Final Blog

I have really enjoyed the opportunity to work with a student this summer. Especially one who is full of energy and loves to read. We read several books throughout our time together and it was always fun to her that she had fun doing work at the end of each session. I know that she will do well in first grade next year!

 

We have been busy throughout our five sessions together. We have worked on spelling, reading aloud, word families, comprehension and understanding events, and done an abundance of reading. Celina always does what is asked of her without questions. She does very well at following instructions and reading aloud. She is very knowledgeable and is always up for a challenge. When we first started our sessions, I had her read texts that were at her reading level. Toward the end of our time together, I had her read more challenging texts. She did very well but stopped often because her mouth was tired. I often ask her what words mean that she is reading in books. For example, I asked her what a mansion was and she replied with confidence, “it is like a big house that costs A LOT of money. Seriously you have to be really rich to live in one of those!” I am always impressed with her answers.

                Celina reads at an M-O level in Fontas and Pinnell. The only recommendations that I have for her to work on practicing reading a few longer books. She was a little resistant to this but usually made it through half of the text. Some books that might be beneficial for her to start with are The Berenstain Bears, Arthur, and Franklin. They are still fun reads but offer more text on each page. I would also have her read books that she has not read so she can practice new words

Second Lesson

Day 2 Objectives:

Good readers can read a passage with few mistakes

Good readers can complete a word sort 

Day 2 Prompts:

Demonstrate/Complete Word Study (5-10 minutes)

Read Frozen Anna’s Best Friends (5 minutes)

Have student retell the story (3 minutes)

If extra time, have student read book to me and make connections with the text.

 

 Cindy did very well with the word sort. I asked her to sort words ending with -ate, -ame, and -ake. She would read each word to me before she put it in the category. After she sorted them we read every word together. Cindy did very well with reading the passage with few mistakes. She had never read this text before and only made five errors in 108 words. She would look at the beginning and end of the words she did not know and say a word that she knew that looked similar. Cindy enjoyed reading the Frozen book because it was a new book on a topic that she liked. I had her retell me what happened in the story using the pictures and she was able to tell me which character was doing something on each page.

I discovered that Cindy flies through my lessons. She enjoys them and I discovered that I need to have more for her to do in our time. I also learned that I have to keep her reading instead of letting her stop every few minutes to tell me a story.

Fifth Lesson

Day 5 Objectives:

Good readers will be able to complete a word sort

Good readers will be able to answer questions geared towards one story

I can complete a close read

 Procedures:

Greet student. Ask her to complete the word sort without any help. She will read every word and put them in the right column. Once finished, read over the words together to make sure they are all right.

Pull out Mortimer by Robert Munsch. Ask her to read it for the second time. At the end of the book ask different questions than we asked during the first read.

1.       When is Mortimer making noise?

2.       Why do you think Mortimer is making so much noise?

3.       Who is mad at Mortimer?

4.       Why is everyone mad at Mortimer?

Have her read the book for the third time. At the end of the book ask deeper thinking questions.

1.       What do you think Mortimer is trying to do by singing so loud?

2.       Do you think his song has any meaning?

3.       Why do you think he ended up falling asleep in the end?

Cindy did well for her last lesson. We read Mortimer again and she remembered the book from the last lesson. She did not struggle with the words this time and read the book straight through. She answered the questions I had prepared with no problem. I did not ask her the questions until she had finished reading the book so she was reading without looking for the answers. The third time through she really did not want to read the book again. I suggested that we make it fun and do something different for this read. In the book, Mortimer sings a song to get attention from his family members. For the third reading, we clapped and stomped our feet to the song. She thought that was fun. I had her write her answers down for the third set of questions. She resisted a little but I got her to finish them.

This lesson was a little harder because Cindy really was getting tired of reading the same book over and over. In the end I think I did a lot better of putting my foot down and having her finish her all that I had asked of her. I think I did a great job of redirecting and making reading the book for the third time fun. The song that Mortimer sings is repeated several times in the book so Cindy could clap and stomp often which made her read the book a little faster without as many breaks.
 

Fourth Lesson

Day 4 Objectives:

Good readers can read the words on a word sort.

Good readers can complete two family word sorts

Good readers can read a story and answer questions to check comprehension

Day 3 Procedures:

Greet student and ask her how her weekend was. Have the students read the words for the family word sorts. Let her put the words in the correct family. Once she is finished, go over the words with her to make sure she put them in the right spot. Once finished with that word sort let her start the other family sort. Let her read each word and put them in the category she thinks they belong in.

Have her choose a story from the Classic Storybook collection to read for her close read on Thursday. Tell the student that we are going to work on comprehension. Ask her if she knows what comprehension is. Comprehension means that she is understanding what is happening in the story.

While she is reading have her stop every two pages to talk about what is happening in the story. When finished ask

1.      who some of the characters were

2.      where the story took place

3.      what were some events

4.      what was the problem in the story

Walk back through the book together to get a summary of the book. Have her write the answers in the notebook to help put them in her long term memory. After she has written the answers, have her write three sentences about the book (likes or dislikes and one event).

Cindy did a great job as always with her word sorts. She completed her word sorts on word families today and did a fantastic job reading the words and putting them in the correct spot. Today we read Mortimer by Robert Munsch. We stopped throughout the story to check for comprehension and to talk about the pictures. Cindy would often stop to say, "I predict that Mortimer will get in trouble again!" We talked about who was mad at Mortimer and why. We talked about where the setting was and why we think Munsch used the colors that he did for the pictures. Cindy always had a great response and really enjoyed reading the new book.

I let her read all by herself today. The words she did not know I gave her time to sound them out instead of helping her figure them out. I think I have gotten much better at asking the right questions and waiting for her response instead of giving her the answer and moving on. I still need to work on making sure she is comprehending the text. I also need to work on having her write some of the answers. She does not always like to write but sometimes she asks for a pencil and paper to "help her think about the answers."

Third Lesson

Day 3 Objectives:

Good readers can read the words on a word sort

Good readers can complete a word sort on ending -ub,-ug, -ut sounds

Good readers can complete a running record on a familiar book with few mistakes.

Good readers can recall events from a book.

Good readers can write a response to the book.  

 

Day 3 Procedures:

Greet students and ask how her day is going. Ask her what she did yesterday and what she plans on doing after our session together. Tell the student that we are going to work on another word sort with a focus on the ending sounds. The student struggled with ending sounds on the last running record so I would like to place the emphasis on ending sounds for this word sort.

I will model two of the words on the word sort with an emphasis on the ending sounds. Ask if she can hear a difference in sounds between the two words. Ask the student to read the rest of the words on the word sort out loud. Place the three categories on the top of the desk. Model each of the ending sounds. Tell the student that her task to is to put the words under the right category by herself.

Handing one word at a time to the student I will have her read each word to you and place it in a category. When she is finished, read the words in each category together and she if she will correct her mistakes (if she has made any). I really want the student to be able to place the words in the categories by herself to prove to herself that she can read the words and place them in the right categories. (5-10 minutes)

Next I will ask my student to read Are You My Mother to me while I complete a running record with the text. We have read this book each time so I believe this will go very well because she is familiar with the storyline and text. Let her do her best without giving her any hints. (10 minutes).

Once completed with the running record, I will have my student listen to me read a new book. I will ask if she knows what an “event” is in a book. In the Are You My Mother book model an event. The bird went to visit a snort and the bird visited a cat. Those are events in a story because it is something that happened in the book. I would like the student to give me at least three events from the book to make sure she can remember what happened in the book and that she is actually comprehending what I am reading to her to the point where she can respond to the text. (5 minutes)

Read the new book and have her look at the pictures to help build a mental image of the events in the story. Once finished, ask the student to write three sentences about the book. The sentences could include her favorite part or what she liked or did not like about the book. Remind her to use her best penmanship and to use capital letters and punctuation (15 minutes).


Cindy did even better with the second running record because she was familiar with the text. We had read Are You My Mother the last two times we had met. She only made on self correction and added words in three different spots. She scored 156/159. She read straight through the text without asking any questions. She did what was asked of her without questioning me. She completed her word sort quickly and perfectly. She did not make any mistakes.

I learned that I need to let her read to me more. She is capable of reading new material and enjoys the challenge. I also learned that I did a great job of stopping during the story to check for her comprehension. She is such a fast learner that I need to keep up with her. I had more planned for this lesson which helped because we did not have any spare time at the end.

 

Cindy

Cindy will be going into first grade in the fall. She is a bright young lady and full of energy. Cindy displayed a positive attitude from the first moment I met her in the hallway. She was very eager to read to me. I asked her a few questions from my Interest Inventory to get to know her a little better.

Her other favorite book is Are You My Mother? by Dr. Seuss. Cindy loves to read the books she owns. She also likes to craft, play outside, and play on her electronics- when she has earned them. In the summer she loves to swim and play outside. In the winter she enjoys drinking hot chocolate and sitting by the fire. She admires her older brother and parents. Cindy's favorite sport is soccer. She loves physical education and reading but does not like handwriting!

First Lesson

Lesson One Objectives

• Good readers know their interests so they can make motivating book choices
• Good readers know about the words on each page
• Focus on student learning

Lesson One Procedures

• Interest inventory
• Spelling inventory- Primary list
• Listen to student read a familiar text
• If time, engage the student in some writing (respond to book)

I was very impressed with my first grade student name Cindy (pseudomonas)! She was very excited to work with me and did everything I asked of her. Her handwriting was readable and she had fun completing the spelling inventory. Cindy read Llama Llama Misses Mama to me and did not miss very many words. I asked her to write a sentence about why this was her favorite book. Her response was:


"It is a sad book with a happy ending!"

I really enjoyed working with Cindy. I was so glad she loved school and that she was excited to meet me. She even mentioned that she had been practicing reading her book. I enjoyed giving her the Interest inventory because it gave me a chance to learn about her likes and dislikes. I also had fun giving her the spelling test because she was eager to do her best and to listen to the list of words and spell them for me. I think we will get along very well. It will be fun to get to know her as a student and person this summer!