Siobhan Redding

Writing Piece #3: Domain 3

EDUC 540, Winter 2020

The phonics lesson I have decided to reflect on for this assignment was about

segmentation. In this lesson, I covered first letter substitution where I substituted the first letter

of a word on the whiteboard to make a new word. My expectation here was that the student

would be able to tell me the first sound of the word I had written after I had recited it to them.

The second part of this lesson was identifying the final sound of a word from the classroom word

key. This key includes different words, most of them the students have already been exposed to

in different ways throughout previous phonics lessons.

This lesson was conducted in a small group format. The half hour of phonics was cut in

half so I could teach the lesson twice to different groups of students. In the morning class, there

were groups of 9 that would transition after 15 minutes. In the afternoon, there were groups of 5

that transitioned after 15 minutes. The learning goal for each group was that they would be able

to identify the beginning and final sounds of words. I began the lesson by communicating what

we would be talking about and gave clear expectations, with reminders, of expectations of

learning and behavior throughout each activity. Commented [sr1]: Component 3A: Communicating with
students
Commented [sr2R1]:
The smaller groups worked well for the purposes of this lesson because each student had

multiple opportunities to show me that they met this learning goal by answering questions about

the different words I presented to them. The smaller group also worked because of where we

were in the classroom. We sat on the back carpet in front of a smaller whiteboard. I had the

students with tendencies to get distracted or who benefited from me teaching at a closer
proximity sit in front of me. The smaller group allowed me to use my knowledge of the students

in ways that positively effected the instructional outcome like avoiding distractions or

interruptions and giving every student opportunities to present their knowledge.

Before each activity, I modeled what we would be doing and what I am asking them to

listen for when I say a word. After modeling, I pointed to a student and gave them a word that

was either on the whiteboard or on the key. This kept them engaged because instead of saying

their name, they had to look at where my finger was pointing to. This kept them visually engaged

while they listened to each word I said. Commented [sr3]: Component 3C: Engaging students in
learning
Component 3D: Using assessment in instruction
The instructional delivery was differentiated based on the student I was asking to answer

my question. If a student understood the concept, I gave them a more challenging word from my Commented [sr4]: Component 3E: Demonstrating
flexibility and responsiveness
list or key in the first letter substitution or final sound identification activities. If a student was

struggling, I used a few strategies. One strategy I used in the final sound identification activity

was to give that student a word that had the same final sound as the word previously discussed

with the student before them. That sound would have been familiar to them if they were paying

attention. If that didn’t work, I would ask them to copy me after I say that word and then we

would break it down into individual sounds together. I would then ask them what the final sound

they heard was and encourage them to use the strategy of breaking it down next time they have

trouble.

After this lesson, personal teaching goals I have set for myself are to improve my time

management skills, work on my handwriting, and pronunciation of vowel sounds. Time

management was a huge factor since the half hour was cut in half to accommodate small groups

so I need to remind myself to continually check my timer and teach accordingly based on the

time I have left. I had to rewrite a few words on the smartboard because students were confused
about the letters I had written so I’d like to work on my handwriting to make it neater and avoid

any misconceptions in the future. Lastly, I want to work on my pronunciation of vowel sounds.

Based on feedback from my teacher, I was not always using the correct vowel sounds that the

students are familiar with. We had reviewed the appropriate sounds and I will continue

incorporating in my phonics lessons.