Self-Reflection

Kristin Foster
April 24, 2014

Description-
I coordinated with my lead teacher in the autism center, the mild moderate teacher
(Mr. F)and the paraprofessionals in my room to be able to cover my math station to get
experience teaching a small group of mild moderate students along with one of our higher
functioning students. I desired to stick to the sequence and curriculum that Mr. F was using
with his small group. He is using Language! Language is a program that has a lesson on
each component of literacy in every unit. Mr. F said he wasnt extremely happy with the
units and materials and therefore he wasnt exactly using it in order. It disappointed me to
hear that he may not know the importance of the linguistic approach. He said that he hadnt
taught much on phonics or morphology. So I decided that is what I wanted to teach,
especially after my eyes were opened when recently after learning about open and closed
syllables. The IEP goal I was supporting is based on retelling/comprehending grade level
text. The skill of sounding out words will help the student read grade level text.
I figured Id have to teach from the beginning so I knew I needed to teach what open
and closed syllables are and how they manipulate the vowels. The definition of open and
closed syllables was one objective, and another was how they manipulate the vowels. The
next step is for the students to be able to break apart syllables in words then apply the
previous objectives. Originally I planned to have them decode multisyllabic words at the
end of the lesson. After completing my lesson plan, I realized I would not have time to teach
all of the syllables. Therefore the students would not be able to sound out multisyllabic
words by the end of the lesson and so my objective needed to change. I changed by final
objective to syllabicating words with open and closed syllables.
When preparing I created some rhymes and hand motions to help students learn the
attributes of open and closed syllables. I created a door with go on the inside and t on the
outside to demonstrate the open and closed syllable sounds. I also chose a list of words to
practice breaking up into syllables. I created posters to help the children remember how
each type of syllable manipulated the vowels. I wrote the objectives on the board and I was
ready.

Impact-
When teaching open and closed syllables I combined the attributes and
manipulation. I successfully used direct instruction to teach the manipulation of vowels.
The students enjoyed the rhyme and hand motions and even were able to create a few of
their own. I mainly check understanding of the manipulation of the vowel, forgetting to
check their understanding of the attributes of each type of syllable. I also did not have a
solid way of checking understanding for each of the 5 students individually.
Next I taught how to divide a word into syllables. I wish I had taught the 5
th
graders
why we need to know how to divide words into syllables. Luckily they understood what I
was asking of them as the lesson progressed, but the understanding could have been more
thorough and personal. I also described how to do it and modeled it once with them
following along on their own boards. I wish I would have further modeled breaking words
into syllables, but the students still impressed me and were able to break words into
syllables. Clapping out the syllables helped each student as well as writing out the
consonant vowel patterns. As we were breaking apart words into syllables, I would ask
them if the syllable was open or closed and how they knew. Many of the students
responded with, Its an open syllable because the vowel says its name. This was a red flag
that they did not understand the attributes of open and closed syllables.
I began the lesson using a talking stick, which the students used very well. As the
lesson went on I asked questions and accepted answers from students with un-raised
hands and without the talking stick. It was my mistake for not being consistent with the
talking stick. Luckily, the students still had acceptable behavior and did not speak out of
hand to often and respected each other, however that could have not been the case.
The materials I had created were very helpful. The sheet protector whiteboards
were wonderful to be able to see the students understanding as well as keep them engaged.
Using hand signals to communicate answers was very helpful. It allowed each student to be
engaged and I was able to check their understanding individually. Finally, I am glad I began
with an icebreaker to better get to know the students I was working with. It was also
helpful to begin with a prior knowledge check. In this case it gave the students confidence
and it gave me information.


Intent- I had a lot of great materials and reference charts. However, I realized I
should have create a chart explaining that if a syllable had a consonant at the end it is
closed and if a syllable ends in a vowel it is open.
Next time I will use different examples of open or closed syllables to check the
understanding of each student. The other students can use sign language to communicate if
they agree or disagree with the students answer, this will also keep them engaged.
When I see that the students do not clearly understand one of the foundation
concepts to a skill, I need to stop and model the concept they do not understand then ask
them to demonstrate it. I will take my time to stop and fully reteach the concept using
direct instruction.
In general I will clearly check for understanding for each taught skill.
The students enjoyed my multisensory definitions, so in the future I will use them
more and refer back to them more often through out the lesson.