Rachael Boglarsky Unit Planning Questions

1.       Describe your target area for guided lead teaching.

For my Guided Lead Teaching, I would like to use Reading Comprehension/Strategy Instruction for my Target Area. Within this target area, I will be teaching primarily our read aloud and discussion part of the day.

2. Approximately how much time per day is allotted for your instruction in this area?

Around 40 minutes is allotted for my instruction.

2.       Which Common Core State Standard(s) will you work toward?

I plan to work toward the standards following standards within the entire unit: SL.1.1 SL.1.2  SL.1.3  SL.1.4  SL.1.5  SL.1.6  RL.1.1  RL.1.2  RL.1.3  RL.1.5  RL.1.6  RL.1.7  RL.1.9.

4. How will teaching in this target area provide opportunities for students to learn important content and/or skills that relate to their lives?  In what ways does this learning include learning literacy, learning about literacy, and/or learning through literacy?

This target area will allow me to read a variety of different books to the children, exposing them to a variety of topics, ideas, and thoughts. This area will also allow for a multitude of discussions with the children which will give them the opportunity to make several text to self connections. Finally, comprehension is a skill that the children will continue to use and further develop for the rest of their lives. Comprehension is necessary for them to lead a successful life in the United States (i.e. to read and understand signs, directions, recipes, etc.)

5. What types of classroom talk take place within this target area? To what extent is the talk teacher-led, student-led, or focused on higher-level thinking? What norms for interaction would you like to build within your classroom as you teach in this target area (e.g., see ideas in Chapter 6 of Strategies that Work, the Berne & Clark 2008 article, or draw from some of the readings done in TE 402 on classroom talk such as Almasi, 2006)?

This area will allow forlarge group, small group, and partner discussions. At the 1^st grade level, the discussions begin by being largely teacher led, however this provides the teacher with the opportunity to teach the children how to talk directly to each other and facilitate a more student led discussion. The open-endedness of this topic allows for high level thinking and connections continually throughout the unit.

6. Which ‘core practice’ do you want to work on developing/improving as you teach in this target area (refer to document “Resources for Developing Core Practices”)? How will focusing on this core practice contribute to your own professional learning?

I want to primarily focus on interactive read alouds and corresponding guided interactive discussions. First, read alouds are a huge part of the 1^st grade curriculum and instruction. As they are not yet at a level where they can read independently for an extended period of time, read alouds are the primary way to expose the students to the types of text that will help support them in making connections and higher order thinking. I would also like to try some interactive discussions because I think they are a great way to truly and deeply comprehend a topic, and I think that it would be a great skill for my students to have.

7. What resources within the community, neighborhood, school district, school or classroom do you have to work with in this target area?

I have the curriculum provided by the school (Making Meaning) and the teacher books and mentor texts that come along with that. I also have the classroom, school, and pod library books to choose from if I wish. Lastly, I have my mentor teacher’s personal library and my own, as well as the public library, for any texts that I want to use that aren’t available through the school.

8. What additional resources do you need to obtain?

As of right now, the school and my mentor teacher have provided me with all the materials I think I need. 

9. How will you pre-assess your students in your target area?

To pre assess I will read a story to the class and hold a large group discussion. I will lead the discussion and observe the children’s behavior and make notes to see what kinds of questions they answered, who they directed their answers too, etc. I will assess reading comprehension based of their answers and also a short and simple writing/drawing prompt describing an event that happened in the story.

10. What else will you need to find out about all students in your class to help you develop lesson plans for your Guided Lead Teaching?

I need to find out all of their DRA reading levels, their writing capabilities, and their ability to hold on-task large and small group conversations.

11. What else do you need/want to learn about the ‘core practice’ to support your planning and teaching?

I want to learn more ways to facilitate student led discussions at a first grade level.

12. What concerns, if any, do you have about planning and teaching your unit?

I am concerned about the general method of classroom management—it is always scary the first time leading an entire group. I’m mostly worried about our curriculum at the moment though. The staff and interns in my school attended a professional development session today about possibly changing the entirety of our ELA curriculum. If this happens, I’m worried about how that will affect my planning, my lessons, and ultimately my ability to teach effectively.