Final Exam Rubric

Name: Charles Pannell Date: 10/12/2012______

Target Criteria
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Possible PointsEvaluation
Unaccetable!ccetableTarget
"uestion #1 *Insufficient information
*No connections made to implications for future practice
*Spelling and grammar errors present
0$2*Adequate, but minimal information that is imprecisely presented
*One or two eamples to support conceptual understanding
*!imited connections made to implications for future practice
*Neat, typed, "# pt$ font, double%spaced, with correct spelling and grammar
%$&*&ertinent information that is precisely presented
*Substantial eamples to support conceptual understanding
*Substantial connections made to implications for future practice
*Neat, typed, "# pt$ font, double%spaced, with correct spelling and grammar
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"uestion #2
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"uestion #(
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"uestion #+
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"uestion #10
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-inal .am /uestions
"$0hat are the models of reading1 0hich one reflects your philosophy of reading and
learning to read1
2he three models of reading are top%down, bottoms%up, and interacti3e$ 4ottoms%
up reading emphasi5es a process that in3ol3es primarily decoding words and is closely tied
with phonics instruction to assist in the decoding effort$ In the bottoms%up model, students
are taught to recogni5e patterns, whether they be associated with spelling or letter
combinations, and then e3entually sentences and paragraphs$ 2op%down reading focuses
on acti3ating a student6s schema, and by doing so, uses a student6s bac7ground 7nowledge
to ma7e predictions concerning the meaning on a word based on contet clues$ 2he
interacti3e model is somewhat of a combination of the two models, mandating that a
word6s meaning is deri3ed both by decoding the word and using prior 7nowledge$
&ersonally, as a prospecti3e special education teacher, I find that I can6t align
myself as a proponent of any particular model$ I belie3e that there are too many 3ariables
in3ol3ed in students for one model to be 8better9 than the other$ If I absolutely had to
choose, I would say interacti3e, because for struggling readers, di3ersified strategies are
better for di3erse learners$
"$0hat are the fi3e areas of reading instruction1 Define the areas, and for each area, gi3e
an eample of a reading strategy that addresses and promotes it$
&honemic Awareness: the ability to manipulate and recogni5e sounds in spo7en words, the
understanding that spo7en speech is a sequence of sounds, and that it consists of
indi3idual sounds$ I6m a fan of eplicit instruction :big surprise S&.D ma;or guy< and the
strategy that I would consider is phonemic segmentation$ 2his would consist of pro3iding
an image of something the child is familiar with, and to segment the phonemes of the
ob;ect underneath the image and then model the 3ocal segmentation :slowly and clearly<
for the child and ha3e them repeat it$
&honics: the connection between letters of our written language to the sounds of spo7en
language$ On%set rimes are an effecti3e method to teach phonics$ Nursery rhymes can be
printed, and attention can be gi3en to the rime and onsets in the nursery rhyme$ After
circling and highlighting the 3arious patterns, children will be able to see the onsets and
rimes from a distance$
=ocabulary: words that we use, recogni5e and respond to in the form of meaningful
communication$ I learned a strategy for 3ocabulary from my S&.D strategies class> It6s
called the !IN?S 3ocabulary strategy$ It6s an etremely eplicit strategy that in3ol3es
ta7ing an inde card and writing the word you6re trying to learn and a word that loo7s or
sounds similar to the word you6re trying to learn on the front of it$ On the opposite side is
the definition, a picture, and a statement connecting the words on the front together$ -or
eample, the front might loo7 li7e:
fief

chief
2he student is trying to learn the word 8fief9, and the student already 7nows the word
8chief9 and they loo7 similar$ On the opposite side:
land gi3en by 7ing for fighting in army &icture the student draws goes here$
.ample of potential drawing is an
Indian chief and 7ing together$
?hief of his land
@esearch pro3en strategies for the win :or as we internet nerds li7e to say, *tw$<
?omprehension: the ultimate goal of reading$ .fforts to attain comprehension often get
derailed by the effort that goes into decoding$ Anowing this, increasing the ability to
decode words more effecti3ely with less effort may increase the amount of effort a3ailable
to be put into comprehension$ 2here are cases, though, where fluency is ;ust fine, but
comprehension is lac7ing$ In these scenarios comprehension strategies are a 3iable method
to help a student with their reading comprehension$ 2hese strategies tend to be
metacogniti3e, and there are se3eral of them to choose from$ 2he /A@ strategy is an
eample of one of these metacogntion strategies and is useful in helping students na3igate
and understanding tet$ 2he /uestion%Answer%@elationship strategy encourages students
to determine not only the answer of questions, but their source as well$ 0hether or not a
student can tell if information is coming directly from the tet or from inference are solid
indicators of progression in the area of reading comprehension$
-luency: the ability to read tet accurately and quic7ly$ As mentioned before, ha3ing good
fluency enables students to di3ert more energy into comprehension$ 0hen thin7ing of a
strategy to impro3e fluency, the area that is lac7ing within fluency needs to be considered$
Decoding accuracy, automaticity, and prosody are all factors that affect fluency and there
are strategies for impro3ing each or all of them$ ?horal reading is a good way to impro3e
fluency, as it allows for the modeling of reading with fluent epression and it gi3es a safe
atmosphere to do so as well$ ?horal reading engages children to listen and respond to a
prosodic reading of tet, and then encourages them to read in 7ind$
"$0hat are the three distinct systems in written language from which readers search for
and coordinate information cues1 0hat are some strategies you can teach students to
assist with using these systems1
Braphophonemic: the relationship of sounds to graphic symbols :letters, letter
combinations$<
Syntactic: grammatical relationships with sentence patterns$ :0ord order$<
Semantic: stores the schemata that readers bring to a tet, consisting of bac7ground
7nowledge, eperiences, conceptual understandings, attitudes, beliefs, and 3alues$
A strategy to assist graphophonemics is non3erbal cueing, such as finger looping$
It helps in associating the sound with its letter combination$ Semantic feature analysis
illustrates how words are both similar and different and emphasi5es the uniqueness of each
word$ Cou can also use word sorts to assist with semantics$ It also draws on students6
prior 7nowledge and uses discussion to elicit information about word meanings$ Assisting
students in syntactic relationships can be achie3ed by cutting up sentences and ha3ing
them rearrange them in the correct order, or guessing what 7inds of words co3ered up
words could be in a sentence$
"$Dsing 4rian ?ambourneEs conditions of learning listed in 2able #$# on page *+, eplain
how you will implement these conditions in your classroom$
I will li7ely be in the resource room, but I6ll do my best to generali5e the question>
I suppose I could consider it from the perspecti3e of a ?O%2.A?FINB
?!ASS@OOG>>>1
Immersion: An immersi3e en3ironment is one that includes reading on a multi%sensory
le3el$ ?hildren need to be able to touch, feel, smell, and hear the things they read about$ At
the same time, these immersi3e elements need to be meaningful and rele3ant to what
students are reading$
Authenticity: ?hildren respond well to seeing the writing of other children$ Also, genre
need not be limited in reading selection$ 2here are se3eral types of stories that children can
be eposed to and it would be a disser3ice to limit the eposure to the multitudes of genre
out there$ It6s incredibly important to use en3ironmental print as well, such as newspapers,
maga5ine ads, or e3en candy bar wrappers$
.ngagementH.pectation: I need to be clear in what I epect my students to do$ 2hese
needs and epectations must be communicated in a direct and concise manner$ It6ll do me
good to start e3ery lesson with what I want them to learn that day, and to encourage my
students to meet these epectations$ Ad3ance organi5ers and rubrics will help students be
aware of my epectations as well$
Ownership: Bi3ing choices to students is a good way to establish ownership or
responsibility$ Students tend to respond more strongly to wor7 when groups are
established and roles are assigned$ It6s also important for me to engage the students on the
importance of being accountable for their own learning$
2ime: S7ills ta7e time to de3elop and master$ Gastery won6t be achie3ed unless the time is
allotted to the students to practice the s7ill to mastery$ 2he opportunities that are
presented should be gi3en in multiple formats, such as whole group, small group, and
independent wor7$
@esponse: 2he instruction needs to be constructed so that it pro3ides se3eral opportunities
to respond and share$ I also need to generate opportunities for feedbac7 and my
epectations for students need to be realistic$ Students should also be rewarded for their
efforts, e3en if the reward is intrinsic % as long as they feel rewarded$
Approimation: Students may not all ha3e the same learning capacities as others, and
some students with eceptionalities may need differentiated epectations so that they may
perform within your epectations$ ?onsiderations need to be made for these students$
Demonstration: Godel, model, model$ 0hen demonstrating, do so eplicitly and using
multi%sensory approaches$ Once again, model, model, model$
"$0hat is differentiated instruction1 0hat are some ways you plan to differentiate
instruction in your classroom1
Differentiated instruction consists of pro3iding a multitude of supports for students
for students who don6t respond to the standard deli3ery of instruction$ 2he idea behind
differentiated instruction is to proacti3ely modify your lessons to accommodate the needs
of your students without ha3ing to reacti3ely tend to said needs$ 2here are se3eral ways to
differentiate instruction, which include but are not limited to: reducing the amount of
o3erall wor7 for struggling students, allowing more time for students who require it,
ha3ing ad3ance materials ready for students who grasp the deli3ered instruction while the
teacher wor7s with those who fell behind, pro3iding speciali5ed organi5ers for students
who ha3e difficulty following lessons$
2here are 3arious models that assist in deli3ering differentiated instruction,
including @2I, which offers us differentiated learning in three different tiers of supports$
@2I can be implemented on a school%wide basis, but it is also possible for a teacher to
implement a locali5ed @2I system if those supports are not a3ailable$ 2here are also
techniques to ma7e tet more accessible to students, which can be a difficulty in science
classes$ An eample of such a technique if the marginal gloss technique, which consists of
using a program to chec7 the grade le3el of a gi3en tet, and replacing unnecessarily
difficult words with words that are easier to read, and rechec7ing the grade le3el
afterwords to ma7e sure it is on par with a student6s reading ability
"$0hy should you read aloud to your students1 Fow will you choose the boo7s that you
read1 0hat 7inds of boo7s will you read1
Not all students are graced with the benefit of ha3ing caregi3ers that read to them$ 2he act
of reading to children is in itself a learning eperience for children$ 2here is a 3ariety of things a
child can learn simply by being read to$ 2hey can learn that we read from left to right, and that the
symbols on the page are decipherable and read out loud$ Students who don6t ha3e these prior
eperiences don6t automatically come into school with them$ Acti3e reading also fosters the sense
of importance in reading as well$ If a teacher isn6t showing a lifestyle of acti3e reading, then what
moti3e would students ha3e to read1
@egardless of whether or not you ha3e a multicultural classroom, selections of
tets from 3arious cultures should be read to students$ If I6m luc7y enough to ha3e
differently cultured students in my classroom, special attention should be gi3en to include
them into reading eperiences by in3esting some time into finding and reading a boo7 that
pertains to that particular culture$
I thin7 that what I read should reflect what the 7ids want read to them$ I greatly
en;oy fiction, but I can6t let my own preferences dominate the reading time we ha3e
allotted for the class$ I6d li7e to somehow incorporate student choice into any reading%
aloud acti3ities$ A list could be generated based off of student input concerning what 7ind
of boo7s they would li7e to ha3e read to them$ 0e can chec7 off that list one by one until
we63e met e3ery student6s interests, and hopefully one student6s interest will collide with
another and stimulate an interest of reading in them$
"$Describe different types of ;ournals$ Do you plan to use ;ournals in your classroom1 If
so, which ones and how will you utili5e them1
Dialogue ;ournals: a ;ournal where a teacher and student con3erse while writing$
4uddy ;ournals: similar to dialogue ;ournal, but between two students instead$
Double%entry ;ournal: a ;ournal which has the eplicit tet and concepts on the left, and
thoughts and questions on the right$
@eading ;ournals: a ;ournal that follows a structure and in3ol3es less student choice$
Dsually in3ol3es the use of prompts to guide student writing$
@esponse ;ournal: similar to a reading ;ournal, but without the use of prompts$
-ree writing ;ournal: students write whate3er they want>
Iournals are difficult to pull off in the resource room, as the time allotted is
generally used to wor7 on specific s7ills$ If I could find the time to do a ;ournal, I would
lo3e to do dialogue ;ournals$ It6s difficult to gi3e students the opportunity to freely interact
with a teacher on their own terms$ I thin7 doing class dialogue ;ournals would be a 3ery
positi3e eperience for me and my students$ I could see myself using response or reading
;ournals as part of a strategy instruction to assess the results of the strategy I taught a
student :most li7ely a comprehension strategy$<
"$ .plain why 3ocabulary instruction that ;ust includes copying definitions from a
dictionary is not teaching or learning$ 2hen describe se3eral ways to teach 3ocabulary that
would be effecti3e and tell why$
2here are se3eral reasons why this is ineffecti3e$ It ta7es multiple eposures to a
word to 7now how to use it, much less fully understand it contetually$ 2he same idea
applies to learning someone6s name$ I am ashamed to admit that I did not learn e3eryone6s
name in class$ 4eing eposed to their name tag simply isn6t enough$ I need to use their
names, loo7 at them as I use their name, and I need to hear their name being said by other
people as they are con3ersing$ Names aside, the act of truly 7nowing a word will rarely be
achie3ed by copying definitions, because students need to not only 7now the word6s
definition, but also its contetual use$ ?ontet becomes etremely important, but .nglish
is an etremely hard language$ I6d argue it6s one of the hardest languages in the world$ 2he
order of the words are of etreme significance and our language is absolutely riddled with
idioms$
I described the !IN?S 3ocabulary strategy earlier, but I suppose I could go into
detail with why it is effecti3e$ !earning is a constructi3e process, and loo7ing up the
definitions doesn6t impact students in a constructi3e manner$ 2he definition of the word
and the word itself ha3e to be connected to the student in a meaningful way and then the
student has to connect those meanings and the word itself to their own bac7ground
7nowledge$ If these connections can6t be made, then the word is out of the scope of the
child6s capabilities of learning that word$
2he =SS :=ocabulary Self Selection< strategy is another 3ocabulary learning tool
that students can use, and it6s effecti3e for two reasons$ 2he primary reason is that the
student ac7nowledges that the word is one that they find difficult and do not 7now the
meaning of it or of the contet in which it is being used$ 2he other reason is that the
student ta7es ownership in this lac7 of 7nowledge, and ma7e an effort in learning the word
on their own terms$
Another good tool is to use a word 7nowledge rating$ Students can ;udge for
themsel3es how well they 7now a particular word, from not 7nowing the word of all to
7nowing se3eral different meanings of the word$ 2his is useful in determining the depth of
a student6s 7nowledge of particular 3ocabulary words and helps in identifying students
who ha3e trouble with multiple meanings or similar loo7ing and sounding words$
"$2here ha3e been many strategies presented in our class$ ?hoose a grade, and describe
si strategies that are appropriate for that grade$ Fow would you implement those
strategies1
I choose you, +
th
grade> 2he +
th
grade is a 3ery defining moment in a student6s life$
2he transition from elementary school to middleHsecondary school :well, in some places<
can ma7e or brea7 a student6s academic progress$ 2he shift from learning answers
eplicitly from reading to inferencing starts to become 3ery apparent here, and so
metacognition strategies are etremely beneficial to students who ha3en6t already learn
them$
2he 3ocabulary self selection strategy is automatically on my list, as it6s the
strategy I presented on for a +
th
grade lesson> It would be ama5ingly useful for any science
tet, as there6s plenty of science words to choose from that .!! students or at%ris7
students won6t 7now$ 0hen assigning a reading, I would ha3e the students write down all
of the words they don6t 7now :they aren6t being defined in the reading< and to choose a
select amount of words from that list to learn on their own$
A0! is always an effecti3e tool, regardless of the grade le3el it is being used in$
2he actual implementation of A0! is fairly straightforward$ It6s a tool that organi5es what
you 7now, what you want to 7now, and what you learned$ It encourages and moti3ates by
addressing ownership to your own questions and is acti3ely filled out during the lesson as
you learn$
@eader6s 2heater was fun e3en when we did it for class$ Our group got a little bit
too into it, but in the end it was laughs for e3eryone$ 2here was a '
th
grade teacher who
was doing reader6s theater for Famlet with startling success, which 7ind of blows my
mind$ 0hen the curriculum requires the reading of plays or literature, it would be
beneficial to use @eader6s 2heater to encourage student participation and engagement to
the tet$
2he -rayer Godel is another tool that can be used at any grade le3el$ !earners
with eceptionalities especially benefit from this, because it includes eamples and non%
eamples in a graphically organi5ed format$ 2he -rayer Godel can be used when
introducing new concepts, or e3en for all of the 3ocabulary words they used in the =SS
part of their assignment>
?oncept circles can be used in con;unction with the -rayer Godel, but also can be
used as a standalone tool$ I thin7 word maps are useful when a reading has an onslaught of
new 3ocabulary words and they all fall into neat, categorical sections that they can be
classified under$ -or eample, word maps would be useful for Animals 3s$ Gammals in a
science lesson$
Anticipation guides would be useful to better engage students to a tet, and ma7e
connections between their bac7ground 7nowledge to the information in the tet$ 2hey are
also good for critical thin7ing s7ills$ As the name implies, they would be used before the
reading of a tet and I could use them to get my students thin7ing about the reading
before, during, and after the reading itself$
"$ A classroom is a community of learners$ Fow do you plan to foster a classroom
community1
I thin7 that a deliberate, systematic attempt to create a community of learners may
come off as disingenuous to students$ Aids are smarter than we gi3e them credit for and
tend to 7now when we are trying to get them to play by a certain set of rules, and
oftentimes they resent us for it$ I thin7 it6s essential to set the stage for the community of
learning, and then ha3e them participate in it on their own accord and terms$ 2he
classroom needs to be in3iting$ It also needs to be personali5ed$ Students need to feel that
their learning has an impact in their classroom, and their surroundings should reflect that$
Student wor7 should be showcased and student accomplishments need to be celebrated$
2hey also need to 7now that mista7es will be made in the process of learning, and
to not be shunned for mista7es, and to that effect, the teacher6s mista7es should be
showcased as well> Students need to be conditioned so that mista7es don6t phase them and
they aren6t afraid to try new things$ .ncouraging their efforts rather than their success or
failure and ac7nowledging their effort goes a long way in yielding that same effort in
future assignments$ .3eryone ma7es mista7es, and the students should feel that is true$
I also feel that students should 7now that they are impro3ing$ As a special
educator, I6m required to monitor student progress 3ery closely, and I thin7 that general
educators sometimes neglect to show the strides their students ha3e made in their learning$
0hen all the students see their own learning come to light, they reali5e that they are part
of a learning community and that the other students are contributing to their progress$
2hey also learn that they themsel3es contribute to the other student6s progress themsel3es$
I thin7 that once students see that they are learning together, and that the other students at
integral to their own learning process, a positi3e learning community will foster as a result$