Comprehension: Connections Chart

Description: The connections chart is a way for students to comprehend and make
connections to what they are reading. The three different types of connections made with
this chart are text-to-self, text-to-world, and text-to-text. The students create a three
columned chart with each of these topics on the top of the columns. They then jot down
notes that they find relative to the text. This idea was found in the CI 475 class textbook,
Literacy in the 21st Century A Balanced Approach.

Text-to-Self Text-to-World Text-to-Text

Rationale: The Illinois Learning Standard for the English Language Arts that is met in
this activity is, CC.6.SL.1.a Comprehension and Collaboration: Come to discussions
prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation by
referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under
discussion. If giving this chart for the students to do alone it forces them to read thoroughly
the story at hand and makes connections to these different topics. Then coming back
together in a group to discuss allows the students to reflect on theirs and other’s ideas
relating to the story and the connections they made.

Specific Example: The way I would conduct this lesson with my students would start
with choosing a book, like The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco. I would then provide all
my students with a copy of the book for them to follow along as I read aloud. Since I will be
teaching special education some students may have trouble reading and might benefit from
listening to the story. Other students might want to read it so they can follow along and
read silently with me. Before I begin reading I will provide the students with a pre-made
connections chart for them to use and take notes in while I’m reading. If a student has
trouble writing I will either provide a computer for them to type in their answers or have
an aid at their side to record what they tell them to write. I will read the book one time
through so they can heard the story first and then I will read it a second time. During the
second time I will make pauses throughout my reading so that students have time to write
down connections. Then the students will have time afterwards to finish up their chart,
using the book as a reference to go back to, also with the aids and myself floating around
for help. Then, I will pull the students back in together and make a circle of desks; we will
then start a discussion. I will ask students to share at least one connection they made in
each column during the story. I will then ask questions to get them thinking about the story
and about what other people said. This discussion will not only get them thinking about the
text and how it relates to the world around them but it will also help them realize how their
classmates perceived it as well.
 Phonemic Awareness: Lunch Party

Description: This “Lunch Party” lesson is used to create phonemic awareness of

familiar words with students. Students will cook a food and create rhyming word lists and
sentences to go along with what they are cooking. It’s a fun way for them to be engaged; yet
they are still learning something from it. This is an activity that is geared more towards
younger children, but I know from previous experience that students in the special
education program love doing activities like this where they don’t know that they’re really
learning. The idea for this activity came from Scholastic Lesson plans on scholastic.com.

Rationale: The Illinois Learning Standard for the English Language Arts that is met in
this activity is, CC.K.R.F.2.a Phonological Awareness: Recognize and produce rhyming
words. Through this lesson students will recognize the different beginnings and endings of
common food/food item words and be aware of their sounds to create a rhyme. They will
do this for multiple sounding words to make a rhyming sentence with three or more words
that rhyme with the original.

Specific Example: Before I start this activity the students will sit around one big table
facing each other as I read out loud the children’s book by Philemon Sturges, The Little Red
Hen Makes a Pizza. The students will then be told that we will be making pizza bagels for a
snack. Next, we will discuss what their favorite type of pizza is and ask basic questions to
gather background information about pizza. I will then model for the students exactly how
they will be making their own pizza bagel by showing them the specific steps. The students
will then collect the index card picture recipes that I have made for them to use as
assistance to making the pizza bagels. The necessary ingredients will be on a table in the
front of the room for students to select from; on that table will also be ingredients that the
students shouldn’t be using to make pizza, such as sugar or milk. I will then ask students
one-by-one which ingredients they think would be necessary to make their pizza bagels.
The students will take turns reading the different steps as they go through them, such as
grabbing a bagel and putting sauce, then cheese on it. After the students are done making
the pizzas I will have an aid or another adult put the pizzas in an oven to cook. While they
are cooking, the students will do their activity.
During the activity students will choose their favorite part about eating pizza,
whether it be a specific ingredient or an action or result (for example, hen, cheese, sauce,
oven etc.). They will pick one word to describe their favorite part, or their favorite part
from the book and that will be their rhyming word. At their desks the students will write
their word on an index card. Then, they will come up with a list of ten words (if possible,
considering their word) that rhyme. After they do that, the students will create a tongue
twister type sentence, but all the words will rhyme instead of starting with the same sound.
After each student creates a sentence they will write it on a piece of construction paper and
draw a picture to go with it (example sentence, The hen went to the pen to do zen with her
friend Jen but they didn’t know when so they went to play with their friend).
After the activity the students will get together back around their table facing each
other and enjoy their pizza bagels. While everyone is enjoying their pizza the students will
one-by-one stand up and share with the class their rhyming sentence that they created.
After they share I will ask them which sound they used to rhyme with. For example, if their
word were cheese, the sound they rhyme would be the “eese” part of the word. After they
are all done sharing we will decorate a bulletin board with a picture of the book that we
read and everyone’s construction paper that they made. The students will make index
cards to put up with the pictures that display the sound that the students rhyme with. The
word that the students chose will be placed on the word wall so that they remember how
to spell and say them.

Modeling
I will read the book A Porcupine Named Fluffy by Helen Lester to the class before we
start the activity. I will then pick out a word in the book that I like. The word I will pick is
soggy. As I am picking out my word to rhyme with I will be thinking out loud so the class
can hear my thought processes. I will choose multiple words that rhyme with soggy, such
as groggy, foggy, Froggy, and doggy. After I come up with these words I will create a
“tongue twister“ sentence like the students will do with their list of words. “There was a
soggy doggy named Froggy who went out side when it was groggy and foggy to play with a
real froggy.” After I come up with my sentence I will write it on a piece of chart paper and
draw a picture to go along with it, showing the class the exact steps in what they will be
doing with the pizza and hen story. After I model to the class what to do, I will place a
picture of the book and my sentence and drawing on the bulletin board that their sentences
and pictures will go on. This will create a display for the students to follow so they fully
understand exactly what they will be doing.
 Fluency: Small-Group Reading

Description: Students use small-group reading to orally share poems and other texts.
This group reading activity provides students, especially struggling readers or those in
special education, with valuable oral reading practice. They learn to read more expressively
and increase their reading fluency. It’s also a great activity for English learners because
they practice reading aloud with classmates in a nonthreatening group setting,

Rationale: The Illinois Learning Standard for the English Language Arts that is met
in this activity is, CC.2.R.F.4 Fluency: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support
comprehension. This method is supported in this activity because practicing reading out
loud in small groups allows for the students to hear themselves read and develop accurate
reading practices. This allows students to practice reading in front of groups and learn
ways to read out loud.

Specific example: To start this activity I will give students a little bit of background
on the poet, Shel Silverstein. After introducing him I will tell students about the different
books of poetry that he has written and read The Giving Tree out loud to them. Then,
students will be broken up into small groups of three or four per group. They will be given
one of Shel’s poetry books, like A Light in the Attic or Where the Sidewalk Ends. Then, they
will go to different areas of the classroom and the aids and myself will help students pick
out poems that they would like to read, like “Sick”, “Falling Up”, or “Sister For Sale”. The
students will take turns practicing to read their poems out loud, asking for assistance on
words that they do not know. Since a lot of students with special needs need help reading,
there will be different ways to assist them. For example, if there is an iPad in the classroom
I can buy the books on the iPad and buy the audio version as well so the students can listen
to the poem a couple times before actually reading it. After the students are done practicing
reading out loud, they will perform their poem for their small group. When all the small
groups are completely finished sharing their poems, we will gather back together as a class
and have a “final show”. Here all the students will get up in front of the class and read their
Shel Silverstein poem out loud, showing the class how well they can read and how accurate
they are at reading tricky words. Afterwards, I will have each student type up and print out
five poems to put in their “fluency binder”. This binder will contain multiple different
poems and texts, which promote reading fluency, that way students can practice in their
own time or at home to develop better reading fluency.
 Phonics: Beginning Consonants

Description: In this activity students will listen to a story that is read aloud. This
story will be an interactive book online so that students can follow along on the screen or
there will be a large copy of the book so that it can be put on an easel and read aloud to the
students for them to follow along. While reading the story students will be asked questions
about the beginning consonants of specific words in the book, like what letter produces
certain sounds. They will do this as a class and then break off into pairs to do this with
another book. This idea was adapted from a lesson on beginning consonants on the
Scholastic Lesson Plans page of scholastic.com.

Rationale: The Illinois Learning Standard for the English Language Arts that is met in
this activity is CC.K.R.F.3.a Phonics and Word Recognition: Demonstrate basic knowledge of
letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary or most frequent sound for each
consonant. This method is addressed in this activity by asking students which consonants
make certain sounds. They will be asked what sound a word begins with and then asked
what letters are connected to that sound, so they will be identifying letter-sound
correspondences.

Specific example: This lesson on phonics will begin with reading the book Hooray for
Diffendoofer Day! by Dr. Seuss. The book will be read one time through for the class so they
can hear and enjoy the story and pictures. While reading the first time, the students will be
told to listen very carefully to all the sounds that the words begin with throughout the
story. As the book is read through a second time, the students will be asked about these
sounds that they heard the first time through. On every page I will stop and ask the
students questions about specific words. There are so many words in this book that are
made up, so it’s the perfect book to identify beginning consonant sounds using words the
students are not familiar with. On every page I will ask them about one or two words,
asking what sound the word begins with, for example, dinkzoober begins with the sound
/d/. After the students identify that the word begins with /d/ I will ask them what letter
makes that sound, they respond with “d” and I will write on a piece of chart paper –
dinkzoober /d/ “D” – so they see the word, letter, and sound together. Then I will have the
students brainstorm a list of three to four words that begin with the sound /d/, either
words they heard on that page or other words. This will go on throughout the entire book,
not necessarily on every page though. After they are done brainstorming, I will continue to
reading the book emphasizing the words that begin with /d/ until the next sound is
determined. When the book is finished the students will be told to partner up and choose a
book and that they will be doing the same thing throughout their book. I will walk around
and help students select sounds and words for their books, since some students will
struggle more than others this will be a good aid to them because they can ask certain
questions for parts that they don’t understand. When students are finished with finding
sounds throughout their book they will be told to pick one sound to share with the class.
They will take a piece of construction paper and write the sound, letter, and word that they
chose to share with the class, they will also draw a picture to do with their sound. When
everyone’s done sharing their sounds with the class their papers will be displayed on the
bulletin board for future reference.

Modeling
To model this activity I will select a set of classroom objects and have the students
tell me the name of it. Next, I will have them tell me what sound the object starts with and
then the letter of it. For example, if I hold up a stapler they will tell me it is a stapler, it
starts with /s/ which is the letter “s”. Then, to engage the students I will play a little game
with them, giving the students a clue to what the object is by telling them what sound it
begins with. For example, I would say, "This object begins with a /p/ sound" (pen). I will
then write students' guesses on the chalkboard. Then give other clues, such as, "This is
something you write with." After I give each new clue, allow students to modify their
guesses. Modeling the activity this way will allow the students to get a hang of identifying
sounds in a fun way before reading the story.
 Vocabulary: Word Walls

Description: The word wall is a tool that can be used to identify vocabulary words. It
is a wall, usually a bulletin board that teachers decorate with the different letters of the
alphabet. Under the different letters are words that the students are focusing on learning, a
lot of times high frequency words for the grade level. Teachers also add confusing or
interesting words that students need help spelling onto the word wall. This was introduced
in our CI 475 class textbook, Literacy for the 21st Century, A Balanced Approach.

Rationale: The Illinois Learning Standard for the English Language Arts that is met in
this activity is, CC.4.L.6 Vocabulary Acquisition and Use: Acquire and use accurately grade-
appropriate general academic and domain- specific words and phrases, including those
that signal precise actions, emotions, or states of being (e.g., quizzed, whined, stammered)
and that are basic to a particular topic (e.g., wildlife, conservation, and endangered when
discussing animal preservation). This method is addressed in this activity because I will be
using a specific topic, in this case food, to determine the vocabulary words that will be
learned by the students. This activity will allow students to learn the different words that
they will be using throughout the unit; they will then go on to learn the definitions of words
and how to use the words in proper sentences.

Specific Example: The students will be doing a unit on different types of foods and
food related items that the students run into on a daily basis. Using a word wall I can allow
students to learn how to read and spell these words correctly. Working with students with
special needs can be rather difficult because they tend to get easily distracted when doing
hard things. I would adapt this lesson to be fun for them so that they don’t lose focus
learning these words. The students will grab two index cards per word, they would then
look through grocery store flyers that I bring in and pick out five foods that they like,
students cannot pick the same food (examples; spaghetti, tomato, potato, chocolate, or
pickles). They would then cut out the picture of the food and paste it onto one of the index
cards. Then, the students would write the name of the food in pencil on the other index
card the way that they think it’s spelled. If they get it wrong I will assist them in spelling it
correctly so they can retrace it over in permanent marker. A lot of students with disabilities
are hands on, so I will then have the students tell me what letter their word starts with and
have them staple their word under the appropriate letter on the word wall and staple the
picture next to it. Then, I will cover up the pictures with post-it notes and each student will
go up to the board and read five words that they did not choose out loud to the class, if they
have trouble I will assist them in reading it. Once the student is done reading the word I
will uncover the picture to reveal to the class that he/she got it correct. These words will be
our new vocabulary words for the food unit, and the different types of food we focus on.
This is just the start of developing the vocabulary words, we would then go on to find out
and discuss the individual words and their meanings, but this is just the basis for the
words.