| Reading Process | Classroom Environment | Instructional Decision Making | Sample Lessons by Level |
|---|---|---|---|
Level 1 Sample Lesson
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Supporting Documents: |
(Video Clip) |
(Video Clip) |
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| Before Viewing | Review Book and Reader Characteristics for Levels 1-2 and the book, A Day at School, or other Level 1 books before viewing the teacher commentary. | Introduction to the Lesson (2:41) | ||
| Working with Letters (2:44) | Build visual memory and discrimination; build automaticity with letter recognition and formation | Students use magnetic letters to sort or match letters by upper/lower case, color, sound, or other attributes, or match to an alphabet chart. Also review letter formation. | What procedures are used in this letter-matching activity? What goals do these procedures support? | Working with Letters (1:53) |
| Working with Sounds (2:42) | Build aspects of phonemic awareness: hearing syllables, rhyming words, and initial consonant sounds in words. | Students clap syllables, identify rhyming words, or sort pictures by their initial consonant sounds. For the sound sort, the student says the picture name, the beginning sound, the letter name, and then places the picture in the correct column. | What teacher moves and teacher language make this sound sorting effective? | Working with Sounds (1:17) |
| Working with Books: Book Introduction (2:28) | Provide the basis for students to successfully and independently read the new book; encourage oral language development; give support while leaving appropriate problem solving work for children to do. | Teacher engages students with the central ideas of the text and connects with background knowledge; briefly summarizes the story; introduces language patterns; has students locate known words; reinforces high frequency words and letter knowledge; sets purpose for reading | What elements of the introduction set the children up for success in independently reading the book? What work does the teacher leave for the students so that they would have to problem-solve for themselves? | Decisions about the Book and the Book Introduction (2:27) |
| Working with Books: Reading the New Book (1:51) | Provide opportunities for students to practice strategies for reading appropriate to their current reading levels | Each student rereads softly on his/her own; teacher listens to, prompts, and praises each child individually to support developing strategies | Why is it important that the children each read on their own, not “round robin”? Using the “Reader Behaviors” column of the “Book Characteristics” chart, what appropriate behaviors do you notice the children doing? What does the teacher say and do to support behaviors students are working on? | Teacher Support during Reading of the New Book (2:24) |
| Working with Books: Teaching Point (0:43) | Teach or reinforce a problem-solving strategy students can use while reading the current and future texts. | Choose the most important strategy based on having listened to students’ reading. Concisely explain the strategy. Include positive examples of its use by the students if possible. Take students into the text to apply it. Observe their attempts and support as needed. Reiterate the strategy and how students can use it whenever they read. | What are the teaching points? Why do you think the teacher chose them? | Teaching Point (1:19) |
| Interactive Writing (3:50) | Practice and support behaviors used while writing (sentence formation, sound/letter associations, concepts of print, punctuation, letter formation and spacing, high-frequency words); maximize reading/writing reciprocity | Interactive Writing: Teacher dictates a sentence related to the text. Students “share the pen” to contribute letters, words, or punctuation they are ready to learn, and the teacher writes the more advanced parts of the sentence. | Why did the teacher choose the sentence “We can read books now.”? Why is interactive writing effective for students at this level? | Choosing the Sentence to Write (1:31) |
| The Cut-Up Sentence (3:14) | Cut-Up Sentence: Teacher cuts apart the completed sentence and gives some words to each student. Students then remake the sentence, and take turns rereading it. | What is accomplished in the cut-up sentence part of the lesson? | The Cut-Up Sentence (0:57) | |
| Final Reflection on the lesson | Watch the Final Reflections clip. Then discuss your own reflections on the lesson. | Final Reflections on the Lesson (4:46) | ||
| Complete Lesson (17:10) |