Sight Word Remediation
Individual Instruction
Struggling readers often struggle for various reasons. These can include a lack of understanding of phonics skills or not knowing the grade level sight words. This strategy shows a student undergoing a round of sight word practice by having him read a word on a card or post-it. This strategy allows the student to self assess by sorting words that he can read or can't read. By providing a visual of how many he knows versus how many he doesn't know allow him to feel successful, but at the same time understand that before his "I Can Read" pile grows larger, he will need to study all the difficult words he didn't know.
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Flash Fluency is a strategy I use during guided reading sessions to make immediate adjustments to my instruction, based on my students' needs. To gather the information I need, I give a reading fluency check to one student from the group using a current or cold read text. The student reads for one minute while I keep track of miscues and make observations. It is followed by a quick comprehension check. Once this is completed, I address the student's needs immediately with the entire small group. Since my reading groups are homogenous, one student's needs are generally reflective of the needs of the other students in the group.
Wonder Word is a quick review game where I take phonics strategies that have been previously taught and integrate them into a game of hot potato. Basically, words are passed around in a circle and when the chant is over, students have to be able to read the word. There are no real consequences if a student is unable to read it, and can ask a friend to help. The idea is that students can quickly recall and demonstrate what they know.
One of my goals as a first grade teacher is to develop independent learners that can problem solve or decide when it is time to request assistance from others. Self-reliance is a need that many parents talk to me about during conferences and as a result, I've turned to two different strategies in the classroom that allow students to continue their work while informing me of their comfort level of the task. These strategies are known as self monitoring tools that help me to prioritize which students I need to assist first.