The Missouri Reader Vol. 39, Issue 2 | Page 38

38

Michelle said,

"We had a basal and we kept saying they

aren’t learning how to read from this. Then

we learned about Guided Reading and that

was so exciting because we could teach them

on their level and give them books. It still

wasn’t enough."

Jennifer expanded the idea,

"Guided Reading was more using the books

to determine what you are going to teach

rather than thinking about what the child

needed. You would pull a book on their level

and find out what they were going to have

trouble with, so you’d teach that instead of

always thinking about what the students

know."

Now the teachers said their training had provided them with conceptual understanding of the alphabetic principle and they could offer sequential, differentiated instruction based on their students’ needs. Following is one lesson sample of Gina’s instruction.

Gina: We’re going to start our segment/

write. We’re going to segment first. You can

leave your marker at the top of the board

[Students individually had a white board

with magnet letters at the top]. Does anyone

remember the tricky sound at the back of the

tongue /ng/ we practiced last time?

[Students responded making sound].

Student A the word is “lung.” How many

sounds are in “lung?”

Student A: Three sounds.

Gina: Student A what is the first sound?

Student A: /l/?

Gina: Okay, pull the alphabet tile down to

the spot on the board where we spell.

What’s the second sound Student A?

Student A: /u/? [Students pulled tile].

Gina: The next sound is our special sound.

[Students pointed to picture showing nasal

sounds]. Our nose stops that sound, right?

Use your tiles to spell the sound. Let’s point

at our letters and say the sounds. [Pointed

individually and said aloud]. Student B,

you’re noticing something is tricky there isn’t

it? [Student B had spelled L-u-og]. You are

saying the right sound, but I don’t think you

have the right letters making the sound. Do

you remember the letters? [Student B didn’t

remember]. Let’s look at the picture chart.

What two letters make the sound?

Student B: NG [Student B pulled down the

tile letters].

Gina: Why do we need two fingers to point

to that one sound? [Student didn’t know].

Are there two sounds or two letters?

Student B: Two letters.

Gina: Two letters that make one sound. I’m

going to make a note that you are getting so

much better with that tricky sound.

[Now they transitioned to use the markers to

write the sounds in the word lung]. Student

B I like how you fixed that. [Student B wrote

lung.] You are getting so much better at

fixing your mistakes. [Student B smiled].

Point to the letters and say the sounds.

Remember Mrs. East is watching your fingers.

Let’s see what it looks like. Okay erase that

word. The next word is lick. I think of licking

a lollipop. [Student D said he likes to lick ice

cream]. That’s a good example. Student C is

our sound leader for this word. What is the

first sound?

Student C: /l/

Gina: I noticed something about this word

and the last word.

Multiple students: They both start with /l/.

Gina: Why do we have –ck at the end?

Student C: To protect the vowel.

Gina: He used the word protector.

Sometimes we use the word defender. I had

a note that last time people put the c

backwards and this time no one put it

backwards. Good job.