Assignment #3 - Critique on the sample lesson plan on your blog

I will start off saying that I'm not familiar with found poetry, but here's it what I came out with:

1)  I didn't see much written about differentiated instruction and how they would address the different academic levels in the class.  I think certain things would have to be modified for any lower level children.
2)  I did think there was a lot squeezed into 50 minutes if this were for a K or 1 class.
3) I also didn't see what they would do to accommodate the ELL students.  I would have written about adding more visuals, and gestures and have some translation in their language.
4)  Some students may have trouble with the recording and taking notes aspect.  I would have them work in groups and discuss what is happening rather than writing it all down.
5) The reflection piece should be a variety of ways to show that they understand, not just what they wrote, if they could even write anything at all.  Encouragement with stickers and smiley faces if they did understand, or ask questions.  I think explaining it through just a written piece can be troubling, again, at least in the younger grades with bilingual and different academic levels.

Assignment #2 - Write a brief reflection on what you learned from Becoming Readers and Writers video with Sheila Owen

I found this video very interesting as my current job as a TA in Uniondale relates very much to this classroom.  I think the aspect of this bilingual classroom has some very important and successful points that I see now in my current position.

The gradual release of responsibility during the 4 stages of reading mentioned in this video stimulate discussions, lead children to be more comfortable and successful and helps children express themselves in relation to the book and to their classmates.

The Read Aloud segment showed how predictions of stories by just looking at the cover help the child relate and understand what can happen next in the story.  I think this makes the story that much more enjoyable, and like shown in the video,the children requested it be available for them in their independent reading.

Centers are such a great learning tool for all grades, but I see it especially in the younger grades how they've helped my own children.  My son is a kindergartner and has bilingual students in his class and he will come home and ask me many words that he learned from his classmates, whether he heard in centers, on the playground or just normal conversation.  Keeping students in their native language during these times during class help them become better and stronger readers.  The collaboration and showing each other what they know is very encouraged.

Assignment #1 - Short reflection on your understanding of the ELA instruction

ELA instruction to me, is a huge foundation in the building blocks of learning and understandings and strategies for reading, writing, speaking and listening across all subject areas.  It encompasses reasearch and information and the skills students need to build strong content knowledge and compose informational text.  It also includes instruction that explores the purposes, techniques and strategies to become effective readers and writers of various types of opinion text.  In the end, students need to comprehend, critique and compose literary text as outlined by the standards.