Target Area Questions - Catie Watson

1. Describe your target area for guided lead teaching.
My target area for guided lead teaching is comprehension.

2. Approximately how much time per day is allotted for your instruction in this area?
I will have about an hour and a half to teach literacy each day.

3. Which Common Core State Standard(s) will you work toward?
CCSS Literature 1. Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. CCSS Literature 3. Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character’s thoughts, words, or actions).

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?
In my opinion, comprehension is one of the most important aspects of literacy. Teaching skills and strategies for effective comprehension will equip my students with the tools that are necessary to be successful in literacy, as well as all other subjects. Comprehension skills are also related to students’ lives because they will need to be able to read and understand text outside of school, no matter what type of profession they choose to pursue. Comprehension is necessary for students to learn literacy. There are many other skills that will be taught alongside comprehension lessons (such as vocabulary and fluency), which will help my students learn about all aspects of literacy.

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)?
Unfortunately, Reading Street limits the types of classroom talk that take place during literacy instruction. Much of the talk is teacher-led, while some of the time the teacher asks students to respond to questions. My hope is to incorporate small-group talk as well as think-pair-share. Another type of interaction I would like to build during my teaching is the idea of “Read, Write, and Talk” that is mentioned in Strategies that Work. I believe this strategy will aid in the acquisition of comprehension skills, as well as incorporating my core practice of ‘writing about reading’. This interaction will also allow students to interact with one another and gives them a chance to have meaningful discussions.

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 would like to work on developing the core practice of writing about reading. Focusing on this core practice will contribute to my own professional learning because I will be able determine which ‘writing about reading’ strategies best compliment comprehension instruction. I believe reading and writing go hand-in-hand, and learning to integrate these two important subjects will be beneficial to my teaching practice.

7. What resources within the community, neighborhood, school district, school or classroom do you have to work with in this target area?
I will be using the Reading Street curriculum for my guided lead teaching, and all of the supporting materials. We also have a reading specialist that I can confer with for extra support. I will also be using SmartNotebook software to teach my lessons.

8. What additional resources do you need to obtain?
Since Reading Street provides all of the materials, I should not need to obtain any additional resources.

9. How will you pre-assess your students in your target area?
I will begin conducting informal pre-assessments prior to my guided lead teaching by observing students during literacy small-group time, assessing their current comprehension skills and strategies. I will also be able to identify areas that I may need to focus on, within comprehension.

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 will continue to make observations about my students as I develop my lesson plans for my guided lead teaching. I will note what type of instruction seems to be most effective for my students, and what type of lessons they respond best to. So far, I have noticed that lessons are most successful when students are not sitting for a long period of time and when teacher-talk is minimal.

11. What else do you need/want to learn about the ‘core practice’ to support your planning and teaching?
I would like to learn more about which ‘writing about reading’ strategies are most effective when paired with learning about comprehension. For example, I would like to incorporate the use of sticky notes during reading, and I would like to know what types of questions I can ask students to write on their sticky notes to support comprehension strategies.

12. What concerns, if any, do you have about planning and teaching your unit?
I am concerned that the Reading Street curriculum may limit my ability to effectively teach my core practice of ‘writing about reading.’