Week 2

A1 - My Understanding of ELA Instruction:

Children all over the United States become knowledgeable and proficient users of language as a result of proper ELA instruction. It is a teacher’s responsibility to ensure that all diverse students in her classroom feel calm and safe and are provided with the tools that they need to be motivated language learners. Teaching literacy will help students succeed now in school, and in the future be able to pursue a career, contribute to society, and follow their own goals and interests throughout their lives.

In the past, a student was considered proficient when she mastered basic reading and writing skills. However, today teaching literacy has evolved to include much more. A teacher today understands that reading, writing, listening and speaking, and language are the four major components of ELA instruction and are all interconnected. In an effective classroom, the teacher will encourage reading, writing, and other language tasks associated with everyday life. Additionally, the teacher will integrate reading and writing practices into every subject to ensure maximum growth and understanding. The ultimate purpose and goal of the standards in ELA are to ensure that all students are offered opportunities to develop the language skills they need to be able to lead a successful life and succeed as learned members of society. 

A2 - Practices in the Classroom Video Reflections:

After watching the video Practices in the Classroom, I am very impressed. Sheila Owen, the teacher in the video deserves a round of applause. When looking at the students in her classroom you can tell that they all feel so calm and happy to be a part of her class. Her students know what she expects of them and that creates a safe learning environment where every student can succeed.

Sheila Owen effectively uses ELA instruction and scaffolding by reading aloud, doing shared reading, guided reading, and then independent reading to help her students learn and become independent readers and writers. She does this in a way that encourages enthusiasm and motivates her students to perform well in literacy, not only the classroom but in their future lives as well. In the video, you can see the warmth and care that Sheila displays in the classroom and the way she includes children of diverse backgrounds with her extraordinary teaching skills.

 Sheila Owen’s words sum it up well, "There is a gradual decrease of my responsibility and an increase in their independence. We go from where I'm doing all of the work in read-aloud, to where the students are doing all of the work in independent reading." 

A3: Critique on Sample Lesson Plan

The Sample Lesson Plan for Composing and Performing Found Poetry incorporates the key ideas of teaching language arts. In the lesson, the teacher is successfully instructing students by teaching them a new idea and scaffolding their learning. The teacher gives her students the tools they need to be able to fully comprehend what they are learning and implement the new concept independently.

By starting the lesson with a read aloud, the teacher piques the curiosity of her students and provides the background information they need to understand found poetry and learn how to compose and perform found poems. She then explains what a found poem is and invites students to help her craft a definition for found poetry.

The teacher then steps back and has students attempt to work on the poem with her coaching them through the process. After they share what they wrote, they create a “found poem” as a class. Every student writes one line and they discuss which lines will work best and how to improve them. This teaches students how to analyze and critique their own work as well as their peers. Eventually, they perform to parents the poem that they wrote.

Throughout the lesson, the teacher encourages student learning in many different ways. She gives the children the opportunity to write, articulate, perform, and more. This way students are involved, children with diverse strengths get to shine and the entire class benefits from the learning experience.

This sample lesson plan is definitely a great guide to teaching children new literacy skills.