Literacy Observation 5: Domain 3: Fluency

TC NAME: Lacey Bridges

RICA Domain: Fluency

RICA Competency: 9- Instruction and Assessment

Grade Level: 5th

INSTRUCTION:

            My teacher tells the students they will be reading an excerpt from the book called The Fear Place by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.  She went over vocabulary they would see in the story.  Rather than just having the students read the story silently, or having the students read out loud to one another, the teacher played the CD audio version of the story.  So, the students are receiving audio assistance as they follow along in their books.  This helps provide the students with a good model of reading at the proper rate as well as with appropriate prosody.  The audio assisted reading reads at the correct speed, so students see that the text should not be read too fast, nor should it be read at a broken or slow pace.  Also, the proper expression and emotion with which the text should be read is modeled on the CD, so students will see how they need to read with excitement when there is an exclamation point, how they should vary their intonation, and how to decide what words should be emphasized.  Experiences reading with the audio assisted CD will help students with their fluency because they can apply the skills that were modeled for them in their own reading. 

            I have seen other ways that the teacher has worked towards building her students’ fluency in other lessons.  The students do silent reading every day in class and for homework, and then they take comprehension AR tests on them.  The teacher reads aloud to them from a book every day to provide a model of how to read at an appropriate rate, with appropriate prosody and with accuracy.  Students also read aloud during rotations in small groups with the teacher where she is providing immediate feedback, giving the students the opportunity to practice the elements of fluency.

INSTRUCTIONAL SETTING:

            The students sat in their desks with their books on their desks.  The book was also projected onto the screen at the front of the room with the document camera.  The audio version of the text was being played on the stereo at the front of the room.  The teacher walked around the classroom to make sure everyone was following along.

Literacy Observation 4: Domain 2: Word Analysis

TC NAME: Lacey Bridges

RICA Domain: Word analysis

RICA Competency: Syllabic Analysis, Structural Analysis, and Orthographic Knowledge

Grade Level: 5th

INSTRUCTION:

             Traditional Spelling tests and Wordly Wise are done on a weekly basis in Mrs. X’s fifth grade classroom.  On Monday, all of the students take a Spelling Pre-test.  During the test Mrs. X says the word, uses the word in a sentence, and then repeats the word, thus putting the word in context.  These tests often have a theme, for instance this week’s theme is compound words.  More than half of the words are found in their story for the week.  This spelling curriculum is from the Houghton Mifflin textbook series, so the stories and spelling are aligned.  Throughout the week, the students complete worksheets helping them practice their spelling words.  The students are also expected to study their words at home to prepare for Friday’s Post-Test.  The Post-Test is administered exactly like the Pre-Test.  Mrs. X read the word, then a sentence containing the word, and then repeats the word.  Mrs. X corrects their tests, writing the correct spelling for any words that the student missed, and then gives them a percentage grade.   A small group of high achieving students does Wordly Wise in addition to the regular spelling.  This program combines both vocabulary development and spelling, and it provides student with an extra challenge.  On Monday in their small group Mrs. X introduces the words, and the students complete an activity where they have to put the words into sentences.  Throughout the week, the students do different activities using the words in context.  On Friday, the students are tested on their knowledge of the words’ meaning and spelling.  The teacher reads the definition of the word.  The students must write down the correct word with the correct spelling.  They are graded on both aspects, the vocabulary and the spelling. 

INSTRUCTIONAL SETTING:

            During the spelling pre-test and post-test the students sit at their desks.  The pre-test is administered after reading the story that contains more than half of the words in it.  Activities for the Spelling words are in the students’ personal Houghton Mifflin Practice Books. Friday’s post-test takes place at the beginning of class.  The Wordly Wise activities and test take place at the table on the side of the room in a small group.   The students are given copies made by the teacher from the Wordly Wise book.