Abbie Sliger Inquiry 2 Part A

Your Name: _Abbie Sliger__________________

Inquiry Two, Part A:

Discuss Your Target Area and ‘Core Practice’ for Guided Lead Teaching NOTE: YOU MAY INSERT YOUR ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS POSED BELOW IN A DIFFERENT COLOR FONT.  Please name your file with your last name and email as an attachment to your instructor (example: SmithPartATargetArea.docx) Talk with your MT about your idea, and use the information you gained from Inquiry One to respond to the following guiding questions listed below.  Email your responses to your instructor before our Week 4class (September 26) AND post them on your book club blog:

1. Describe your target area for guided lead teaching.

My target area for guided lead teaching is sequencing. I will be working with students to develop their abilities to retell a story in the order that it occurred. This is an important part of the first grade literacy curriculum at Cornell and therefore I want to be able to give my students the tools they need to master this target area.

2. Approximately how much time per day is allotted for your instruction in this area?

There is approximately 1 hour a day devoted to this area. I will be focusing on my target area during the time that the students are taught from the Reading Street curriculum. We focus on whole group instruction for about half an hour and then break in to small groups for the second half hour.

3. Which Common Core State Standard(s) will you work toward?

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1.1 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1.2 Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1.3 Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.1.3 Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.

4. How will teaching in this target area provide opportunities for students to learn important content and/or skills that relate to their lives?  In what ways does this learning include learning literacy, learning about literacy, and/or learning through literacy?

Teaching in this target area will give students the ability to retell and discuss what they are reading in a sequential order. This skill will also translate over to their writing abilities. This relates to their lives as they are constantly wanting to share something about themselves or some event and often do not know where to begin. Having the skill of sequencing gives the students a foundation for communication. The students are learning literacy as they will be applying this skill to both reading and writing. They will be learning about literacy by understanding that sequencing is an important part of literacy and they are already using and hearing sequencing often in their daily lives. They will also be learning through literacy by using different texts and writing activities to help them become aware of and practice using sequencing.

5. What types of classroom talk take place within this target area? To what extent is the talk teacher-led, student-led, or focused on higher-level thinking? What norms for interaction would you like to build within your classroom as you teach in this target area (e.g., see ideas in Chapter 6 of Strategies that Work, the Berne & Clark 2008 article, or draw from some of the readings done in TE 402 on classroom talk)?

I would really like to build student led discussions within my classroom norms. The students often have a lot to share and I think that giving them the opportunity to share their ideas will help them gain a deeper level of understanding and give their peers a new perspective. I do not want my unit to be all teacher led. I know that some students learn better through doing activities instead of talking about them. I would really like to make the focus of my lesson to help the students develop their ability to share what they are thinking and ask questions about what they do not understand to their peers.

6. Which ‘core practice’ do you want to work on developing/improving as you teach in this target area (refer to document “Resources for Developing Core Practices”)? How will focusing on this core practice contribute to your own professional learning?

The core practice that I want to work on developing is mini-lessons. Being placed in first grade it is very apparent that the students do not have the best attention span or the patience for un-needed information. I think using mini lessons will not only help those students who are struggling to focus, but will give all of the students the tools they need to be successful. I think using mini lessons will contribute to my own professional learning by having my lessons more focused and clear. This will give the students a chance to gain the most information from the lessons I am teaching.

7. What resources within the community, neighborhood, school district, school or classroom do you have to work with in this target area?

I have many resources within Okemos. My mentor teacher is a great resource for this target area as she has taught this skill to first graders before. The other first grade teachers at Cornell are also great resources, as they will be teaching the same topic at some point. There are many specialists that exist within Cornell and the Okemos district that will be able to provide me with any materials that I may need for my lesson.

8. What additional resources do you need to obtain?

I need to obtain some visual aids for my lesson. I have observed that the students in my classroom really respond to having a visual so I will need to include some in my lesson.

9. How will you pre-assess your students in your target area?

I will assess my students by having them read a story and then retell the story in a sequential order. I will also have my students complete a writing task that has them ordering tasks.

10. What else will you need to find out about all students in your class to help you develop lesson plans for your Guided Lead Teaching?

I will need to be up to date on the reading and writing abilities of all of my students. As they are learning their abilities are changing and therefore some students need to be more challenged than they were a few weeks ago. The last thing I want is for my students to be frustrated with the lesson so I really want to do some research on their abilities to make sure the whole group activities are on level tasks.

11. What else do you need/want to learn about the ‘core practice’ to support your planning and teaching?

I do not see many mini lessons taking place in my placement so I need to do some personal research as to what mini lessons consist of and what makes them successful.

12. What concerns, if any, do you have about planning and teaching your unit?

I currently do not have any concerns. I am sure that will change as the weeks progress.