Project 2A

1. Describe your target area for guided lead teaching.

I will be introducing our unit on the fantasy genre and working through most of the unit during the two weeks.

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

Each day we have two language arts classes containing two different groups of students. These classes last between 40-60 minutes.

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

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.2 Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text

 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes.

 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.5 Explain how a series of chapters, scenes, or stanzas fits together to provide the overall structure of a particular story, drama, or poem.

 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.9 Compare and contrast stories in the same genre (e.g., mysteries and adventure stories) on their approaches to similar themes and topics.

 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, at the high end of the grades 4–5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

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?

During our fantasy unit, the unit will explore the creativity of each student and push them to display their thoughts and ideas through writing. Developing student’s creative writing skills is very important for them. First, working with them to help create concepts that are outside the realm of reality is a fantastic mental exercise. Second, these students will be working on developing a story, complete with plot, characters, setting, etc. These are foundational skills for story making. As creative writers, these students will benefit greatly from this unit. This unit also consists of reading fantasy. Through reading stories and books in this genre, they will be viewing models of how they can construct their stories.

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)?

During the majority of our lessons and units, we strive to find a balance between the amount of talk time between teacher and student. To do this, we use a good amount of partner/pair work so that students can converse with each other. Students are also given ample opportunities to ask questions during the writing process and reading. Teacher talk generally involves modeling and providing examples, direction giving, clarification, and one-on-one discussion with a student.

I really would like to focus on the interaction between me and the students during this lesson. The practice of having students leave “tracks” of their thinking is a simple and effective way for them to communicate with me about their thinking as they read through a story. This is a great practice not only for the fantasy genre, but all genres.

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 want to focus on Comprehension Strategy Instruction and Assessment. I find comprehension to be one of the most difficult aspects of reading for students in this grade level. As a professional, I need to develop ways which I can reliably use to help students understand what they are reading. In previous classes, we have discussed the importance of having as many tools at your disposal as possible. Working with students to monitor comprehension, activate and connect background knowledge, question, visualize, determine importance in text, summarize and synthesize information will allow them to make adequate progress in understanding texts.

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

            The resources which I will have to work with are all found within the school. We will be using our school library, computer lab, and class library to find reading material for the students to study from. There are many students who receive reading and writing assistance, so they will be taking time during the day to work with a literacy interventionalist. Lastly, we will be using examples from former students during this unit for students to work from.

8. What additional resources do you need to obtain?

            I won’t need any other resources outside of the school.

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

            Students have had formal assessments done on their reading and writing skills and we have this data. This includes reading words per minute, fluency, and vocabulary level. We could potentially assess their interest in the genre and their interest in reading in general. These could be formal or informal assessments.

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 will need to know the reading levels of each student for when we assign/recommend books to read. Matching the students reading ability with an appropriate book will help keep them interested in the book. I will also need to know the students writing skills. Fantasy involves a great deal of creativity, so being aware of the skills of each student in producing their own style of writing is very important.

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

            I have students who don’t do many activities outside of school. They will go home and play video games hour after hour. Trying to help these students make connections to their personal life is hard because the amount of interests they hold is very low. I want to learn how to help these students make connections to the few interests or activities they enjoy, or how to motivate them to get off their butts and start being more interesting.

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

            I have very few concerns about this lesson. I have great support from my MT and I am very confident that the students will respond well to my teaching. One of the concerns I do hold is the amount of activities I will plan. This is going to be the first unit I have taught and I have never planned such a large amount of activities. One other concern I have is making personal connections to the students during this lesson because I do read a lot and my knowledge of the fantasy genre is limited.