Fostering Communication and Literacy Development

For my Field Experience I chose to observe at Krahn Elementary which is a part of Klein Independent School District. After my approval, I was assigned to four teachers and their classrooms. I observed at Krahn Elementary on six Tuesdays between 15 September 2015 and 27 October 2015, and more or less followed the schedule that was given to me by the Assistant Principal Ms. Shannon Strole. From 8:30 am to 9:15 am I observed Ms. Judy Burkes, who is a third grade Math and Science teacher. Her classroom is comprised of twenty students which range from average to below average learners and a student with ADHD and another with autism. For most part of my observation, M. Burkes had been working with her students on fractions and multiple digits addition and subtraction. From 9:15 am to 10:30 am I observed Ms. Lisa Parker who is a Math co-teacher and resource teacher at Krahn Elementary for grades K-5. During my assigned time, Ms. Parker usually joined Mr. Duru’s fifth grade class of twenty three students as a co-teacher and when required would pull out a group of six students after initial instructions from Mr. Duru and would teach them the concepts separately at a slower pace. This particular group of students with special needs was mostly seen to be focusing more and more on mathematical word problems. These students were students with Learning disabilities, behavioral issues and one of them was a student with ADHD. From 10:30 am to 11:15, I was with Ms. Janice Bluhms, who is a

For my field placement this semester I have been placed in School Lane Charter school located in Bensalem, PA. This charter school takes great measures in making sure their students get the best quality education. School Lane is an inclusive school, which means that students with or without disabilities are able to learn together, in the most least restrictive environment. I am placed in a first grade classroom this semester in Ms. Cameron’s room. The student who I chose to observe is Ben. Mrs. Cameron picked this student for me because it appears that he has some academic struggles followed by some deficits in social interaction and repetitive behavior such as, rocking back and forth. However, he has yet to be evaluated thus

Diversity encompasses numerous characteristics including socio-economic background, ethnicity, special needs, gender, and giftedness (Cazden, 2001). Today, classrooms are getting more varied and diverse with students from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, and students with a disability. It appears that teachers must meet the needs of all students successfully and individually to effectively teach a classroom of diverse students. This paper will first identify three challenges involved with ensuring that teaching strategies are

After five years in the USA, Elva Margarita Corbatón became a Literacy Connections ESL student. Elva came to us with a bachelors in administration, but very little command of the English language. She was an eager student, reliable and diligent. Her tutor, Bob Lewis pronounced her an excellent, hard-working student. After several years, Elva desired to give back to the agency and started volunteering in the office, shelving books in our library, helping with the Spelling Bee and doing general office work.

The student as a late fall birthday and was in Kindergarten last year at our school. He was retained based on his poor performance on the Texas Primary Reading Inventory (TPRI) assessment and the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA). The student is currently still developing in five out of the seven tested areas of the TPRI assessment. He was unable to orally blend word parts or individual phonemes and he scored poorly in the area of letter-to sound correspondence. His current DRA level is a one, which is two levels below his expected reading level. His main hindrance in learning to read has been his inability to segment sounds, remember the correct sequence of sounds, and blend sounds together. The student has exhibitive negative behaviors in the classroom as a result of his frustration. If he is unable to read a word or complete an assignment, he has been known to yell out, throw items, or leave the classroom without permission. It is apparent that his struggle with reading is negatively impacting his school experience. This particular student also comes from a very rough home life. His grandmother currently has custody of him and his brother, while his mother has primary custody of his sister. His mother has openly expressed disapproval of the two brothers, while simultaneously doting on her daughter. The student lacks a meaningful relationship with an appropriate adult, and I firmly believe that has adversely effected his ability to be successful academically. I chose to use Elkonin boxes with him because I felt it was the perfect way to visually demonstrate the process of segmented sounds. This particular child is a visual-kinesthetic learner so I chose a strategy that incorporated both of these processes. I believed he would experience a greater amount of success if he

Josh is able to communicate his ideas and experiences from literacy in his writing independently. He is able to sound out some high frequency words and spell them correctly in his writing. His next step is to add details to his illustrations to help represent his ideas. Josh is able to set and work towards learning goals, this is evident in his reading and writing. He takes feedback in a positive way and uses it to improve his writing. Josh is encouraged to only use capital letters when required and lower case letters in inside his sentences. He would benefit from practicing his lower case letters and looking at his nameplate as a visual reminder. Josh has strong comprehension skills and is encouraged to continue to add expression

Through this week learning resources, I have learned that there are evidences that demonstrate that when a child has limited experiences he or she is more likely to have difficult comprehending what is read. It is why early childhood professionals affirm that oral language is the foundation for literacy development. Everything that children learn about speaking and listening they use for writing and reading and what they learn from writing and reading they use in listening and speaking. In other words, oral language and literacy develop simultaneously. When parents provide rich language and literacy reinforcement at home, children do better in school than those who do not. It is also known for early childhood professionals that for a child with limited experiences is more difficult comprehending what is read. For example, a child who has being exposed to many environments like a farm or like a museum will have more mentally engagement in classrooms activities about things he or she already know that children who have not had experience in those environments. Many researches showed that children that have not have a literacy development or an oral language development years before formal schooling, are less likely to be successful beginning readers, opening an achievement lag that might last through the primary grades. Some of the reasons why parents are not actively involved into their children’s educations are their socioeconomic or legal status. For example, in an immigrant family sometimes both parents have to work and sometimes they have to work two shifts. I have known families where children are the whole day in school and with nannies. Those children do not develop any skills that help them to succeed at the time of attending forming school.

During the first session she is in the classroom, she either has read to self or read to a buddy. If she has read to self, she chooses books from the classroom library that she can either read the words to or look at the pictures and tell herself the story of what she thinks is happening. If she reads with a buddy, they take turns reading a story. During the second session, either myself or the para in the classroom works with a small group of students on blending short vowel CVC words. After daily 5 with the second grade Kaylee walks back to the special education classroom with an adult. Kaylee knows her routes in the school to get from one class to another, but she needs verbal or visual reminder to walk, walk calmly and no talking. Kaylee tends to giggle, laugh loudly, talk to others and flap around while walking in the hall. When back in the special education classroom, Kaylee participates in an adapted content (social studies or science) group. While in this group, Kaylee will play smartboard games, read stories with comprehension questions, do experiments, crafts, vocabulary, opposites, spatial concepts or make snacks.

My third week at John Reith Elementary was similar to the previous week. I was getting familiar with the classroom routine. I would walk around and help the AM students with the math lesson. I noticed that a particular student was not working on the assignment. As I was helping the student, I realized the student has a hard time focusing and needs one on one instruction. Children with learning disabilities should not be immersed in a regular class because the teacher is unable to provide quality education to that student. After snack and recess, the AM students go into their different Winn groups. The purpose of Winn groups is to help the students with their language development, but the teachers are rushing through the lesson. The teachers only have 15 minutes to teach the lesson and have the students finish the assignment. 15 minutes is not

Two male students were chosen from separate, inclusive classrooms. The students were enrolled in a general education, kindergarten classroom full time. Both of the students’ classrooms had teaching assistants available to attend to their academic and behavioral needs.

Over the past 10 years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of students who have been diagnosed with learning disabilities. I need to be aware of how to help those students who have learning disabilities and teach to the best of my ability. I also need to be supportive and understand not every student learns in the same way which is why it is important for me to be flexible in my own style of instruction. I need to be knowledgeable and patient, caring and kind, as I work with all of my students, regardless of ability. Some students are aware of other students who have special accommodations or extra time on tests. One way I will make it easier for students to understand why

For my practicum, I am in a 4th-grade classroom at Smith Elementary in Cortland New York. The class consists of 18 students between the ages of 9 and 10, all differing abilities and emotional development. After speaking to the head teacher I found out that approximately a little over half the class participates in free or reduced breakfast and lunch program. This tells me that a lot of the students come from middle our low-class families. I was told about a student that also misses at least 1 day of class a week from school interrupting in his learning and overall performance in the class. Other students in the class seem to have varying abilities and learning styles. There are no English Language Learners in the class; however, there are two students with an Individualized Education Plan. Both students, have varying disabilities, therefore, I have decided to use both students for my observation. Due to confidentiality, I will be naming these students Veronica and Alana. My observations were taken on two different occasions, observation 1 took place Friday, March 11, 2016, and Observation 2 took place Friday, March 18, 2016. During both observations, I focused on their daily schedules such as when or how often they were taken out of class, or when co-teaching occurred between the classroom and special education teacher.

1. The search terms that I used were “parent implemented interventions.” I used the One Search database on the UNF website. I selected this article to analyze as opposed to other articles in the research results because it met the requirements for the assignment. The researchers whom conducted the study wrote this article. Many of the other articles listed in the results were research reviews of other studies. Also, many articles were written by authors who were not conducting the research discussed in the articles. The reference for this article is:

Students can be excited to start school and show interest in learning until that excitement turns to frustration when the child starts to face challenges. They may find it hard to recognize letters or letter sounds and may have trouble staying on task. This irritation can quickly turn into impulsive actions and can be disruptive in the classroom. These actions leave the teacher no choice but to convey to the child’s parents and other school professionals in order to help the student in his/her learning process (Learning Disabilities, 2011).

It is commonly observed in children at their primary education level that conversation among their peers does not always take a pattern and as such; respect of their peers is not given a proper attention. However, interactions among pupil or students and their teachers in school used to be in turn, when the teacher speaks; it is not expected for the pupil to interrupt his/her discussion, the pupil listen to the teacher and take a turn on his own response to what he’s been asked, where this rule is not followed; then the respect expected from pupil/students to their teacher is compromised. Example of this is When children enter first grade, they are often told they must raise their hands before speaking. The rule is: “You may not speak unless the teacher gives you permission.” The symbol by which the rule is implemented-by which permission is requested and gained-is the upraised hand. When new children are admitted into the class, such admitted student is expected to learn this process of turn taking, violations of the rule are corrected, but tolerated. They believe that the children are not yet part of the school-culture and as such; they might not be punished for the violation. After a certain period when the children have learnt this process, now when the hand-raising rule is violated, the children are likely to be punished; disrespect and disregard for the school-culture is assumed.