Katherine Matusevich
Internationally Minded.
Spartan Educator.
Life- Long Learner.
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Language Arts
writer's Workshop
For writing, I usually begin this time by pulling the children to the carpet and introducing a "focus" of the day. This mini-lesson acts a "director" once students begin writing on their own. After this whole group discussion, I dismiss the children to their seats where they spend the majority of their time writing a genre specific piece. Once the students finish each unit (approx. 20-30 days), they have an "Author's Celebration." This allows the students to self-evaluate their writing and take pride in their work by sharing it with others!
To differentiate instruction, English as a Second Language (ESL) students and others below grade level, are pulled into a small group after the mini-lesson and we work on a "group-brainstormed" topic. Once the children reach a point where they can work on their own, I reduce the amount of "small group time" by 50 percent. This way, I can still monitor their writing and provide assistance if needed.
Differentiation
reader's Workshop
Literacy Centers
After Reader's workshop, I again bring the children to a whole group setting, and transition them to the focused spelling pattern of the week. We read a text together that includes this new pattern and then children are sent off to 1 of 8 pre-selected stations. These stations allow students to practice using, saying and applying words with this spelling pattern. Over the course of the week, students will rotate to all of the stations and any exceptional work will be put on a "Wall of Wow."
Much like writing, I have the students, begin in a whole group setting where I introduce a "topic of the day." I then, read from a book and explicitly point out an occasion where we see this concept in real life. Then, I give the students an opportunity to identify another example from our shared text and the students are dismissed to their "special reading spots." Most of the time, I will stop the readers about 15 minutes into reading and highlight a student that has followed directions and it applying their newly acquired knowledge to their text.
During my reading and writing time, I take pride in the way that I integrate Science and Social Studies into this Literacy period. My integration allows students to gain exposure to different types of texts and get a "real- life view" of how these abstract concepts connect to a larger picture.
