1. Target area for teaching

• Monitoring Comprehension

2. Approximately how much time per day is allotted for your instruction in this area

• 55 minutes from 11:20-12:15

3. Which Common Core will you work toward

• Comprehension and Collaboration 1. a,b,c, & d 

1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly. a. Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion. b. Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion). c. Ask questions to check understanding of information presented, stay on topic, and link their comments to the remarks of others. d. Explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion.

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 learning through literacy?

• Students will be encouraged to make all kinds of connections (text-to-self, text-to-world, text-to-text) each day as they are introduced to a new story and become familiar with it throughout the week. I will encourage them to find other texts such as books, magazines, newspaper articles, or even movies/shows that they can try to access and present to the class to draw comparisons to their story. This will help students understand that they are not learning in isolation, rather building upon their prior knowledge, making connections with their experiences, and learning new material all at the same time. It will be important for me to share other texts with the students beyond their story of the week because there is not currently time for read-alouds and I want the students to be exposed to more/different types of literature throughout the week. This way, I will be able to do interactive read-alouds to monitor their comprehension and expose them to different genres beyond what Reading Street offers.

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 learning? What norms would you like to see developed in your area as you teach this targeted area?

(Chap. 6 STW)

• Students are currently engaging in discussions that are teacher led during comprehension. We go over or review vocabulary words from the story and then read through the story and ask questions that allow students to show what they have learned from the story. I would like to see the students partake in one-on-one conversations with a partner after I have given them a question or idea to discuss, and then share with the class what the two of them discussed as a way to promote collaborative thinking. This will take some practice, but I feel the students would enjoy and benefit from working as a team to offer new ideas and thoughts about the story. If this goes well, I would also like to try student led discussions where they are feeding off of each others ideas and I am participating only when necessary. If they were to engage in this type of discussion, they would be expected to not talk over one another, stay on topic, and participate/be engaged. The tables in the Berne and Clark article offer several great ideas that I will adapt and use in my classroom during their interactive discussions.  

        6. Which core practice do you want to develop or improve upon as you teach? How will       focusing on this core practice focus on your own professional learning?

• Comprehension Strategy Assessment and Instruction is the Core Practice I would like to work on during my literacy unit. It is so important that the students understand the why in literacy, more specifically, in vocabulary and comprehension, as these are foundational tools that they need to build upon as they begin to transition to middle school. Being able to draw upon their prior knowledge and make text-to-text, text-to-world, and text-to-self connections as they read will allow them to see that they are reading for a purpose for themselves and not for a grade. I want them to work on visualizing the content of the story and explain how those visualization came to light in their minds. I hope to learn different strategies for teaching and monitoring comprehension during my teaching that will enrich my student's ability to make connections and help them find what their interests and passions are. 
   
  7. What resources within in the community, school, classroom, do you have to work with within this area?

• Reading Street, libraries, internet, book room, my educational textbooks

8. What additional resources do you need to obtain?

• Newspapers, magazines, additional strategies that I can use to check for comprehension

         9. How will you pre-assess your students in your target area?

• I will use the results from the Reading Street test that students take at the end of each week
• Give students a “Reading Inventory” assessment to see what they are interested in in terms of genre and subjects  
  • I will make a chart of observations about how each student participates during the current comprehension lessons to use when thinking about how I could increase participation opportunities who are usually quiet during oral discussions 
  
  
  10. What else will you need to find out about all the students in your class to help you develop lessons plans for guided lead teaching

• Ways to engage all students and create an atmosphere where everyone feels comfortable to share their ideas. I also want to differentiate instruction when possible, but need to establish a way to determine a way to properly assess where they would be best suited. I also want to determine what they are genuinely interested so that I can create lessons that are intriguing and educate them about topics they want to learn more about. 
  
  
  11. What else do you want/need to learn about the core practice to support your learning and teaching? 
  • Ways to engage students in a meaningful way so that they are learning comprehension skills that work best for them. I also want to look deeper into the resources about how to help students determine what the most important parts of the text are and how to develop and ask higher level questions that they have as they are reading and learning new things.

12. What concerns do you have about planning and teaching your unit?

• I am worried about finding time to incorporate my authentic activities into the Reading Street curriculum. It is important to me that I be able to create some lessons and activities for vocabulary/ comprehension and deliver them to the students, for I worry that wherever I get a job next year will not use the same curriculum. Teaching the students I have now some of the ideas I have will allow me to see how I may need to adapt, change, or differentiate instruction and provide me with the opportunity for my mentor teacher to observe my lessons and give me feedback. While my M.T. is very open for me to try new things this year, I'm not sure that time will be on my side.