UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

Inquiry into
Teaching &
Learning
Analiz Ibarra-Villegas
Level III
About Me!
 School & Community
• Residential neighborhood
• Free, public charter school

Context
• Arts and Leadership
• Choice school - most chosen elementary school
in Manatee County
• Serves K through 5th grade

Classroom
• Kindergarten
• 18 students – 9 girls and 9 boys
• All subjects - Math, ELA, Social Studies, &
Science
• Three students who are receiving support
services and two are in process
 Wondering

How can I support the development

of alphabet knowledge?

How can I support the recognition of

letters and their sounds?
 Classroom Assets

• English and Spanish

• Most parents are active in school
• Energetic and love to move
• Love story time and read alouds
• Love to draw and do crafts
 Literature as Data
Stahl, K. A. D. (2014). New insights about
KEY THEMES
letter learning. Reading Teacher, 68(4),
261–265. • Length of the lesson
should be taken into
Piasta, S.B. (2014). Moving to
assessment-guided differentiated
consideration
instruction to support young children’s
• Make connections to text
alphabet knowledge. Reading Teacher, • Letters and sounds
68(3), 202-211. shouldn't be taught in
isolation
Kaye, E.L. & Lose, M.K. (2019). As easy as
ABC? Teaching and learning about letters
• Have students help read
in early literacy. Reading Teacher, 72(5), and spell words
599-610. • Invented spelling
 • Length of the lesson
• Invented spelling

Using Data to Plan: • Apply to reading and writing

⚬ Use knowledge of letter
Strategies & names and sounds
• Include things that interest the
Differentiation students
• Reflect on effectiveness of any
strategies
 Enacting the Plan: Results

Students:
• Used their knowledge of letter
names and sounds
• Used their resources
Reflection & •
•
Collaboration among students
Make connections
Findings • Length of the lesson
• Student engagement
• Student evaluations
• Collaboration among colleagues
 Implications
• Reflection leads to growth
• Changing something small can make a huge difference
• Building a connection and relationships
• Collaboration and using resources
 Future Questions

How can I provide How can I further

How can I foster
enrichment to incorporate How can I support
intrinsic
students who movement in my the development
motivation in my
finish their work lessons and of oral language?
students?
quickly? instruction?
 References
 Stahl, K. A. D. (2014). New insights about letter learning. Reading
Teacher, 68(4), 261–265.
 Piasta, S.B. (2014). Moving to assessment-guided differentiated
instruction to support young children’s alphabet knowledge. Reading
Teacher, 68(3), 202-211.
 Kaye, E.L. & Lose, M.K. (2019). As easy as ABC? Teaching and
learning about letters in early literacy. Reading Teacher, 72(5), 599-
610.
 Bear, D., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., Johnston, F., (2020). Words
their way. Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction.
(7th Ed.). Prentice Hall.
 Thank You!
Do you have any questions or comments for me?