Video: Centers and Small Group Instruction

Mid-November

Things are continuing on as they have been with my small group instruction. A few quick comments and then on to the video.

Monday—phonological awareness training/testing and word list practice/tests

So far I am loving both of these processes. It is nice to have a good handle on where each of my students is with their phonemic awareness development. All but a few can tell me the first sound in a word, blend three phonemes I give, and segment CVC words I say. Many of the students are now moving into Kilpatrick’s phonological awareness training levels proper. This is new to me—taking students through his levels in such a structured way—and I look forward to it with great interest. How far will they go? Will I be able to see the benefits in their reading and writing? Of course, I will keep you posted.

The word lists are proving to be appropriately challenging and instructive for the students. First they had to learn to blend two sounds, then three. There are two CVC word lists because reading CVC words is a necessary foundational skill needed to move on to the next lists. Those students who have moved beyond the CVC lists are getting into lists that reinforce the phonics I’m introducing in whole group—th, sh, and beyond. My class is able to practice their current word list (and current number chart) during our soft start time 8:45-9:00. They also practice them during independent reading time (i.e., when they’re at my center but not at the teaching table). This means that a lot of the time at my table can be spent on testing kids on their lists rather than teaching them how to read the lists. The sequencing of the skills in the lists and the time I give students to practice is keeping them moving through them at a fairly steady pace. Momentum is crucial to maintaining interest and confidence, not to mention building skills.

Tuesday and Wednesday—reading continuous text

This week on Tuesday I introduced nonsense CVC words. To this point we have only been reading actual words. I explained to the students that nonsense words were fake words and might sound a little funny. I saw no issues with the nonsense aspect; students just read them as they would real words.

On Wednesday I did the PA/Phonics sheet with my lower group. I like to use this sheet with students who are still learning letter names and sounds. Some of them can blend CVC words; for the others, the sheet helps them learn to say three sounds quickly, even if they aren’t going to blend them. Also, we work on listening to sounds and writing the matching letter. There are a lot of skills practiced at once on this sheet.

The other groups read fluency ladders and fluency sentences. You’ll see, in the video, that some of the students look at an entire page of text and think it’s going to be difficult and then read through it without much trouble at all. As they read, I not only assess how each student is doing but I think about how well I did creating these sentences for them. Were they too easy, too hard, or just right (in their zone of proximal development)? As I watch the students, I get ideas for the following week.

My one student who seems to be able to read everything got a decodable passage with comprehension questions and room for written responses. I thought it might last him for at least two days; he was done with it in about six minutes. It’s a balancing act—giving students like this challenging work without letting them get too far ahead of the phonics we’re teaching in whole group. Just because he can read doesn’t mean that he knows phonics. It’s important to me that he practice each phonics lesson just as the other students do.

Thursday—writing continuous text

Writing continuous text can range from writing one word to writing one or two complete sentences. You’ll see a variety happening in the video. This part will probably get a bit tedious to watch, but I do want you to see how I “pick” at them about everything—letter formation, spacing, letter size, start with a capital, punctuation, etc. I don’t have time for this during whole class writing so I take advantage of the small groups for bringing their attention to all the details.

Friday—phonological awareness training/testing and word list practice/tests

This is a repeat of Monday, though students might be on a different list or PA level since it is four days later.

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Good news! I am not videoing centers or small group instruction this week (week of 11/15) because I figure you could use a break from these lengthy videos. So, watch this when you have time. No rush. The next one won’t appear in your inbox until the second week of December.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy a well-deserved break!

As always, AMA!

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