Ideas @ Work: 10 Principle Assignment
CIERA's 10 Research-Based Principles Assignment
Student Analysis Papers Exemplifying Instruction
Consistent with the 10 Principles
Principle 1 | Principle 2 | Principle 3 | Principle 4 | Principle 5
Principle 6 | Principle 7 | Principle 8 | Principle 9 | Principle 10
Principle 1: Home language and literacy experiences
Miss Julian's class contains opportunities for children to become actively involved in reading outside of the classroom, which I think is part of both Principles 1 and 10. Students are required, based on their grade level, to have a certain number of books per month read by and with their parent or guardian. When a book is completed, both the student and the parent sign a contract to turn into Miss Julian, who files it in the student's folder. To me this represents both home language and literacy experiences, and involving entire school communities because it brings together parents and children in a shared learning and reading environment. By requiring students to complete a set amount per month, a systematic program has been created that involves learning through sources other than the teacher.
By Karen L. Constanz (MSU Course TE 402 Section 3)
The first principle that I have observed in the classroom was Principle 1, home language and literacy experiences. Mrs. Soc uses the Book-It program. She has the children read books to their parents at home and the parent must fill out a slip to return to school. After the child has read so many books or different types of books (no pictures, chapter books) they are able to go to Pizza Hut and receive a free personal-pan pizza.
The class also has a student of the week. During this week, a child's parent may come into the classroom and share information about their job. I have not seen this happen but I'm guessing that the parent relates their job to school work. Parents are also encouraged to come to the classroom to observe and help Mrs. Soc. Among other things, this may encourage parents to model good reading habits at home.
By Stevie Johnson (MSU Course TE 402 Section 1)
Mrs. Olin demonstrated principle one, home language and literacy experiences, in several ways. Most recently, the children chose an animal to study. For this project, each child took a book about their animal, and a large piece of white paper, home. While at home, the child read the book with their parent, drew a picture of their animal, and had a parent write facts about the animal on the white paper. Next, the child returned to school, and presented what they had learned at home to the class. Another way in which Mrs. Olin represented principle one is by allowing her students to take books home to read with family members.
By Michelle Frankenberger (MSU Course TE 402 Section 1)
I observed two specific activities directed at encouraging reading and writing at home (CIERA's Principle 1). The Student read and memorize a poem each week. The poem represents a letter of alphabet. They then make a folder for each letter, including the poem and a picture of the object (example: octopus for the letter O). Every folder goes into a binder, which goes home with them. Because they have memorized the poems, they are able to read them at home with their parents and friends. Another activity which involves reading at home is their publishing books. Three days a week the students write stories in their "publishing books." Mrs. Olsen reads through it with them, and then writes out the words in pen on the same page. The students take these books home with them to share their stories with their families.
By Shera Rysztak (MSU Course TE 402 Section 1)
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Principle 2: Preschool programs
Principle 2, regarding preschool programs and examining books was soon throughout the lessons. For example, in one activity the children were read two stories. They each were called, The Mitten, but they were written by two different authors. The first book was read to the class and they reviewed what animals were in that book. The children were then separated up into pairs and were to construct with paper and markers and glue, etc., a certain animal from the book. They were to make the animals big so they could go on the bulletin board in the room. The second book was read using a tape-recorded copy. Then the MG got out a big piece of paper. On the paper, she drew a Venn diagram. Under each circle, each book cover was placed. MG asked the children what animals they remembered from both of the books. The children remembered that many of the animals were the same in both books. They also remembered that some were different, so they told her those animals also. MG wrote the names of the animals in the correct spots on the Venn diagram.
By Jana Jilek (MSU Course TE 402 Section 1)
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Principle 3: Skills that predict later reading success
Principal 3, skills that predict later reading success, is the principle which I have observed the most. Everyday that I have watched Mrs. P's class, the children break up into "reading center" or "writing centers". In these centers children are encouraged to read books to themselves or to other students, practice writing by taking pretend food orders from other students, play a variety of assorted spelling and writing games, play with interactive learning games on the computer, and listen to stories through headphones on tape recorders, just to name a few of the activities available. Following Principle 3, these activities are motivational and playful for the children and are helping to develop phonemic awareness and letter name knowledge. It gives them an opportunity to use what they have learned in their lessons in a fun and free spirited way. To the children, it is not seen as a learning aid, but something they do for fun. These activities will help the children become better readers and writers without ever seeming like they are in school.
By John Eastman (MSU Course TE 402 Section 3)
The first principle that I have recognized in Mrs. Smith's classroom is principle 3 which deals with skills that predict later reading success and hearing and blending sounds. Since all of the children in the class are learning English as a second language, Mrs. Smith makes up a lot of her lessons to make the process of learning words easier and more fun. One of the activities that the students enjoy is a game where Mrs. Smith takes a ball and throws it to one of her students. Based on how much and how well that particular child speaks English, she will give that students a word that is challenging but not hard enough to where the student is unable to spell the word. After that student has spelled the word correctly, the student then throws the ball back to Mrs. Smith and she chooses another student. This activity is particularly effective in the sense that all of the children are involved all of the time. They listen to everyone and sometimes if you look around, you can catch other children taking the words apart inside their heads. Another way in which this activity is positive in that Mrs. Smith helps the children pick the words apart and has them sound the words out. These little tricks help the children with phonemic awareness. It is also directly related to hearing and blending sounds which helps the children even more since this is a new language for them.
By Scott Jeffrey (MSU Course TE 402 Section 3)
Principle 3, about working on skills that predict later reading success can be seen clearly in Mrs. Fonetic's classroom. As CIERA points out, the two most powerful predictors of later reading success are letter-name knowledge and phonemic awareness--two items that are worked on everyday in Mrs. F's class. This is done by the teacher working with a few kids at a time, on alphabet letters and the sounds they represent. For example, Mrs. F will show a flash card with the letter "S" on it. The next step is one student must say "es" says "ssss"--exemplifying letter-name knowledge as well as phonemic awareness. Mrs. F will also address learning and blending sounds (other CIERA predictors) in the form of rhyme. For example, she will give a child a word such as "hit" and the child must write as many words as possible that rhyme, such as sit, fit, and bit. All the time that the teacher is working with these small groups, the rest of the class is gaining additional experience with these small groups, the rest of the class is gaining additional experience with these CIERA predictors. For example, another large letter flash cards. And the "showee" is required to say the letter and a thing that begins with the letter (ex: "B is for boy"). All these examples combined to show that Mrs. F. has a firm grasp on the ideas of Principle 3 of the CIERA standards.
By Kris Kaczor (MSU Course TE 402 Section 3)
In Ms. Hardy's classroom I have observed Principle 3 through poetry instruction. All of the students have their own poetry books. Within these books are poems that the students have read and studied. Each time the students are presented with a new poem they add it to their collection of work. Every morning students read a poem together orally. Usually, the students read the poem more than once and highlight the words they are able to automatically read. The teacher usually works out a lesson using the poem of the day. For example, last week students read a poem titled "Chubby, Snowman." After reading through the poem as a group and independently, the students had an opportunity to draw a picture of a snowman or some other aspect of the poem they found interesting. I found this was an interesting assessment tool as well.
There are other examples of instruction promoting phonemic awareness that I have observed in Ms. Hardy's classroom. Everyday students work on learning to recognize new letter combinations and the sounds they make. For example, instruction was geared towards learning the "short a" sound last week. Students were given figurines of objects that contained the "short a" sound. Glasses, lambs, and a basket were among the objects passed out for students to investigate. They were asked to identify the object and were told that the object contained the "short a" sound. Then, as a class they "tested" to see if the object did have the "short a" sound and if it correlated with what the student had predicted the name of the object was. Although engaging at times, this activity seemed to get monotonous as a way to learn and become aware of phonemes in words.
By Kara Ardern (MSU Course TE 402 Section 1)
The third CIERA principle talks about skills that predict later reading success, especially letter-name knowledge, and phonemic awareness. In Mr. Winan's class, strategies for reading are encouraged daily in many ways. One of these strategies he promotes is "stretching" a word out. In this class, students are encouraged to stretch the sounds in a word both to read new words and to write them in their various activities. I have heard this teacher many times encourage the children to "Get your mouth started" on a particularly challenging word. He does this at guided reading time in small groups. He goes around the table asking individual children to turn up their volume so he can hear them reading at their own pace. When they get stuck, among other strategies, he encourages them to stretch a word out using their phonemic knowledge of the letters they see. There are also many centers at which the children write things of their choosing. When they want to write a word they don't know they are encouraged to stretch it out and write the various sounds they hear. He has a poem of the week, usually one familiar to many of the children like "The Eensy Weensy Spider" for the children to read together. Also, in scaffolding the children who are not yet fully able to stretch words, he has an ABC center available. Within this center there are many activities involving letter-sound relationships. There are cards with letters of the alphabet on one side and pictures of things starting with the corresponding letter on the other side. The children can look at the picture, say the word, and guess what letter it would start with, turning the card over to check and see if they are correct. Another activity in this center includes small jars with pictures on the lid and letters inside to spell the word, such as "Net." In this classroom there are activities to promote skills necessary for reading success for students at many reading and writing levels.
By Megan Connell (MSU Course TE 402 Section 1)
The first principle I have observed occurring in the classroom is principle three. The principles stresses the importance of letter-sound activities in the classroom. Mrs. Kay has provided the students with numerous activities in which they develop phonemic awareness and letter-sound knowledge. During a phonics lesson she dealt with the "baby a" sound, such as in apple or cat. Some of the activities she chose to use included riddles, songs, and games. The students, one day, created riddles to give to the rest of the class. The answer was to be a word that included the correct "baby a" sound. Mrs. Kay also played a song that included numerous words that the children could repeat and recognize as "baby a" words. She also incorporated a hot potato type game with this song. As the students sat in a circle, the teacher passed a stuffed bat around and played the song. When the music stopped whoever was holding the bat had to provide the rest of the class with a "baby a" word. And finally, Mrs. Kay had each student pick a word with the correct sound and write it on a index card and draw a picture to go along with it.
By Jill Micklash (MSU Course TE 402 Section 1)
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Principle 4: Primary-level instruction
Principle 4, which discusses teacher-led lessons, is addressed in the classroom. The teacher begins each literacy lesson with a story for the children. The teacher introduced the new book and went through the book page by page asking the children what they thought was happening by the pictures. She then helped the children to see the rhyming pattern that was being used in the book. The children realized the pattern and then were able to predict the story more easily through the pictures. After the teacher was finished going through the book that way she next read the book to the children. The book also happened to be a song so after she read through the book the class sang it together. The teacher told us that she does this with each new book that she introduces in order to help the students understand the book.
By Dana Kowalewski (MSU Course TE 402 Section 3)
Principle 4 of the CIERA principles, regarding primary-level instruction, is also addressed in Mrs. Graham's classroom. The activity that I have observed which seems to promote this the most is guided reading. Mrs. Graham gathers 2-3 children who are at approximately the same reading level together at a table. She has them read the same book aloud. She cues them to the pictures and/or asks if what they read "makes sense- in order to help them through a place where they are stuck. She usually goes through 2-3 books per session. Also, Mrs. Graham reads new text aloud to the class. After one reading, the class reads it aloud along with her. She asks for them to notice patterns, including rhymes, repeated words, and so on. After each reading, Mrs. Graham probes the class with some comprehension questions dealing with what they have just read. Mrs. Graham employs many strategies to promote primary-level instruction in her classroom.
By Barbara Owen (MSU Course TE 402 Section 1)
Primary level instruction, CIERA principle 4, is addressed in Mrs. Cribari's classroom using the book The Mitten. This book was read to the children by Mrs. Cribari. Before beginning she engaged the children by discussing the cover and by making predictions about the story. As she read, she asked the students' questions in order to continue capturing their interest. When she was finished reading, Mrs. Cribari asked several children to summarize key concepts that they remembered from the story. The summary turned into a group effort as each child began to add sentences of description in order to reach the story's conclusion. Mrs. Cribari then drew a chart on the board and asked students to recall animals as well as special events that were important to the story. When the children began to run out of ideas they referred back to the book for more information. The next day Mrs. Cribari again read a book called The Mitten, but this book was written by a different author. As a class they went through the same activities as they performed on the first story.
Mrs. Cribari's intentions are to now make a Venn-diagram to illustrate the two stories' similarities and difference. The children will then choose one of the two stones to retell to the class. Each child will color and cut out animals to put inside a mitten to use as props while retelling their story. These activities along with others Mrs. Cribari will use through out the year demonstrate the use of Principle 4.
By Meredith Swearengin (MSU Course TE 402 Section 1)
Principle 4, which addresses consistent, well-designed and focused instruction that supports successful reading acquisition is readily apparent in Mrs. Miller's classroom. On most given days, each of the children are given their own copy of a book the class will read together. As a class, they look through the book together and talk about the illustrations, and predict what the story might be about. Mrs. Miller will also write down any of the words that some children may have difficulty with. One example of this is the word "spaghetti." They read together as a class, then by themselves. After students are done, they sometimes discuss the story.
One thing that I really like about Mrs. Miller's classroom is her word wall. The word wall is designated by the alphabet running along the top of an entire blackboard. Under each letter are words that start with that specific letter. These words consist of high-frequency words as well as words the children have learned throughout the year. When children are writing, and they are struggling with the spelling of a word, they can go look for it on the wall, and bring it back to their desk. I have noticed many children taking advantage of this opportunity to recognize words and use them in their writing. Children can also request that Mrs. Miller add new words be put on the wall.
By Elizabeth Sanderson (MSU Course TE 402 Section 1)
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Principle 5: Primary-level classroom environments
Principle 5 of the CIERA principles, regarding primary-level classroom environments, can be seen in Ms. X's first grade classroom. The students keeping weekly journals and agendas falls under this principle. The principle is also addressed be the students often create their own stories. I have never actually the children engaged in writing their own story. However, in the classroom library there are four or five different books that the children worked together to create. Each child used their imagination and designed their pages for the classroom books. Another routine that promotes this principle is that twenty minutes each day is set aside for individual reading. The students are able to choose their own books to read during this time.
By Jenny Yokuty (MSU Course TE 402 Section 3)
Miss J's classroom is unique, in my opinion, because the students have a semi-independent role in their learning during the language arts period. Just as the CIERA principle 5 suggests, the students have opportunities each day to read independently, write in journals, take part in group discussions, and in a writer's workshop. Miss J's classroom contains various "centers" that are spread around the room. Some of the centers include reading poetry, a literature circle, journal writings and a reading game on the computer. Each day, the students have a responsibility to complete four assigned centers during the language arts period. Students may use their judgement to decide when to move to the next center. Even though the students have the freedom to move throughout the centers, Miss J provides teacher-guided instruction to small groups of students while these activities take place. Also, as the students work at the centers, Miss J gathers together one reading group at a time to monitor their progress and teach the reading lesson for the day. While in their groups, Miss J Keeps an eye on the remainder of the class by randomly checking the progress of those who are working at the centers.
As soon as all of the reading groups have met with Miss J, the class come together to begin the writer's workshop. In this activity, students are able to use their creative writing skills and publish short stories or other texts. The writer's workshop emphasizes the importance of working together. The students turn to each other as editors in order to provide assistance to one another. Each time I have observed the writer's workshop, I have seen how the students respect and use their peers as a resource for a better learning environment.
By Jennifer Dzwonkowski (MSU Course TE 402 Section 3)
The classroom environment that Mrs. Jones has established follows CIERA's Principle 5. At the beginning of the literacy period, Mrs. Jones reads a book aloud to the class. This book is later discussed among the students who have literature discussion during their individual rotations. Other rotations include a browsing box area for independent reading and a station to work on their reading journals. After the students in the class read a book they write about what they liked and draw a picture that corresponds with what they wrote.
At the end of the rotation period, Mrs. Jonbes brings all the students together to discuss what they accomplished during this period and Mrs. Jones comments on what she observed. Each week Mrs. Jones adds on to the skills that are being developed at each station. Mrs. Jones' students also participate in a writer's workshop. During this period, the students write stories and follow steps in the writing process that Mrs. Jones has established. The primary-level classroom environment which Mrs. Jones has established is consistent with the CIERA Principle 5.
By Jamie Vidt (MSU Course TE 402 Section 3)
"Primary-level classroom environments in successful schools provide opportunities for students to apply what they have learned in teacher-guided instruction to everyday reading and writing." From what I have observed so far, everyday Ms. Dee reads to her students, whether it be a poem book by Shel Silverstein that is for fun or On Top of Spaghetti that follows up with a lesson they are already doing. Sometimes, Ms. Dee will let a student read a book out loud to the class. This activity gives the student the opportunity to choose the book that s/he wants to read to the class. This also helps develop the student's reading ability and social skills. Ms. Dee tries to promote reading in every activity the class participates in. When the students have "free-choice" time, they only have a few choices to choose from, all of them having to do with a learning activity. For example: they can read by themselves or with a small group of students, write or draw pictures, play math games and a few others. Many of the students choose to read books or write and draw pictures, either by themselves or with a friend or two. While these activities are taking place, Ms. Dee is always monitoring the students activities and giving them feedback on their efforts. I not only see Ms. Dee's helpful efforts during this specific time period but throughout her whole day with her students.
By Lisa LaFranca (MSU Course TE 402 Section 3)
Finally with regard to Principle number 5. I noticed several things about the classroom environment. Journal writing is a daily event in Mrs. Jones' classroom. There are three different stations, each of which stress a different skill. The journal writing table allows children to draw a quick sketch, and then try to write a sentence or words about their picture. The illustrating table allows students to focus more on their picture, or illustration in their journal. Finally the publishing table allows the students to have one on one help from Mrs. Jones' in writing sentences about their picture. The children not only get a lot of practice writing, but they also get feedback from their teacher on a regular basis.
By Sarah Bowne (MSU Course TE 402 Section 1)
Principle # 5, about the Primary-level classroom environment, is handled in a very creative way in Mrs. C's classroom. Through the use of centers the students are free to choose from a variety of activities that promote literacy. There is a listening center where the children can listen to a book being read to them on cassette tape while they follow along with their own copy. The writing center has little laptop desks for the children to write in their journals or write a creative story on their own. There is an area with bean bags where the students are able to silent read some books of their choosing. The students are also able to read and write to the guinea pigs, a popular center. They are free to wander from center to center. But, Mrs. C. monitors them by having a list of class numbers by each station and when a student visits a station they are to cross their name off. This way they are not always going to the same station. So, students have a fair amount of choice in their literacy learning, so they can participate in things that excite them at that time. This type of activity sets up a good learning environment for almost everyone.
By Beth Lenz (MSU Course TE 402 Section 1)
Any person wanting to see CIERA Principle 5 activities in a real-life setting should stop by Mr. Poll's room. I have studied the schedule Mr. Poll has posted on a chalkboard in his classroom and I questioned him what B.E.A.R. was since each day was started with this activity. "BE EXCITED ABOUT READING!" is the activity title and the time when children read a book of their choice for approximately 20 minutes. I think this is a great way to start the day and to get the children reading on a regular basis. Mr. Poll also guides the children through a "Big Book" daily and the children follow along orally. Mr. Poll often will read to his class more complex books and discussion of the books main topics often follows the readings. Mr. Poll also discusses the content of each "Big Book" he presents to the class. The children have lots of questions and as tough as some of them may be, Mr. Poll always does his best to answer them-- while pointing out details he feels important. Mr. Poll's students also write in journals (I have seen their journals in a big box and I have flipped through them), but since he does this during a period when we are not in his room I am unsure of how often they write in them. Mr. Poll's students do have opportunities to write daily though. "Post Office" (where children write letters to other students in the room) and "Book Making" (where children use material from their journals to make a story, proof the story for errors, have it published by Mr. Poll, and finally draw illustrations to correspond to the writing) are just two of the "Writing Centers" that Mr. Poll's students can enjoy daily. He is always sure that any print, whether in student-created books or in student comments that go up on his walls (such as things friends do with each other or things polite children say) are grammatically correct, understandable, and free of all spelling errors. A more intense version of guided reading takes place with color-coded reading groups while the remaining children diligently work at their "Centers". Mr. Poll has broken the class into reading groups based on the text they are able to handle with a small amount of assistance from him. He has each child "turn up their volume" and read aloud to him so he can assess their weaknesses in reading abilities, and to concentrate on ways in which to help them. Many students in his class also qualify for additional help from Reading Recovery.
By Gretchen Locker (MSU Course TE 402 Section 1)
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Principle 6: Cultural and linguistic diversity
This classroom, and in fact the entire school, is multicultural and multilingual. Latino, Asian, Somalian, and Vietnamese are a few of the cultures represented in this kindergarten class. An example of "the use of texts that recognize these diverse backgrounds" occurred when Ms. Smith read a book a student brought in. She read this book, which was about his culture, to the class during storytime. Afterwards, a discussion was held to review the book (Principle 5). Also, the idea that "the language of children's homes is especially critical for schools to build on when children are learning to speak, listen to, write, and read English" is addressed in this classroom. There's a little girl, Maria who recently arrived from Mexico. She speaks almost no English and only understands Spanish. Ms. Smith will say the directions for an activity in English first, and if Maria doesn't understand, she'll repeat them in Spanish for her. This helps her to make connections between the two languages.
By Martha Sacks (MSU Course TE 402 Section 3)
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Principle 7: Children who are identified as having reading disabilities
The CIERA principle that is addressed my the classroom is 7. The balanced literacy program is very important to Mr. Johnson. It is an intensive, small group program that involves individualized assessments, word recognition, and innovative strategies for when a child is stuck on a word or idea. This guided reading program is a more well-rounded method because with the smaller group format it can get to more reading levels. With this format every child is getting the same type of instruction. However, those students who are struggling will get a more intense version which will help them improve. After each session, Mr. Johnson has to make an evaluation of the group and see if some of them are ready to move up or some may move down a level. The groups are constantly changing as the students improve in their reading skills.
I have also seen that there are extensive experiences with many different texts in the room. Each child is assigned to a book box at their level of reading. There are times when Mr. Johnson will ask a child to take out their book box and read some stories. There is also ample opportunity for the students to participate in the "Read the Room" center. This consists of going around the room and reading the text that is on the wall or bulletin boards. "Reading the Room" may also consist of reading the alphabet on the wall. I have also noticed that Mr. Johnson and his class make their own "Big Books" which are read at whole class reading time. This way, the student's own ideas can be incorporated in a story which they read as a class.
By Matthew Topham (MSU Course TE 402 Section 1)
Mrs. Smith has developed a wonderful way to work with her students at different levels so that each level gets small group attention, and gets to focus on the particular areas they need help with. Every day during centers time Mrs. Smith works with a different group of students, and she only works with one group a day. This ensures that the group gets a long span of her attention and that they are not pressured by the need to accommodate many other students in the same day. Another benefit to working with small groups during center time is that Mrs. Smith does not keep the other students waiting for her. She plans each of her groups differently, working to incorporate the different learning and reading styles into the level of the members in each group. For one group she may have them read as a group page by page, another group may read several pages silently at a time, and yet a third group may read only half of the book together and then come back later for discussion. Mrs. Smith incorporates her lower reading students in the same activities as her higher reading students, so that one group is not deprived of the advantages she is giving to another group. Each group reads an array of texts, on an array of topics, keeping everyone interested, and not singling anyone out.
Another interesting way that all students in the class, including those identified as having reading disabilities, get good instruction while being involved in meaningful reading experiences is through the use of a classroom volunteer. This way the students get one-on-one reading experience. This type of reading utilizes the classroom volunteer's ability to individualize what she does with each student, since she is familiar with the needs of each individual student. This is also an activity that does not only cater to one level of reader or another but is effective for all levels. Every day Mrs. Smith's students are receiving individualized instruction without stratifying the class by letting only one particular group participate in a particular activity.
By Tara S. (MSU Course TE 402 Section 1)
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Principle 8: Proficient reading in third grade and above
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Principle 9: Professional opportunities
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Principle 10: Entire school staffs
During my visit on 1/21 I observed a school assembly for lower elementary called RIF (Reading Is Fundamental). The assembly was designed to encourage all students to read and to get them excited to read. This is a continual school program which takes place before new books are delivered to the students. The RIF assembly that I observed was lead by a man who creatively told the students about books they would be receiving. He acted as a role of various characters in the books such as Curious George and Amelia Bodelia to portray scenes/aspects of the books they are in. He asked the students questions about the books to help them get involved and wanting to read the books for themselves. Besides this assembly, I also noticed that there are many signs/posters up around the school encouraging students to read.
By Samantha Gross (MSU Course TE 402 Section 3)
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