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Saturday, March 25, 2017

#sol17 Day 25 The

We had re-read familiar books and practiced this week's "featured" sounds (c,g,d,a) when my administrator pulled up a chair for my "unannounced" observation  "Hi," one of my readers, waved cheerfully, announcing her arrival
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Inside, I sighed. Images of those third graders, earlier, who had spurred each other's thinking about words with multiple meanings ran through my head.  A glimpse of those second graders who had determined the central message in The Ugly Duckling tied to our building motto about "Kindness" flew across my mind. "Why not stop by for the story of Lizzy," I thought, "to see my first graders challenge whether or not chameleons really eat strawberries in real life"  

But, in real life, my lesson plan for this group, this day, was the word, the.  You can't make slices of real life up.  It was the.  For a moment, I did think about scrapping that plan and going with next week's story; however, the word the had been a stumbling block for these kindergarten students.
So I went on with the real life lesson of a high-frequency word you just need to remember.  We wrote the big.  We wrote the small.  We said the letters as we wrote it.  We found the in books.  We wrote the cat and the dog, the pig and we illustrated our writing.

At the end, My students might have been empowered to find the word again!  I'll follow up with some assessing, reteaching as needed, more writing to strengthen memory, and more word finding, and if need be, some sandpaper writing  to solidify the word the.

At the end, I realized I had to reflect deeply on my teaching of the word the!

Let me begin:  The is an essential building block of early reading and writing.  For most children, many exposures of shared reading at home and in kindergarten contribute to this word becoming an image, almost like an icon.  However, for a handful of children, there is a need for more direct teaching, and perhaps repeated direct teaching, using a multisensory approach ....................

6 comments:

lsmith0917 said...

Timing is always the best for observations, right?! Ha. I'm sure your building leader understood why you were taking the time to teach this explicit lesson. You were being responsive to student needs and utilizing a variety of strategies to help them reach understanding. Hopefully, they will be better able to transfer this idea now. :) Deep breath, you are doing what's best for your kids!

BK said...

Glad to be back in a classroom with you Anita. Watching how you think through the lesson...
Bonnie

Mrs. Wyman said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mrs. Wyman said...

They always pick choice times, don't they? But the needs to be taught, and sometimes retaught. We were returning from recess one day this week and I was about to launch Math Workshop with a less than exciting plan. My principal walked in and I thought, "NO! Not now!" and I broke out in a sweat. She had THE yellow pad in her hand, which we've all learned means she's observing. Otherwise she usually just carries her iPhone. Fortunately she was headed to observe someone else and was just saying hello. PHEW!

Linda B said...

I just talked with my kindergarten granddaughter about this world, so used, but it's a concept that can be elusive. I guess you can never choose when the observations happen, and your administrator needs to know that those kinds of lessons happen too. I bet you did great!

travelinma said...

Isn't that always the way.....those dynamic exciting moments are just missed when it really counts. Those young readers need to know the word THE. Repeated exposure will help it to stick. Teaching encompasses a wide range of lessons doesn't it? You gave those learners what they needed in a timely manner. Bravo.