General Information
- Subject(s): Reading/ vocabulary
- Topic or Unit of Study: Word identification: phonics recognition and decoding
- Grade/Level: Grade 1
- Instructional Setting: classroom of 20 pupils in a reading lesson context sited in groups of 4 pupils.
Standards and Objectives
Wisconsin state Core Curriculum/Student Achievement Standard(s)
Reading standards:
- growth of comprehension.
- text complexity (Winscosin Department of public instruction, 2011).
Speaking and listening standards:
- Develop collaboration.
- Develop flexible communication.
Language standards:
- Writing and reading convention standards.
- Acquisition of vocabulary.
Lesson Objective(s)
By the end of the lesson:
- The pupils should be able correctly spell words appropriate for their grades.
- The pupils should be able to set phonetically irregular words in appropriate order.
Materials and Resources
Instructional Materials
- Letter cards.
- Smart boards.
Instructional Plan
Identification of Student Prerequisite Skills Needed for Lesson
In the beginning the teacher provides opportunities for practicing word recognition. Using the smart board, the teacher includes parts of words mixed with other words learnt in previous lesson. This section takes 10 minutes.
Guided Practice
In the activity of making words, the teacher will use a set of letter cards for each student. One side of the letter cards will contain capital letters. The other side of the cards will have small letters. In each set of cards, the teacher includes more than one of each vowel and other frequently used letters. The teacher uses cards generated from the smart-board to guide the students into the activity.
- The first step will require the teacher to distribute the letters before giving the directions for each word that students are to make (Keifer, Hepler, & Hickman, 2010)
- The teacher picks a simple two letters and asks students to make a word using the two letters. For instance, the teacher makes the word “TO” and then tells the children to make the same word from their set of letter cards.
- Then the teacher asks for one student to volunteer and assemble the correct arrangement of the lettercards on the smart board to form the word “TO”. Once the one student arranges the correct letters, the teacher asks a different volunteer to read the word. If the response is correct, then the teacher assesses whether all the students managed to arrange their cards correctly (Gunning, 2010).
- In each word making activity, the teacher spends approximately 10 minutes before moving to the next activity. The teacher should focus on using at least three words. Before moving to the next word, the teacher first gives direction and uses the word in a sentence so that students can understand the context of its use.
- In order to cater for students who are struggling with understanding, the teacher can stretch out the words to make the letters clear.
- Finally, on the smart board the teacher lines up the words that the students made in their correct order. This ending session will require the students to read the words aloud in order to be able to sort words according to patterns and beginning/ending sounds (Gunning, 2010).
Independent Student Practice
In order to make use of the team sitting arrangement, this section will involve group work and partner work. The session will last for 10 minutes. In partners, the students will do a simple game where one says words while the other attempts to write the letters and phonemes of the words. This section will last for approximately ten minutes under the direction of the teacher (Keifer, Hepler, & Hickman, 2010).
Culminating or Closing Procedure/Activity/Event
The teacher uses the smart board to conduct a short and focused conclusion which involves giving the pupils a small spelling and word arrangement exercise on the smart board. The exercise is a means of formal assessment that helps the teacher establish whether the lesson objectives have been achieved (Keifer, Hepler, & Hickman, 2010).
Pedagogical Strategy (or Strategies)
Cooperative learning and partner work are the two main strategies to be used. Since the students are grouped into four, they perform the learning activities in their groups. Through both the teacher guided activities and independent student practice, the students should be able to achieve the two main objectives of the lesson.
Differentiated Instruction
In order to cater for students who are struggling with understanding, the teacher can stretch out the words to make the letters clear (Gunning, 2010). For the sake of different groups of students, the teacher will accommodate them by mixing the five groups to include the gifted learners and slow learners. The groups will be diverse to encourage cooperation among the children (Keifer, Hepler, & Hickman, 2010).
Components of formal and informal assessment
The most appropriate means of informal assessment in this lesson is observation. The teacher gives the pupils small exercise to be completed on the smart board and makes necessary observation. Alternative assessment is done throughout the lesson. However as the teacher ends the lesson, the children are provided with a small exercise from the work book as a formal assessment (Armbruster, Lehr, & Osborn, 2001). The exercise may also be done on the smart board since the technology enhances the students’ ability to recall concepts. Correct responses means that the objectives have been achieved.
References
Armbruster, B., Lehr, F., & Osborn, J. (2001). Put reading first: The research building blocks for teaching children to read. Web.
Gunning, T. (2010). Creating literacy instruction for all students (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon/Pearson Education.
Keifer, B. Z., Hepler, S., & Hickman, J. (2010). Charlotte Huck’s children’s literature. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Winscosin Department of public instruction. (2011). Common core state standards for English language art. Madison: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.