Ashley Sims

Prof. Sheehan
April 28, 2014

Practicum Final Report

I. Background on Student

By nature DD is a very quiet student, who does not speak a lot or loudly. DD is an
8 year old in the second grade at P.S. 81. He was retained last year and is currently
repeating second grade. We were told that DD has always been this way around adults
and even children his own age until he feels comfortable. Due to his behavior during
testing our opinion is that DD may experience difficulty in keeping up with his peers in a
variety of situations that require age-appropriate thinking and reasoning abilities. As
mentioned, he is extremely shy and this may make him appear at times inattentive or
uninterested, however once rapport is established DD is very pleasant and attentive. He
enjoys being with others but his grandmother has reported he has a difficult time making
friends because of his shy nature.
We were pleasantly surprised the first time we worked with DD. He was a lot
more open than expected. He continued to be soft spoken throughout the time we
administered the test but we believed this stems for a lack of confidence in his academic
ability. When the opportunity presented itself he was eager to share his interests with us.
DD explained and shared his love for basketball and in particular his allegiance to the
New York Knicks. DDs other hobbies included watching and playing football. DD
continued telling us that he is a Giants fan while his cousins are Cowboys and Jets fan.
Another topic DD shared with us is that he likes wrestling because DDs older brother is
now a wrestler. Again, throughout the discussion he was very soft spoken but at the same
time engaged.


II. Students IEP Goals

Reading
Within one year DD will be able to use context clues to decode and comprehend
unknown words on a second grade level with 75% accuracy.

Within one year DD will be able to improve his comprehension skills as seen through his
ability to retell a story with beginning, middle, and end on a second grade level with 70%
accuracy.

Mathematics
Within one year DD will be able to use computation skills as seen through his ability
perform math functions such as add and subtract on a second grade level 80%.

Within one year DD will be able to use, design, and communicate strategies for solving
mathematical problems with 70% accuracy.

Within one year DD will be able to compare numbers successfully, both orally and in
written form using the greater than and less than sign on a second grade level with 80%
accuracy.

Writing
Within one year DD will be able to improve his written expression skills as seen through
his ability to write a story including a beginning, middle, and end on a second grade level
with 75% accuracy.




III. Lesson Planning

Grade: 2
nd

Subject: English Language Arts
Date of Lesson: March 6, 2014

Type of Setting:
This classroom is an inclusion classroom in a public school. The classroom consists of 12
students with mixed abilities and levels. There is also one teachers aide present in the classroom
at all times.

Purpose:
Essential Question:
What is the authors message?
Vocabulary & Key terms:
Authors message The message that the author is trying to convey
Enormous- Very large in size, quantity, or extent
Gigantic- Having very great size or extent

Skills:
Identifying

Summarizing

Objectives: As a result of this lesson students will be able to:
Recognize the authors message of the story

Summarize the authors message by adding to the classroom t-chart

New York City Learning Standards:
Literacy:
Standard 2: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for literary response and expression.
Relate characters in literature to own lives, with assistance
Make predictions and draw conclusions and inferences about characters, with assistance
Recognize the value of illustration in literary text
Use specific evidence from stories to describe characters and relate sequences of events,
with assistance
Use knowledge of story structure and story elements to interpret stories, with assistance
Summarize main ideas and supporting details from literary text, both orally and in writing,
with assistance

Standard 3: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for critical analysis and evaluation.
Evaluate the content by identifying, with assistance
the authors purpose
important and unimportant details
whether events, actions, characters, and/or setting are realistic
Compare characters in literary works
Judge the accuracy of content, with assistance from teachers and parents/caregivers

Standard 4: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for social interaction.
Share reading experiences to build relationships with peers or adults; for example, read
together silently or aloud

Listening:
Standard 1: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding.
Acquire information and/or understand procedures
Identify essential details, with assistance
Determine a sequence of steps given, with assistance
Identify main ideas and supporting details, with assistance
Interpret information by drawing on prior knowledge and experience, with assistance
Collect information, with assistance

Standard 2: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for literary response and expression.
Identify elements of character, plot, and setting to understand the authors message, with
assistance
Connect literary texts to previous life experiences to enhance understanding

Standard 3: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for critical analysis and evaluation.
Form a personal opinion about the quality of texts read aloud, on the basis of criteria, such
as characters and plot

Speaking:
Standard 1: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding.
Provide simple directions
Express an opinion
Ask questions
Summarize, with assistance
Provide a sequence of steps
Describe a problem and suggest a solution
State a main idea with supporting examples and details, with assistance
Use complete sentences, using age- and content-appropriate vocabulary

Standard 2: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for literary response and expression.
Compare literary texts and performances to personal experiences and prior knowledge,
with assistance
Use complete sentences, correct verb tense, age-appropriate vocabulary, and logical order
in oral presentation

Standard 3: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for critical analysis and evaluation.
Explain the reasons for a characters actions, considering the situation
Express an opinion or judgment about a character and plot in a variety of works, with
assistance
Ask and respond to questions
Speak with appropriate rate and volume for the audience
Take turns speaking in a group



Pre-Assessment:
The students have previously been introduced and exposed to the concept of authors
message. This lesson is used to review this reading strategy and to help the students master the
concept by reinforcement.

Lesson Presentation:
Set Induction:
The teacher will ask the students the question: How do you think someone feels
when they tell a lie?

Procedure:
The teacher will call students to the rug based on their tables
The teacher will introduce the book A Big Fat Enormous Lie by Marjorie Weinman
Sharmat.
The teacher will ask, What is a lie? and Why do children sometimes tell lies?
The students will make predictions about what they think the child in the story lied about
after going through a picture walk.
The teacher will facilitate a discussion on the definition of authors message and remind
students to think about the authors message as the book is being read.
While reading the book to the class the teacher will stop at the indicated spots to ask
questions, explain difficult words, and gauge the comprehension of the students thus far.
After the book is read aloud to the class the teacher will facilitate a conversation about
the authors message. First the students will turn to a partner on the rug and talk about
what they think the authors message was. Then the teacher will ask for volunteers to
share their partners idea of what the authors message is.

Closure:
To close the lesson the teacher will make a t-chart on chart paper of the authors message
of the story. The left side of the chart will state the authors message and the right side of the
chart will state support from the book.
Materials:
A Big Fat Enormous Lie by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
Easel
Chart paper
Markers
Follow Up Activity/ Differentiated Assignments
Students will be dismissed from the rug by their assigned row and will return to their
tables and begin the various reading activities assigned to each table. They will be instructed to
look for the authors message in their own stories. The teacher will hand out the reading folders
and post-its so the students can write down the authors message.
Low Group
No David!
By David Shannon

(Choral Reading with the teachers aide)
The teacher will introduce the book to the students and begin the choral reading with a
small group of mixed ability students. Students will read the pages together with the teacher. At
the end of the story the teacher will facilitate a discussion and take anecdotal notes and then
prompt the students to find the authors message. They will fill out their post-its and stick it on
their T-chart. This T-chart will contain the authors message on one side and the supporting facts
from the book on the other side.

Medium Group
Wemberly Worried
By Kevin Henkes

(Shared reading with teacher)
In a small group, the teacher will have a picture walk with the students and have them
predict what is going to happen in the book. After reading the book, the students will have an
informal discussion about the book and what the authors message was. The teacher will take
anecdotal notes during the discussion. The students will write the authors message on their post-
its and stick it in T-chart. The students will then write about a time they were worried and draw a
picture.

High Group
A Good Day
By Kevin Henkes

(Independent reading)
The students will perform a picture walk of the book and discuss with their group any
predictions about what will happen. They will read it alone and then complete the re-tell
worksheet with their partners. After finishing the worksheet they will take their post-its out and
find the authors message of the story.

Evaluation/Assessment:
The teacher will assess the comprehension of the students during the read aloud while the
students discuss the possible authors message. Further assessment will take place as the students
read with the teacher and teachers aide. The students will also be assessed by their post-its in
their reading workshop folders. For homework students will need to find the authors message in
one of their independent reading books and fill out their worksheets with evidence as to how they
found the authors message.
Differentiation/Accommodations:
Auditory and I ntrapersonal learners will benefit from the open class discussions that the
lesson is based on.

All the students as a whole will benefit from the read aloud based on their need for visual
stimulation.

English Language Learners will benefit from the repetitive nature of the book.

Struggling readers will benefit from the shared and choral reading groups and the small
group instruction. The group of struggling readers who are in the group A Good Day will
benefit from the cloze activity, which will give them the chance to retell the story and
help with their comprehension. Struggling readers will also benefit from their worksheet
in their reading folder that has reminders on how to find the authors message.
Resources:
http://www.engageny.org/english-language-arts
______________________________________________________________________________

Grade: 2nd Grade
Subject: Math- Comparing Numbers (Greater than, Less than, Equal to)
Lesson Duration: 50 minutes

Purpose- The purpose of this lesson is for students to compare numbers and implement the
symbols <,>, =.

Objectives-As a result of this lesson, students will be able to:

Make connections from the words greater than, less than, and equal to, to the symbols
<,>, =.

Use literacy skills through a read aloud to help them do so

Compare three digit numbers

Illustrate their understandings of these symbols through the use of manipulatives

Standards
Math-
Number & Operations in Base Ten-
4. Compare two three-digit numbers based on meanings of the hundreds, tens, and ones
digits, using >, =, and < symbols to record the results of comparisons.

ELA
Reading-
8. Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to
answer a question.

Speaking and Listening
1. Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics
and texts with peers and adults in small and
larger groups.


Pre-Assessment-
Students will be called to the rug by table. Once the class is seated on the rug, the teacher
will have a chart on the easel entitled Math Symbols. Using this, the teacher will ask the
children to turn and talk to a partner to brainstorm some math symbols they use regularly.
(Lead to + for plus, - for minus, = for equals) After 5 minutes, the teacher will get
everyone to come together and we will create a chart using their ideas.

Lesson Presentation-

Set- Induction
The teacher will talk about the book we read in class yesterday, More or Less and use
this book to lead to the discussion of the new math symbols that the class will be
introduced to (<,>, and =). The teacher will reread the book to the children in order to
facilitate the procedure of the lesson. After the rereading the teacher will chart the
sentences that use the terms more or less. The teacher will then use the numbers from the
book to lead to the discussion on how more than is the same thing in math as > (on chart
paper). Just like the word plus is the same as +.

Procedure

1. While the teacher is rereading the book, she will also be charting the sentences from
the story that use the terms more or less. She will ask the students to put their thumbs up
every time they hear a phrase using more than or less than.

2. Once the story is completed the teacher will ask the class if they have ever seen any
math symbols that mean more than or less than.

3. If so, the teacher will write the symbols on the chart paper, if not the teacher will
show the children the symbols.

4. Using the sentences already on the chart paper, the class will create number sentences
such as 8<10. The teacher will ask the children how they know which number is greater
than or less than (leading towards discussion of looking at the place values of the digits in
the numbers).

5. The teacher will then refer to the chart on comparing numbers, and tell the children a
good way to remember it is to picture the symbol as a mouth (alligator) and to always
remember the mouth wants to eat the BIGGEST number!!

6. Once a few examples are completed as a class and the children seem ready to move
on to other work, the teacher will call the children back to their seats.

7. The teacher will hand out paper that allows the children to make the symbols. The
teacher already prepared this for the class and everyone has the same numbers.

8. The teacher will say the two numbers aloud, ask the class to move their strips of
paper to make the appropriate symbol, and then call on someone to read their answer
fully.

Closure-
If the smart board is working, the teacher will pull up a website with an interactive
activity for the children to do. Once a few have been done together, the teacher will
review what each symbol means, and a good way to remember it. If the smart board is
not working, the teacher will give the class the hungry alligator song to sing together, to
further implement the idea of the hungry alligator eating the larger number. The teacher
will also have a worksheet for children to do in partners. The worksheet allows
the students to compare three digit numbers, while also writing the words greater than,
less than, or equal to, next to the symbols.

Materials-
Smart board (if working)
Teacher made worksheet
Worksheets
Alligator song
Easel/Chart paper
Writing Utensils


Follow up Activity-

For homework, the students will be given the corresponding workbook pages to go along
with daily math lessons. The students will also be able to complete any unfinished
portions of the lesson during the day if there is any free time, or they finish another
activity early.

Evaluation/Assessment-

Students will be evaluated based upon a class work rubric.


Accommodations-
For this lesson there will be many chances for the teacher to differentiate for different
students. The teacher tried to incorporate as many multiple intelligences as allowed. For
students who need to move around and are easily distracted, the teacher tried to break up
the lesson between group work and class discussions so students attention is not needed
for an extended amount of time. Teacher made sure to incorporate many different ways to
teach the lesson, (i.e. music, smart board, literacy, group work) so all children will have
their own favorite way to remember the information.

Resources:
http://www.engageny.org/english-language-arts
IV. Recommendations/ Summary / Conclusion

After taking a break from seeing DD from last semester starting up again took some time.
The first session of icebreakers revealed that DD was still struggling with making eye contact
and using his words to express his feeling. DD should work toward completely expressing his
thoughts aloud and trying to give better eye contact. The social aspect will give room for his
academics to flourish once he feels more capable of expressing himself.
DD has really made strong growth in both areas of reading and mathematics this school
year. He still struggles socially to adjust to changes in scheduling and requires some time to get
comfortable so that actual instruction can take place. That being said, we recommend that any
academic intervention services be a push in model because DD really responded better to that
then a pull out model out model. It is very difficult for DD to become comfortable in new
environments even with people he knows (even with one of us being his cousin).
Mathematics has been DDs strongest area of improvement. At the beginning of last
semester DD struggled with adding single digit numbers. Within the areas of mathematics we
saw that DD had more confidence in himself right away. Unlike with reading passages which
caused an outward uneasiness DD sat up straight and showed he was ready to begin. Although he
was very confident, DD rushed through answering the problems and did not utilize the working
paper. This lead to many errors being made and after totaling his scores his mathematical ability
was said to be lower than his reading ability. He fell below average in the testing and through
constant one on one grouping we were able to shelter instruction tailored to his needs and work
on simple one digit and one digit addition and eventually work toward two digit addition. We
recommend DD continue to work on his fluency with single digit and double digit addition with
a push in teacher/teachers aide. Working with a timer to see how long he can complete in just 2
minutes or 90 seconds seemed to motivate him and doing some exercise in-between the sets of
fluency sheets is a fun way to keep DD motivated and open.
A strength DD presented was the ability to come up with rhyming words. DD was able to
distinguish words that began with the same sound and ended with the same sound but had some
difficulty with finding words that began with the same two sounds. DD was also able to decode
words and recognize the consonant blends in given words however when presented with
individual sounds DD had some difficulty blending, especially with words in which the medial
sound contained two vowels. In order to play on his strengths while attempting to close the gaps
in his blending we used repetitive books with a lot of support as shown in the reading lesson
attached above. We recommend DD be kept in small group instruction (one to one being the best
option) to practice his decoding/blending and the next step forward would be working on his
comprehension and retelling ability. The use of graphic organizers really worked visually for
DD, piecing together a story even with pictures, not always with words helped him to understand
and then focus on the objective that we were targeting such as authors message.
While working with DD we agreed that writing was of serious concern. When we
originally assessed DD we decided to have a free write and a writing prompt. DD struggled with
both, but especially the free write. His writing lacked a clear beginning, middle, and end. Actual
sentence composition lacked structure, missing capital letters, appropriate punctuation and
subject/verb agreement. His writing slightly improved when he had a prompt but the areas
mentioned were still a concern. We found clearly stated objectives with lots of guidance and
support work best for DD. He needs to tackle a writing piece one part at a time. Again, the use of
graphic organizers here, such as flow maps were sometimes he would just draw out his ideas first
really worked for DD. Then adding single words underneath and eventually building up to
writing in the flow maps worked best for DD. We recommend continuing that process with
guidance and support for a teacher/teachers aide so he can continue to gather his ideas in a
logical fashion instead of frustrating himself with getting one part of an idea down. He should
move onto trying to write narratives with at least three events, using transition words such as
first, next, finally.
Overall, it has been a real pleasure with DD, once rapport is established he really does
work to please us. As his comfort has grown with us so have his academics. He should continue
working as hard as he has been and enjoy his summer!