James Ojeda Shelley McMillen March 23, 2023 DGM2 TASK 1: DIFFERENTIATING INSTRUCTION A. Using Images to Build Speaking, Listening, and Descriptive Language Skills. A1. The strategy I saw the teacher use is the Think-Pair-Share strategy. She started by showing the students pictures of the Orca. She then have the students partner up and describe what they see in the image. She gave them a time limit then afterwards have them share with the class of the observations. The teacher showed a second image of an Orca pod and once again ask the students to them to describe what they say. Once again after the timer went off, she allowed the students to discuss as a class what they saw. The teacher had 3 goals for her students and was observing to see if they can achieve it. The goals were 1) having them speak in a complete sentence and use vocabulary related to the topic. 2) Be able to take turns listening and speaking in a group setting. 3) and be able to speak clearly. She notice that the students were using simple words to describe the Orcas. Because they the couldn’t do an in-depth description without background knowledge, she learned that she need to build background knowledge and vocabulary with her students. A2. Before the teacher used the differentiated instruction, the students were unsure and confused about the instructions and just used simple descriptive words. The teacher called on Cesar for and he describe what he and his partner saw in the image. He described the white spots, long tongue and sharp teeth. While he did call it an Orca, he was unsure about it. Roberto, the second student describes the pod of Orcas and how their dorsal fin sticks out the water. The teacher then went on to encourage them to use the correct vocabulary to describe the Orcas, even pointing to them on the white board. Afterwards, the students were able to use better descriptive words, they also seemed to be more confident as they were speaking into their devices. They were also starting to name the whales by their names. A3. It was effective because the students went from using simple descriptive language of what they saw, from being shy and non-confident about the activity. Once the teacher made the adjustments for the class, you can see the change in the students. The used more scientific vocabulary, they started to speak in complete sentences, using correct terminology according to the topic. Also the energy in the class shifted. So in my opinion, the goal the teacher set out was achieved. A4. The teacher made the adjustments because of what she saw during the initial Think-PairShare activity. She noticed that the students only used words that was very simple along with being non-scientific. To accommodate the students with different backgrounds, learning abilities, and life experiences, she provided various reading material. She also took the time to present the ideas via audio and visual means. She also paired students according to their strengths and weaknesses to help them to learn from each other. A5. Actively analyzing information about students and the learning environment will help the teacher ensure that the students are understanding the content. Since are classrooms are full of diverse learners we should be willing to match our instructional methods to them. We should be able to adjust our methods to help the students who learn and understand quick to the ones who don’t as well. A6. I like the Think-Pair-Share strategy. It allows the students to collaborate with each other for the activity at hand. It allows the students to feel comfortable with sharing their thoughts with the class, helps build up social skills and improve listening and speaking skills. The other strategy is the student-to-student interaction. It allows classmates the to listen and question each other while building up a connection. They can additionally learn from each other. B. Empowering Students to Set Reading Goals and Self Assess Proficiency. B1. The classroom had fifteen students with all fifteen being identified as proficient readers. Two out of the fifteen were identified as reluctant readers. Some of the students struggled with reading comprehension strategies. The teacher used the data he gathered to readjust his lesson and implement the Daily Five format. This strategy is designed to help students build or learn meaning from text. He also came up with two strategies to help certain students with needs. With Sarah, he had the flipping sound strategy. This involved the student to flip individual letter sounds until they are able to decode what the word is. With Karina, who struggled with comprehension, he helped her make a connections to what she was reading. B2. You may have students like Karina and Sarah, who feel confused and lost because they struggle with reading comprehension and vocabulary words. The would lose confidence in themselves if they have to present in front of the class. Once the teacher decided to implement his differentiating strategies, you can see the changes. Sarah became more confident with her presentation. She even lead the class in doing the “flipping sound” strategy using the work “knee”. Karina was able to answer correctly by “flipping” the sound and saying the word correctly. Karina was able to do all of this with confidence. During her one-on-one sessions with her teacher, Karina was able to demonstrate her reading goal. She able to make connections with the book “I’m Sorry” with her own personal experiences. B3. The strategy was effective not only for struggling students but for the whole class. They were able to learn a new way of tackling hard vocabulary along with reading comprehension. Sarah was able to use the “flipping sound strategy to help her when she comes across a struggling word. When she had to present, she showed how hard the word was and how she used the strategy to decode the word. In Karina’s case, the teacher’s strategy in helping her was to “make a connection” to what she is reading. She able to make a connection to the book “I’m Sorry” to her own personal life. From the food Little Kritter ate or how Little Kritter room was messy. These strategies helped the students get past their struggles. B4. The teacher noticed how his students were struggling with reading comprehension and accuracy so he made differentiations to his lessons. He used the “making a connection” strategy to help students like Karina with reading comprehension and for students like who struggle with reading accuracy the “flipping sound” strategy. B5. Teachers must always observe their class, analyze their data to see if any adjustment need to be made so that students can understand the lesson. When the teacher noticed certain students struggling with different things he implemented new strategies to help them. Once the students utilized the appropriate strategy for them, their confidence grew as well. B6. The “flipping sound” and “making a connection” strategy are two strategies I would use with my students who are struggling. I feel that the “making a connection” strategy definitely will help the students who struggle with reading comprehension. When they are able to make a personal connection to what they are reading they understand so much better. I can see that using the “flipping the sound” strategy can help students who struggle with reading especially big words. They can use the strategy to help decode the word without getting lost in story context. C. Teachers should use formative assessment to see the progress of their students during the lessons. The data will allow them to differentiate the lesson and design learning activities to help struggling students. In part A, the teacher observed that the students was using the right scientific terms to describe the whales. She decided to emphasized the correct terms while using a white board. She also used the “think-pair-share” strategy to allow the student to listen and learn from each other. For the video in part B, the teacher used the data from hiss assessments to see which students were struggling with reading accuracy and reading comprehension. For the students who were decided to skip over difficult words, he implanted the “flip the sound” strategy. This aided the students to decode words. For the students who struggled with comprehending what they are reading, he implemented they “making a connection” strategy. This helped them take the story and make a personal connection to it, so they can comprehend what they are reading.
