Introduction:
This year I will be starting my 3rd year at DC Preparatory Academy in Northeast DC. It is a public charter school in its 6th year in existence and it serves grades 4th through 8th. This will be my 3rd year teaching 4th grade, however, this year will be my first official year as a lead teacher. I was participating in DC Prep’s Resident teacher program where I co-taught with a strong lead teacher and was enrolled in American University’s AQUE program. As you can imagine, I feel nervous, but ready to take on my new role. Instead of 2 fourth grade classes, this year, we will have four. Instead of 35 students in each class, we will have 20. I will be teaching one 4th grade ELA & SS class by myself, and the 2nd, I will be co-teaching with an excellent and experienced teacher (one I have never worked with). This year, our ELA Department has officially adopted the Reader’s and Writer’s workshop program, Words Their Way (a word study & vocabulary instruction) and the Social Studies curriculum is History Alive!
Objectives:
I think this year is going to be a better year for me when discovering student’s exceptionalities, because of the programs I will be using and because of this class. The last two years, I worked closely with the lower level readers, who were below grade level, and seriously struggled with reading comprehension. For the most part, the students all read the same book, while my group read a lower level adapted text. Reader’s workshop is an excellent program in which all students read a different book, a book that is on their own reading level, despite whether it is below the 4th grade level. Reading comprehension increases when students continue to read on their level. After that, then and only then will students be able to increase their reading level, ability, and skills.
With this program, I think it will be easier to accommodate for the students with exceptionalities. I will be ensuring that they are reading books they are comfortable with. I want my students to learn to pick books out on their own level, learn to read productively during independent reading time, and write freely without fear. (Fear of misspelling words and expression). The biggest challenge, and yet the one thing I want my students to leave my classroom with, is a love for reading and books. I want to ensure that all my students leave my classroom on grade level, and I want my students with exceptionalities to leave my classroom, having reached the goals we set together, not only in their IEP, but the reasonable and motivational goals that we will set together daily, weekly, and monthly.
Measurable Outcomes & Assessments:
Objective #1
Students will be able to pick out books on their own reading and comfort level.
Assessment #1
Students will learn the “5 finger rule”: Pick a book, begin reading the 1st page, if you encounter 5 difficult words, the book is probably to difficult to read for now. Please choose another book.
Objective #2
Students will learn to read productively during independent reading time.
Assessment #2
I will actively monitor the students during silent/independent reading time using a rubric. I will discuss the students’ progress, growth, and growth areas during weekly conference time.
Objective #3
Students will be able to write freely without fear.
Assessment #3
I will introduce my students to writing by going through a “Words Their Way” mini lesson which informs the students that we will be doing a lot of writing this year and that sometimes; they are going to encounter words they do not know how to spell. I will reassure them that that is okay and I will give them strategies to use when this happens. I will remind them that during drafting time, your goal is to keep writing! Never take your pencil off your paper! Students will learn that they will be able to correct mistakes during the editing phase.
Objective #4
Students will learn to love to read and love books (the most difficult objective!)
Assessment #4
The reading attitude survey will be administered at the beginning of the school year. Based on their responses, I am going to learn what students I am going to really have to enthuse about reading! These are the students that I will really make it a point to get to know better, their interests and hobbies. I will make sure that they are reading high interest texts based on their personal lives, interest and hobbies. I will administer this survey every couple of months to monitor growth and progress.
Objective #5
Students will leave the 4th grade on a 4th grade reading level or, a level that is most appropriate for them.
Assessment #5
A reading comprehension assessment will be given at the beginning of the school year, and numerous times throughout the year. Students will know what Fountas & Pinnell reading level they are on and will thus only read books from our classroom library on that particular reading level. They will know that this will make them better readers.
Materials and Accommodations
Accommodations will include strategic peer partnering for daily mini lesson think-pair-shares, independent reading time, and writing conferences. Also, each child will be accommodated in the sense that their reading book will always be on their personal reading level.
Materials will include:
1. A well organized and leveled/color coded classroom library with a minimum of 10 books per child.
2. Extremely organized files and binders for rubrics and assessments to monitor each child's individual growth and progress.
3. All reading rubrics and assessments mentioned above.
4. A well organized writing center with plenty of topic ideas, reminders, materials, author’s chair, and a CD player for background music during writing time.