Nada Darwish
October 25, 2010
EDT 514
Lesson Plan 2
Background Information: I have a group of nine third grade newcomers that come to me from other classrooms when their teacher is doing literacy. They range in their arrival to the United States from six months to one week ago. Most of them cannot read or write fluently in their native language. Although each of them is 5 at a different level, I try to group them according to their needs. The group I will be designing the lesson plans for is my highest group. They read at a beginning first grade level according to the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA)
As far as technology, my classroom has a Promethean Board, Elmo Machine, Overhead projector, scanner/copier/printer, 4 student computers with Internet access, a CD player, a television, a teacher’s computer, and an audio enhancement system.
Lesson Description: I will teach the lesson in my classroom. First, I will place one group of four students on the computer to practice their short vowels using the following site: www.starfall.com (Starfall) The computers are placed in the room in a way I will see the screen from anywhere in the room. The other two students will be working with a paraprofessional as she follows the lesson plan on the short vowel “i” working with word work using magnetic letters, –it chunk before they start their reading group and I will take the group that I am teaching the lesson to.
I will write a few familiar words on my slate like chair, chain, chin, chick and explain that the two adjacent consonant letters that are at the beginning to each word represent a single speech sound which constitute a consonant digraph. After that I will invite them to share any words they know that might start with the “ch” diagraph as I add them on the slate.
Next, we will start our reading group using the book “Chip the Chimp,” I will give them a quick introduction of the book and have the students predict, and then the students will do a picture walk. After that they will read the book independently while I go around listening and monitoring as they read. After they are done we will have a discussion about the book and then I will ask them to point out the letter or letters that make the sound “ch” and have them identify the words that contain it. ( I will repeat the same process in each reading group for the rest of the week with the digraph “sh” and the book “Shelly’s Shell Shop,” “th,” “Thad and Thelma.” and “wh” Whisker and Bill).
I will take them to the Promethean Board to watch a mini movie from Starfall for the diagraph “ch” then go to the Promethean lesson that I downloaded from www.prometheanplanet.com, “Diagraphs” and complete the word list with words that start with “ch”. I will complete the pages that the “ch” sounds. As I flip to the next page, the kids can come up to the board to draw a line from the objects on the left to its name on the right. At that time I will scaffold support as needed to complete the task. On the last page they have to sort the objects that were introduced to them during the lesson. The students take turns to drag the pictures of the objects and drop them in the appropriate column.
To wrap up the reading group, the students will be asked to take out their journals and write or draw one thing they learned new and one thing they already knew. Once they are done they are asked to go on the computers click on Starfall and practice the diagraphs and watch the mini movies again while I am meeting with another group.
Learning Objectives:
Michigan English Language Proficiency Standards
§ R.2.1.d Use knowledge of consonants, consonant blends, and vowels sounds in decoding words.
§ R.2.1.f Use decoding skills to read known and unfamiliar words.
National Educational Technology Standards
§ PK-2.TC.6 understand that technology is a tool to help him or her to complete a task, and a source of information, learning, and entertainment
§ PK-2.TC.7 demonstrate the ability to navigate in virtual environments (e.g., electronic books, games, simulation software, web sites)
The group that I am working with is a newcomer group; they are in the third grade but their reading level is beginning first grade. As result of this lesson, the students will be able to:
- recognize simple words and know how to correctly pronounce the diagraphs, ch, sh, th, and wh in unfamiliar words (after the four lessons).
- know that the computer is a tool to help them practice and learn.
- navigate through the website and watch the mini movies and play games.
Technology Integration: The use of the technology will give the students multiple exposures for the skill they are learning. The animations and the music in the mini video will keep the students engaged and entertained while they are learning. Also the lesson on the Promethean board keeps them moving around and manipulating images and associating images with print. Technology also allows for independent practice for each student to progress on their pace.
Connection to Standards: The students will be learning how to pronounce consonant blends ch, sh, th, and the wh diagraphs to help them decode words as they are reading. (R.2.1.d) Use the two consonants sounds diagraphs to read familiar and unfamiliar words. (R.2.1.f)
The use of technology helps them practice and learn about how to pronounce the consonant blend when they encounter it in their readings. (PK-TC.6) As they are using the programs on the computer they have to navigate their way around the website and operate the Promethean Board as they complete the lesson. (PK-TC.7)
Student Prior Knowledge: I will perform a phonological awareness test with the Michigan Literacy Phonemic Progress (MLPP). The test will allow me to assess the phonological awareness of the students as they use, identify, and discriminate rhyming patterns of sounds and manipulate onsets and rimes. I also have the linguistic knowledge of the students’ native language. It allows me to explain certain content to them using their native language and answer questions they may ask about how the grammatical rules of English which differs from what they are used to.
Content Knowledge: As an elementary teacher instructing newcomers, I had training on phonics. I do feel comfortable teaching this lesson. In addition to the phonological awareness knowledge I am trained in strategies that are necessary to help me teach the students phoneme blending and segmentation. I am also fluent in the students’ native language and I can use it with them if it is necessary.
Pedagogical knowledge: I will be teaching students in small groups to help them advance using materials at their level; I will also differentiate instruction according to student needs. I group my students according to their level in the English language, I cannot present this lesson to the whole class because I am still teaching the alphabet to some and blending to others. Giving the rest of the students specific tasks to complete, prevents many class management issues.
Also, having the knowledge of the linguistic structure of the students’ native language allows me to explain certain content or skills to them using their native language and answer questions they may ask about how the grammatical rules of English differ from what they are used to.
Technology Knowledge: The technology I will be using with my students is an online resource that they can access on the website www.starfall.com. It is a free public service to motivate children to read with phonics. I came across it, as I was looking for free educational websites. Finding the appropriate websites to be used by the students as an extension to a lesson, or as I introduce a lesson, or to practice what they were taught. I think it is a very helpful resource for the success of the lesson. I also created a short cut for Starfall on the desktop for easy access as well as prepared the Promethean Board for them to be able to work on it. Another resource that I found very helpful is Promethean Planet. I often incorporate lessons from it to enhance, introduce, extend, or to teach using the lessons from there.
TPCK Analysis: Students need to learn about phonics. They need to learn the skills to help them connect sounds in words they see but do not know. For example, if they see the word chain and if they know the word main and they have the knowledge that “ch” makes the sound of “tsh,” they will be able to pronounce the word correctly.
English Language Learners (ELLs) are not exposed to the spoken part of the language so they need more support and practice to internalize the concept. That is why most of my goals for them are Developing goals. They will stay that way until they gain more knowledge on how the English language works and then the goals I set for them will become Secure goals.
The lack of time on my part drove me to explore other options to make sure the students are practicing enough for the skill to become like second nature to them. I cannot rely on sending home materials to practice because most of the time their families do not speak English.
“Through technology, Limited English Proficiency (LEP) students can learn in a rich linguistic environment and find opportunities to interact with the multicultural world, extend their language skills, and not be embarrassed for not knowing answers”. (Padron & Waxman, 1996, p. 344; Lee, 2000). Using technology with ELL students will give them the opportunity to practice, explore, and learn. Of course, it has to be teacher directed, monitored, and guided.
Assessment Plan: I will assess the students by having the students read to me the next day a word list that will contain the words I exposed them to the day before in our lesson and new words that I added with the “ch” sound in the beginning of the words, middle and end. I will score the known words first then the unknown words to see if they are applying what they learned to unfamiliar words. The test has four columns. The first one has familiar words, the second has unfamiliar words with the “ch” diagraph in the beginning, the third has the “ch” diagraph in the middle and the forth has “ch” at the end. I will write the student’s response over the actual word if they get it wrong to be able to analyze it to see if the confusion comes from the vowels or the diagraph itself.
Word List
Student’s name: ______
Cheese / Check / Much / ArcherChair / Cheek / Touch / Catcher
Cherry / Chain / Such / Pitcher
Chicken / Chop / Search / Teacher
Chip / Chin / watch / butcher