Sunday, October 23, 2011

Thursday, October 20

On Thursday, October 20 we covered the drill for after lesson 21 and lesson 22. We are almost through the first binder of lessons, and I only have 11 classes with my students due to Thanksgiving and Christmas. Bums me out, these students have really touched my heart, and they all hold a place near and dear to me.

Thursday was a gloomy, nasty, rainy day, and only three students ended up making it to class. A lot of the students have troubles with transportation when the weather is bad due to public transit and lack of transportation/vehicles.

We began our day with blending sounds. We read together and then each student had to read an entire section individually.

id rid grid
ip lip flip
isk risk frisk
in int rint print

an and band
en end bend
ip rip trip
ot pot spot

in int mint
un unt runt
af aft raft
ef eft left

We then practiced final blends by utilizing the same method.
bast best bist bust
dast dest dist dust
rast rest rist rust
tast test tist tust

bant bent bint bunt
mant ment mint munt
hant hent hint hunt
sant sent sint sunt

bask besk bisk busk
nask nest nisk nusk
pask pesk pisk pusk
vask vesk visk vusk

land lend lind lund
hand hend hind hund
sand send sind sund
mand mend mind mund

After working on blending a dictated words. My students had to echo the words and tell me the vowel sound in each.
pent spent trump blend rust mint crust flip task blunt

We then practiced full sentences. I had each student come up the board and write out a sentence for me.
1) Rex went and fed his pet pig.
2) Greg sent help to mend the tent.
3) The tan box will rust in the damp desk.

In lesson 22 we covered new concepts.

We started with the alphabet and sound system We worked on alphabetizing by the third letter, and worked out of our student worksheet. We then worked with alliteration.

In new learning, we learned long vowel a, e, and i and practiced our coding - "A vowel in an open syllable is long, code it with a macrion."

We learned that long vowels say their name.

Key words - long vowel a = apex, long vowel e = equal, long vowel i = iris

We then worked on spelling by orally listening and spelling. We then worked on writing and the plural rule of adding suffix s to a base word.

drum -- drums
tab -- tabs

The procedure for spelling derivatives is:
1) listen and echo the whole word
2) say the base word
3) spell the base word aloud
4) name and write the base word
5) add the suffix and verbalize the rule
6) code and read

I had a student who is from Africa and is going back to visit his family for three months. His last day in my class was Thursday. It was so touching to talk to him. He gave me a big hug and told me to keep in touch and that I was a great teacher. It is moments like this when students tell you they really appreciate what you do that makes it all worth it. I know when I have a career, I need to be doing something that impacts people in a positive manner. Pay it forward everyone - Happy Sunday :)

Friday, October 14, 2011

Thursday, October 19

A card one of my students bought me because he cannot return to class due to his job
On Thursday, October 19th we covered the drill for after lesson 19 and lesson 20. In the drill we worked on initial blends and final sounds.

I read words to my students, asked them to repeat the word, and then drop the initial sound.
stump (tump) frog (rog) pride (ride) trash (rash) brush (rush) cramp (ramp) smith (mith) blush (lush) crest (rest)

I think gave them more words, and told them to drop the last sound.
steep (stee) strip (stri) send (sen) grand (gran) hello (hell) test (tes) enlist (enlis) left (lef) work (wor)

We then worked on a student worksheet and practiced words with the same initial and final sounds but different short vowel sounds.
Example - brat, bret, brit, brout, brut

We practiced spelling by looking at how many sounds were in certain words, then looked at how many letters are in each word. I had each student come up to spell on the board.
doll, cliff, fret, grip, grid, bliss, flag, stub, plot, fed, Fred

We utilized another worksheet to practice the Floss Rule
ff ll ss
off dull hiss

I had each student come to the board to spell the following words : still, stress, gloss, blot, trap, twist

We then practiced difference sentences
1) We had a bell, a box, and a grill.
2) Six men fell on the brass step.

I assigned my students a homework worksheet that included sentences with missing words that could be found in the word bank. They had to fill in the blanks in the sentences with the proper words.

In lesson 20 we covered the alphabet by orally reciting it. We then practiced alphabetizing by working on a student worksheet. We practiced final sounds by isolating and changing the final sounds in words to create new words.

Change the final sound to g:
pen - peg
rub - rug
lot - log
bid - big

Change the final sound to m
sat - Sam
bus - bum
dig - dim
gut - gum
hen - hem

In new learning we worked on making words plural.

Base word + subjunctive = derivative (plurals)

We practiced by making singular words into plural words by adding on the suffix s.

In reading we practiced the daily reading deck, names and letters, key words, and sounds. We reviewed high frequency words and read off a student worksheet that focused on high frequency words. To practice reading context we worked with high frequency words: just, must, tell, get, list, last, spell and learned words: one, two, could, should, would.

We worked on making words plural on a student worksheet where the students had to identify singular naming nouns, and add s to them.

To practice spelling, we orally spelt words and wrote out words. We focused specifically on adding s to words to make them plural.

I had my student spell log - logs and band - bands.

One of my students, who was dedicated to learning and attending class, had to tell us he can no longer come to class. He bought all the instructors cards and explained that his boss at work will not let him miss since it is starting "Christmas" season. This is an issue that arises for a lot of students from out of the country or living in a lower socioeconomic situation. He explained to this boss that he was enrolled in a literacy class on Tuesdays and Thursdays when it first began, and his boss now told him he can't miss work. It happens a lot with our students, they are dedicated to coming, but work interferes.

Thursday, October 6th

On Thursday, October 6th we covered the drill for after lesson 17 and lesson 18. During our drill we practiced blends.
I gave the blends fl, gr, tr, sl, bl, pl, br, and dr and every one of my students had to say a word that begun with each blend.
Next, we worked on initial sounds and blends. I said each word, and my students had to give me the initial sounds in each and the blend.
flake, sprite, stun, bland, proof, grief, blouse, crutch, slippery
We then practiced blends on a worksheet, which included words with the same vowel and final sound but the initial and blends changed. Each student had to read aloud.
We practiced short vowel sounds. I dictated the following words to my students: tram, cud, stip, heb, pris, blot, mog, sav, hox, and ven. My students had to identify the vowel in each and give me the sound of that vowel. We also used a worksheet, I dictated words and then they had to decide which vowel sound was in the word.
To practice spelling we worked with rhyming words, dictation, and sentences.
I gave my students the words : rob, clap, bend, miss, time, bell, hand, nick
They had to come up with words that rhymed with each of these.
I dictated the following words : clam, dram, flit, split, drop, prop, club, stub, wet, and fret. I had my students identify the vowels in each and spell them on the board.
We then practiced sentences including:
The pink cross cost six cents.
Mom sent Bill to trim the grass.
My dog will sniff to find scraps of food.
I also assigned my students a homework sheet where they had to match two words with the same meaning to practice definitions/context.
In lesson 18, we practiced the alphabet and alphabetizing. We used a worksheet to alphabetize words in columns. We had two columns of words. The first column we did together in class, and the second was assigned as homework.
To practice the sound system we worked with alliteration. Students were given three words that started with the same letter, and then had to produce two more words that began with the same letter.
pot, pan, pat
best, book, blue
see, sat, some
two, toes, touch
can, come, catch
house, hen, help
rain, ranch, race
**Alliteration refers to the repetition of the same initial sound of several words in a sentence or phrase.
In new learning, we learned that s makes a (z) sound when voiced. The new key word is nose (z).
My students completed a worksheet to practice the voiced z sound.
Rule: (V) s = (z) (V)ss=(s)
Vowel with one s after makes z sound
Vowel with two ss's after make s sound
Note: letter before the s determines if it is s or z sound
To practice reading, we did our daily reading deck, naming the letters, key words, and sounds.
We also practiced short vowel drill focusing on e and i, and completed a student worksheet focusing specifically on e and i (reading words with short vowels e and i in them)
We practiced high frequency words : is, as, his, has
learned words: oh, was, with, you, put, do, Monday, why
We worked on surprise sentences and used two student worksheets to find them and label them. We practiced the four different types of sentences:
1) telling
2) asking
3) command
4) surprise
To practice spelling, we spelled orally first and then wrote out words. We also learned the Floss Rule and spelt the words stiff, frill and spill.
Floss Rule: vowel in a closed syllable is short, code it with a breve; 2 like consonants - 2nd code silent
Example - stiff (second f is silent)