Final Co-Teaching Debrief for 2011-2012

June 18, 2012

Feedback
• student ideas improved
• there were a variety of beginnings
• students used transition words more effectively
• some students were able to end their stories effectively, some needed more work on how to make a story feel finished
• perhaps the students were not inspired by the assessment task or perhaps the time of day (afternoon) affected the work that was produced
• there were too many brainstorm webs  --> perhaps they should be used for non-fiction rather than fiction

• while students were doing very well with the graphic organizers during the lessons, some students struggled with the graphic organizer for the assessment task
• struggling students are beginning to use strategies, such as dictionaries, word wall, sounds

Next Steps:
• focus on the purposes for each graphic organizer and how to choose an appropriate graphic organizer for the assigned task
• vary the tasks next year, sometimes long stories, sometimes short stories with limited space
• set up Learning Centers during Guided Reading and Guided Writing time (half of literacy block for guided reading, half of literacy block for writing conferences)

Spelling Strategies
• sound boxes with magnetic letters
• word families and word starters
• sorting words by patterns
• word study center
• eyes on your fries
• connecting words (e.g. lair is just like hair)

Learning Center Ideas
• Eyes on Your Fries (word study)
• "I Speak Word" on Ipads (spelling quizzes)
• Reader's Theater (to build reading fluency) (thematic)
• Storytelling Center

• Reading Buddy Station (thematic books - social studies/science)
• From 3 to 3 Retells of Oral Stories and Riddle Answers
• Free Writing
• Thematic Station (writing - procedural, research, graphic organizers)
• Computers (create a Gr. 2 Literacy Center Block with computer assignment)

--> Students will have a contract and complete each center at their own pace.  When their contract is completed, they show it to the teacher and then start all over again.  Students will be pulled out of their center for Guided Reading or a Writer's Workshop Conference.

Writer's Workshop Focus for September/October
1. Idea bubbles  --> students put their main idea in the center of the bubble and then brainstorm words that might match the main idea (e.g. pirates).
2. Beginning, Middle, Ending (BME) --> How can we organize our ideas in the Idea Bubble to create a story plan with a beginning, middle and ending?

3. CSA --> Add extra details to the plan, such as the character and setting.  The BME now becomes part of the Action section of the Graphic Organizer.

4. AAA (Triple A) - Persuasive Writing (Argument, Argument, Argument)


Recommended Resources
Guide to Effective Instruction in Writing
On Solid Ground by Sharon Taberski
Literacy Work Stations by Debbie Diller
What's Next for this Beginning Writer? by Janine Reid (Pembroke Publishing)
Good First Teaching by Fontis and Pinnell
First Steps Writing