Field Observation Report #1

TC Name: Katie Schmucker

RICA Domain: Word Analysis

RICA Competency: Concepts About Print- Letter Recognition, Phonetic Spelling Development

Grade Level: First

Any Additional Descriptors: Class contains no ELLs or students with disabilities

INSTRUCTION:

                I observed Mrs. G teaching letter recognition and spelling development. The teacher began by putting five “no excuse” words (a collection of words she deems as necessary for all first graders to know) or high-frequency site words on the board: at, if, go, on & the. She passed out a lined piece of paper to each student. She then had each student stand up and point at the no excuse words on the board. She said “by pointing you are telling your brain that you are ready to learn the word.” This provided kinesthetic support for all learners, especially those with difficulties focusing.

                Mrs. G then led the students through a Total Physical Response (TPR) activity. In unison, the class first read the word out loud. Then they spelled the word while performing a corresponding body movement. If the letter was a tall letter, (goes to the top of the writing line) they clapped above their heads; for example, the letter “f.” If the letter was a low letter, (goes below the bottom writing line) they clapped below their knees; for example, the letter “g.” If the letter was a middle letter, (does not go to the top line or below the bottom line) they clapped in front of their chest; for example, the letter “a.” The word “at” looked like this: “at,” “a,” said while clapping in front of chest, “t,” said while clapping above head.

                After spelling the word with the corresponding letter claps, the class sat down in their chairs and wrote the word, while adhering to the print rules they had just clapped out. Once they were done writing the word they stood back up and pointed at the board-to tell their brains they were ready to do the next word. The class continued with the above process for all five words.

                Mrs. G had me look over each paper for correct spelling and print and all of the student’s papers were correct. This multisensory method helped the students to recognize and name letters and practice writing them with correct print procedures. The choral calling of the letters allowed all students, at every level, to participate together.  This kinesthetic method also provided aid in the area of spelling, causing the students to associate body movements with the sequence of letters in a word.

INSTURCTIONAL SETTING:

                I observed that the instructional setting included a couple of supports to aid in learning letter recognition and print concepts: alphabet posters above the whiteboard, the no excuse words stuck to the whiteboard, and the paper provided to the students to write the words down on.