I did not add phonics or phonemic awareness in this presentation as this is for 5th grade, and these are not an issue for the vast majority of my students. If I were teaching K-3, or a class with many low readers or ELL students, I would add this piece of the process.
Students must know the meanings of a high percentage of words in a passage in order to achieve comprehension.
Background knowledge = schema Building vocabulary helps to construct meaning Comprehension strategies include re-reading, questioning, inferring, predictions, etc.
Fluency is one of the most important factors in comprehension. It is also one of the most difficult to remediate.
Students should not be “assigned” independent “free” reading for homework, but need to be motivated to do so.
Learning style inventories for both parents and students. This piece of information will allow me to better tailor the student’s curriculum to an area of interest. If the child is interested, he/she is more apt to engage. Types of formal and informal assessments will be covered later in the presentation.
Both reading and writing decrease teacher support and increase student independence the further down the chart they travel.
Many types of flexible grouping are necessary to meet the needs of all readers.
Fluency is an important part of comprehending text and is also one of the most difficult to correct. Specific comprehension strategies would include things like making connections, asking good questions, making inferences, visualization, summarization, literary techniques, etc. It is the hope that “book talks” will encourage students to read other texts and authors based on the recommendation of their peers.
We use the Rigby reading series which has a guided reading component with leveled books through W.
The teacher floats in and out of these groups completing observation rubrics of group dynamics and asking probing, critical questions. Literature notebooks are collected and graded through a rubric.
The Six Traits of Writing are ideas, voice, word choice, organization, conventions, and fluency. Students will “publish” one piece of writing each nine weeks period.
The most frequently used words will be taken from Fry’s list of high frequency words. Spelling units focus on different phonics rules. Each week students have 10 vocabulary words that follow a specific Greek or Latin root.
It is important to remember that standardized tests are only “snapshots” of student achievement. There are pros and cons to standardized tests.
Developmental rubric focuses on strengths and weaknesses and directs student growth. Summative rubric evaluates student products and performances.
Students will fill out a submission form for each item chosen for the portfolio stating reasons for the submission. Students will also reflect on their progress and make goals for future work.
Interview students using the Funnel Approach (going from general questions to specific questions)