Leveille Target Area

1.     Describe your target area for guided lead teaching.

My target area is shared reading.  Shared reading involves reading a big book aloud to the class every day for a week.  Each reading is of the same book but will focus on different parts of the story.  The first day looks at reading the book and strategies that take place with reading such as predicting, a picture walk, and looking at the “big idea”.  Day two focuses on deepening the meaning of the story and looking at comprehension through connections they can make.  Day three is about the structure of the text, such as patterns within the words, return sweep, bold print, etc.  Day four looks at letter or word study like the formation of letters, the sounds they make, and rhymes.  Day five focuses on skills like beginning sounds and high frequency words that are in the text.  There is also a day six that is typically combined with day five to tie everything together in an extension activity.

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

10 minutes

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

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.K.1-Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.K.2a-Recognize and produce rhyming words.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.K.3c -Read common high-frequency words by sight (e.g., the, of, to, you, she, my, is, are, do, does).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.K.10-Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding

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?

Using shared reading demonstrates many skills that are required of readers such as predicting, making meaning, and understanding structure.  Reading is an extremely important life skill so this target area incorporates many aspects of how to be a strong reader.  Learning literacy is done through listening to the story and working on reading along as well as using the pictures to help us read.  Breaking apart words into smaller pieces as well as looking at rhymes and language patterns is a way to explore learning about literacy through a shared reading.  Students will also learn through literacy by listening to the story and making meaningful connections to their lives or to the world.

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)?

The classroom talk that takes place within this target area (and this grade level) is teacher-led.  Most of the questions are asked by the teacher and answered by the students.  There is a bit of higher-level thinking when students work on making connections between the book and their lives.  Teaching in this target area requires building norms such as how to sit quietly and listen to a story, as well as how to participate when answering questions aloud.  I would also like to establish how to listen to other children when they are sharing their answers.

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?

I would like to work on explicit instruction during my shared reading.  This target area allows for lots of thinking aloud and reading aloud.  These two areas are used extensively in the lower grades so I think it is a very important skill for me to have, as I hope to teach early elementary.

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

I have a fantastic literacy library in my school with many big books that can be used for my shared reading lesson. 

8.     What additional resources do you need to obtain?

This will depend on what my extension activities happen to be, and then the resources I may need can be found within my school (such as paper, scissors, glue, etc).

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

I will take anecdotal records on many students while they are being read to in order to observe how they participate in readings.  I will also look at their standardized reading tests that we are working on to see where they fall in their knowledge of concepts about print, letter recognition, letter/sound knowledge, etc.

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 think the pre-assessments will help me learn a lot about the students.  My MT is also very familiar with the big books available at our school and is helping me choose books that the students always seem to enjoy.

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

I would like to see more examples of teachers using thinking aloud to help me better understand what it looks like in a classroom (especially in kindergarten).  I will also re-read the chapters focusing on these core practices to refresh me on the strategies and tips they provide.

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

I am not concerned about planning or teaching the unit, although I know it will be a lot of work and may be a bit nerve-wracking the first day, but I feel confident that I can do it and I am excited to begin my guided lead teaching!