Ms. Perez’s First Grade Classroom Looking Closer-Assignment 1

Ms. Perez’s First Grade Classroom

Looking Closer-Assignment 1

Segment 1-Shared Reading

In Ms. Perez’s classroom children on all different reading levels are participating in a shared reading activity. The teacher uses various methods to ensure that all students, no matter their literacy level will gain new skills and are engaged in the lesson.

The more advanced students gain tremendously from watching their teacher, an expert reader, model fluency and automaticity for them. For the beginner readers in the classroom Ms. Perez uses many techniques to create phonological awareness, such as pointing out rhymes, and cues the students to help them decode words.

During Ms. Perez’s explicit phonics instruction lesson she models think aloud and problem-solving skills. By doing so, she is giving her students the ability to become independent readers and writers, because they now acquired the skills and the thought process needed to decode and encode words.

Additionally, shared reading is an excellent tool to promote literacy because the teacher can use a higher-level book than usual since she is there to guide and assist their reading.

Segment 2-Guided Reading.

During the guided reading segment Ms. Perez uses multiple strategies to help students gain fluency and make meaning with the text. She begins by retrieving student’s previous knowledge to assist their reading comprehension. Furthermore, throughout the book she asks questions to guide their comprehension.

 The teacher makes sure to verbalize the students reading strategies, as she said, “the more you verbalize, the more you internalize.” This way she is empowering her students with the tools they need to become independent readers and writers.

Segment 3- Differentiated Instruction

Ms. Perez organizes and differentiates her class in an incredible way to support a wide range of learners. For students on a lower level, there is an assistant teacher guiding the students and working on various skills to bring up their literacy level. On the other hand, for the advanced students Ms. Perez challenges them to take notes on the book they are reading and gives them the opportunity to create a poster. During differentiated instruction every student is catered to on their own level through activities that interest them.

Segment 4-Assesment

Ms. Perez uses constant ongoing assessment in her classroom to guide her instruction. Using the class profile, she created helps her properly differentiate instruction and guides her to clearly see which students are on the same level and can benefit from group instruction together.

Incorporating ongoing assessment in my classroom is beneficial for both me as the teacher and for my students. Using ongoing assessment helps me check that I am catering to my student’s needs and helping them reach their goals. At the same time, I am able keep tabs on my students to see if they are making progress and attaining their goals.