Teaching Reading

ELNG 310 Portfolio Activity Week 9

Teaching Reading


Names Karlee Andres, Crystal Flegel, Leanne Matthes

Scenario

  • You are a new gradeem 1 teacher in a school in an ‘at-risk’ neighbourhood. The school has performed poorly in provincial reading assessments and is under pressure to see more students reading at grade level by the end of grade 3 - as per Ministry goals.

  • The school is in a low income area and there is a high level of transience in the school. You have 24 students in your class. About half have self identified as Indigenous. There are also an increasing number of newcomer English language learners in the school.

  • The school is a vibrant and welcoming environment. Staff are committed and engaged with the community. There is an Indigenous Advocate on staff and an elder who visits the school on a regular basis.


Instructions

How will you develop your reading program? What are your priorities? What strategies will you use? Where will you begin?

In developing your response consider:

  • The range of typical readers

  • Readers who might not be seen as typical

  • Effective reading instruction

  • Gradual release of responsibility

  • Levelled reading programs

  • Engagement, fluency and comprehension

You may also want to draw on other conversations and materials from earlier in the semester.

How will you develop your reading program?

  • Daily 5 practices introduced one at a time

  • Levelled books that students are able to take home and read with their parents and bring back to get tested on

    • once students have read their levelled book fluently they can take a new book home to practice

    • once students have read 5 books at that level perfectly, they can move up a level

  • Sight works to work on weekly

    • sight words can be at different levels or to the interests of the student


What are your priorities?

  • creating a safe and welcoming environment in the classroom


What strategies will you use?

  • Word Wall - word/picture

    • this could be added to everyday

    • it could be a student lead bulletin board that they can make connections to

    • when making them visually appealing to students will make it more engaging to interact with

  • Colouring sight word workbooks

    • this could be for when students are done their work quickly to get extra practice

  • High-interest text

    • students will be more engaged and enjoy reading if it is something they are interested in

  • Reducing segregation practices

  • Empower learners to try new strategies

  • Audiobooks

  • Set up home/school activities - words for practice

    • sight words students would take home and practice

    • the levelled reading books would also be taken home to practice with the students family at home

  • Guided reading groups


Where will you begin?

  • Identify student interests

  • Brainstorm

  • Work to identify where the students are at