Assessment driven instruction

The shared reading activity done with the class engages students on all levels. The words of the poem were posted in large print on the board and the teacher uses a pointer to help the students follow along. The teacher and students read the poem slowly together. The poem includes many words based on the previous phonics lesson. Although not all students know how to read all the words, since they are reading together the students can participate by saying the words they know and leaving out the harder words. Most of the words are repeated in the poem. Thus the second time a word is read the children are familiar with the word. The lesson after the poem was to reinforce the phonics lesson that the poem focused on. the teacher presented the “v-c” sound and placed a “c” at the beginning of the word for more examples. Then she placed a blend before the vowel. To help the children read she divided the word between the blend and the vowel and asked a child to read each part separately. This way the child was able to read it on his own. When a child confused “d” and “b” in the word “dot”, the teacher showed support by placing both letters on the board and identifying the sound of “b”. Then she asked the child for the sound of “d”. Shared reading can promote literacy by incorporating phonics lessons into the literature that is read. Seeing familiar words in full text is a great way for children to practice phonics skills they are learning.

                During the guided reading group the teacher asks a child to explain what another child did when she couldn’t read a word. Mrs. Perez feels that having the children verbalize the strategies that can be used will cause them to internalize them and ultimately use the strategies as they read. She also helps them gain meaning from the text by asking them comprehension questions that call for opinion not just facts. This gets the children to think deeper about what is going on. the teacher covered one word and asked the students to figure out what word is covered based on the sentence. With scaffold support children are able to find the missing word based on their understanding of what is going on in the story.

                Mrs. Perez has students at various levels. To help achieve her goal of having all children read at their potential she assures that there are wide range of activities for the students to participate in during learning centers. The students are able to choose the activity they want. She encourages the more advanced readers to create a project based on their readings. For those on a beginner level she listens to them as they read and helps them where they need help. The classroom is very organized and the students know exactly what to do at each center. The learning centers are exciting and engaging as well as educational. After reading a book or poem it is important for children to write their thoughts and ideas about the text they have read. Writing is an excellent way to show comprehension of text. Also writing helps children form words and reinforces the sounds of them which helps children when they read.

                Mrs. Perez listens to the way students read at the beginning of the year and reassess them in December to see where they are up to. Based on this she creates different learning activies within the classroom. She makes sure to cover all reading levels in order to help every child individually. She reassess in March and June. This ongoing assessment determines whether there has been progress and guides Mrs. Perez to future decisions in instruction. The assessments lead her to what she will be teaching and how she will be teaching it. The bar graph created by Mrs. Perez is a great tool to see what the expectaions are for her 1^st grade students. As a teacher I would integrate ongoing assessment by assessing students at the start of the year and based on their level determine the monthly goals for each student. I would reassess each student every 2 months to assure that the goals have been met. In a classroom where the levels vary it is crucial that ongoing assessment be done to determine each student progress and current level.