Reading Mini-lessons

TE 402 READING LESSON PLAN

Reading Lesson Plan # 2

Your Name:  Tracy Tossi                           Grade Level:  5^th    

Date lesson was taught:  4/19/12              Number of Students: 1

1) Rationale (What evidence do you have that your focus students need to learn this skill/strategy?):

The student struggles to read accurately at an adequate pace to show that they comprehend what they read. She tends to pause in the middle of sentences or paragraphs due to how easily distracted the student can become. There is also a lack of prosody when the students reads; the tone of voice does not show that the student understands how the punctuation can have an effect on the way the text is read. By making the student more comfortable with their accuracy level and pace in reading, perhaps they will be able to focus more on prosody while reading. Improvement in all of these areas will have a positive impact on the student’s comprehension skills.

2) List which reading skill/strategy is the main focus of your lesson (select ONE area):

Fluency: Rate and accuracy improvement through repeated readings

3) Objective for this lesson (performance, condition, criteria):

The student will read a passage from Keep Your Ear on the Ball at an independent level after 3 repeated readings.

4) Materials & supplies needed:

Keep Your Ear on the Ball, tracking sheet, timer/clock, writing utensil

5) OUTLINE OF LESSON PLAN (Provide a bulleted list of ideas):

• Introduction to the lesson  

·         We will be working on fluency today but more specifically your accuracy and speed. When you read fluently, you read most of the words correctly at just the right speed and with expression.

·         When we read fluently, it sounds like we’re reading smoothly.

·         When you read a text going word by word, we tend to forget what we’re reading. (Give an example)

·         Reading fluently is important because it helps with our comprehension; comprehension is when we understand what we are reading

·         Rate is how fast we read the text. This is measured in words per minute. The goal is not to read too fast or read too slow. We want to read at a speed that makes it easy to remember and understand what we read.

·         Another part of fluency that helps us understand what it is we’re reading is accuracy.

·         Accuracy is the percentage of words that are read correctly

·         Eventually this will lead to reading with expression. This is when our tone and pitch sound like we’re talking when we read. So when we see an exclamation point or a question mark, we know to sound excited or say something as a question.

·         All of these factors are important in helping us read fluently. Remember, when we read fluently it’s easier to understand what we’re reading about.

·         This is the whole point of reading; we want to understand what it is we read because that’s the only way we learn anything from it.

• OUTLINE of key events during the lesson 

Before Repeated Reading

• We just read Keep Your Ear on the Ball, and you did a great job reading it.
• What we are going to do now is assess your rate and accuracy, which is the same as how fast you read and how many words you read correctly.
• What you will do is read this page (point to previously selected page in book) in one minute. I will time you and record any words that you get incorrect.
• Don’t be nervous, this isn’t for a grade or a test or anything like that. You will get to improve your score because we will do this at least two more times after your first try.
• I would like you to read naturally like you would if you were reading out loud to yourself.
• If you make a mistake, don’t be afraid to keep on going
• If you don’t know a word, you can skip over it.
• Remember, just read to me like you normally would out loud.
• Show an example of reading too fast and show an example of reading too slow. Read with proper rate and accuracy and prosody, this way the student may able to exhibit prosody in their reading.
• This is your first try. When I ask you to begin, you may.

After First Try

• You did great!
• Go over results with student, provide feedback
• Circle any words the student had trouble with and clarify if there were any vocabulary issues
• Have the student attempt to decode the words they didn’t know and clarify any misconceptions
• Tell the reader to prepare for their second trial
• Repeat the same steps after more trials; repeat the reading at least 3 times, depending on whether or not the student would like to continue improving their score. Do this no more than 5 times or if the student reaches independent level

• Closing summary for the lesson (

·         That was great! Thank you for showing me how well you can read!

·         How do you think you did?

·         What are some things that you want to work on with your fluency?

·         What helped you during your second and third trials?

·         What was the hardest part for you?

·         I can see how you became more quick as you continued to improve your store and you read more words accurately during each trial

·         Do you feel like you understand that passage more? What was it telling you?

·         This shows you how reading fluently allows you to better understand what it is you’re reading

·         The next step to helping you become a fluent reader would be to read with expression.

·         I can see how you acknowledged some of the punctuation to help you read with expression. As you become more comfortable reading at a proper speed and reading more words correctly, reading with expression will become more easy!

·         Do you see how this is related to comprehension?

6) Ongoing-Assessment: 

• I will record the student’s results after each trial
• These results will be graphed so the student can see their improvements over time
• Based on this graph, it will be easier to determine when the student is able to read more difficult text
• The goal is to have the student to read at an independent level for this lesson but once the student  can read at a book level at the instructional level, it is acceptable for them to increase the difficulty of text for them to read
• The student must practice reading fluently so that they can continue to develop their rate and accuracy; this will lead to an improved prosody as well
• Once the student increases their rate and accuracy levels, introduce assessment of expression to help them build on their skills in this area of fluency
• Practicing reading is the best way to improve fluency

7) Based on what you know about your focus students, what Academic, Social and/or Linguistic Support will be needed during the lesson?

• After each trial, it’s important to go any difficult words that the student encountered and define what they mean to help the understand the passage
• I will work one on one with her and acknowledge that it’s ok for her to make mistakes since she is shy about making errors
• I will show the reader an explicit example of how to read fluently because she benefits from visual examples 

Reflection

Fiona’s participation during the mini-lesson was more focused than I had anticipated. Typically this student exhibits off-task behavior during any activity. It has been observed that Fiona will even interrupt a conversation to discuss a random topic because she has a tough time staying on-task. During the mini-lesson, she was eager to do the repeated readings and increase her score of WCPM and percent accuracy. There were times when she did get sidetracked and discussed various events in her life about learning to read and the people who helped her. Once she was asked to save her stories for after the activity, she was able to get back on-task and complete the repeated readings successfully.

When prosody was being defined, Fiona made comments alluding to her understanding of how to read with expression. She stated that punctuation helps determine how to read a sentence; a question mark shows that you have to read like you’re asking a question and an exclamation point shows that you have to sound like you’re louder or more excited. This exhibits Fiona’s pre-existing knowledge on fluency which was also apparent in the way she read aloud.

The objective was for Fiona to read at an independent level by the third repeated reading. Fiona was able to achieve this goal with only two repeated readings which shows her ability to make adjustments to her reading errors, helping her to improve her WCPM as well.

One limitation of the lesson was the reading level of the story chosen. Next time it may push the reader to develop her fluency level if a more difficult reading was chosen to evaluate her fluency. Although I feel the reader could have been pushed further, the reading level chosen did have some benefits. The easier reading level gave Fiona confidence which is important for this student in particular. I’ve observed in class that she will know the correct answer but she is too self-conscious to share with the rest of her peers in fear that she’s incorrect. By providing a text that she can read at an independent level, this makes her aware that she is capable of reading fluently.

Working one-on-one was also a strength of this lesson. Fiona is easily distracted but working together in the hallway allowed her to stay more focused throughout the reading lesson. The individual lesson also enabled Fiona to feel comfortable, which gave me the opportunity to see what she really is capable of in terms of reading fluency.

As a teacher, I noticed that I could use more practice with behavior management. I noticed that I would let the student go off on tangents longer than I should have. I need to learn to quickly bring the student back on track and develop a way to reinforce on-task behavior. I also noticed that explicitly stating learning goals helps students feel more prepared about what they need to do during a lesson.

I would like to see how fluently Fiona is able to read at a more difficult reading level. I think she is completely capable of reading at an independent level with a more difficult reading level; however, I also think that the environment will also have an impact on how she performs.  

TE 402 READING LESSON PLAN

Reading Lesson Plan # 1

Your Name:  Tracy Tossi                                       Grade Level:  5^th    

Date lesson was taught:  4/19/12                          Number of Students: 1

1) Rationale (What evidence do you have that your focus students need to learn this skill/strategy?):

This student needs explicit instruction in determining importance of a story. It has been observed that when the student has been given directions, she misses the important goal of the assignment or activity, making it difficult for her to succeed in activities. Class observations have shown that the student is disengaged during reading activities, including read alouds, making it difficult for her to participate in comprehension activities. Rather than assume the student is unable to comprehend readings, it is vital to work with this student one-on-one to get a better idea of what areas of comprehension the student needs more development.

2) List which reading skill/strategy is the main focus of your lesson (select ONE area):

Comprehension: Determining Importance

3) Objective for this lesson (performance, condition, criteria):

The student will fill out an Anticipation Guide completely prior to reading Keep Your Ear on the Ball, provide evidence for their predictions during the reading, and state whether their initial predictions were correct based on their evidence. The student will also answer Reading Guide questions during the reading based on main ideas they retrieve from the text.

4) Materials & supplies needed:

           Anticipation guide, Reading Guide questions, Keep Your Ear on the Ball, writing utensil

5) OUTLINE OF LESSON PLAN (Provide a bulleted list of ideas):

• Introduction to the lesson   

·         We will be focusing on determining the importance of the story

·         Do you know what it means for something to be important?

·         We need to understand how to do this because it allows us to understand what we read.

·         We get a better understanding of the theme and the main ideas. The author wants us to understand what’s important in the story because these are related to the main ideas. This is why we read.

·         This gives us a purpose to read

·         Determining what’s important is not just used in reading, either. When we make decisions, we always have to decide based on what’s important. Sometimes I would rather hang out with my friends than go to the library, but I know it’s important for me to get all of my school work done first.

·         When we can determine what’s important in a story, then we can understand what the story is all about. That’s why we read.

·         We will be reading a book called Keep Your Ear on the Ball

·         It’s a short little story and I know you like to read out loud so I’m going to have you read it for us

·         Before, during, and after we read, we’re going to be doing a few activities to help us determine what’s important in this story

·         I’m excited to hear all of your ideas and answer any questions you have!

• OUTLINE of key events during the lesson  

·         Before we start reading, I’d like you to ask a few questions from my reading guide

·         This reading guide will help us draw out the important ideas of the story

·         Read “before reading” questions from guided reading

·         Model how to use the anticipation guide: model how to do the first row and provide evidence from the book

·         Model whether or not this is an important part of the story. “I think/don’t think this is important because…

·         Fill out the anticipation guide before reading portion; read the statements if needed and clarify any questions

·         Throughout the book, ask questions on the reading guide that pertain to sections of the book

·         Push the reader to ask any questions or share any predictions or ideas about the what’s important in the book

·         When the second statement’s evidence arises in the book, point to the question and ask if they have discovered the answer to the question or statement. This will be shared practice so that the student can develop this skill

·         When they provide evidence, ask if this is an important part of the story.

·         Ask how they know it is important or not important

·         Ask reading guide questions throughout the story and ask if this brings out important parts of the story.

·         After reading, ask the post-reading Reading Guide questions and ask the student if these answers help determine the importance of the story

·         Fill out the “After” portion of the Anticipation Guide

·         Discuss with the student whether they believe the evidence they found is important to the story at an independent level  

• Closing summary for the lesson

·         How do you think you did on your anticipation guide?

·         What were some things you thought were true before reading the story that you learned were false. Did this surprise you?

·         What helped you understand the story?

·         Did these activities help you determine what was important in the story? What to you was the most important message to take away from the story?

·         You can use these strategies every time you read a book for fun or for school.

·         By questioning as you read (give examples) you can pick out the important parts more easily.

·         Determining what’s important allows us to comprehend what it is we read. This means that we can read something and understand what the reading is telling us.

·         This is the whole point of reading! We never want to read a ton of words on a page and then not have any idea why we read everything or what it is we read. We read words on a page because they have a message. Determining what’s important in a story allows us to understand what that message is. This gives us a purpose for reading.

6) Ongoing-Assessment:

·         I will observe for how well the student picks out evidence from the text to support her anticipated ideas

·         This will inform how well the reader comprehended the story; by finding adequate evidence, it will show that she understood the story well enough to pick that out.

·         The responses from the reading guide questions will also be  evaluated

·         Based on the responses the student gives from the questions, this will help direct future comprehension lessons

·         The student will continue to practice reading at an instructional level, working on anticipation guides and reading guides

·         It may be beneficial for the student to create her own anticipation guides and reading guides for peers to show that she knows how to extract important ideas from the text

7) Based on what you know about your focus students, what Academic, Social and/or Linguistic Support will be needed during the lesson?

·         If any words are unknown, I will work with the student to help decode the word and have the student try and define the word based on the context. Clarifications will be made if need be.

·         The student and I will work in a quiet hallway where she does not feel pressure from her peers.

·         I will sit next to the student to make her feel more comfortable and lessen the authoritative status between the two of us

·         I will give the student explicit directions so she knows exactly what is expected of her

·         If the student gets off-task, I will remind her of the behavioral and instructional goals.

 Reflection

I noticed that Fiona was more focused than I had anticipated. During comprehension activities in class, the student is off-task, usually doodling or staring off into space. In class, comprehension activities usually include a read aloud and questions that the teacher asks the students informally. By engaging the student in questions prior to the reading, during, and after, she was able to answer comprehension questions successfully and with great insight.

One of the strengths was the anticipation guide that the student filled out before the reading. This enabled her to be aware of important details in the story that would help her to understand the overall theme. Fiona was also able to change her initial choices based on ideas from the text, allowing me to see how well she comprehended what she was reading. Providing evidence to her decisions was a great indication as to how well the student comprehended what she read.

Another aspect of the lesson plan that could be a limitation as well as a strength was the fact that important details from the book were already provided for the student prior to the lesson. On the anticipation guide, I provided several statements (some true and some false) that highlighted important details from the story which Fiona had to agree or disagree with. This could have been a limitation because Fiona was not the one to choose important details from the story. Since all of the statements were not necessarily true, it did give Fiona the opportunity to decide whether she thought the statements were true based on evidence from the book. Even though this did test her comprehension, it may have been even more challenging had Fiona been the one to choose the important details on her own.

As a teacher, I learned that at times I may push students’ thinking too much. If I know a student may be on the right track, I ask questions that may lead them to provide a certain answer rather than allowing them to make a mistake in their response. I should allow more time for students to develop their answers and see if they are capable of reaching the right answer on their own. This will allow me to see what they’re thinking and then if need be I can go ahead and make any clarifications.

I wonder if Fiona would be able to pick out important details on her own in the future as a way to test her comprehension. She was able to work well on an individual lesson but placing her in a classroom setting with the same lesson plan may have resulted differently. I wonder how well Fiona would have performed if she was in a group setting . Her success in this comprehension lesson also makes me wonder how successful she can be in other aspects of comprehension.