards. Using a flip chart, I will introduce the word of the week as ‘a’.

Closure – Review the letter and word of the week.


Teaching Strategy – Direct

Form of Assessment – Student responses throughout the lesson will be used as assessment; specifically, their ability to identify the letter ‘c’, make the sound /k/, and sign the letter ‘c’.

Length of Lesson – 30 minutes


Objective -- Students will isolate and pronounce the first sound in words that begin with /k/ with 75% accuracy.





Introduction – Students will sing the sign language song with actions as well as Callie the Cat’s song. Review the letter ‘c’ and sound /k/.

Content Delivery – We will read the story Move!, a story about how animals move.

Closure – Retell the story and review the letter ‘c’.


Form of Assessment – The students will be coming up to the flip chart to answer questions about the letter ‘c’. Student responses throughout the lesson.

Approximate Length – 30 minutes


Objective -- As a group, the students will spell and identify the following site words: a, we, I, see, and, the with 75% accuracy.






Introduction – Students will sing the sign language song with actions as well as Callie the Cat’s song. Review the letter and word of the week.

Content Delivery – We will review the high-frequency words that the students have already been learned by using movement. Students will compare and contrast using a Venn diagram on the board as a group.

Closure – Review the letter and word of the week before practicing the crossover movement.

Teaching Strategy – Indirect

Form of Assessment – The students will individually make the sign and sound for the letter ‘C’ during free choice. Student responses throughout the lesson.



Objective -- Students will identify the letter ‘C’ and ‘c’ with 75% accuracy.




Introduction – Students will sing the sign language song with actions as well as Callie the Cat’s song. Review the letter and word of the week.

Content Delivery – I will read The Hare and The Tortoise. The students will work together to compare and contrast the two texts from this week.

Closure – We will discuss the Venn diagram the students created as well as review the letter and word of the week.


Form of Assessment – Student responses throughout the lesson. The Venn diagram created by the class.




Objective -- Students will identify the letter ‘C’ and ‘c’ with 75% accuracy.




Introduction – Students will sing the sign language song with actions as well as Callie the Cat’s song.

Content Delivery – Using the Promethean board, the students will work together to work through two interactive whiteboard lessons focusing on the letter of the week and comparing and contrasting.

Closure – Review the letter and word of the week as well as the general concept of comparing and contrasting.


Form of Assessment – Student responses throughout the lesson as well as their ability to complete the interactive whiteboard lessons.



Objective -- As a group, the students will spell and identify the following site words: a, we, I, see, and, the, to with 75% accuracy.





As a group, the students will answer questions about the text with 75% accuracy.


Introduction – Students will sing the sing language song with actions.

Content Delivery – I will introduce the letter ‘P’ and word ‘to’ for this week. We will sing Wheels on the Bus to introduce the movement of machines into our movement unit. Then, we will read the story Good Morning, Digger.

Closure – We will review what happened in the story as well as review the letter and word of the week.


Form of Assessment – Student responses throughout the lesson.









Students will compare and contrast two texts with 75% accuracy.

Introduction – Students will sing the sing language song with actions as well as Wheels on the Bus.

Content Delivery – I will read the story What do wheels do all day? We will compare and contrast this text with Good Morning, Digger.

Closure – We will review the Venn diagram the students create together as well as the letter and word of the week.



Form of Assessment – Student responses throughout the lesson as well as the class diagram created during the lesson.










Introduction – The students will sing the sign language song with actions.

Content Delivery – Students will retell the main events from the story What do wheels do all day? Then, they will help organize picture cards into groups based on the initial sound of the word.

Closure – Review the letter and word of the week.


Form of Assessment – Student responses throughout the lesson as well as the Venn diagram created by the students during class.








Using pictures from the texts, students will compare and contrast two different texts with 75% accuracy.

Introduction – Students will sing the sign language song with actions as well as Pippa’s song.

Content Delivery – The students will retell what happened in each story concerning wheels and machines. The students will classify and categorize pictures and texts from each text from this week into three categories.

Closure – Review the different stories as well as the letter and word for the week.


Assessment – Student responses throughout the lesson. Each student’s ability to remember and retell parts of the story to be able to classify information from each.







Introduction – The students will sing the sign language song and Pippa Pig’s song.

Content Delivery – Show them the class video. The students will work together to complete interactive whiteboard lessons on the Promethean board.

Closure – The students will watch the class video again before reviewing the letter and word of the day.



Form of Assessment – The teacher will assess the students’ ability to complete the whiteboard lesson.


Lesson Plans

TWS Lesson 1

Reflection from Prior Lesson – In the last lesson, the students learned about the 50’s era as yesterday was the 50th day of school. They learned about the style of dancing that was common in the 50’s as well as popular clothing from the era. The students were able to participate in a dance party, had root beer floats, and chewed pink bubble gum. Because of all of the fun activities the students participated in yesterday, I am expecting some behaviors to occur as the previous day was fairly unstructured compared to the normal classroom routine. That being said, I think the students will welcome the return to normalcy with the start of this unit.

Lesson Goals – Students will isolate and pronounce the first sound in words that begin with /k/ with 75% accuracy.




Common Core State Standards – RF.K.2d Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words.

RF.K.3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.

Materials Needed – Picture cards (Callie Cat, toast, astronaut, ant, can, cow, cut, number ‘10,’ letter ‘c,’ letter ‘t,’ and letter ‘a’), marker board, expo markers, flip chart, pointer, CD player, ABC CD, ABC sign language chart, tape, timer

Contextual Factors – This lesson will be completed in an inclusion kindergarten classroom, meaning there are both students with and without special needs in the class; within this classroom, there are several students with Individualized Education Plans (IEP) or a 504 plan. The classroom management technique used in this classroom is Love and Logic, which focuses on giving students a choice to choose their own consequences and behavior. The students can be reminded to “look and sound right” when their behavior is not as it should be. There is a full time teacher’s assistant in the classroom, mainly to work one-on-one with students throughout the day. The lesson will take place after the students complete their morning jobs including: putting their things away in their locker, emptying their folders, answering the question of the day,


buying a pet, and completing an ‘I can’ job, if time allows. At 8:20, the teacher announces to the class that when the timer goes off, the students are to clean up their work and find their spot for morning meeting. Each student has a number to sit on for morning meeting; the students know their number, but if they need a reminder, there is a list posted on the board. The students are expected to find their number prior to the morning song starting. A common transition used in this classroom is a timer on the Promethean board; the chime signals to the class it is time to clean up. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, a variety of students will leave for specialists including physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy; the specialists will come to the class to get them.

Learner Characteristics – Student A has Type 1 diabetes and has an insulin pump inserted into his side; the pump is connected to his monitor, blue pack on a lanyard holding an iPhone, via Bluetooth. The monitor will alert the teachers if his blood sugar levels are changing too much. If the blood sugar level goes down, the monitor will alert the teachers by making a downward musical scale. If the blood sugar level goes up, the monitor will beep twice. The school nurse will come in to attend to him if his blood sugar levels are changing too much. There are emergency numbers next to the phone; there is also an emergency food kit on the shelf under the phone, labeled with his name and a picture, with directions on the top to follow in case of an emergency. Having said this, the school nurse is watching his numbers very closely and in case of an emergency will be in the room to take control of the situation.








A. The Lesson1. Introduction (6 minutes) -- I will start the timer for three minutes, announce the

class that the timer is going. When the timer rings, I will announce to the class it is time to clean up and make their way to morning meeting.

a. Getting attention – To get the students attention, we will sign the ABC’s while signing each letter as well.

b. Relating to past experience and/or knowledge – We are really getting going on becoming awesome readers. We have learned about the letter a, m, s, and t.

c. Creating a need to know -- Yesterday, we learned all about the 50’s because it was our 50th day of school. Today, is our 51st day of school and we are going to get back on track to learning how to read.

d. Sharing objective, in general terms – We are going to focus on one new word and one new letter today. The word ‘a’ and the letter ‘c’. Let’s get to work!

2. Content Delivery (20 minutes) – You guys are becoming experts at that song. I love to see you moving your fingers to form each letter. It is also really great for those of you to check out the sign language poster for help when you need it. Great job! Now, because you guys are experts at that song, I thought I would introduce another song to you. It is about a friend of mine named Callie. Callie the Cat. I will sing one line of the song, and I would like you to echo it back to me. (Sing each line of the song and have the class echo it back to me. I will do this twice through the entire song.) Do you


think we can sing it all together now? Me too! (Sing through the entire song with the class.)

Say “Callie Cat” with me. Callie’s letter is c (post Callie’s picture card on the board.) The letter c can stand for the /k/ sound, the sound you hear at the beginning of Callie and cat. You can hear the /k/ sound at the beginning of a lot of words in our song: Callie, cat, and cornbread. Can you think of any others from our song? (Acceptable answers: cupcake, cake, cakey, can, and cookies.)

I will attach the picture cards for letter a, c, and t on the board. We will review the sound that goes with each letter (/a/, /c/, and /t/). Then, I will hold up a picture card and ask them what it is (for example, toast). I will ask the students to sound out the word to figure out the first sound of the word (/t/). I will touch each letter card and look for a match. Then, I will put the picture of toast under the letter t picture card. I will ask for experts to help me with the rest (if needed, I will do the activity as a whole group).

Using the flip chart, I will read the word of the day (a) once through and then, ask the students to say the word with me. I will explain that you use the word a when you mean one – a book, a story, a student, a chair. I will read the flip chart, ‘This rabbit sits on a log.” I will ask the students if the rabbit is sitting one a lot of logs or just one log. (One log) Right! The rabbit is sitting on just one log; we can figure that out by looking at the picture or by finding the word “a” in the sentence. The word “a” can be replaced by the word one. (This rabbit sits on one log,) Our word “a” means one. Reread the sentence (This rabbit sits on a log.) Student teacher, will you please come up and read the sentence for us? (I will ask for more volunteers to read the sentence.)

3. Closure (4 minutes) – Are you up for a challenge? Who can use the word “a” in a sentence? Experts, are you ready for another challenge? Raise your hand, if you would like to show the class how to sign the letter c. (Allow for the students to raise their hands.) Wow! It looks like there are a lot of experts in this class who know how to sign the letter c. Do you remember the song we sang at the beginning of morning meeting? (Callie the Cat.) Let’s sing it again just to remind me of the words. Do you think you can help me remember the words? (Sing Callie the Cat song.) When I say the word of the day (a), all of you show me the sign language for letter c. Ready, ‘a’! Great job today! Now, please stand up on your number. Do cross overs to line up and get ready to go to the SMART room!

B. Assessments Used – The teacher will use informal observations as an assessment throughout this lesson. The teacher will make sure the students are participating throughout the lesson including during the songs and flip chart work. Along with this, the teacher will use student responses to the questions throughout the lesson as an assessment as well.

C. Differentiated Instruction – For this lesson, several students will have preferential seating, depending on their needs; for example, one student will be seated in the front


row in the middle to help them stay engaged while another student will be seated on the edge of the carpet as they cannot sit for a long period of time with their legs crossed. Also, two students will be pulled aside by the teacher’s assistance to receive additional support throughout the unit. Along with this, I will be choosing specific students to read the flip chart first to provide some students with more models prior to calling them up to read in front of the class. One student in the class aids communication with sign language; this is why sign language was included in lesson as well as one of the unit goals.

D. Resources – Journey’s curriculum teacher’s edition, Mrs. Shelly Loehrera. Callie Cat Song (tune: Yankee Doodle)

i. Callie Cat can bake a cake and cover it with candy.ii. Callie Cat can bake some cornbread. Callie is so handy.

iii. Callie bakes some cupcakes, too. Her cupcakes are so cakey.iv. Callie bakes some cookies, too. Her cookies are so flakey.

TWS Lesson 2

Reflection from Prior Lesson – In the last lesson, students were introduced to Callie the Cat and her song. The students loved it! It really caught their attention and they love hearing about Callie. They also used to picture cards and a flip chart to investigate the letter c, and its sound /k/, as well as the word “a.” Overall, the students enjoyed the lesson and did fairly well with it. I will use the Callie the Cat song again to review as well as get the students ready to go for the next lesson.

Lesson Goals – Students will isolate and pronounce the first sound in words that begin with /k/ with 75% accuracy.






RI.K.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

Materials Needed – Callie Cat picture card, big book, flip book, expo markers, pointer, CD, ABC CD

Contextual Factors – This lesson will be completed in an inclusion kindergarten classroom, meaning there are both students with and without special needs in the class; within this


classroom, there are several students with Individualized Education Plans (IEP) or a 504 plan. The classroom management technique used in this classroom is Love and Logic, which focuses on giving students a choice to choose their own consequences and behavior. The students can be reminded to “look and sound right” when their behavior is not as it should be. There is a full time teacher’s assistant in the classroom, mainly to work one-on-one with students throughout the day. The lesson will take place after the students complete their morning jobs including: putting their things away in their locker, emptying their folders, answering the question of the day, buying a pet, and completing an ‘I can’ job, if time allows. At 8:20, the teacher announces to the class that when the timer goes off, the students are to clean up their work and find their spot for morning meeting. Each student has a number to sit on for morning meeting; the students know their number, but if they need a reminder, there is a list posted on the board. The students are expected to find their number prior to the morning song starting. A common transition used in this classroom is a timer on the Promethean board; the chime signals to the class it is time to clean up. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, a variety of students will leave for specialists including physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy; the specialists will come to the class to get them.









E. The Lesson4. Introduction (6 minutes)

a. Getting attention – To get the students attention, we will sing the ABC’s while signing each letter as well.

b. Relating to past experience and/or knowledge – Yesterday, you were all introduced to my friend Callie the Cat.

c. Creating a need to know – Today, we are going to keep working with Callie the Cat to become even better readers and writers than you already are!

d. Sharing objective, in general terms – We are going to focus on words that start with the letter c as well as our word “a”.

5. Content Delivery (20 minutes) – Before we learn more about Callie the Cat, I think we should show her that we know her song. Let’s sing her song that we learned yesterday. (Sing the song two times through, if needed, three times). What letter does Callie Cat wear? (The letter C). What sound does the letter C make? (/k/). I will write


the following words on the board: can, cub, cat, cut. After showing the students how I sound out the word and underline the c, or /k/ sound, I will ask for volunteers to help me with the other three.

Next, while staying in your square, please turn towards the flip chart. Remember that Callie and Cat both start with C and that /k/ sound. Callie Cat wants her new friends, you and me, to find things in the grass that start with the /k/ sound. Listen for the /k/ sound while I read each picture: carrot, net, cup, hat, corn, cake, and can. I will ask for volunteers to come up to the flip chart and write an uppercase and lowercase c by each word that starts with that letter. I will also ask students to help me figure out what letter the other pictures start with.

Now, please turn back towards the front, while staying in your square and we are going to read a BIG book. This book is titled Move! It is written by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page. This book is about how animals move. I will find out how they move by reading and looking at the pictures. (Read the big book.) Remember to make pictures in your minds as I read. Imagine the different animals moving in the wild near where they live. I will note that the text throughout the story is shaped in different ways, making reading the story even more fun! I will also ask questions about how the animals move throughout the text.

6. Closure (4 minutes) – I will leave a smaller copy of this book on the book shelf for you to read through and retell the story. Remember to make you voice go up and down with the words and use your finger to follow the text. Just to remind me, because I have forgotten, how do you sign the letter c again? Great! And what was our word this week? (A) Perfect! Let’s sing Callie the Cat’s song one more time to thank her for being such a great teacher of the letter C! (Sing Callie the Cat song). Now, tiptoe to your number for the SMART room!

F. Assessments Used – The teacher will use informal observations as an assessment throughout this lesson. The teacher will make sure the students are participating throughout the lesson including during the songs and flip chart work. Along with this, the teacher will use student responses to the questions throughout the lesson as an assessment as well.

G. Differentiated Instruction – For this lesson, several students will have preferential seating, depending on their needs; for example, one student will be seated in the front row in the middle to help them stay engaged while another student will be seated on the edge of the carpet as they cannot sit for a long period of time with their legs crossed. Also, two students will be pulled aside by the teacher’s assistance to receive additional support throughout the unit. Along with this, I will be choosing specific students to read the flip chart first to provide some students with more models prior to calling them up to read in front of the class. One student in the class aids communication with sign language; this is why sign language was included in lesson as well as one of the unit goals. When the students come up to the board to answer questions, I will use hand-over-hand to help them with writing, when needed, as well as more leading questions.


H. Resources – Journey’s curriculum teacher’s edition, Mrs. Shelly Loehrer

TWS Lesson 3

Reflection from Prior Lesson – Yesterday, the students dug deeper into the letter ‘C’ and the word a. Each student got the chance to come up to the board to help identify different sounds in a word or participate in other activities. Along with this, the students sang Callie the Cat’s song again to review the sound /k/. In the last lesson, the students also participated in a read-aloud of the story Move! By Steve Jenkins and Robin Page; the story is about how different animals move.

Lesson Goals – As a group, the students will spell and identify the following site words: a, we, I, see, and, the with 75% accuracy.






RF.K.3c Read common high-frequency words by sight (e.g., the, of, to, you, she, my, is are, do does).


RI.K.3 With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.

Materials Needed – CD player, ABC CD, sign language poster, white board, white board markers, BIG book (Move!), Venn diagram chart, iPad, action cards

Contextual Factors – This lesson will be completed in an inclusion kindergarten classroom, meaning there are both students with and without special needs in the class; within this classroom, there are several students with Individualized Education Plans (IEP) or a 504 plan. The classroom management technique used in this classroom is Love and Logic, which focuses on giving students a choice to choose their own consequences and behavior. The students can be reminded to “look and sound right” when their behavior is not as it should be. There is a full time teacher’s assistant in the classroom, mainly to work one-on-one with students throughout the day. The lesson will take place after the students complete their morning jobs including: putting


their things away in their locker, emptying their folders, answering the question of the day, buying a pet, and completing an ‘I can’ job, if time allows. At 8:20, the teacher announces to the class that when the timer goes off, the students are to clean up their work and find their spot for morning meeting. Each student has a number to sit on for morning meeting; the students know their number, but if they need a reminder, there is a list posted on the board. The students are expected to find their number prior to the morning song starting. A common transition used in this classroom is a timer on the Promethean board; the chime signals to the class it is time to clean up. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, a variety of students will leave for specialists including physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy; the specialists will come to the class to get them.









I. The Lesson7. Introduction (4 minutes)

a. Getting attention – To get the students attention, we will sing the ABC’s while signing each letter as well.

b. Relating to past experience and/or knowledge – Yesterday, we read a BIG book. The story was Move! It told us all about the different ways animals can move.

c. Creating a need to know – Today, we are going to find connections between the animals in our story, figuring out if they are the same or different. Maybe, kind of the same, and kind of different.

d. Sharing objective, in general terms – We are going to focus on comparing and contrasting characters from our story.

Content Delivery (20 minutes) – We will review the following high-frequency words: a, we, I, see, the, and, can. I will show the class the words, ask them to sound out the word, and help me identify it. Then, we will do different movements while spelling the word to help the students remember them; I have a bag of action cards that I will have one student draw from to decide which movement to do. For example, I will have the students clap each letter and then, reach high into the air as the say the entire word. I will go through each word using the same process, just different movements. Examples of movements would include: dribbling a basketball and


shooting the final word, clapping the letters and reaching high into the air for the final word, boxing each letter and using both hands for the final word, and so on.

I am going to say a word. If the word starts with the letter c, or the /k/ sound, give me a thumbs up. If it does not start with the letter c, or the /k/ sound, give me a thumbs down. Because I believe in each and every single one of you, I want you to put your thumb right in front of your chest so your neighbors cannot see it. I will use the following words: crocodile, gibbon, cover, slither, can, Callie, jump, and cat. I will tell the students each word, give them time to produce either a thumbs up or thumbs down, and then discuss the word with them. We will figure out what letter the words that do not start with letter c begin with by stretching out the sounds.

Next, I will explain that comparing and contrasting means looking for ways that things are similar and how they are different. (I will be using a Venn diagram on the board to complete the next activity.) For example, if I were to compare and contrast Mrs. Loehrer and Miss. Sykora, I might put in the same section, which is the middle where the two circles overlap, that we both have blonde hair. In Mrs. Loehrer’s section, I might put that she wears glasses; in Miss. Sykora’s section, I would put that I do not wear glasses. Do you have any more ideas about how we are alike or how we are different? (Allow the student’s time for discussion.)

We are going to reread the story we read yesterday, Move! Prior to reading the story, I will ask the students to think about all of the different ways we can compare and contrast the animals in the story. I will also stop and ask them questions and make comments throughout the story as follows:

Page Number

Teacher Questions or Comments Acceptable Student Responses

1 Oh, look! This is an interesting page. What is this page called again?

Table of Contents

What page do we need to read our story, Move!

Page 2

4/5 These two animals, the gibbon and jacana, both walk. Are they the same or different in that way?

Same

In what ways are they different? Jacana: feathers, wings, skinny legs; gibbon: furry, hands and feet

6 I hear a word that starts with the /k/ Catch


sound. Do you? What word is it?

10 I see a pattern. On every page, it shows two different animals that move in the same way. What are the two animals on this page?

Armadillo and crocodile.

What movement do they do the same?

Leap

What makes them different from each other?

Answers may vary.

Great job! Let’s keep reading and see if we can compare and contrast any more.

14 Oh! I see a great /k/ word on this page. If you know what it is raise your hand!

Climb

Great job! I will keep a smaller version of this book on the book shelf for Daily 5 time. You can work on comparing and contrasting, or seeing how things are the same or different, when you get to that station!

8. Closure (4 minutes) – What is the sign language for the letter ‘C’? Show me! Wow, you guys are experts. Tell me what sound the letter ‘c’ makes. (/k/) What does compare and contrast mean again? (Figuring out how things are the same and how they are different). Great job! Now, I would like you to compare and contrast how these two moves are different. (First, tiptoe with my arms stretched above my head. Then, tiptoe with my arms straight out forward.) (Allow for time to discuss that in both moves I am tiptoeing, but my arms are doing different things.) Perfect! You can choose which move you would like to do to go to your number to get ready for the SMART room.

J. Assessments Used – The teacher will use informal observations as an assessment throughout this lesson. The teacher will make sure the students are participating throughout the lesson including during the songs and flip chart work. Along with this, the teacher will use student responses to the questions throughout the lesson as an assessment as well. When the students come up to the board to answer questions, I will use hand-over-hand to help them with writing, when needed, as well as more leading questions. Along with this, I will make note of the students who do not produce the correct sign when completing the thumbs up/thumbs down activity.


During free choice, the teacher will individually assess each student by asking them what sound the letter ‘C’ makes. The teacher will video each student’s response and make note of any inconsistencies. This was a chosen method of assessment because several of the students in the class either work with the speech pathologist or have been referred to the speech pathologist. Because of this, it is very important to ensure the students are associating the correct sound with its corresponding letter.

K. Differentiated Instruction – For this lesson, several students will have preferential seating, depending on their needs; for example, one student will be seated in the front row in the middle to help them stay engaged while another student will be seated on the edge of the carpet as they cannot sit for a long period of time with their legs crossed. Also, two students will be pulled aside by the teacher’s assistance to receive additional support throughout the unit. Along with this, I will be choosing specific students to read the flip chart first to provide some students with more models prior to calling them up to read in front of the class. One student in the class aids communication with sign language; this is why sign language was included in lesson as well as one of the unit goals.

L. Resources – Journey’s curriculum teacher’s edition, Mrs. Shelly Loehrer

TWS Lesson 4

Reflection from Prior Lesson – The students loved adding the different movements and actions to spelling out each high-frequency words. They also seemed to really enjoy being able to draw one out of the bag and help figure out what the card said. Along with this, the student’s seem to really be getting better at singing Callie the Cat’s song. I am also happy to note that it seems like more and more students are connecting the sound /k/ to the letter ‘C’ as well as the sign language for the letter. Along with this, the student’s loved comparing and contrasting my cooperating teacher, Mrs. Loehrer, and me. They were excited to discuss and produce differences and commonalities between us. They seemed to understand the concept of comparing and contrasting as well as have very basic skills with Venn diagrams.

Lesson Goals –Students will identify the letter ‘C’ and ‘c’ with 75% accuracy.








Materials Needed – CD player, ABC CD, sign language poster, white board, white board markers, BIG book (The Hare and The Tortoise), Venn diagram chart, picture cards, magnets

Contextual Factors – This lesson will be completed in an inclusion kindergarten classroom, meaning there are both students with and without special needs in the class; within this classroom, there are several students with Individualized Education Plans (IEP) or a 504 plan. The classroom management technique used in this classroom is Love and Logic, which focuses on giving students a choice to choose their own consequences and behavior. The students can be reminded to “look and sound right” when their behavior is not as it should be. There is a full time teacher’s assistant in the classroom, mainly to work one-on-one with students throughout the day. The lesson will take place after the students complete their morning jobs including: putting their things away in their locker, emptying their folders, answering the question of the day, buying a pet, and completing an ‘I can’ job, if time allows. At 8:20, the teacher announces to the class that when the timer goes off, the students are to clean up their work and find their spot for morning meeting. Each student has a number to sit on for morning meeting; the students know their number, but if they need a reminder, there is a list posted on the board. The students are expected to find their number prior to the morning song starting. A common transition used in this classroom is a timer on the Promethean board; the chime signals to the class it is time to clean up. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, a variety of students will leave for specialists including physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy; the specialists will come to the class to get them.









M. The Lesson9. Introduction (4 minutes)

a. Getting attention – To get the students’ attention, we will sing the ABC’s while signing each letter as well.


b. Relating to past experience and/or knowledge – Yesterday, we learned how to compare and contrast two things.

c. Creating a need to know – Today, we are going to continue doing that, but with the characters in our story. This way we can better understand the stories we read.

d. Sharing objective, in general terms – We are going to focus on comparing and contrasting characters from our story.

10. Content Delivery (24 minutes) – After the introduction, I will read the story The Hare and The Tortoise, a retelling of the well-known fable about the tortoise and the hare. After reading the story through, we will compare and contrast our two texts for this week: Move! and The Hare and The Tortoise. Using a Venn diagram chart, we will discuss the similarities and differences between the two texts. For example, they both focus on animals as well as movement. That being said, our first story is fictional while our second story is non-fiction. I will ask for more ideas from the students and discuss the ideas they come up with.

Then, I will explain that comparing and contrasting or finding things that are the same and different can make categorizing things even easier. I will explain that categorizing is putting things into groups that have things in common, or the same. I will give each student a picture card; they will come up to the board and place their card in one of the two following groups: classroom or lunchroom. After each student places their card on the board, we will figure out what sound each picture starts with. Finally, we will count how many pictures start with the letter ‘C’ as well as figure out which side (classroom or lunchroom) has more pictures that start with /k/.

11. Closure (2 minutes) – To close, I will have the students sign Callie the Cat’s song as well as sign the letter ‘C’ following the song. Along with this, I will ask the students to make the sound /k/ while doing crossovers to their number to go to the SMART room.

N. Assessments Used – The teacher will use informal observations as an assessment throughout this lesson. The teacher will make sure the students are participating throughout the lesson including during the songs and flip chart work. Along with this, the teacher will use student responses to the questions throughout the lesson as an assessment as well. The teacher will use the students’ ability to answer questions to compare and contrast two things as an informal assessment. Each student will be given a picture card to place in a category on the board. They will also be asked to identify which sound the picture card starts with.

O. Differentiated Instruction – For this lesson, several students will have preferential seating, depending on their needs; for example, one student will be seated in the front row in the middle to help them stay engaged while another student will be seated on the edge of the carpet as they cannot sit for a long period of time with their legs crossed.


Also, two students will be pulled aside by the teacher’s assistance to receive additional support throughout the unit. Along with this, I will be choosing specific students to read the flip chart first to provide some students with more models prior to calling them up to read in front of the class. One student in the class aids communication with sign language; this is why sign language was included in lesson as well as one of the unit goals. When the students come up to the board to answer questions, I will use hand-over-hand to help them with writing, when needed, as well as more leading questions. Along with this, I will make note of the students who do not produce the correct sign when completing the thumbs up/thumbs down activity.

P. Resources – Journey’s curriculum teacher’s edition, Mrs. Shelly Loehrer

TWS Lesson 5

Reflection from Prior Lesson – The lesson went fairly well. We read The Hare and The Tortoise, which is a version of the fable about the tortoise and the hare. Because many of the students had read the original fable, they were interested in noting the differences and commonalities between the two stories. After reading, we compared and contrasted the two stories we read this week. Like in the previous lesson, the students seemed to enjoy and understand the concept of comparing and contrasting. In another activity, focusing on categorizing, I gave each student a picture. The students we instructed to categorize the picture into the following categories: lunch room or classroom. I also did an assessment during free choice including asking each student to produce the sound that corresponds with the letter ‘C’. I noticed that some students were much more confident than other students when answering the question. I think the students understand the letter ‘C’. I think the next lesson will include work for the class to work through together with minimal assistance to get a good assessment of their knowledge.

Lesson Goals – Students will identify the letter ‘C’ and ‘c’ with 75% accuracy.








Materials Needed – CD player, ABC CD, sign language poster, Promethean Board, laptop computer, Journey’s interactive whiteboard (Lesson 8), iPad










Q. The Lesson12. Introduction (4 minutes)

a. Getting attention – To get the students’ attention, we will sing the ABC’s while signing each letter as well.


b. Relating to past experience and/or knowledge – Yesterday, we learned how to compare and contrast two texts as well as practice finding the first sound in a word.

c. Creating a need to know – Today, you are going to show me how you are experts and know all about the letter ‘C’!

d. Sharing objective, in general terms – We are going to practice finding the initial sound in word, identify the letter ‘C’ as well as the corresponding sound /k/.

13. Content Delivery (24 minutes) – After the introduction, I will explain to the students that because I believe they are experts in the letter ‘C,’ I have created a class video of them explaining what sound it makes. I will instruct the students to stay in their square, but turn their bodies toward the Promethean board.

After showing the video, possible twice if the students would like, we will move on to working through the interactive whiteboard lessons provided by the Journey’s curriculum. There are instructions for the students to follow on each page. I have attached copies of each slide. I will draw a name stick out of the bucket to decide which student will come up to help complete the slide. Each student will get more than one turn to come up to the board an answer the questions.

14. Closure (2 minutes) – To complete the lesson, I will show the students three more videos. Each video is of three students sounding out a letter sound. For example, one student makes the /k/ sound, one student makes the /a/ sound, and another one makes a /n/ sound. All together they would spell the word ‘can.’ There are three videos of similar nature for the students to work together to complete. Following this assessment, I will ask the students to tiptoe to their number to go to the SMART room.

R. Assessments Used – The teacher will use informal observations as an assessment throughout this lesson. The teacher will make sure the students are participating throughout the lesson including during the songs and flip chart work. Along with this, the teacher will use student responses to the questions throughout the lesson as an assessment as well. The teacher will use each student’s ability to answer questions throughout the lesson as an assessment. Also, the teacher will use teacher observations while the students are completing the interactive lessons as well as sounding out each word via video as an assessment as well.

S. Differentiated Instruction – For this lesson, several students will have preferential seating, depending on their needs; for example, one student will be seated in the front row in the middle to help them stay engaged while another student will be seated on the edge of the carpet as they cannot sit for a long period of time with their legs crossed. Also, two students will be pulled aside by the teacher’s assistance to receive additional support throughout the unit. One student in the class aids communication with sign language; this is why sign language was included in lesson as well as one of the unit goals. When the students come up to the board to answer questions, I will use hand-over-


hand to help them with writing, when needed, as well as more leading questions. Along with this, I will make note of the students who do not produce the correct sign when completing the thumbs up/thumbs down activity. To assist students when they are asked to complete portions of the interactive lessons, I will be there to ask leading questions and use hand-over-hand to operate the computer mouse.

T. Resources – Journey’s curriculum teacher’s edition, Mrs. Shelly Loehrer

TWS Lesson 6

Reflection from Prior Lesson – In the previous lesson, we finished up talking about the letter ‘C’ and the word ‘a’ as we are moving on to a new word and letter of the week. The students participated in an interactive whiteboard lesson as a whole group. The students really seemed to enjoy being able to go up to the board and show their classmates what they knew about the letter ‘C’ and word ‘a’. I also showed a class video of each of the students explaining what sound the letter ‘C’ makes (/k/). The students loved being a part of the video. I think I will do this again in the unit as they enjoyed it so much. Along with this, their behavior was very good as I told them only experts were allowed to be a part of the next class video.

Lesson Goals – As a group, the students will spell and identify the following site words: a, we, I, see, and, the, to with 75% accuracy.











Materials Needed – CD player, ABC song, sign language poster, letter cards, sight word card, flip chart, pointers, Good Morning, Digger




Student C has some trouble communicating verbally and he will commonly work one-on-one with the teacher’s assistant in the room during morning meeting. He receives services from the speech language pathologist to help with articulation and language. He also often loses his balance and falls down when walking around the classroom, especially when he is required to


change directions quickly. He may need assistance navigating the classroom at times as well as prompting questions and assistance if he is required to talk in front of the class. Along with this, he often needs assistance completing reading, writing, and mathematic activities; some modifications are needed and will be noted later in this lesson plan.





U. The Lesson15. Introduction (6 minutes) -- I will start the timer for three minutes, announce the



b. Relating to past experience and/or knowledge – We are really getting going on becoming awesome readers. We have learned about the letter a, m, s, and t. We just became experts on what letter? Callie’s letter?


c. Creating a need to know -- Yesterday, we worked together on the Promethean board to show everyone how much we know about the letter ‘C’ and the word ‘a’. Today, we are going to move on to a new letter and word to become even better readers and writers!

d. Sharing objective, in general terms – We are going to focus on one new word and one new letter today. The word ‘to’ and the letter ‘p’!

16. Content Delivery (20 minutes) – You guys are becoming experts at that song. I love to see you moving your fingers to form each letter. It is also really great for those of you to check out the sign language poster for help when you need it. Great job!

Because you are such experts at that song, I would like to introduce another song to you. This song is about a machine some of you see each school day! I am sure some of you have heard/sang this song before so really help me sing it! (Sing The Wheels on the Bus). “What are some other things that have wheels besides a bus?”

Staying in your square, please turn back towards the whiteboard. Our word of the week is ‘to’. What is the word? How do we say the word? What is the word? Let’s spell the word. What is the word? Great job! You can be looking for our word of the week within our story today. What is this letter? (Point to the letter card) Right! It is letter ‘P’ and it makes the /p/ sound. Say that with me: /p/. Let’s practice making the letter ‘p’ in sign language. Make a peace sign, touch your thumb to your middle finger and turn it upside down! Great job!

Our story is called Good Morning, Digger by Anne Rockwell and illustrated by Melanie Hope Greenberg. What do you think this story might be about? Notice when I read the story, I will be reading it at a pace that is not too fast, and not too slow. (Read a page too fast) When I read like this, it is hard to understand. I am reading too quickly.

Page Number

Teacher Questions/Comments Acceptable Student Responses

6 So far, Digger has spent all day digging a big hole in an empty lot. The dump truck is taking away all the dirt from the hole. Why is Digger digging a hole in an empty lot? I will keep reading to find out more.

NA

12 What do the workers build around the hole?

They build a wall.


What do the pictures show the workers doing?

Hammering, building a wall, sawing, driving a machine, talking

17 What new machine is the flatbed bringing to the workers?

A crane.

18 What do the words mean when they say that Crane swings doors, windows, and parts of walls into the air? If I think about it and look more closely at the pictures, I can figure it out. The empty lot is becoming a building. The crane is moving parts of the walls, windows, and doors into place. I wonder what kind of building they are making. I will keep reading to find out.

NA

20 What do the workers do after they finish eating?

They go back to work!

23 What happens on these pages? Flatbed takes Digger away. The boy says goodbye to Digger.

What a great story about a big machine! We will keep learning more and more about machines throughout the week.

17. Closure (4 minutes) – Experts. What is our letter of the week? Letter ‘p’! What sound does letter ‘P’ make? /p/. Can you show me the sign language for letter ‘P’? Yes! We will keep working on all of these things to become experts and be even better readers! Tiptoe to your number to go to the SMART room.

V. Assessments Used – The teacher will use informal observations as an assessment throughout this lesson. The teacher will make sure the students are participating throughout the lesson including during the songs and flip chart work. Along with this, the teacher will use student responses to the questions throughout the lesson as an assessment as well.

W. Differentiated Instruction – For this lesson, several students will have preferential seating, depending on their needs; for example, one student will be seated in the front row in the middle to help them stay engaged while another student will be seated on the edge of the carpet as they cannot sit for a long period of time with their legs crossed. Also, two students will be pulled aside by the teacher’s assistance to receive additional


support throughout the unit. Along with this, I will be choosing specific students to read the flip chart first to provide some students with more models prior to calling them up to read in front of the class. One student in the class aids communication with sign language; this is why sign language was included in lesson as well as one of the unit goals.

X. Resources – Journey’s curriculum teacher’s edition, Mrs. Shelly Loehrer

TWS Lesson 7

Reflection from Prior Lesson – In the previous lesson, we introduced the letter ‘P’ and the word ‘to’ as the new information for the week. We also read a story titled Good Morning, Digger. The students enjoyed singing the song, The Wheels on the Bus to introduce the concept of machines. The students had trouble correctly forming the sign for the letter ‘P’ as it is a fairly difficult sign to master. Because of this, I will make sure to have the students practice more both during the lesson and throughout the day. I will also make a note of doing the sign language when I say the letter ‘P’ to expose the students to the sign even more.







As a group, students will compare and contrast two texts with 75% accuracy.







Materials Needed – CD player, ABC song, sign language poster, whiteboard, whiteboard markers, Venn diagram chart, BIG Book (What do wheels do all day?)










Y. The Lesson18. Introduction (6 minutes) -- I will start the timer for three minutes, announce the




b. Relating to past experience and/or knowledge – Yesterday, I introduced you to another friend of mine, Pippa. She is great isn’t she?

c. Creating a need to know – Well, today we are going to continue working with Pippa and talk even more about machines so we can become expert readers!

d. Sharing objective, in general terms – We are going to focus finding things that are different and that are the same about two books, so we can really understand what happens in each of them.

19. Content Delivery (20 minutes) – Keep showing me all the sign language that you know when we do that song! It fills my bucket right up when you sing loudly and sign each letter! I am going to challenge you. Can you show me the sign language for the letter ‘p’? If you need a little help, remember to make a peace sign, touch your thumb to your middle finger, and put it down to the ground. Also, it is an upside down ‘k’; you could make the letter ‘k’ and turn it upside down! Great job! We will keep practicing that! What is our word this week? How do you spell it again? What is the word? Perfect! Today, we are going to read a story about what wheels do all day. Wheels help move machines like some of the machines in our story yesterday, Good Morning, Digger. As we read, see if you can think of any other ways the two stories are the same, or even, how they may be different. I will read the story to the students stopping throughout to have the students ask and answer questions.

Page Number

Teacher Questions/Comments

Acceptable Student Responses

Cover Which side is the front cover of the book? Which is the back of the book? Where is the title? Where is the author?

Correctly identify each of the parts of the book.

4 Each word on this page describes a picture: push, pull, pedal, and tow. What is man doing in the first picture?

Pushing a wheelbarrow

What is the person with the wagon doing?

Pulling the dog

7 What do the words say about wheels?

They help us go.

Who is using the wheels in this picture?

Everyone. Kids, moms, dads, adults, etc.

8 How are these things similar? They are all round. They all


turn.

How are these things different?

They are different sizes and colors. Some turn in the air and some turn on the ground.

30 How do the wheels help the people in the pictures?

Wheels help with farming and steering boats. They help children play.

After Tell me about the different things that wheels help people do. On some pages, the book explains that wheels do something, but people are really doing the moving. For example, the book says, “Wheels win,” but who actually wins the race?

The person riding the bike.

What do the wheels do? The wheels help the person go fast enough to win the race.

Following the read-aloud, the students will work together to compare and contrast the two stories we have read about machines (Good Morning, Digger and What do wheels do all day?).

Teacher Question/Comments Acceptable Student Responses

What is the same about these two stories? Not limited to the following: They both talk about wheels. They both talk about ways that wheels can help people. They both show people in the story. They both have cartoon pictures.

What is different about these two stories? Not limited to the following: One focuses on the wheels on focuses on the entire machine. One includes many different machines while one includes types of wheels.


20. Closure (4 minutes) – What does it mean to compare and contrast something? (To look for things that are the same and things that are different). Comparing and contrasting can help us understand what happens in the story even better, which makes us expert readers! What is our letter of the week? Letter ‘p’! What sound does letter ‘P’ make? /p/. Can you show me the sign language for letter ‘P’? Yes! We will keep working on all of these things to become experts and be even better readers! Tiptoe to your number to go to the SMART room.

Z. Assessments Used – The teacher will use informal observations as an assessment throughout this lesson. The teacher will make sure the students are participating throughout the lesson including during the songs and flip chart work. Along with this, the teacher will use student responses to the questions throughout the lesson as an assessment as well.

AA. Differentiated Instruction – For this lesson, several students will have preferential seating, depending on their needs; for example, one student will be seated in the front row in the middle to help them stay engaged while another student will be seated on the edge of the carpet as they cannot sit for a long period of time with their legs crossed. Also, two students will be pulled aside by the teacher’s assistance to receive additional support throughout the unit. One student in the class aids communication with sign language; this is why sign language was included in lesson as well as one of the unit goals.

BB. Resources – Journey’s curriculum teacher’s edition, Mrs. Shelly Loehrer

TWS Lesson 8

Reflection from Prior Lesson – In the previous lesson, we practiced making the letter ‘P’ in sign language as well as identifying the corresponding sound. We also read another story about machines and how wheels move by reading the story What do wheels do all day? Following the read-aloud, the students worked together to compare and contrast the story with the text from yesterday, Good Morning, Digger. The students seemed to understand how to compare and contrast much more this time compared to when we compared and contrasted previously in the unit. That being said, the students need more practice with the letter ‘P’ including making it in sign language. Along with this, the students had a little trouble retelling the story when trying to remember everything that happened in the story. Because of this, I will focus on retelling in the next lesson.













RI.K.2 With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.


Materials Needed – CD player, ABC song, sign language poster, flip chart, whiteboard makers, pointer, iPad, picture cards, letter cards








Student F has been diagnosed with Down syndrome. He will need many modifications and accommodations that will be noted throughout the lesson. He uses and understands some sign language including: done, sit down, stand up, yes, no, bathroom, movies, mom, and dad. He


will need help remaining seated during the lesson. He does spend time with specialists noted above on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the day. He usually enjoys listening to stories and signing the morning meeting songs. If needed, the teacher’s assistance will help keep him engaged in the lesson or pull him aside to participate in different activities.


CC. The Lesson21. Introduction (6 minutes) -- I will start the timer for three minutes, announce the



b. Relating to past experience and/or knowledge – Yesterday, we compared and contrasted two stories that we read about machines.

c. Creating a need to know – Well, today we are going to continue working with Pippa and talk even more about machines so we can become expert readers!

d. Sharing objective, in general terms – Today, we are going to work on retelling what happened in a story, or remembering the important things from a book.

22. Content Delivery (20 minutes) – To start the lesson, I will have the students turn towards the flip chart while remaining in their square. We will work through the flip chart on page 65. There are four sets of pictures on the flip chart showing images from the story we read yesterday. I will ask the students to take some time and talk to their neighbor about what they think happened during that part of the story. Then, I will have a few groups retell the story to the rest of the class. If the students have trouble I will ask the following leading questions to get them on the right path: What do wheels help us do? What can wheels do? Who needs wheels? What are some things that have wheels on them?

Following the retelling activity, I will have the students turn back towards the front of the room, while remaining in their square. Then, I will display the letter ‘t’ card while asking the students to identify the letter and the letter sound. Then, I will display the letter ‘p’ card, asking the same questions. Then, I will ask the students to point to the left (the ‘t’ is on the left) if they believe the picture card starts with /t/; they will point to the right (the ‘p’ is on the right side of the board) if they believe the picture card starts with /p/. I will ask them to do so right in front of their chest to give their neighbors a chance to answer the question themselves. The picture cards are as follows: tooth, pot, pin, ten, pan, tag, peach, and toys. After holding up each one and


allowing the students to show their sign, I will help them sound out each picture card to figure out the correct initial sound.

23. Closure (4 minutes) – Now, when you are at the read-to-self station, I want you to practice retelling the story you just read to a neighbor. This will help you understand the story and become an even better reader! What is our letter of the week? Letter ‘p’! What sound does letter ‘P’ make? /p/. Can you show me the sign language for letter ‘P’? Yes! We will keep working on all of these things to become experts and be even better readers! Tiptoe to your number to go to the SMART room.

DD. Assessments Used – The teacher will use informal observations as an assessment throughout this lesson. The teacher will make sure the students are participating throughout the lesson including during the songs and flip chart work. Along with this, the teacher will use student responses to the questions throughout the lesson as an assessment as well. The students will be asked to point to the left or right to show their answer to the question; the teacher will use this as an assessment to see if the class needs more practice in identifying the initial sound of a word that begins with /p/.

EE. Differentiated Instruction – For this lesson, several students will have preferential seating, depending on their needs; for example, one student will be seated in the front row in the middle to help them stay engaged while another student will be seated on the edge of the carpet as they cannot sit for a long period of time with their legs crossed. Also, two students will be pulled aside by the teacher’s assistance to receive additional support throughout the unit. One student in the class aids communication with sign language; this is why sign language was included in lesson as well as one of the unit goals.

FF.Resources – Journey’s curriculum teacher’s edition, Mrs. Shelly Loehrer

TWS Lesson 9

Reflection from Prior Lesson – In the previous lesson, we continued focusing on the letter ‘p’ and the word ‘to’. We also read a read-aloud story about what wheels do all day including things like: push, pedal, and pull – which also helped us practice out /p/ sounds! Following our story, we worked on retelling the story using pictures taken from the book to help us remember the important details. The students enjoy learning more about machines, specifically wheels. We also practiced Pippa Pig’s song, which focuses on the letter ‘p’ as well as making the letter ‘p’ in sign language. We still need a little more practice on the word ‘to’ and its meaning as we discussed numbers in math (which included spelling the word two). I will make sure to discuss that there is more than one version of the word!






Using pictures from the texts, students will compare and contrast two different texts with 75% accuracy.






Materials Needed – CD player, ABC song, sign language poster, Wheels Long Ago and Today, Good Morning, Digger, Wheels All Day, pictures from each text, white board, white board markers, iPad


Learner Characteristics – Student A has Type 1 diabetes and has an insulin pump inserted into his side; the pump is connected to his monitor, blue pack on a lanyard holding an iPhone, via


Bluetooth. The monitor will alert the teachers if his blood sugar levels are changing too much. If the blood sugar level goes down, the monitor will alert the teachers by making a downward musical scale. If the blood sugar level goes up, the monitor will beep twice. The school nurse will come in to attend to him if his blood sugar levels are changing too much. There are emergency numbers next to the phone; there is also an emergency food kit on the shelf under the phone, labeled with his name and a picture, with directions on the top to follow in case of an emergency. Having said this, the school nurse is watching his numbers very closely and in case of an emergency will be in the room to take control of the situation.





Student F has been diagnosed with Down syndrome. He will need many modifications and accommodations that will be noted throughout the lesson. He uses and understands some sign language including: done, sit down, stand up, yes, no, bathroom, movies, mom, and dad. He will need help remaining seated during the lesson. He does spend time with specialists noted above on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the day. He usually enjoys listening to stories and


signing the morning meeting songs. If needed, the teacher’s assistance will help keep him engaged in the lesson or pull him aside to participate in different activities.


GG. The Lesson24. Introduction (6 minutes) -- I will start the timer for three minutes, announce the



b. Relating to past experience and/or knowledge – We are really getting going on becoming awesome readers. Last week, we were working on retelling or remembering what happened in a story.

c. Creating a need to know – Today, we are going to use what we remember from each story and compare and contrast them with each other.

d. Sharing objective, in general terms – We are going to figure out if the books we read about machines are the same, different, or a little bit of each!

25. Content Delivery (20 minutes) – You guys are becoming experts at that song. I love to see you moving your fingers to form each letter. It is also really great for those of you to check out the sign language poster for help when you need it. Great job!

Because you are such experts at that song, we are going to record us singing Pippa’s song for our class video that I will show tomorrow! This means that you really have to show me how awesome you are at this song! (Using the iPad, I will record the class singing Pippa Pig’s song to use in the class video during the lesson tomorrow). Next, I would like you to show me how awesome you all are at making the letter ‘p’ in sign language. (I will take a picture of the students making the letter in sign language using the iPad). Finally, I am going to add another thing to our class video. What sound does the letter ‘p’ make? (I am going to video the students’ responses using the iPad).

Great work! If you keep showing me how you are experts today, I will show you the class video tomorrow. Now, we are going to read an awesome story about wheels. Wheels used to be different than they are today. Just like phones were different, desks were different, schools were different, and wheels were different, too! We are going to read the story Wheels Long Ago and Today to learn more about how wheels have changed. (I will read the story to the students).


We are going to compare and contrast the texts. Comparing and contrasting means to figure out what is the same and different about two things. Remember how we compared Miss. Sykora and Mrs. Loehrer? What were some things that were the same? What were some things that were different? Great job! Now, let’s compare and contrast some of the stories we have read about machines. But first, it’s sometimes hard to remember everything that happens in a story, especially because we read two of the stories last week! We are going to work together to figure out what happened in each story. (I will hang each story on the board. I will also give each student a picture from one of the three stories. Each student will come up to the board and put their picture under the story that it correlates to. As they do that, I will explain what is happening in the story, and ask the students questions to help them remember what happened in each story.)

Perfect! Now, that I can remember what happened in each story, let’s work to compare and contrast them. First, let’s work with Good Morning, Digger and Wheels All Day. What are some things that are the same? (They both talk about machines. They both help give us true information.) What are some things that are different? (One focuses on what wheels do, while one focuses on what different machines do.) We will do the same activity using Wheels All Day and Wheels Long Ago and Today.

26. Closure (4 minutes) – When you read stories, sometimes it helps to compare and contrast, or figure out what is the same and what is different, to understand what is happening in the story! You guys can do this when you read at the ‘read to self’ station, too! Okay, experts. What is our letter of the week? Letter ‘p’! What sound does letter ‘P’ make? /p/. Can you show me the sign language for letter ‘P’? Yes! We will keep working on all of these things to become experts and be even better readers! Tiptoe to your number to go to the SMART room.

HH. Assessments Used – The teacher will use informal observations as an assessment throughout this lesson. The teacher will make sure the students are participating throughout the lesson including during the songs and flip chart work. Along with this, the teacher will use student responses to the questions throughout the lesson as an assessment as well. Also, the teacher will use the class video taken to ensure that the students understand how to make the letter ‘p’ in sign language and make the correct sound for the letter as well.

II. Differentiated Instruction – For this lesson, several students will have preferential seating, depending on their needs; for example, one student will be seated in the front row in the middle to help them stay engaged while another student will be seated on the edge of the carpet as they cannot sit for a long period of time with their legs crossed. Also, two students will be pulled aside by the teacher’s assistance to receive additional support throughout the unit. Along with this, I will be choosing specific students to read participate in the class activity of comparing and contrasting to provide the class with positive role models to follow; I will also complete the activity once to ensure everyone


knows what I would like them to do. One student in the class aids his communication with sign language; this is why sign language was included in lesson as well as one of the unit goals.

JJ. Resources – Journey’s curriculum teacher’s edition, Mrs. Shelly Loehrer

TWS Lesson 10

Reflection from Prior Lesson – In the previous lesson, we practiced comparing and contrasting two texts as well as retelling stories. We had previously read three stories focusing on machines and wheels. After using pictures to retell each story, we compared and contrasted the texts to better understand what is happening in the story. We also practiced Pippa Pig’s song and correctly making the letter ‘p’ in sign language. We are becoming experts at these skills, so I believe we are ready for a review day prior to the post-assessment. The students were very excited as following this lesson we were going to the gym to practice for the Thanksgiving play.








Materials Needed – CD player, ABC song, sign language poster, iPad, Promethean board, laptop computer, interactive whiteboard lessons (Lesson 9)

Contextual Factors – This lesson will be completed in an inclusion kindergarten classroom, meaning there are both students with and without special needs in the class; within this classroom, there are several students with Individualized Education Plans (IEP) or a 504 plan. The classroom management technique used in this classroom is Love and Logic, which focuses on giving students a choice to choose their own consequences and behavior. The students can be reminded to “look and sound right” when their behavior is not as it should be. There is a full time teacher’s assistant in the classroom, mainly to work one-on-one with students throughout the day. The lesson will take place after the students complete their morning jobs including: putting


their things away in their locker, emptying their folders, answering the question of the day, buying a pet, and completing an ‘I can’ job, if time allows. At 8:20, the teacher announces to the class that when the timer goes off, the students are to clean up their work and find their spot for morning meeting. Each student has a number to sit on for morning meeting; the students know their number, but if they need a reminder, there is a list posted on the board. The students are expected to find their number prior to the morning song starting. A common transition used in this classroom is a timer on the Promethean board; the chime signals to the class it is time to clean up. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, a variety of students will leave for specialists including physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy; the specialists will come to the class to get them.









KK. The Lesson27. Introduction (6 minutes) -- I will start the timer for three minutes, announce the



b. Relating to past experience and/or knowledge – Yesterday, we practiced retelling what happens in a story as well as comparing and contrasting texts.

c. Creating a need to know – Today, you are going to show me how you are experts and know all about the letter ‘P’!

d. Sharing objective, in general terms – We are going to practice finding the first sound in a word, identifying the letter ‘P’ as well as the sound /p/.

28. Content Delivery (20 minutes) – After the introduction, I will have the students sing Pippa Pig’s song. Then, I will tell them that because they are such great experts at that song and the letter ‘P’, I have created a class video to show them just how great they are. (I will show the students the class video on the Promethean board using the iPad).

I will also show another video of three different students sounding out a letter within a CVC word. For example, if we were using the word ‘pan,’ one student says /p/, another students says /a/, and the last students says /n/. The class will work together


to sound out the words. There are three videos using the same concept using the words: pan, pet, and pit.

After showing the video a few times, we will move on to working through the interactive whiteboard lessons provided by the Journey’s curriculum. There are instructions for the students to follow on each page. I have attached copies of each slide. I will draw a name stick out of the bucket to decide which student will come up to help complete the slide. Each student will get more than one turn to come up to the board to help answer a question. As the student comes up to help me answer the question, I will have the rest of the class answer the question using the sign language for yes or no. This way they can participate while still allowing the student to act independently. I will explain that only students who look and sound right will be able to come to the board to answer the questions.

29. Closure (4 minutes) – To finish the lesson, I will review what the letter of the week. I will ask the students what our letter is (p), what sound it makes (/p/), and how to make it in sign language. Then, I will ask the students what our word of the week is (to). We will work together to review how to spell it. Finally, I will ask the students to stand up and tiptoe to their number to go to the gym to practice for the Thanksgiving play.

LL. Assessments Used – The teacher will use informal observations as an assessment throughout this lesson. The teacher will make sure the students are participating throughout the lesson including during the songs and flip chart work. Along with this, the teacher will use student responses to the questions throughout the lesson as an assessment as well. Also, the teacher will use the class video taken to ensure that the students understand how to make the letter ‘p’ in sign language and make the correct sound for the letter as well.

MM. Differentiated Instruction – For this lesson, several students will have preferential seating, depending on their needs; for example, one student will be seated in the front row in the middle to help them stay engaged while another student will be seated on the edge of the carpet as they cannot sit for a long period of time with their legs crossed. Also, two students will be pulled aside by the teacher’s assistance to receive additional support throughout the unit. Along with this, I will be at the computer to assist students in completing the activity at hand. I will use leading questions and hand-over-hand movements to assist with reaching the answer and maneuvering the mouse. One student in the class aids his communication with sign language; this is why sign language was included in lesson as well as one of the unit goals.

NN. Resources – Journey’s curriculum teacher’s edition, Mrs. Shelly Loehrer

Reflection Log


Day 1 -- In the last lesson, the students learned about the 50’s era as yesterday was the 50th day of school. They learned about the style of dancing that was common in the 50’s as well as popular clothing from the era. The students were able to participate in a dance party, had root beer floats, and chewed pink bubble gum. Because of all of the fun activities the students participated in yesterday, I am expecting some behaviors to occur as the previous day was fairly unstructured compared to the normal classroom routine. That being said, I think the students will welcome the return to normalcy with the start of this unit.

Day 2 -- In the last lesson, students were introduced to Callie the Cat and her song. The students loved it! It really caught their attention and they love hearing about Callie. They also used to picture cards and a flip chart to investigate the letter c, and its sound /k/, as well as the word “a.” Overall, the students enjoyed the lesson and did fairly well with it. I will use the Callie the Cat song again to review as well as get the students ready to go for the next lesson.

Day 3 -- Yesterday, the students dug deeper into the letter ‘C’ and the word a. Each student got the chance to come up to the board to help identify different sounds in a word or participate in other activities. Along with this, the students sang Callie the Cat’s song again to review the sound /k/. In the last lesson, the students also participated in a read-aloud of the story Move! By Steve Jenkins and Robin Page; the story is about how different animals move.

Day 4 -- The students loved adding the different movements and actions to spelling out each high-frequency words. They also seemed to really enjoy being able to draw one out of the bag and help figure out what the card said. Along with this, the student’s seem to really be getting better at singing Callie the Cat’s song. I am also happy to note that it seems like more and more students are connecting the sound /k/ to the letter ‘C’ as well as the sign language for the letter. Along with this, the student’s loved comparing and contrasting my cooperating teacher, Mrs. Loehrer, and me. They were excited to discuss and produce differences and commonalities between us. They seemed to understand the concept of comparing and contrasting as well as have very basic skills with Venn diagrams.

Day 5 -- The lesson went fairly well. We read The Hare and The Tortoise, which is a version of the fable about the tortoise and the hare. Because many of the students had read the original fable, they were interested in noting the differences and commonalities between the two stories. After reading, we compared and contrasted the two stories we read this week. Like in the previous lesson, the students seemed to enjoy and understand the concept of comparing and contrasting. In another activity, focusing on categorizing, I gave each student a picture. The students we instructed to categorize the picture into the following categories: lunch room or classroom. I also did an assessment during free choice including asking each student to produce the sound that corresponds with the letter ‘C’. I noticed that some students were much more confident than other students when answering the question. I think the students understand the letter ‘C’. I think the next lesson will include work for the class to work through together with minimal assistance to get a good assessment of their knowledge.


Day 6 -- In the previous lesson, we finished up talking about the letter ‘C’ and the word ‘a’ as we are moving on to a new word and letter of the week. The students participated in an interactive whiteboard lesson as a whole group. The students really seemed to enjoy being able to go up to the board and show their classmates what they knew about the letter ‘C’ and word ‘a’. I also showed a class video of each of the students explaining what sound the letter ‘C’ makes (/k/). The students loved being a part of the video. I think I will do this again in the unit as they enjoyed it so much. Along with this, their behavior was very good as I told them only experts were allowed to be a part of the next class video.

Day 7 -- In the previous lesson, we introduced the letter ‘P’ and the word ‘to’ as the new information for the week. We also read a story titled Good Morning, Digger. The students enjoyed singing the song, The Wheels on the Bus to introduce the concept of machines. The students had trouble correctly forming the sign for the letter ‘P’ as it is a fairly difficult sign to master. Because of this, I will make sure to have the students practice more both during the lesson and throughout the day. I will also make a note of doing the sign language when I say the letter ‘P’ to expose the students to the sign even more.

Day 8 -- In the previous lesson, we practiced making the letter ‘P’ in sign language as well as identifying the corresponding sound. We also read another story about machines and how wheels move by reading the story What do wheels do all day? Following the read-aloud, the students worked together to compare and contrast the story with the text from yesterday, Good Morning, Digger. The students seemed to understand how to compare and contrast much more this time compared to when we compared and contrasted previously in the unit. That being said, the students need more practice with the letter ‘P’ including making it in sign language. Along with this, the students had a little trouble retelling the story when trying to remember everything that happened in the story. Because of this, I will focus on retelling in the next lesson.

Day 9 -- In the previous lesson, we continued focusing on the letter ‘p’ and the word ‘to’. We also read a read-aloud story about what wheels do all day including things like: push, pedal, and pull – which also helped us practice out /p/ sounds! Following our story, we worked on retelling the story using pictures taken from the book to help us remember the important details. The students enjoy learning more about machines, specifically wheels. We also practiced Pippa Pig’s song, which focuses on the letter ‘p’ as well as making the letter ‘p’ in sign language. We still need a little more practice on the word ‘to’ and its meaning as we discussed numbers in math (which included spelling the word two). I will make sure to discuss that there is more than one version of the word!

Day 10 -- In the previous lesson, we practiced comparing and contrasting two texts as well as retelling stories. We had previously read three stories focusing on machines and wheels. After using pictures to retell each story, we compared and contrasted the texts to better understand what is happening in the story. We also practiced Pippa Pig’s song and correctly making the letter ‘p’ in sign language. We are becoming experts at these skills, so I believe we are ready for a review day prior to the post-assessment. The students were very excited as following this lesson we were going to the gym to practice for the Thanksgiving play.


ASSESSMENT

Pre-Assessment – The pre-assessment was completed by pulling aside each student individually. The students were seated behind an “office” or privacy board to prevent the rest of the class from distracting them. This method is used frequently in this classroom so the students are fairly comfortable with this process. First, the student was asked to identify the letter names; each letter appeared on the list randomly five times. Second, the students were asked to identify the letter shown when a letter card was placed in front of them using both upper and lower case letters. Third, the students were asked to identify the letter sound when a letter card was placed in front of them. Finally, the student was asked to identify the initial sound of a word when shown a picture card. The assessments are included, along with examples of student work, in a link found below.

Ongoing Assessment – Student responses will be used daily to assess the students’ understanding of the concept. Along with this, the students will be asked to answer questions when listening to a story as well as questions using the flipchart. The students will also be individually assessed using the iPad; the students will make the sign language for letters and identify the sound for the letter at hand. The students will also be assessed by the Venn diagrams the students create together as well as the completion of the interactive whiteboard lessons. Finally, the students will be assessed on the skills during Daily 5 rotations using worksheets. The assessments are included, along with examples of student work, in a link found below.

Post-Assessment – The post-assessment was completed in the exact same way as the pre-assessment so as to accurately assess the students’ growth from the start to the end of the unit. The assessments are included, along with examples of student work, in a link found below.

Link: Student Work Folder

DATA ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Overall, the students made progress. Each section the students were assessed on have a pre- and post- assessment spreadsheet on the assessment spreadsheet included in this Teaching World Sample. The final percentages are highlighted in yellow. A link to that document can be found below.

Link: Assessment Data Spreadsheet

Individual Students – Student 17: When comparing her pre- and post- assessment, Student 17’s ability in letter name recognition decreased from 73% to 63%. This is an important foundational skill to mastery as students commonly learn letter names prior to learning letter sounds. Unlike most of her classmates, Student 17’s ability to recognize letters went down. I recommend an


increased amount of one-on-one time with a teacher or teacher’s assistant focusing on drill-and-practice of letters names and letter sounds. As her home life has recently become more inconsistent as her parents are going through an angry divorce, she has had less opportunities for drill-and-practice at home. Because of this, I am noticing a decrease in her academics and attitude while in school. For example, she will get aggressive with her peers when something does not go her way. This has been impeding her learning; however, as her home life is out of my hands, I recommend consistency throughout the day to give her a sense of security.

Student 2: Even though Student 7 increased from 50% to 65% in his ability to recognize the name of letters correctly, he is still below average when compared to his classmates. For the first couple months of school, he really let his behavior impede his learning. He intentionally is disrespectful to his classmates and teachers including: making inappropriate gestures, talking out of turn, as well as disregarding instructions. In recent weeks, he has been getting his behaviors under control which I believe has made positive impact on his academics. I recommend continuing to drill-and-practice the letter names and letter sounds. Along with this, I recommend that he is seated at the same table as other students who know how to look and sound right.

Whole Class – My recommendations for the whole class is to progress to another letter, but continue to review the previous letters with the students, providing them more exposures of the letter. My recommendations for letter sounds are similar; the teacher should continue on to other letter sounds, but continue to drill-and-practice the letters they have already learned. As there are students who rely on sign language to communicate right now, I think it is imperative the entire class can communicate using sign language, at least at a basic level. Currently, the students sing one song using sign language; I recommend adding more songs that focus on sign language to make learning signs fun and engaging for the entire class.

SUMMARY OF STUDENT PROGRESS

Example: Letter to ParentsKoch Elementary School

Milbank, South Dakota2 December 2016

Dear Parent or Guardian of Student 1,

I am Courtany Sykora, a student teacher in your child’s classroom this semester from Dakota State University. I cannot express how much I have enjoyed getting to know and teach each and every student in this classroom. I have gained experience and knowledge, furthering my education and preparing me for my own classroom next year. I am so glad to be able to share this with your child!

I taught the students about movement as well as the letter ‘C’ and ‘P’. The students were given a pre-assessment to give me some insight to what they already know. The information


gathered from the pre-assessment helped me determine what information the students already know as well as what topics need to be covered during the unit. The students were assessed each day using a variety of assessments and projects. The students enjoyed singing songs about our new ‘friends’ Callie the Cat and Pippa Pig as well as creating class videos using iMovie. To complete the unit, students took a post-assessment to track their progress.

Student 2 asked and answered questions about the story when listing to a story. He also readily volunteered to participate in classroom activities throughout the unit. Along with this, he discussed with his peers, openly listening to their ideas while respectively voicing his own. He also raised his hand when he wanted to add to the discussion, rather than shouting out and disrupting the class. He is a wonderful asset to the class!

Student 2 scored a 50% on the pre-assessment in identifying letter names and scored a 65% on the post-assessment. He was able to make large strides in consistently being able to identify the letter names and sounds when asked. I would attribute this to being able to look and sound right during the lessons, and throughout the school day. Overall, Student 2 is wonderful to work with every day. He works hard at being a classroom expert that looks and sounds right during the day. I really enjoy working with him!

Sincerely,

Courtany Sykora

Example: Unit Summary for Class Website

Kindergarten News!

This week, the Kindergarteners learned about movement and machines as well as the letter ‘P’ and ‘C’. We two friends of mine: Callie the Cat and Pippa Pig; we learned fun songs to help us remember all about them! I included the videos below so you can practice at home! Continue working on these letter names and letter sounds at home! The students can also teach you all about different machines and wheels and how they move. When you are in the car or eating supper, ask them to think of things that have wheels and how they help people. Also, we learned a lot of fun new movements to try at home, too (crossovers, tiptoe, kangaroo hop)!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SP2-z_rmAE


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Graphiq Inc. (2016). Milbank High School. Retrieved from Start Class: http://public-

schools.startclass.com/l/80549/Milbank-High-School-0

Milbank School District. (2016). Milbank School District. Retrieved from Milbank School

District: http://milbankschooldistrict.com/

Onboard Informatics. (2016). Milbank, South Dakota. Retrieved from City Data:

http://www.city-data.com/city/Milbank-South-Dakota.html

Kindergarten News!

This week, the Kindergarteners learned about movement and machines as well as the letter ‘P’ and ‘C’. We two friends of mine: Callie the Cat and Pippa Pig; we learned fun songs to help us remember all about them! I included the videos below so you can practice at home! Continue working on these letter names and letter sounds at home! The students can also teach you all about different machines and wheels and how they move. When you are in the car or eating supper, ask them to think of things that have wheels and how they help people. Also, we learned a lot of fun new movements to try at home, too (crossovers, tiptoe, kangaroo hop)!

Documents

courtanyesykora.weebly.com · Web viewTeaching Work Sample. Courtany Sykora. Movement/Investigating ‘C’ and ‘P’ Koch Elementary, Milbank, South Dakota. Kindergarten. 2 December