This unit will be completed with a group of four first grade students. Three of these students have an Individualized Education Plan. One student is currently in tier three of the multi tiered system of supports. These students struggle with reading and are on a kindergarten or lower (BR level) reading level at the end of first grade. The setting with consist of the small group (four children) in a separate setting away from their peers.
With this in mind I am trying to make sure all of lessons are highly structured and give models in real time for the students. I am also trying to have a lot of mentor texts to give the students ideas about their own writing and give them lots of ideas.
Example from "I see" poem
Reflection of day 1:
Today it was so nice to be back in the school I worked in for block 2. I was able to see two students I used to work with along with two other students I had not worked with before. We started by having a discussion about what they think poetry is about. It was a rough start because it was clear these students had not been exposed to poetry. However, we read one poem from Once I Ate A Pie and one from From The Bellybutton of the Moon. We picked these poems so it was easy for the students to compare the two poems and pick out key points about the poems. The students did notice things like how the words were written. For example if they were “stretched” or “pulled”. We helped them noticed other qualities about the poem and moved on to tell them they were going to be poets. Most of them were excited! When we made our own poems from the “I see” poem some were able to make differences from the example and some went right from the example. Overall, they came out really well considering they had no background of poetry! I am excited to see what else they can come up with in the days to come!
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