Lesson Planning
Literacy - Whole Group
Each reading cycle is 7 days. The day starts with word work and phonics skills. We then do a whole group read aloud and reading response. The read alouds are broken down in the following way: Day 1 - big book, Day 2 - Wonders cards, Day 3 - Anthology text, Day 4 - Anthology re-read. Days 5, 6 and 7 are designated Writing Fundamental days. I use a Google Slides format to create all lesson plans. I create one slide show for each cycle. This helps me keep track of the sequenced lesson, as well as allows me to go back to a previous days’ lesson if needed to support student learning. In the slide show, I include teacher slides that keep me on schedule during the day and track what materials I will need for each lesson.
The Google Slides format makes lessons visually engaging, easy to access, and allow for frequent opportunities for student participation. I scaffold student learning to introduce a skill, and then work towards using the skill in more complicated ways. Of my 22 students, 16 receive ESOL services, six receive remediation with paraprofessionals, and three have Individualized Educational Plans. Including visual aids in my lessons helps the lesson be accessible for all students. There are multiple points of access as well as multiple ways to intake the information. This ensures all of my diverse learners are being accommodated in the classroom. The images also make the lesson more engaging as I am able to use pictures that directly align with student interest and passions. When students are excited to learn more about a skill or task, they are more likely to retain that information.
Each of my phonics lessons is designed in a way to maximize student participation. Each new lesson has students either share out orally, come to the board and write, or use a new skill while on the carpet. Giving students a task to complete during the learning helps not only keep students engaged, but also gives them opportunities to practice the skills we are developing in the classroom. This makes my classroom more student centered. As the year progresses and students become more familiar with the activities, students are able to be the creators of knowledge, completing tasks and sharing their understandings with the class, rather than being only passive receivers.
​
The picture here shows a student voting for the animal they would like to research during Unit 1 Cycle 6 of my literacy plan. Each student ​was given the opportunity to share their perspective on which animal they are most interested in learning more about. I used a bar graph to integrate math learning into literacy instruction. This learning opportunity exposes students to differnt modes of gathering and displaying data. This algins to common core math standard 1.MD.C.4, "Organize, represent, and interpret data with up to three categories; ask and answer questions about the total number of data points, how many in each category, and how many more or less are in one category than in another."
​
​
​
​
This picture shows a student completing phonics work during the whole group portion of the day. She has segmented the word "batter" and is explaining to the class how she was able to tap out each individual sound. She uses her segmenting skills to complete the task and also explain her thinking. Students on the carpet then practice with her to show they are engaged. This helps students become the creators of knowledge as they are able to guide their peers through learning tasks.
Literacy - Guided Reading
Guided reading is one of the most vital times in my instructional day. The small group format allows me to directly target my students’ literacy needs. As a school, we follow the Jan Richardson's guided reading format. I group my students based on their DRA level. See the assessment section for more information on what the DRA includes. I have five to six students in each reading group. The activities we do at my table are based on the text level of the students and the skills each child is lacking. I select leveled texts to match the instructional level of my students. The leveled books I use have sight words, CVCs, and words that target specific skills. To ensure my instruction is scaffolded and inclusive, I worked with another first grade teacher to create a guided reading binder that has dozens of lesson plans aligned with the leveled books. I designed the word work portion of the day to start with the most foundational skills and grow into more complex skills. For students on text levels one to two, I work on skills such as letter sound and CVC families. We then progress to skills such as inflectional endings and breaking multisyllabic words. I use magnetic letters as well as whiteboards to help students practice these skills.
The guided reading lesson plan shown here outlines my guided reading lesson for a level 6 text. It includes the sight words the book focuses on, the vocabulary I will review before reading, and how I will introduce the text to students. The lesson covers both A day and B day. It shows the skills I will emphasize and what I will look for during reading. The lesson also outlines the writing prompt students will complete at their desk. Keeping the lesson plans in a binder that is organized by level allows me to track students growth and pace out their reading development. I know the sequence of books students will read. This sequence makes sense as they are grouped by level and by difficulty within each level.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Yellow -DRA 0
Green -DRA 2 - 3
Red -DRA 1 - 2
Blue -DRA 3 - 4
Differentiation
The four images shown here are aspects of differentiated worksheets from guided reading instruction. ​Each group completes a worksheet that asks text based questions. The worksheet also includes a word work portion in which students complete tasks appropriate for their DRA level. The yellow group is working on mastering the sight words look and at. The red group is working on mastering digraphs. Students are expected to answer text questions in a full sentence, as shown by the green and blue groups' work. As students begin to show greater mastery of RF.1.4.B, "Read grade-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings," the questions become more intensive and based on comprehension. For example, the blue group was asked what the boy in the book was doing on page three of the book. Students are expected to use text evidence to answer a question.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Math - Whole Group
Every whole group math lesson begins with the calendar and weather. During this five minute segment, we count the days of school. I use a slide that focuses on place value, one of the target first grade skills. This integrates vital learning into all routines during the day. I then begin with a number talk activity. These number talks focus on creative mathematical thinking and explaining one’s strategy. My students look forward to this part of every lesson because they are able to share their different perspectives on the same task. I then review the target skill and vocabulary for the days lesson. This ensures students have the language they need and understand the day’s goal. I use the I do, we do, you do method to introduce each new skill. I start by explicitly teaching the new skill step by step, showing what I expect students to do. I then complete the task asking students to guide me through the steps. I will call on students to share what I should do first, then, and next, until the task is complete. This helps scaffold the learning. Finally, I provide an opportunity for multiple students to practice the skill on the board. This helps engage students with their learning and creates interactive lessons for students to participate in. I also incorporate math songs to further engage students and help with the memorization of math vocabulary or skills.
This image shows a student completing a math task at the board during whole group. I use this time to make learning student centered. For this lesson, I presented students with a word problem. I then had three different students come to the board and solve it in three different ways. This allowed students to recognize the different approaches we are able to take to address the same problem. Students not only explained how they used the strategy but also why they chose the strategy. Students on the carpet were expected to think of as many strategies as they could to solve the problem. This allowed other students to then consider strategies they may not have thought of before by observing their peers work on the board.
The slides shown here are examples of how I integrate my students' experiences into my math lessons. I use their names in word problems as well as culturally significant information to make the word problems more relevant to my students' lives. The first slide includes the names of two of my students who were born in El Salvador. Both of my students have expressed their love for traditional pupusas. The second slide includes the name of my student who wears a hijab to school. Representation is vital in students; educational material and including stories about hijabs is one small way I can ensure my students feel they are able to see themselves in what they are learning.
Math - Small Group
My small group math lessons also follow the I do, we do, you do method. Students are group based on their mastery of the target skill. I use the exit tickets from the previous lesson to determine the day’s math groups. I may also make adjustments based on observational data during whole group instruction. This allows me to scaffold the learning in the most appropriate way for each of my students. I start this small group time by explicitly showing students the target skill again. I then give each of my students a white board or erasable worksheet and we complete a practice problem together. I then give students the opportunity to practice independently. During this independent practice time, I am able to observe who needs additional support, then offer them remediation. During small group time I incorporate as many opportunities for hands-on learning as I can. This may include the use of whiteboards, manipulatives, or other math tools. This helps provide multiple points of access to the learning material for my students. I base the follow-up work on my students target skill. I may differentiate the follow-up work if I notice that a certain group of students are not ready to progress to the next topic or skill. I can also provide more challenging work for students who are showing mastery of the target skill.
Math small group is a time that allows me to check in on each of my students' mastery of skills. I am able to observe, challenge, and remediate as appropriate. I include the task I will complete with students at my desk in my lesson plans. This allows me to not only plan ahead but also think through what task will be most beneficial for student support. The task shown here asked students to write partners to ten, then show the addition using cubes and a tens fame. Students wrote an equation, showed the math using the blocks, then used words to tell a number story to me. The example shown here is of a student realizing the error of his equation. He wrote the 1 + 7 = 10. However, when he built is model, he recognized that he needed to make adjustments. I observed that this student is able to self-monitor, but needed additional support in fluently knowing partners to ten.
Differentiation
I began the third math unit on subtraction by teaching students how to use a model to subtract. As students progressed, I then taught students tens frame subtraction. Observational data showed students in my highest two math groups showed mastery of the skill very quickly. Based on the data, students in my lowest two groups needed additional support. The images here show how I differentiated the follow up work for students. Students in my lowest groups (yellow and red), practiced using the tens frame strategy for subtraction within ten. Students in my highest groups (green and blue) used the new strategy to solve subtraction problems within 20. This differentiation ensured all students were practicing the new strategy at a level that was appropriately challenging for them.
Yellow and Red
Green and Blue
