Twitter PLN

Even though Twitter has been around for a little while now, it is a tool I am continuing to learn how to use.  I had never used Twitter before, personally or professionally, until last semester.  I took the class Educational Technology and Design, and in that class I first was introduced to the benefits of using twitter.  Since that class and throughout this Early Literacy class, I have been able to see a value in using twitter.  Although I am still in the ongoing process of using Twitter and it isn’t always the most intuitive for me, I do think that i’s a great resource to have.  I especially love the ability to follow different authors and keep up with what they are doing.  I like to also follow social activists, such as Malala, who can be inspiring individuals for my students some day.  

In my opinion, one of the greatest aspects of twitter is the ability to find new resources and tips to look at and then share.  It is also a great way to be informed about different things.  For example, I learned about National Library Week through Twitter.  National Library Week would be a really fun event to celebrate in the classroom.  It could get students excited about books and excited about going to the library.  Additionally, I was able to learn more about all of the services that libraries are able to offer.

Tweets about my blog and National Library Week

Twitter allows me to look at what other people in the field of education are doing.  It gives great resources, but it also is helpful in seeing how other people are teaching.  For example, as I am posting my blogs about my literacy tutoring each week on Twitter, I am sharing my experience with others.  People from all over are able to see what is working for me and what isn’t working for me.  This gives people the opportunity to share what is also working for them, or what I could be doing to make my tutoring more effective.  Additionally, I am able to see shared experiences with others.  One of the key components of writing is to let us know that we are not alone, and posting and sharing blogs does just that!  

Twitter is a community of learners and educators.  I did not quite expect Twitter to be such a good community when I first started using it.  Participating in my first Tweet chat, however, changed my views on who uses Twitter and why.  I was able to see Twitter as a resources for professional development and as a way to make strong connections with others.  The Tweet chat was a great experience; everyone was so supportive and excited to be able to offer help and advice to preservice teachers.  It connected me to people I wouldn’t have otherwise followed.  It also connected me to the International Literacy Association (ILA), which I have found to be an extremely useful source. The chats they offer and the tweets they tweet always leaves me with suggestions for my classroom.  

Finally, Twitter is a place that can offer inspiration to future educators.  From quotes to resources to the supportive community, Twitter has the potential to be used as a tool for success.  As I continue my education and UNI, I hope to become better at using Twitter so I am ready to use it in its best way by the time I have my own classroom.  

Oh, and feel free to follow me at https://twitter.com/missmoeller18!

Literacy Tutoring 6

It is hard to believe that I have just completed my final literacy tutoring with L!  The time has gone by really fast, and I am happy with some of the progress that has been made.  I am proud of L for all of the work that he did and for constantly showing up and trying.  During our last tutoring session, we stuck with the same format: survey assessment, reading/mini-lesson, and ABC thematic unit.  

The survey assessment this week was writing vocabulary in order to see how L writes words.  I followed the survey assessment protocol, and I started by telling L I would like to see how many words he could write.  L started by writing his name and then I asked him to write some words.  At first, I gave him the chance to write whatever words he knew, but that was too broad of an option and he didn’t seem to know what to do.  So I decided to narrow it down and ask him to write specific words.  There were a few times where L would say “I can’t” or “I don’t know,” but overall I think that he did a great job trying.  Looking at the words he knew how to spell, he could spell some two letter words pretty well.  The longer the words, though, I noticed that L had trouble writing them.  It was interesting, however, when I asked him to write “look.”  He spelled it as “lyc,” but he went through the letters and told me how he sounded them out.  Even though it was not the correct spelling, I thought it was interesting that he was thinking deeply about how he could attempt to spell it.  Overall, L wrote 7 words correctly.  Although he is still learning about spelling, I was proud of his effort.

L's list of words

After the survey assessment, we read a book. The book we read together was Bee and Me by Alison Jay.  This book is a wordless picture book.  I had never actually read a wordless picture book with a child before, but I have found this to be such a fun and fulfilling experience!  It was so great to have L help me decide what the book was about and where the story was going.  This was also a really, really great opportunity to get L to practice his conversing skills.  He did a great job!  He was very creative.  L even incorporated presidents into the story-he was making this book cross curriculum without even knowing it!  The mini lesson was for L to work on writing, so we worked with the book to create a story.  When we first started the book and I asked L to help me “write” the story by reading it, L told me that he didn’t know enough words to do that.  However, as soon as we started, I encouraged L to tell me what he thought was happening on the first page.  He seemed to feel pretty confident after that and was excited to tell the rest of the story.  I hadn’t seen L quite that excited about a book before, so this was really fun to see. 

Bee and Me by Alison Jay.  Such a fun read!

The biggest way I have been differentiating during the past 6 weeks has been with the books I have chosen.  This week was similar, but I didn’t quite realize how helpful a wordless picture book would be with an English Language Learner.  This was a way for L to tell me a story and get a chance for him to converse and use English.  It also is nice to not be overwhelmed by so many words, which I bet can get quite frustrating.  I will definitely be keeping some wordless picture books in my future classroom one day!

Even thought it was my last session with L, I encouraged him to continue practicing with sounds and combining letters.  I also wished him a great rest of the school year and summer and challenged him to keep on reading.  

Literacy Tutoring 5

This has been the best tutoring session so far.  L was so great and chatty and he was comfortable talking and telling me about some of his favorite video games.  Even thought that wasn’t the subject, I was happy to have him practicing his English skill.s 

To start off, we did the survey assessment.  This week’s survey assessment was “Hearing and Recording Sounds.”  I had a protocol sheet to follow where I stated a sentence and then had L write down what he heard. The sentence was "I have a big dog at home. Today I am going to take him to school."  I would repeat the words after saying it at a normal pace to give L the opportunity to listen and hear what was said.  L did a great job of persevering through this test.  I could see him thinking about the sounds that the words make.  L got 14/37 on this assessment.  While there is a lot of work to be done, I would like to highlight the positives as well.  L was very good at catching the initial sounds of the words.  Often he would take a moment to think, reflect, and then write it down.  He did struggle more towards the ending sounds of words, but that is something that we can continue to work on.  This assessment was not easy for L, but he continued to work hard at it, which was very encouraging to see.  

L's Survey Assessment

After the assessment, I wanted to try to do a running record with L.  L saw a few words and seemed to be scared of them, so I decided that we would try again next week.  Perhaps I will pick a little easier passage so L is more confident to read some words.  

After the assessment, L and I read a book called Apples Here! During the reading of the book, I wanted L to use his fingers to sound out words.  We did that overtime we came across the word “apple.”  We also sounded out other words, such as fun, sun, and farmers using fingers to count the sounds.  L was very engaged during this portion of the lesson.  He seemed more confident when reading using his fingers to make the sounds.  I really enjoyed seeing the confidence that L had while coming across certain words.  This is a technique that I can really see being a simple yet significant tool in my future classroom.  Besides working on sounding out words, the book provided another opportunity to ask questions and help model how to be an active reader.  L was really into this book, which was a little surprising to me because it is a nonfiction book about apples.  I wanted to try out different genres with L, and I wish I had tried out a nonfiction book sooner on!  He really seemed to enjoy learning about it.  He was also having really great predictions about where apples grow and what they are used for.  L was really involved and an active participant during this lesson, which was so fun to see how far he has come in just 5 weeks! After the book, we had a little time to work on the ABC Thematic Unit Book.

As always, the main way to differentiate was through the book I chose.  This book had a lot of pictures and fewer words than previous books, and I think that was so helpful.  Having fewer words on a page seems to help L concentrate and not become overwhelmed with all that is happening.  I also helped L with sounding out words with an “I do, we do, you do” method, and I believe that was so helpful.  L is more confident sharing when he has examples, which is very understandable.  

My main goal for next week is to go over sounds!  I think that we could spend a lot more time working on blending sounds and putting words together.  L seems to know most of his sounds, but combining them to create words is a little bit of a challenge.  

Literacy Tutoring 4

L's Spelling Words

My fourth tutoring lesson was a little more tough than the other lessons, although I did learn some valuable information that I can work on with L to improve his literacy skills.   As usual, we started with the survey assessment.  This weeks survey assessment was spelling.  I knew going into this lesson that it might be a struggle, and it proved to be hard for L.  L got the first three words spelled correctly, but those were the only words he got out of the list.  By the middle of the list, L had a lot of trouble focusing.  One of the hardest parts of the lesson was encouraging L to keep going.  Towards the middle, I received a lot of “ I don’t know” answers.  I could tell he was getting frustrated.  Even though he had trouble with spelling words, I read all the words to make sure to give him a chance to try.  I think working on confidence and continuing to encourage him to just try is a skill we can work on.  Though the assessment was a challenge to get through, I did learn that L is pretty good at his ability to sound phonetic words with short vowels.  He knows most of the sounds of the alphabet and is able to put them together.  A challenge for L was the blends and digraphs.  L would hear the first letter of the word and just place that without acknowledging that there may be other letters in the word. Even though L did not try every word and he looked a little discouraged, I tried to reassure him that he was doing a great job listening and trying his best.  Additionally, assessments such as these are helpful to me to understand what I can work on with L during our remaining sessions.  

L's survey assessment 

After the assessment, we moved over to reading together.  This week we were focusing on reading comprehension.  I wanted to read a fantasy book that fits perfectly into our nature theme, so I chose The Lorax. As I reflect on this lesson, I think I would use this book during a different survey assessment where the survey assessment doesn’t last quite so long.  As I was reading the story and looking at the clock, I realized that we would not get the whole story read, so I had to adjust a little.  I was originally planning on reading the whole thing and then doing a notecard activity at the end of the book to check for comprehension.  Instead, I focused more on doing comprehension throughout the book.  I stopped to ask questions about the characters, what was happening, and so on.  These were the questions that I had written on the notecards, but I wanted to ask them throughout because we were running out of time.  We did not quite finish the book, but L was able to answer questions about what we had read so far in the story.  Since we were short on time this week, we did not have the chance to work on the ABC thematic unit book.  Hopefully next week we will have a little extra time to spend on that, since it seems like it’s an activity that L really enjoys doing.  

The questions I asked throughout the reading!

As far as differentiation, as with all my lessons so far, I like to find book with vivid and fun images.  This allows L to see what is happening in the story.  As an English language learner, it seems very helpful for L.  Although The Lorax has some fun and goofy images that may not be easy to recognize, L seemed to be able to pick up on what different images may have represented.  During the spelling survey assessment, I said the words in a sentence. I realized that some of the words were words he may not have ever heard before, so I wanted to give a little more context.  Therefore, I used the provided sentences to help L a little more and give him time and context to think about the words.  

After doing the survey assessment, I have come up with a couple of goals to work on with L.  First of all, I would like to work more on blends and diagraphs.  I think spending even just a few minutes each session practicing a couple of blends would be helpful so L can see how letters come together to make different sounds.  I also have the goal to continue to encourage L and allow him to feel confident, even if he makes mistakes.  He struggles trying if he is not absolutely sure, and I want to teach him that it’s ok to try and get an answer wrong; that’s one of the best ways to learn!  

Literacy Tutoring 3

Process:

On my third literacy tutoring experience, I once again started with the survey assessment.  This week’s assessment was “Concept of Print.”  I thought that this assessment may take a little longer than the other parts of the lesson, so I really wanted to make sure I had plenty of time.  I wanted to feel relaxed about the time so L wouldn’t feel any pressure, either. Before starting the assessment, I made sure I had all of my papers out so I would be ready to record and follow the protocol.  I followed the administration instructions as L helped me read “Sand.”  L did a really great job knowing the parts of the book, such as what is the front, where to start, and which way to go.  I noticed more of a struggle when L was required to actually look at the words.  For example, when the words were switched in the sentence, L did not notice it.  I think L relies a lot on hearing and listening to the stories and books instead of actually reading and recognizing the words.  This can be something we can continue to work on throughout the other literacy lessons.  I also noticed he was good at understanding the meaning of the comma and quotations marks, as well as recognizing letters when there was more direction.  When I asked L to show me one letter, then two, he had more trouble.  I wonder if I was not as clear as I could have been or if there was a communication gap since it seems like L does recognize letters.  Overall, the concept of print really allowed me to see some of L’s strengths while showing some areas to work on. 

L's Survey Assessment 

After the survey assessment, L and I read “Little Fish Lost” by Nancy Van Laan.  Before the book, I asked L some questions to predict what the book might be about.  Throughout the story, L was really captivated by the pictures and was willing to make more predictions throughout the book, which I thought was great.  I could see him making connections and pointing to the different animals in the story.  L was understanding what was happening and using the illustrations to help him out.  After the story, I asked L what he liked about the book and he really liked the happy ending.  L was good at making connections and understanding the emotions that the characters were feeling.  Even though some of the words are hard for L, he is very good at using what he has to truly understand what is going on.  

The book we read! 

After reading, we worked on phonics.  I used some words from the book and letter tiles to have make words.  For example, the word “slap” and “lap” were in the book and on the same page.  Therefore, I decided it was a good idea to keep that page open and let L see those two words.  Then, using the letter tiles, I took away the l and the s and had L make words that ended in “ap,” such as tap and gap.  We then did this for other letters, such as “ot” and “et.”  L did a nice job sounding out the words using the tiles.  This was also a good experience for L because sometimes he would just add a letter to the root and make a word that was not actually a word.  When this happened, though, I was able to ask him if he had ever heard that word before.  When he would say no, I would describe how that is not a word.  

Practicing phonics 

After practicing phonics, we used the remaining time to work a little on the ABC thematic unit book.  L was able to come up with words that started with the letter C and D and he drew the images to correspond with the words.  

Differentiation:

As I have been doing, I chose another book with complementary pictures to the story.  This allows L to get a better understanding what is going on.  As he continues to work on his English skills, this is a helpful way for L to gain comprehension skills.  During the phonics lesson, I decided to keep a page open with the words that we used to change and make new words.  This way, L could see the word root and what letters were added on.  

Goals:

After my first lesson with L, one of the goals I had was to allow L to feel a a little more confident  around me.  I wanted to mention that I think he has become more confident already.  While there is still work to do, I think it is important to mention the progress that I have seen.  The first week I had trouble getting any words out of him, but recently he has been more willing to share and participate.  

A new goal I have with L is to become a little more familiar on the words on the page.  When I am reading, I may be more intentionally about having L look and follow along with each word.  This way, he can focus a little more on how to move throughout the story with the words.  

Literacy Lesson 2

Instructional Decisions:

I think that my second literacy lesson went well!  Like last week, I started this tutoring session by doing the survey assessment.  This weeks survey assessment was the names and the sounds of the alphabet.  I had notecards with capital letters and notecards with lowercase letters.  We went through the letters, and I had L say the name and the sound of the letters.  I was really impressed with L’s ability to recall the names and sounds.  There were a few that L missed, but that is something we can work on in future lessons.  For example, the letter “y” was a challenge.  L pronounced it as “E.”  Knowing just a little about his background and that he is an English language learner, I can understand why this pronunciation could be a challenge.  Interestingly, both the upper and lower case “U” presented a challenge.  L called this letter “up.” As L was saying the sounds and letters, I kept track on the printed sheet I had with me. I checked what was correct and circled what was incorrect.  After the lesson, I went through the scoring paper to write down what L said.  

This is the official scoring sheet for L. 

The check marks show a correct response.  I labeled
the incorrect letter responses above
the letters and the incorrect sounds below.

After the survey assessment, we moved to reading and the mini lesson.  This week, I focused on fluency.  To practice this, I used echo reading as the technique to allow L to practice reading.  We looked at the book “A Stick is a Wonderful Thing,” which is a book of poetry about outdoor games and activities.  Before reading, I asked L to predict what he may think the book was about.  He thought the book would be about sticks, which I thought was a really great prediction to have.  L used the images and the words in the title to make this prediction.  Although the book is not only about sticks, he was using what he knew to make his prediction. 


During the book, I started by reading a poem to L.  I just read one poem by myself first.  Then, we worked on reading a poem together.  In the second poem, I read it first.  Then, I had L echo the lines I said.  We practiced doing this together for the rest of the time.  During this part, I think that a lot of it was just L repeating what I was saying.  I tried to have him point to the words, but I think I ended up pointing to most of them.  Even if L wasn’t reading all of the words, I was really proud of his ability to listen and repeat.  Just hearing the sounds is a great thing, especially since L is an English language learner.  

The book of poetry we read!

A poem that we used during echo reading.

After the poems, I asked L a few questions about what he likes to do outside.  This was a good opportunity to learn a little more about L.  Since he was so quiet the first week, I was happy that he was willing to share with me.  In the last few moments, we continued to work a little on our ABC thematic unit book. 

I decided to once again use this format because it seems to work well.  Doing the assessment first helps to make sure I’m not rushing L.  It also leaves enough time to end on the activities that L finds more enjoyable.  


Differentiation: 

I think that the book I used was helpful for L.  Again, it had vivid images that matched the text, which helps L understand what is happening.  Using a book of poems was actually a great fit because the poems were short, yet fun with just enough challenge.  The shorter length of the poems helped keep L’s attention.  It also made the task of echoing more doable.  The shorter poems also seemed to allow L to better understand what was happening in the poem.  I think a longer book could have been used to practice fluency, but I think that some of the understanding would have been lost.  Throughout the lesson, I did more modeling with the echo reading than I had originally planned.  I also ended up pointing to the words instead of having L point to the words.  


Goals: 

Next tutoring session, I would like to work with L on a few of the letters he missed.  I would specifically like to review the "u," "y," and "g." I would also like to continue working on some FAST words with L.  Finally, I would like to continue to help L build confidence in his speaking.  

Literacy Tutoring Lesson 1

Instructional Decisions:

I recently started tutoring a Kindergarten student in literacy at a public elementary school.  I started by giving a little introduction to myself.  I showed my student, L, my “About Me” paper.  As I shared a little about myself, I asked L a few questions, as well, so I could find out a little more about L’s interests.  After spending a short time going through introductions and letting L know what my role was, I next decided to give the FAST survey assessment.  Not only did I want to make sure I had enough time to get to this, but I also decided to administer this first because it would give me a good indication on what I could work on with L.  There were some words that L did not know how to say, but I did realize L was pretty good at sounding out words that could be said phonetically.  During the test, L would say "I don't know" to a word L did not know.  I checked the words L knew and circled the ones L did not know with a pronunciation or marked with "I don't know" underneath.

The first 20 words from the FAST test.  A check marks a correct word, while a circle marks an incorrect word.  

The book we read! 

After doing 20 words on the FAST assessment, we moved on to the mini lesson.  For my first lesson, I focused on vocabulary.  I read the book “The Curious Garden” by Peter Brown.  Before starting the book, I asked L questions about gardens and if he had ever grown a garden.  L knew what a garden was, but L had never actually seen one before.  Throughout the book, L was really interested in the illustrations.  I asked L a few questions throughout the story, and I could tell that L used the illustrations to help guide his answers.  This shows me that L is good at using the resources to understand the context.  When the book was finished, I asked some follow up questions.  I wanted to know if L liked the story and what parts L liked.  We also talked a little bit more about gardens.  While reading the book, we looked for a few vocabulary words.  I wanted L to look for the words “plant,” “garden,” and “flowers.”  I showed L how to look for words, and then I had L place a sticky note of the word next to the word in the book.  During this part of the lesson, I realized that L had a little trouble understanding what to do and recognizing the words.  As I move forward, I realize that looking for simpler words may be more beneficial at this point.     

Post-Its with vocabulary words to find in the book!

                                           

Once the mini lesson was over, we had a few minutes to start the ABC book.  L really only had a chance to work on the cover and one letter of the ABC thematic unit book, and L enjoyed using the colored pencils to create a drawing.  I liked the format of this lesson, and I think that is something that I will continue to do. I like doing the assessment first because it gives me plenty of time and it allows me to see what the student knows and what work could be done.  I also liked moving to the book after the survey assessment because it is a little more fun for the student.  Finally, I will keep the ABC book last because there may be days we can’t work on it and I want to prioritize the assessment and mini lesson with the book.  


Differentiation:  To keep moving forward,  I think it will be necessary to continue to use books with good illustrations.  As an English language learner, L can use the pictures to help form ideas and better understanding while still working hard in learning to read the English language.  I also think I’ll have to rethink some of the words I use in the lessons to make them a little more simpler.  L is good at using the pictures to help.  L is also good at sounding out words.  Words such as “can” or “not” were good for L.  Words such as “by” and “we” were more difficult.  Understanding Ls background, it will be important that I help L learn the different sounds.  In this lesson, I tried to use some differentiation during the lesson.  Using the “I” do “we” do “you” do model during the vocabulary part of the mini lesson was helpful to show L what to do.  I also decided to use fewer words than I planned on once I noticed L was struggling.  Now I know the level and word recognition I should be working towards with L.

Goal Setting:  An overall goal I would like to work on is to allow L to feel more comfortable with me.  I want to also help L feel more confident with words.  L is quiet and often seems unsure, which is understandable especially as an English language learner.  I would like to encourage L to try even if the answer is not correct.  I would also like to work with L a little bit on sight words and practicing the pronunciation.  In my other lessons, I would like to move a little more slow and chose words that are more appropriate.