Organizational Chart For 6 th grade Students Name Spelling Stage Reading Level Writing Abilities J.H.

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1 Jessica Constantine IRA ASSESSMENT ASSIGNMENT SEYSL 750-Hacker Organizational Chart For 6 th grade Students Name Spelling Stage Reading Level Writing Abilities J.H Lexile Score= Far F.L 900 Lexile Score= At or Inconsistent verb tense Below S.K N/A DH 1060 Lexile score= Hen K Lexile score= Run-ons J. She to Middle J. S to Middle 1235 Lexile score= Far Y. L 870 Lexile Trouble with subject verb agreement to Middle score=at/below A.L to Middle 990 Lexile score= V. Li J.K I.Z K.K Y.L T~ A.B E.C 805 Lexile score= At/Below 860 Lexile Score= At/Below 885 Lexile Score= At/Below 1170 Lexile Score= Far above N/A N/A N/A 1010 Lexile Score= Trouble with subject verb agreement. Simple sentence structure Trouble with subject verb agreement Inconsistent verb usage

2 WORD STUDY GROUPS A.B I.Z V.Li A.L Y.I E.C J.K Y.L I.S T~ K.K J. She Middle Syllables and Affixes Late Syllables and Affixes Early Derivational Relations D.H F.L J.H S.K Hen. K. Middle Derivational Relations Students are placed in the above groups strictly by the results from their Spelling Assessments. The cooperating teacher and I decided not to switch any of the students because she believes they all work well together and is interested to see how they will grow. Students are reading at different reading levels, but are also having similar writing difficulties. We believe the various reading levels will allow students to learn from each other and support each other. The three students in the Middle Affixes/Syllables stage will be the group that will need extra support. Although they are in the developmental stage appropriate to the grade level, it is evident that they will need more direct instruction from the teacher. The teacher can help students with comprehension strategies, writing activities, and weekly word hunts. With time, the cooperating teacher and I agree that this group will grow academically.

3 Upper-Level Spelling Inventory in September 2013 Student Blends and Digraphs Vowels Complex Consonants Inflected Endings and Syllable Juncture Unaccented Final Syllables Affixes Reduced Vowels in Unaccented Syllables Greek and Latin Elements Assimilated Prefixes Feature Points Spelled Correctly Total Rank Order E.C 5 / 5 8 / 9 5 / 7 7 / 8 7 / 9 5 / 10 2 / 7 3 / 7 3 / 6 45 / / T~ 5 / 5 9 / 9 5 / 7 4 / 8 7 / 9 6 / 10 5 / 7 5 / 7 4 / 6 50 / / K.K 5 / 5 9 / 9 7 / 7 8 / 8 7 / 9 6 / 10 3 / 7 5 / 7 3 / 6 53 / / V.Li 5 / 5 9 / 9 6 / 7 6 / 8 7 / 9 7 / 10 7 / 7 6 / 7 0 / 6 53 / / I.Z 5 / 5 9 / 9 7 / 7 6 / 8 7 / 9 7 / 10 5 / 7 3 / 7 4 / 6 53 / / Y.L 5 / 5 9 / 9 7 / 7 8 / 8 7 / 9 6 / 10 3 / 7 6 / 7 2 / 6 53 / / J.K 5 / 5 8 / 9 7 / 7 8 / 8 7 / 9 8 / 10 5 / 7 4 / 7 2 / 6 54 / / A.L 5 / 5 9 / 9 7 / 7 8 / 8 9 / 9 5 / 10 4 / 7 5 / 7 2 / 6 54 / / Y.I 4 / 5 9 / 9 7 / 7 8 / 8 8 / 9 8 / 10 5 / 7 4 / 7 4 / 6 57 / / I.S 5 / 5 9 / 9 7 / 7 8 / 8 7 / 9 8 / 10 6 / 7 4 / 7 4 / 6 58 / / S.K 5 / 5 9 / 9 7 / 7 8 / 8 7 / 9 7 / 10 6 / 7 6 / 7 3 / 6 58 / / Hen. K. 5 / 5 8 / 9 6 / 7 7 / 8 6 / 9 10 / 10 7 / 7 5 / 7 5 / 6 59 / / 31 83

4 J. She. 5 / 5 9 / 9 7 / 7 8 / 8 9 / 9 9 / 10 5 / 7 4 / 7 4 / 6 60 / / D.H 5 / 5 9 / 9 7 / 7 8 / 8 8 / 9 9 / 10 5 / 7 5 / 7 4 / 6 60 / / J.H 5 / 5 9 / 9 7 / 7 8 / 8 9 / 9 9 / 10 6 / 7 5 / 7 4 / 6 62 / / F.L 5 / 5 9 / 9 7 / 7 8 / 8 8 / 9 10 / 10 5 / 7 5 / 7 4 / 6 61 / / A.B 5 / 5 9 / 9 7 / 7 8 / 8 9 / 9 9 / 10 6 / 7 5 / 7 4 / 6 62 / / 31 87

5 Anectodal Record and Timeline of Spelling Assessment 9/12-Initial planning conference with colleague- Briefly asked colleague to participate in a Grad School assignment. Explained how to administer Spelling assessment. 9/16- Teacher administers Spelling Assessment 9/17-9/26- I began grading and organizing student data. It was an interesting and challenging experience to analyze each individual feature guide. Although each guide varied, most students in the class were performing at or above grade level expectations. This came as a pleasant surprise, for I felt that students were making multiple errors. However, I realized that even if the word was spelled incorrectly, students received points for having knowledge of an important part or feature in the spelling. 9/26- Review material with teacher. I recorded information session and supplied teacher with suggestions for activities to be used in the classroom. 10/1- Teacher implements prefix lesson 10/3-We review the effectiveness of the group work and prefix lessons. Strengths: students were really discussing and participating with explorations. Weaknesses: Students were confused with root words and were only defining the prefix part and not making meaning of the entire word. Made suggestions to improve strategies. (use prefix strategy with context clues, make index cards for certain students, have students draw picture representations as you teach words to help create understanding, etc.) 10/10- I reflected on my first few weeks as a reading coach.

6 5 Week Activity Schedule Week Activity Reason 1 Introduce students to the word sorts. Let students read and sort words by spelling familiarities. Prepare Read Alouds (Teacher Models) Students will work with these words more closely, but will need the assistance from teacher. This could be done whole class or small group. Teacher could even use the Smart Board (technology) to make the activity more interactive. Read Alouds allow students to hear appropriate pronunciation of words which is important for ELL s and students with IEP s. These words can be generated from the novel The Lightning Thief (the core text of the curriculum). This activity is an adaptation of Joined at the Roots (p. 300). 2 Prefix Word Hunt Once students have mastered sorting the similar words, they will now have to start expanding their vocabularies and connecting their understandings to other words with similar prefixes. This allows students to apply their knowledge from the first week s work. This activity would be done individually to help students grow independently. Students can hunt through the novel, magazines, or newspapers. 3 Class Root and Prefix Share Out Tree Similar to the You Teach the Word and Words that Grow from Base Words and Word Roots activities in Words Their Way (p. 295 and p.296).this activity enables students to take ownership in their classroom learning environment. They will need to add index cards to the tree and throughout the week will present a mini presentation on the word they found and its meaning. 4 Prefix and Context Clue Strategy Alongside the curriculum, students will begin applying both prefix and context clue strategies to help define unfamiliar words. It s important that students begin developing their vocabulary in context with other words and not always in isolation. Passages will be taken from The Lightning Thief. 5 Connect the Two Now that students have a strong understanding of the words while reading, the last step is to see if students can synthesize the information and produce writing which is appropriate and clear. In this activity, students will need to create a paragraph/story in which they use different vocabulary words throughout the text. Ideally, they will be able to formulate sentences which directly connect the word meanings.

7 Name of Lesson: Prefix and Context Clue Strategy Aim: I can determine the meaning of unfamiliar words using prefixes and context clues. Class: 6 th grade Do Now: (5 minutes) Copy the definition of Prefix- a letter or group of letters attached at the beginning of a word that partly indicates its meaning. Common Core Learning Standards: Students will use variety of strategies to determine the meaning of unknown words and phrases. (L.6.4) Ongoing Assessment: Using Prefixes recording form Student produced word lists NCTE/IRA Standards: Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities. Lesson Summary: (30 minutes) Think-Pair-Share: Point out to students the pre in prefix. Ask: What other words do you know that has the letters pre at the start? List them. Share out and Ask: How do your words relate to before? Choose words from The Lightning Thief which begin with prefixes. Model how a prefix effects the meaning of the word. Make sure to mention that prefixes and roots help you understand vocabulary in English. Allow students time to discuss prefix meanings with their partners or group. Supply students with a Prefix List. (You can self-select prefixes are most common in the reading) Let students know that knowing these can help them to find the meaning of words. Student Exploration: After selecting passages from the reading, let students try to identify unfamiliar words. 1. Read each passage 2. Use your knowledge of prefixes, the prefix list, and context clues to help define the word. *This activity can be done in groups or independently. Remember to circulate the room and give aide where needed. If a student is really struggling, try giving him/her the definition of the root word and see if he/she can then define the word. You may need to remind students of the context clue strategy: look before and after the word and see if you understand what the sentence is trying to say. Essential Questions:(5 minutes) How do prefixes help you understand words? How does identifying unfamiliar words help a reader? Expected answers: If you can understand a part of a word, then you can try and define the whole meaning You can use a prefix to figure out if a word is positive or negative Using both a prefix and context clues can help you understand the word When you understand a word, then you can understand a whole part of the story. Readers Differentiation: who can understand the vocabulary can understand the author s purpose. Students will work in groups designed by students ability after the class has taken a pre-assessment of spelling abilities. Teacher will circulate the room to give guidance and support to those groups struggling. She will pay close attention to the ELL students. ELL students are also grouped with a translator. They are encouraged to bring in a dictionary so that they can use the class time to translate directions and questions into their own language. Teacher will also use Smart Board to model/guide students in using prefixes correctly. Homework/Independent Assessment: Have students reread their favorite parts of a novel or find words in a magazine or newspaper that contain a prefix. Extra Credit: if students define the word.

8 Reflection on the Lesson/Suggestions for further development After the cooperating teacher implemented the lesson plan, we met to discuss the successes and failures. The students had started talking about prefixes before the lesson, but many of the students were confused and not as engaged as she had hoped. Knowing that repetition for students at this age is necessary and appropriate, I handed the above lesson to my co-worker. She realized that she had not scaffolded her previous lessons and was expecting too much from her students. I explained that a simple model and group work activities could help students see how prefixes are used. Instead of telling students that prefixes help to define words, the lesson shows students. Vocabulary instruction should be done in isolation and in context. If students are only studying words in isolation, words may be forgotten or viewed as unimportant. Teachers should introduce words, have students explore more words, use words in context with the curriculum, and allow students to discuss with peers. Discussing information with peers allows readers and writers to expand their understandings and apply it to other areas of their lives. Not only were students learning the words that the teacher selected, but the words they were hunting for and listing added more words to their vocabulary. My cooperating teacher expressed her gratitude and excitement because she was pleased to see how many words the students came back to school with. She continued the word hunt for the next few days and set-up a bulletin board in the room to make the words visual to students. However, we did learn of some confusions and discussed how we could avoid these mistakes in the future. Some students were choosing words that did not have a prefix, yet had a similar spelling structure. I suggested that instead of starting with prefix studies next year, perhaps she could first do a quick review of root words so that students could acknowledge that prefixes change the meaning of a word that can stand alone and have a meaning. Professional Development Opportunities Books: Bringing the Outside In: Visual ways to Engage Reluctant Readers by Sara B. Kajder- This is an excellent resource to have in the teacher library. It supplies teachers with many differentiation strategies to use with reading. The activities help students to draw on their interests and engage in activities which utilize technology, words, and images. The skills they use to create projects are skills important to young readers and writers. Subject Matter: Every Teacher s Guide to Content-Area Reading by Harvery Daniels and Steven Zemelman- Excellent resource! Includes appropriate, exciting, practical, and balanced activities which help young readers reuse and remember information. These activities in conjunction with word study activities will help readers grow as learners. Words their Way by Donald R. Bear, Marcia Invernizzi, Shane Templeton, and Francine Johnston.-This novel is where you can find the spelling assessment administered to the students. You can also find specific word sorts and strategies to expand students understandings of words. Good source if you decide to continue a spelling study throughout the school year. Webinars: Finding the Right Word: Five Principles of Vocabulary Instruction for English Language Learners (On Demand)- This webinar can be purchased on the NCTE website. It is an hour long session for $99 or $49 for NCTE members. Especially in the area we teach, Flushing, this would be a helpful session because it discusses instructional strategies and ways to include daily word study in the classroom. Building Academic Language to Deepen Comprehension and Learning (On Demand)-This is another webinar offered on the NCTE website which will be helpful to watch. It discusses ways to include the Common Core Academic Vocabulary expectations into the classroom. This webinar is also $99 or $49 for NCTE members.

9 Critical Reflection on Role as a Literacy Coach Being a first year teacher, I already experience stress, so when we were asked to coach a fellow teacher to administer and implement changes to his or her teaching style, I became even more anxious. However, I soon realized that my role as a reading coach was valuable and necessary during the implementation of the Common Core Curriculum. The Common Core stresses literacy across the content area, and teachers must adhere to the standards and expectations of the city and state; the expectation of academic and domain specific vocabulary development is heard at almost every professional meeting held within our building. If we are going to create college and career ready young adults, we must start at the level of the student and push them forward. I ve learned through this experience that students will be more successful if you first give them the opportunity to be successful. The level of reading should eventually be challenging, but should begin where students will be able to build confidence and comprehend the purpose of a text with success. Coaching my co-worker through this process allowed me to grow as a teacher as well. As I was telling my co-worker what to do, she was also sharing ideas with me. I would try the activities and we would report back to each other. One thing which was wonderful was the constant line of communication. A literacy coach has to learn to be flexible, yet remain firm in the belief that strategies need to be included in lessons to help students grow. Not only will the students grow, but if teacher and literacy coach work together, as we did in this assignment, both will gain knowledge. My mentor teacher was more than accommodating. She was willing to change her plans and include the spelling test. Our conversations were rich and we were really able to exchange ideas and practices. I think the most successful aspect of this assignment was that both she and I teach the same subject and follow the same curriculum. I was familiar with what the students were learning, and I knew what the students were expected to accomplish. At the beginning of the year, teachers are starting to get to know their students strengths and weaknesses, so sometimes it is difficult to group students. The spelling assessments also allowed the teacher to quickly decide groups based on results and Lexile scores. I think I was successful in helping the teacher to create a conducive learning environment for all children. She also really enjoyed the lesson suggestions I gave her. We even discussed the spelling assessment amongst our colleagues at a common planning meeting. Upon reflection, as all good teachers do, I noticed that sometimes I wasn t able to articulate my thoughts and ideas to the teacher correctly. If I will continue to coach others in improving their reading instruction, I must work on ways to communicate the importance and strategy of word study. I also need to be prepared for teachers who are unwilling to change or implement strategies. In order to be an effective literacy coach, I need to make sure I prepare reasons for teachers who don t understand the use of word study or reading strategy instruction. I must also be able to listen to their concerns and act as a consultant. I am embracing the idea of being an educational leader, so with that will come certain struggles. Change did not occur over night after the assessments were administered. Literacy instruction is a slow process, but a necessary one. The adjustments the teacher made to her lessons and curriculum were minor, but we both agree change will eventually occur in her students. Not every teacher I help will think like my cooperating teacher. Through the coaching process I learned how to effectively administer an assessment, implement ideas, cooperate and communicate with a colleague, and reflect on my own processes and practice. I learned to listen and balance my ideas with another professional. I see how important it is for me to be familiar with the content and to ask future teachers what students will be utilizing in other content areas. I will first start with what the teacher has, and then begin to make further suggestions. I went into this activity nervous and reluctant, but I believe I have ended as a confident teacher who is able to make others feel comfortable with change. I am starting to see myself as a resource to my colleagues and not just as the new teacher.