It's been a long while since I wrote, mostly because I was exhausted at the end of last year. More is coming, but right now, I need to get down some observations while they are fresh in my head.
Today I watched my Tutor Teacher do a short phonics lesson and later, a running record. Generally, there was not too much that was different from my past experiences but there were a few things that were and I got several tips out of the whole thing.
Every phonics program is different and the one we're using here follows that. The progression of activities was (and this is mostly for my memory) say the words with the same sound (in this case "ssss"), then show the cards, ask the children which sound each word makes. After that, the children are shown the the sound and are asked to write it on the white board. Then each word is said and the children write down the sound they hear (in this case "s") once for each time they hear it.
There were some things that were not really phonics related that were helpful as well (and perhaps things I've already seen, but it's always good to be reminded). My TT was very clear with the students when giving instructions about using the pens and used a lot of ways of saying things (eg "Push your pen cap on until you can hear it click.") She also made sure the pens and whiteboards were down on the ground before they started and gave clear warnings as to what would happen if they played with them.
The running record example helped to clarify a few things that I was unsure (mostly what types of things I need to put in the written boxes). Nothing really game changing that needs to be mentioned here except that I now have a better picture of what I'm doing. It was also helpful to be observed and given pointers, as some situations that I'll encounter this year would not have happened last year with the year 3s and 4s (eg, one student just made up the story by looking at the pictures today).
No comments:
Post a Comment