I went by my classroom on Wednesday. My parents were in town, so I wanted to bring them by in order to show them what my room looked like, and what the school looked like. It was also a chance for me to grab some of the curriculum materials that I need to get planning. I brought home my whole Houghton Mifflin reading set (unit guides, assessment guide, etc), my Units of Study box (planning guides for each writing unit), and my Social Studies materials. The latter I really don't need since I relied on it throughout the course of my first year. The other two I used, but to a somewhat lesser degree.
Where to start? Well I need to look at the standards again to re-familiarize myself with the grade level expectations. From there I want to look at my reading and social studies units to see what is standards are taught in each, as well as how manageable the material is. Even though it is in the curriculum guide, it doesn't mean your kids will find it engaging. I'll then look at the different assessments to see how they line up, and start to plan out my year (when I hope to teach particular things, how long that will take, potential deviations).
Where I hope to really focus some time (this month if possible) is on assessment. I want to find effective pre-assessments for our reading materials so that I can really see the growth of kids in particular reading skills. While reading is done holistically (difficult to separate out skills), I want to ensure that I am pinpointing skills like inferencing, main ideas, asking questions, etc. I also want to be better prepared to mix in novel study books at appropriate levels. Some of this past year relied on moving kids as they got into books, largely because what I anticipated didn't work out. Some of that goes back to effective pre-assessing of reading skills/levels. Having better pre-assessing will allow me to better target my instruction, and move into effective small groups.
For now the materials will stay boxed in the downstairs bedroom/office.
I was just hired to teach 2nd grade next year. I am attempting to do the same thing this month, but being new, it is a bit overwhelming. Do you have any resources for pre-assessment materials for Reading. I will be using Scott Foresman and it is new to me. I would like to mix in novel studies and did so in my intern year, but assessing them is where I need some help.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on being hired. 2nd grade is great, just at the point where kids are getting into chapter books of any length/substance.
ReplyDeleteAs far as pre-assessment materials, I don't have anything in particular for those materials. I like to use Regie Routman's reading log that you'll find at the back of Reading Essentials (and likely elsewhere). Assuming you have a grade level text, you can then have them read while you do a running record. Then you can ask questions related back to the passage.
My school is going to be getting a leveled library (which would supplement our district materials). My hope was to pull from there, or to use pieces that allow for me to ask questions that require inference, conclusions etc. Good luck! Let me know if you find anything as well.