JustAnswer



Foggy Figure

by Kelly Hashway (Vocabulary Words are marked)

Justin and Mary woke up early, even though they were vacationing at their uncle’s lake house. The night before, Uncle Thomas told them about the Foggy Figure that haunts the lake. Justin and Mary were determined to see the ghostly creature before their vacation was over.

“Is it foggy outside?” Mary asked, as Justin peered out the window.

“Yup! Let’s go!” Justin let go of the curtain and rushed to the door with Mary on his heels.

It was only 5:00AM, so everyone else in the house was still asleep. As they crept through

the kitchen to the back door, Mary sniffed the air. It had the faint scent of coffee and

something sweet. She shrugged it off and followed Justin out the door, down the back steps,

and out onto the boat dock. The fog had settled over the lake, making it impossible to see

anything.

“Do you see anything?” Mary asked, leaning forward for a closer look.

“Nothing. Do you think Uncle Thomas was just trying to scare us with that story?”

Uncle Thomas did have a good imagination. He’d been telling Justin and Mary stories for

years, but this was the first scary story. Mary had a feeling it wasn’t made up.

Mary shook her head. “Remember what Uncle Thomas said? The Foggy Figure

haunts the lake. We’re on the dock. Maybe that’s why we can’t see him. The people in the

story were in boats.”

“You want to go out on the water?” Justin asked.

Mary looked around, trying to find Uncle Thomas’s boat, but the fog was too thick.

“Mom and Dad will be really angry if we go out on the lake alone in this fog,” Justin said.

Mary shrugged. “Maybe we don’t have to go anywhere. We could sit in the boat while

it’s docked. That wouldn’t be dangerous.”

“Okay.” Justin crept toward the end of the dock. He could barely see the outline of the

boat. “I’ll go first.” He carefully lowered himself into the boat and then reached for Mary’s hand.

Mary climbed into the boat and sat beside him. She was getting nervous now that they

were on the water. “See anything?”

They looked around, and gradually, the fog began to lift. Mary turned around and screamed. “The Foggy Figure!” It was in the boat with them!

Justin and Mary hugged each other in fear, but then they heard a laugh. Justin leaned toward the Foggy Figure. “Uncle Thomas?”

“I knew that story would get you two out of bed early enough to take a boat ride with

me.”

Mary sighed, happy there was no Foggy Figure after all. Justin looked relieved, too. Uncle Thomas laughed. “What do you say? I packed a breakfast for us.”

Mary smiled. She had smelled coffee. And Uncle Thomas had packed pastries for them,

too.

“Let’s do it,” Mary and Justin said.

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VITAL INFORMATION

Author: Harper, Peggy

*Subject(s): Language Arts

Topic or Unit of Study: Monday - Oral Language and Vocabulary

*Grade/Level: 4th

*Summary: While reading a given selection students will identify unfamiliar words. They will work together in small groups to discuss the meanings of the words and use context clues, prior knowledge, and online resources to establish the meanings of the words.

STANDARDS AND DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION:

*Standards:

110.15 (2) A Students will determine the meaning of grade-level academic English words derived from Latin, Greek, or other linguistic roots and affixes

110.15 (2) B Students will use the context of the sentence (e.g., in-sentence example or definition) to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words or multiple meaning words

110.15 (2) E Students will use a dictionary or glossary to determine the meanings, syllabication, and pronunciation of unknown words.

110.15.31 Listening and Speaking/Teamwork. Students work productively with others in teams. Students continue to apply earlier standards with greater complexity. Students are expected to participate in teacher- and student-led discussions by posing and answering questions with appropriate detail and by providing suggestions that build upon the ideas of others.

Differentiated Instruction: ELL learners should be provided with a dictionary containing a translation of English to their language. Learning disabled students will be supported by working with group members.

EEI (ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF INSTRUCTION) - LESSON PLAN ELEMENTS REQUIRED

Objective:

1) Students will locate unknown words within a given selection.

2) Students will develop an understanding of vocabulary words from the given selection.

3) Students will locate unknown words within a story and establish meanings using a variety of methods.

Anticipatory Set: Ask students if there was ever a time when they were scared but everything worked out alright after all. Share with students an event in your own life when you were frightened. Invite students to share some of their own stories. Tell students that they will be reading a story in which this happens to the characters.

Teach Lesson / Model:

1.) Teacher will ensure that each group has a copy of the story "The Foggy Figure"

2.) Read the story aloud to the students.

3) Choose one of the vocabulary words from the text and model, using a strategy the students will be using in group. For example, read the sentence containing "peered". Invite students to propose meanings for the word based on the sentence.

4) Share a definition of the word gleaned from a media source such as . Other online sources may be used to clarify the words' meaning.

5) Using an online thesaurus, determine synonyms for the word and put each synonym in the sentence in place of the word. Ask if the synonyms make sense.

Guided Practice:

1) Have students choose one word from the text that interests them or is unfamiliar.

2) Using prior knowledge, context clues, a dictionary, or given online resources have each student determine a definition of their word.

3) Invite students to share their word and the method by which they arrived at its definition.

Independent Practice:

1) Explain to students that they will be divided into small groups and that their groups' mission is to identify unknown words from the selection and discover their definition. They may use context clues, prior knowledge, the dictionary, group discussion and given online sources.

2) Divide the class into small groups and ensure that each group has a copy of the selection.

3) By peer vote, have each group select a secretary who will record and report the group's activities to the class. Together, have the group choose unfamiliar words from the selection and have the secretary record them.

4) Teacher will circulate among the groups for informal assessment and feedback

Closure:

1) Bring students back to their seats and ask them to choose one word they learned about in group from the selection. Ask them to write their understanding of the word's definition and the sentence from the selection in which the word is used.

2) Have the students rewrite the sentence using a synonym of the word that makes sense in the sentence.

3) Have students make an illustration of the word, not necessarily one that relates to the selection.

*Assessment/Rubrics:

- Teacher Informal Assessment

- Anecdotal records

- Evaluation of student product

- Participation in group activity

MATERIALS AND RESOURCES

Instructional Materials (handouts, etc.):

1) Copy of the short story "The Foggy Figure"

2) Dictionary

3) Thesaurus

4) Paper

5) Pencil

6) Access to a computer where available

Resources:

(Harper, 2013)

(Texas elementary Standards, 2012)

VITAL INFORMATION

Author: Debbie, A. & Powell E.

*Subject(s): Language Arts

Topic or Unit of Study: Tuesday - Phonics, word patterns and word analysis

*Grade/Level: 4th

*Summary: Using a strategy of spelling in parts, students learn to break a word down into its individual parts to aid in spelling the word.

STANDARDS AND DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION:

*Standards:

110.15 (22) Students are expected to spell words with more advanced orthographic patterns and rules

110.15 (22) A Students will use knowledge of letter sounds, word parts, word segmentation and syllabication to spell

110.15.31 Listening and Speaking/Teamwork: Students work productively with others in teams. Students continue to apply earlier standards with greater complexity. Students are expected to participate in teacher- and student-led discussions by posing and answering questions with appropriate detail and by providing suggestions that build upon the ideas of others.

Differentiated Instruction: ELL and learning disabled learners will be allowed the use of a dictionary to aid in the syllabication process.

EEI (ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF INSTRUCTION) - LESSON PLAN ELEMENTS REQUIRED

Objective:

1) Using vocabulary and environmental words students will use a spelling in parts process to divide these words into their inherent syllables

Anticipatory Set:

Ask students if they would like to be able to spell bigger words more easily and correctly. Invite students to look at their vocabulary selection and around the room to choose words that they would like to be able to spell.

Teach Lesson / Model:

1) Write a word that the students have selected on the board.

2) Using this word, model clapping out the syllables and marking them with vertical lines. For example: February would become Feb/ru/ar/y

3) Have a student select one of the chosen words. Have students clap out the syllables of this word and mark them on the board. Mark short and long vowels.

4) Ask the students if they think the word, or parts of it, will be difficult to spell. Circle any parts they suggest. Suggest visual, sound or meaning strategies for remembering these parts of the word. For example: Together can be remembered as the phrase To-get-her (as in getting someone to go somewhere) or the /ight/ in frightened might be remembered by the phrase "I was frightened by the light." (Debbie, 2013)

5) Cover the word and have students say the first syllable and write it on their whiteboards. Then have them say and write the next syllable and so on. Acknowledge pronunciation and remind them of the word/letter strategies they have created for the sounds.

6) Uncover the word and have students check their spellings. Give congratulations for those syllables spelled correctly and have them circle any syllables that they missed and think of a strategy to remember it.

Guided Practice:

1) Have students select one of the chosen words.

2) Ask students to repeat the steps learned for the first word to separate their chosen word into syllables. If necessary, reiterate the steps.

3) Have students separate their chosen word into syllables and create a strategy for remembering those with which they have difficulty.

4) Circulate during this activity, giving help and feedback where necessary.

5) Invite students to share their chosen word and their syllabications along with their strategies for remembering sections.

Independent Practice:

1) Divide students into pairs of spelling buddies. Try grouping a strong speller with a weaker student.

2) Remind students of the process: Clap, divide, circle, strategize, spell.

3) Have the pairs syllabicate the remaining words and create strategies for remembering difficult pronunciations, writing both their attempts and strategies on paper.

Closure:

1) Invite students to share the steps of the process for an individual word along with their strategies for remembering pronunciations with the class.

2) Provide appropriate praise for correct responses and have students circle sound sections they are still having difficulty with.

3) As a class, create a strategy for remembering these difficult sections.

Evaluation:

*Assessment/Rubrics:

- Anecdotal Records

- Informal Teacher Observation

- Teacher evaluation of group product

- Participation in paired activity

MATERIALS AND RESOURCES

Instructional Materials (handouts, etc.):

1) Paper

2) Pencils

3) Polysyllabic print (words)

4) Whiteboards

5) Writing notebooks

Resources:

(Debbie, 2013)

(Texas elementary Standards, 2012)

VITAL INFORMATION

Author: Bosone, K., Lee, J. & Roderick, M.

*Subject(s): Language Arts

Topic or Unit of Study: Wednesday - Fluency

*Grade/Level: 4th

*Summary: The students will re-read a given, known selection in order to increase fluency. The students will exercise accuracy, speed and tone.

STANDARDS AND DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION:

*Standards:

110.15 (1) Students will read aloud grade-level stories with fluency (rate, accuracy, expression, appropriate phrasing) and comprehension.

110.15.31 Listening and Speaking/Teamwork: Students work productively with others in teams. Students continue to apply earlier standards with greater complexity. Students are expected to participate in teacher- and student-led discussions by posing and answering questions with appropriate detail and by providing suggestions that build upon the ideas of others.

Differentiated Instruction: Ell learners will be allowed to practice independently reading with an audio tape.

EEI (ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF INSTRUCTION) - LESSON PLAN ELEMENTS REQUIRED

Objective:

1) Students will demonstrate the ability to read at a targeted rate. (4th grade target is 120-150 WPM)

Anticipatory Set:

1) As the students are used to hearing their teacher read well, the teacher will introduce the lesson by reading the selected text in a non-fluent manner. (Monotone, pauses at inappropriate places, missing or mispronounced words, etc.)

2) Ask if the selection was difficult to understand. Students should verify that it was. Discuss why the selection was hard to understand when read in this manner and how it could be improved.

3) Introduce the word "Fluency", write it on the board and lead students to define it in their own words.

Teach Lesson / Model:

1) Teacher will read the selection once again, modeling good reading practices. (Fluency) Tell students that this is what a good reader should sound like.

2) Discuss with students what this reading sounded like. Did I pronounce all the words correctly? How quickly did I read the passage? Did I read with expression? Refer to their definition of fluency on the board.

3) Tell the students that today they are going to practice reading with fluency to help them become better readers.

Guided Practice:

1) Ensure that each student has a copy of the selection and have them read the selection.

2) Have each student read the passage (quietly) aloud to themselves, underlining any unknown word with the blue pencil. Have them mark a red vertical line after the last word they read when the timer sounds.

3) Have students count the number of words read and mark the Timed Reading Chart with their blue pencil.

4) Discuss words with which the students had difficulty. Note which letter or word patterns they had difficulty with and discuss.

5) Work with students to set new target goals. Goals should be high enough that they will require several readings.

Independent Practice:

1) Separate students into pre-determined pairs of students who are on approximately the same reading level.

2) Have each student read the passage to his partner at least two more times.

3) Have each student-pair listen to an audiotape of the selection.

4) Each student should then take turns reading aloud with the audiotape. Partners should listen carefully to each reading in order to allow them to rate improvement.

5) Each student should read the passage aloud at least three times. At the end of the third time, have students mark a vertical red line after the last word read, count their words and mark on the Timed Reading Chart.

5) Teacher will circulate for informal assessment

Closure:

Help students to set new target goals taking into account their final WPM result. If students have been able to read the entire passage before the minute is up, tell them to start back at the beginning and continue to read until time is up; then count their total and mark it on their chart.

*Assessment/Rubrics:

- Teacher informal Assessment

- Timed Reading Chart

- Participation in paired activity

MATERIALS AND RESOURCES

Instructional Materials (handouts, etc.):

1) Copies of given text

2) Audio tapes of selection

3) A one-minute timer for each pair

4) Timed reading chart

5) Red and Blue pencils

6) Tape recorder for each pair

Resources:

(Bosone, 2003)

(Texas elementary Standards, 2012)

VITAL INFORMATION

Author: Young, John

*Subject(s): Language Arts

Topic or Unit of Study: Thursday - Reading Comprehension

*Grade/Level: 4th

*Summary: The students will learn to use "thin" (factual) and "thick" (inferential) questions to better understand a text.

STANDARDS AND DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION:

*Standards:

110.15.2 (B) Students will ask relevant questions, seek clarification, and locate facts and details about stories and other texts and support answers with evidence from text.

110.15.9 Students read independently for sustained periods of time and produce evidence of their reading. Students are expected to read independently for a sustained period of time and paraphrase what the reading was about, maintaining meaning and logical order (e.g., generate a reading log or journal; participate in book talks).

110.15.13 (B) Students will draw conclusions from the facts presented in text and support those assertions with textual evidence.

110.15.17 (C) Students will write responses to literary or expository texts and provide evidence from the text to demonstrate understanding

110.15.30 Students will ask literal, interpretive, and evaluative questions of text.

110.15.30 (D) Students will make inferences about text and use textual evidence to support understanding.

110.15.31 Listening and Speaking/Teamwork. Students work productively with others in teams. Students continue to apply earlier standards with greater complexity. Students are expected to participate in teacher- and student-led discussions by posing and answering questions with appropriate detail and by providing suggestions that build upon the ideas of others.

Differentiated Instruction: Assign ELL and ID students a buddy to help them with this concept

EEI (ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF INSTRUCTION) - LESSON PLAN ELEMENTS REQUIRED

Objective(s):

1) Students will demonstrate an understanding of the difference between "thin" (factual) and "thick" (inferential) questions

2) Students will check comprehension by creating a "T" chart containing "Thin" and "Thick" questions as they read the selection

3) Students will use a given graphic organizer to collect information to answer student created questions

Anticipatory Set:

1) Display the words who, what, when, where, why, how, what if and I wonder on the board

2) Ask students for a random answer to each of these questions.

3) Model creating a quick short story using the answers given on the board.

4) Invite students to create a short story using the answers given.

Teach Lesson / Model:

1) Explain to student that these questions can be asked of every story they will ever read, for many different reasons.

2) Discuss reasons they might have for asking these questions about a text. (Curiosity, Interest, confusion, etc.) Explain that asking questions while they are reading can help them stay interested. It can also help them understand what they are reading by having them really consider these things about the text. Even asking questions they already know the answer to can lead to reflection and better comprehension.

3) Introduce the two types of questions to the class; "thin" or factual questions and "thick" or inferential. Explain "thin" questions as those whose answers can be found right there in the text and can be answered with a few short words or sentences. Introduce "thick" questions as those whose answers must be thought about because they are not "right there"; that these answers come from your own head. Tell students that "thick" questions can have several right answers as long as the text supports them.

Guided Practice:

1) Show students the "thin", "thick" T chart then model creating a "thin" question from the selection such as "who" or "where."

2) Invite students to create and answer another "thin" question for the selection, giving appropriate feedback

3) Model creating a "thick" question from the selection, such as "I wonder."

4) Invite students to create and answer another "thick" question from the selection, giving appropriate feedback.

Independent Practice:

1) Divide students into small-groups of four and have the group determine collectively which of the following roles each student will fill:

a) Student to choose the paragraph of text to read

b) Student who reads the paragraph

c) Student to record questions and answers

d) Student responsible for sharing those questions and answers with the rest of the class

2) Have students create both a "thin" and a "thick" question from their chosen paragraph, writing each down with their answers. If they have difficulty choosing a "thick" question, ask them to use the "I wonder" or "what if" prompts.

3) Teacher will circulate, providing feedback and help where needed.

Closure:

1) Have students share their created questions with the rest of the class as well as the answers and the part of the text that helped find them.

*Assessment/Rubrics:

- Anecdotal Records

- Informal Teacher Observation

- Teacher evaluation of group-created product

- Participation in group activity

MATERIALS AND RESOURCES

Instructional Materials (handouts, etc.):

1) Student Chart handouts

2) Markers

3) Journals

4) Sticky notes

5) Copy of text selection

Resources:

(Young, 2013)

(Texas elementary Standards, 2012)

VITAL INFORMATION

Author:

*Subject(s): Language Arts

Topic or Unit of Study: Friday - Writing

*Grade/Level: 4th

*Summary: Students will produce a scary story styled after a personal experience (real or imagined), focusing on organization

STANDARDS AND DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION:

*Standards:

110.15 (16) Students write literary texts to express their ideas and feelings about real or imagined people, events, and ideas.

110.15 (16) A Students write imaginative stories that build the plot to a climax and contain details about the characters and setting

110.15 (17) Students will write about their own experiences. Students are expected to write about important personal experiences.

Differentiated Instruction: ELL or learning disabled students might be allowed to tell their story in pictures rather than text.

EEI (ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF INSTRUCTION) - LESSON PLAN ELEMENTS REQUIRED

Objective: Students will write a scary story in the style of a personal experience (real or imagined), with proper technique, descriptive words and a clear event chain.

Anticipatory Set: Read one of the "Half-Minute Horrors" or a story of your own invention aloud to the students, using "thinking aloud" to make connections to your own experience. Invite students to share their own connections as well.

Teach Lesson / Model:

1) Using the overhead or smart-board and the graphic organizer, demonstrate the organization (Lead-in, event chain, and conclusion) of the story you have read.

2) Model creating a scary story by filing in the given graphic organizer.

Guided Practice:

1) Allow student's access to "Half- Minute Horrors" and allow them to choose a story to read to prepare for their own story. Remind students that they must create their own story and not just copy one from the book.

2) Have students complete the graphic organizer for their scary story.

3.) Teacher will circulate giving feedback and help where needed

Independent Practice:

1.) Allow time for students to draft their stories

2.) Teacher will circulate giving feedback and help where needed, as well as for informal assessment

Closure:

1) Create and share story lead- ins, events and conclusions. Have students create two new introductions and conclusions to their story and choose their favorite.

2) Allow time for revision and editing

*Assessment/Rubrics:

- Teacher informal assessment

-Teacher evaluation of product

MATERIALS AND RESOURCES

Instructional Materials (handouts, etc.):

1. Copies of "Half-minute Horrors: A Collection of Instant Frights by the World's Most Astonishing Authors and Artists" edited by Susan Rich (these are quick stories for students to read to give the general idea of a scary story.

2. Copies of graphic organizer (story map)

3. Paper

4. Pencils

Resources:

(Utah Education Network, 2005)

(Texas elementary Standards, 2012)

Reflection

Synopsis of Observations:

I observed an inclusive fourth-grade classroom with 27 students which contained three English-Language-Learners and four students with Intellectual Disabilities. The remainders of the students were of average to above-average intelligence.

In my time in this classroom, I observe several language lessons. The first was my inspiration for my Phonics/Word analysis lesson. This lesson was on isolating the prefixes re-, dis-, in- and im-, it required that students already know that some words were constructed of base words and an addition which affected the meaning.

The teacher began the lesson by identifying what a "prefix" was and naming words that began with re-. She wrote these words on the board and asked the students to come up with or create re- words of their own. These could include student created, silly words.

After writing re- on the board the teacher told students that it meant again or back. Using the words she wrote on the board from brainstorming, she led students to identify the base word of each of them. She was careful to state the meaning of the word. For example, re- attach means to attach again. She also noted the non-examples such as ready and told students that not all words starting with re- would have base words.

She wrote the sentence "My dad reattached my handlebars to my bike." She then used the "think aloud" method to model discovering the meaning of the word. She "thought aloud" to repeat the meaning of re- and connect it to the word "attach" and that word's meaning. Then she put the words "attach again" into the sentence to show that they made sense.

After this, she demonstrated a non-example; the word "read." She reminded students that not all re-words have a base and showed them that if you take re- off of this word, you aren't left with a word.

She separated the students into pairs, gave each pair two sentences containing a word with the prefix re- and asked them to practice the "think aloud" to discover the meaning of the word. (The word was underlined in the sentence.) After allowing time for the students to complete their "think aloud', she called on each pair to share one of them with the rest of the class. It was the fact that all of these words were more than one syllable and required some syllabication that inspired my word analysis lesson.

Another of the lessons I observed was a "deep thinking" exercise using the Chris Van Allsburg book Just a Dream. As this is a book about the environment, the first thing the teacher did was to introduce the book, have students predict what they though the book might be about and talk to the students about things they already knew about the environment. (Activate prior knowledge)

They then talked about the definition of what a dream was and how a dream might relate to the environment and what we might wish for its future. They also talked about ways to "interact" with the environment and positive and negative effects these interactions might have.

After reiterating their predictions, the teacher began to read the book to the students. Every few pages she would pause and have the students make more predictions about what they think might be happening next in the book. She questioned the students as well during her reading of the book. She used questions such as "What caused this to happen?" and "What might the main characters' dreams look like?"

Once she completed the book, she reminded students about context clues and what they were. She explained that they would be using context clues to discover the meanings of their vocabulary words. She demonstrated using context clues to discover the meaning of a vocabulary word. She reminded the students that they could come up with a synonym of the word and see if it made sense in the sentence.

She separated the students into pairs and had them find the meanings of the vocabulary words together by using context clues and discussion. They recorded their answers on a vocabulary chart. This is what inspired the group part of my vocabulary lesson. After the groups had had time to create their definitions, she invited them to share with the class one of the definitions they had found. She did this for all vocabulary words, giving praise and correcting when necessary. (It rarely was necessary.)

She closed by asking students whether they had enjoyed the book and why or why not. She followed this with questions such as "What would your ideal future look like?" and "What can you do to make this happen?" This part inspired my Reading Comprehension lesson because of the types of questions she was asking. The students had little difficulty with factual questions, but some had difficulty with inferential questions.

The lessons that inspired my fluency lesson were small, teacher-led pairs of student practicing their fluency with a relatively short text. She told me that the text should never be over 300 words. Often the text was a summary of a book or story that they had recently read. The teacher went over what fluency is with the students. (Reading with accuracy, expression and correct tone)

To begin, she modeled reading the passage fluently. She read slowly but used a lot of expression in her reading. She made a connection with the students by explaining that sometimes if a text is hard, even adults have to read it more than once to understand it and read it well.

Next, the first student read aloud with the teacher timing him. She was careful to tell the other student to read along silently. When the student finished, she wrote his time on a Fluency Chart. She gave feedback on how the student had read and, with student input, set a challenge goal. She followed the same procedure with the second student. Each student read the passage three times; taking turns and reading it silently while the other read. Their recorded times improved with each reading. She gave praise and feedback after every reading.

Yet another lesson I witnessed was a writing lesson using a poem.

The teacher passed out a "bubble" worksheet and had students fill in questions such as "Where are you from?" and "What is one of your dreams for the future?"

Once they had had a chance to fill out the worksheet, she invited the students to share some of their answers. She wrote key words from them down on the board. Afterwards, asked the students to choose some of the key words and write them down on their white boards. They were next asked to use the words they had chosen to create a description. She explained to students that they could use the words to make detailed descriptions that would create pictures in a reader's mind. She then had students share some of their sentences.

Lesson Plan Reflection

The lessons I taught had a hitch or two, but generally went well. The vocabulary lesson went smoothly, for the most part. The students really seemed to connect with the characters in the story, and most could come up with a real or imagined experience easily. They worked amicably together in their groups and seemed especially to enjoy the fact that they could use online resources to help define the words. I really think the inclusion of technology was a strength of the lesson.

If I had to state a weakness for the lesson, I would say it had to be the use of context clues to find word meanings. Several students really struggled with this concept. If I were in my own classroom, I would have a lesson or two on context clues before including them as a strategy in any other lesson. This way, the students would have a basis off of which to work instead of just a short explanation. My mentor teacher suggested that I exercise more care with which students I put in a group together, making more of an effort to ensure that they were approximately on the same reading level. I am not sure I agree with this. It seems to me that the better readers could support the weaker ones in a mixed group.

Several students had difficulty with segmenting the words in the syllabication exercise. My mentor teacher said this was normal and that the skill would need more reinforcement in later lessons. The strength of the lesson seemed to be finding visual and word cues to remember the segments of words. The students came up with some unique but effective ones. If I had it to do over; I would attempt to find a "back up method" to supplement the clapping routine. Not every student seemed to take to this method.

The majority of the students understood the fluency lesson and seemed to enjoy the paired reading activity. I believe that this activity really brought home the concept of fluency and would be the strength of the lesson. The weakness would be the level of support provided for ELL and ID students. Two things I would change would be to allow ELL students to read a passage in their own language and to give ID students more practice with the passage before reading it for fluency.

Several of the students had great difficulty with the "thick" (inferential) question portion of the Comprehension lesson. My mentor teacher stated that this was a difficult concept, and I could improve the lesson by providing more modeling of the procedure for these questions. Apparently, a weakness of the lesson was insufficient modeling. Students had no problem with the "thin" (factual) questions. I would state that assigning roles to the members of the groups would be the strength of the lesson. This really seemed to help them function more efficiently. It is something I would continue in other lessons.

The book chosen for the writing lesson was an overwhelming success. The students loved it. The choice of this book was definitely the strength of the lesson. Despite this and modeling of the procedures for creating their own story, some of the students had difficulty with the assignment; even with coming up with their personal or created experience. To help with this, story prompts could be provided. Support and perhaps modeling of the writing procedure would be the weakness of this lesson.

I enjoyed my observations in this class and learned a great deal from my mentor teacher. My skills in modeling have improved (somewhat) by observing her with her class and speaking with her on the subject. My ability to create lesson plans has vastly improved as a result of consultation with her and being allowed to look over her lesson plans. In all, I believe the observation was a success.

References

Bosone, K. L. (2003, March 24). Reading Fluency. Retrieved from Utah Education Network:

Debbie, A. &. (2013). Spelling in Parts: Learning to Spell, Write, and Read Polysyllabic Words. Retrieved from Read Write Think:

Harper, P. (2013). Acquiring New Vocabulary Through Book Discussion Groups. Retrieved from Read Write Think:

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