To assess letter recognition, Nicholas used Play-doh and letter cookie cutters. I read the book "Dinosaur Stomp" and Nickolas counted objects in the pictures. He counted Stegosaurus's plates, toenails, etc. He identified circles, triangles, and squares.
Session Minutes
60
Minutes Student Attended
60
Lesson Comments
Nicholas was very uncooperative. He refused to go into the classroom. Once inside the room he grabbed items from the desk. He repeatedly told me to be quiet. He was very disrespectful. He said, "Hello, I can still hear you talking." " Do you not know what quiet means?" "I can still hear your mouth making noise." He ran the show. In the future, a room with very few distractions would be helpful. He seemed to work for a treat. I will list our activities and check them off as they are completed. Once the list is complete, he will get a reward. I will re-group and hopefully have more success next week.
Review/ Assessment of beginning solar system lessons
Lesson Outline
Today Kailynn-Rose and I reviewed the "orbit" vocabulary word and the sun/Earth/moon - observed closely, talked about characteristics, made a diagram to take with us outside, and created with sidewalk chalk! Kailynn was able to describe all the parts of the diagram to her mom and Ms. Judie! I am very proud of her progress!
Assignment
none
Session Minutes
60
Minutes Student Attended
60
Lesson Comments
Being outside changed EVERYTHING with Kailynn Rose today - she was so engaged and could really show me what she had learned this week! We will be working outdoors with sidewalk chalk regularly from here on out!!!
Today Kailynn Rose and I observed the moon closely (in a high def picture) and recreated it in art form (using a mixture of paint and "moon dust" -flour).
In social studies we continued our work in Empathy (learned about "taking a walk in someone else's shoes") and read the book Big Words for Little People. She drew a picture of herself feeling INTELLIGENT!
We walked to the library and read some emergent storybooks, including books about empathy.
Science - reviewed vocabulary "orbit" in relation to the sun, earth, and moon/ made diagrams on her white board and acted out.
Social Skills - Started teaching Mindset for Learning stances today: EMPATHY (feeling what others are feeling in my own heart) - read Bear Feels Sick and created empathy poster for her classroom.
Today Kailynn Rose and I went to the library to research space (earth, moon, sun) and learned a new vocabulary word "orbit" and acted it out together. We reviewed what we learned on our walk back to the school.
We read "Today I Feel Silly" and talked about feelings. We drew a self-portrait and she dictated (I wrote) what she was feeling today. I let her play and create with Legos to finish our lesson. She created a police station and a skateboarding rink. She is a fantastic problem solver and demonstrates great spacial awareness when creating with Legos.
Assignment
none
Session Minutes
120
Minutes Student Attended
120
Lesson Comments
She is a fantastic problem solver and demonstrates great spacial awareness when creating with Legos. I am excited to bring loose parts and gadgets from my classroom to see what she chooses to create. Kailynn Rose is incredibly tired at the end of the day and has usually hit her limit by the end of the day. I'm going to use this time to let her build and create with different materials (just as I would want a Kindergartener in my whole class to do daily).
Kailynn-Rose and I spent time getting to know each other today. I was able to learn a lot about her in the area of science and interests she has such as butterflies, frogs, and many other animals! Kailynn is very persistent when solving problems - she may like working with gadgets and making inventions. She loves creating new things (today we worked with Legos) and talked about her creations/telling stories about them. I am excited to see what we explore and create together this year!
Assignment
none
Session Minutes
60
Minutes Student Attended
60
Lesson Comments
Very hard time paying attention - mom describes it as severe ADHD. However, I could not believe her focus when working to solve a problem (she worked diligently to fix her post-it note dispenser)! She will love working with the metal gadgets I have in my classroom.
During our lesson today, I continued literacy assessments with Mary Clare through the tool of Reading Running Records. The assessment allowed me to observe her literacy behaviors, word accuracy, and comprehension of each text.
At this time, Mary Clare's Independent Reading Level is a C, Instructional Reading level is a D. These levels reflect capabilities of a child mid-end of year in kindergarten. Her comprehension of each text was above average, providing excellent knowledge of the story and including details/connections from real life.
Conventional reading comes easily to Mary Clare, but I would want to make sure she has a solid foundation with a good toolbox of strategies to help her along when texts become more difficult.
Areas we will be working on together for further instruction will be: blending/segmenting for common CVC words, self-correcting for errors that do not "sound right", and word work focused on long/short vowel sounds and patterns.
Assignment
none at this time!
Session Minutes
60
Minutes Student Attended
60
Lesson Comments
Mary Clare could easily move up to higher levels and be able to "read" it. But through these assessments, I'm detecting holes where she would truly benefit from explicit instruction before moving on. Conventional reading comes easy to her, but I would want to make sure she has a solid foundation with a good toolbox of strategies to help her along when texts become more difficult.
Today Mary Clare and I met for our first session! We spent some time getting to know each other and chatting, I conducted some Kindergarten early literacy assessments, and we enjoyed some read aloud books together as well! Mary Clare shared that she is excited about learning new languages (Mandarin and French specifically), and is very interested in Paris, France! She is such a motivated learner and thinker - stating during one of our assessments, "I love to think, thinking is fun!" I can see she enjoys challenges and puzzles!
Below are the results of the assessments conducted so far, as well as my anecdotal notes.
Oral Language score: 14 (mastery score 15)
Early Literacy Behaviors score: 9 (mastery score 10)
Letter Recognition Uppercase: 26/26
Letter Recognition Lowercase: 25/26
Beginning Sound Recognition: 18/19
Phonological Awareness (Blending) score: 3 (mastery score 10)
Phonological Awareness (Segmenting) score: 4 (mastery score 10)
High Frequency Words (first 25): 22/25
High Frequency Words (next 50): 31/50
*** Based on these early literacy assessments, Mary Clare displays signs of Kindergarten readiness, excelling in letter and word recognition.
Areas for future growth that we could work on together are Phonological Awareness (both blending and segmenting CVC words). This is a late Kindergarten skill, focusing on the mechanics of word-solving and word-writing.
In our next session, I intend to continue with a Reading Running Record assessment to determine Mary Clare's independent and instructional reading levels. This will provide data for me when making decisions about her future instruction. It will also help teachers and parents select appropriate reading materials for the student.
Assignment
none at this time!
Session Minutes
60
Minutes Student Attended
60
Lesson Comments
Lovely session, lovely child!!! Looking forward to seeing what else she can show me in literacy - and math as well! Looking into purchasing Fountas and Pinnell Reading Running Record kit for assessing Mary Clare and future readers in my class/sessions! Will send you (and Jeff) the information. Thanks so much!
Today, in our second session, I can already see progress made. A schedule was implemented and all distracting materials were removed from the room.Lara did a great job following the schedule and focused well during each activity. She enjoyed story time and did a wonderful job sitting at the table in snack, cleaning up when prompted. I plan to continue working on transitioning skills with Lara, such as; after completing an activity, Lara will clean up and go to the next activity/lesson. While working on academics, I will teach Lara to improve on her listening, turn-taking and communication skills.
Session Minutes
90
Minutes Student Attended
90
Lesson Comments
I saw improvement in Lara's overall behavioral today. Using a visual schedule and visual supports to communicate will help if used consistently on a daily basis.
Today was my first session with Lara. I spent most of the session building a rapport with her and learning more about Lara's skills and interests. Lara enjoys drawing and reading. She attempted to do a few yoga poses with me and liked singing the songs during the activity. I plan on implementing a structured schedule for Lara to follow throughout our sessions. Her schedule will include academics along with, hands-on activities, snack and breaks.
Session Minutes
90
Minutes Student Attended
90
Lesson Comments
To eliminate distraction, must remove all distracting toys and materials out of student's reach/access. Visual schedule and behavioral plan must be implemented to ensure student's success.
