Ms. Perez's Classroom

How does this activity engage students who are at different levels of literacy development?

            Firstly, rhyming poems are chosen in order to keep the attention of all students regardless of literacy level. Secondly, the difficulty of the phonetics lesson is slightly increased with each word, so both lower level and higher level literacy students are challenged and engaged. 

During her explicit phonics lesson, how does Ms. Perez support students' problem-solving skills?

            Ms. Perez never gives up on any student. Rather, when a student makes a mistake, she explains what that mistake was made and helps lead the student towards the answer. For example, when the student misread “dot” as “bot”, Ms. Perez explained to the student that she knows he thought that was a “b”, but it was actually a different letter. 

Based on what you saw in the video, what are the different ways that shared reading can be used to promote literacy?

            On a basic level, shared reading gives every student the opportunity to read out loud without the pressure of being in front of the class alone. Secondly, shared reading uses scaffolding as the teacher and more advanced students can read and pronounce the words that less advanced students are struggling with. 

Why does she think it's important for students to verbalize their strategies? What else do you notice about how she helps students build meaning in text?

            As students verbalize their strategies, they simultaneously internalize those strategies until they use them unconsciously. She covers up words in the book in order to force students to use context clues to determine what the covered up word is. 

How does Ms. Perez organize her classroom to support a wide range of learners?

            Ms. Perez allows students to read at levels appropriate to their skill level. For example, two of her students are permitted to read 4^th and 5^th grade level texts because they read far above their 2^nd grade level. 

 

How are reading and writing connected in classroom activities?

            The students who read at a higher level took notes on what they read and typed the information on a computer. 

How does Ms. Perez use ongoing individual assessment to guide her instruction? How can the class profile be used to help group students and differentiate instruction?

            Ms. Perez makes a running record of students reading ability. Based on the results of the assessments, Ms. Perez decides what types of books will be used in the class. Students are grouped with similarly skilled students when it comes to reading levels. Those groups will be introduced to material that is appropriate for their skill level. 

How can ongoing assessment be integrated into your own classroom practice?       

            A running record is a great way to introduce ongoing assessment into the classroom. If several months later, a child is still struggling with the same material, a teacher will then know that a different approach will be necessary to help the student improve their literacy.