Inquiry Update 2

My students have been very responsive to the added student engagement activities that I have implemented in D.I. They have been reinforcing letter sounds with the use of hands-on manipulatives and combining sounds to begin fully understanding the early stages of the writing process using the white boards. It has been successful in raising the level of student focus and understanding, and I don't think they dread coming to D.I. nearly as much as before.

My next focus in the process has been comprehension. My students are to the point where they can sound out words, and even sentences...but do they actually understand what they are reading? Is it making any sense to them? In order to provide engaged practice in this area, as well as be able to observe each student individually, I decided to implement an activity my students now refer to as Scramble. After each lesson, I hand each of the students a small stack of index cards (approx. 6 or 7). Written on each index card is a word that was practiced during the lesson, as well as one index card that has only a period. The combined cards create a sentence. The student is to take the cards, sound out each word and put them in an order that makes sense in the form of a sentence. The student then places the period at the end to show me that he is finished. Once I see the period placed, I check his response. If the student is incorrect (the sentence does not make sense or he is unable to read the sentence to me) I tap his shoulder and he knows to try again. If he is correct, I hand him a beginning reading book and he can read and illustrate the meaning of the story while he waits on the rest of the class to finish the Scramble.
The students have responded very positively to this activity. They seem to really enjoy being challenged and it has definitely improved their comprehension levels in D.I.

Fortunately, my students are beginning to see the importance and need for reading and are utilizing these skills outside the D.I. classroom. As hoped, my students seem to realize these are fundamental skills in their everyday reading and writing. The skills taught and learned in D.I seem to no longer be getting left at the D.I. door.

Inquiry Update

I have been slowly, but surely, increasing the amount of active student engagement in D.I. for a little over a week now. I had been noticing that the more recently learned sounds were getting confused by the students, so they have now been learning new sounds with the help of wikisticks (bendable, stickable wax sticks). The sticks have really helped the students feel the shape of each sound and to concentrate a few more minutes on the sound, rather than me just telling them what it is and them repeating it back to me. This has been very effective as the students are more firm with the new sounds, and it has also added an edge of excitement. Before, when I would announce that we had a new sound, the students would groan because they felt that that meant we would be reading harder words. Now, they get excited and ask me when we are going to learn another sound!

I have also changed up the protocol a little bit in D.I. and have strayed from the script. The students are very bored of me holding the book, pointing to a sound and them saying it. So...to continue firming up sounds and help the students to identify the connection between sounds and writing, I have been taking about 10 minutes per class to use white boards. Each student has a white board and I call out a sound and the students write it. They then hold it up for me to check for understanding. The students get excited about the "new" manipulative and I let them play teacher by saying "I completely forgot what /th/ looks like. Can any of you remind me?" The students love to correct me!

My entire goal for adding more active student engagement to my D.I. lessons was to increase excitement in reading, establish a hands on connection between saying sounds and writing words, and to teach each sound and lesson to mastery. Based on weekly assessment scores and student attention, I feel that this is being accomplished. To continue this pace, I intend to add more active engagement activities that accomplish these goals.