Instructional Inquiry Wyoming School District S Community Demographics

Instructional Inquiry Wyoming School District S

Community Demographics S Population in 2011: 433 S Male: 217, Female: 216 S Median resident age: 35. 8 years old S Median household income (2009): $49, 658; up 11, 000 from 2001 S Gross rent $539 S Median House value (2009): $83, 880

Wyoming CSD Demographics based off 2010 -2011 NYS report card S 167 students enrolled in the K-8 school S 28% eligible for free lunch (47/167) S 10% free and reduced lunch (17/167) S 96% White (161), 2% Hispanic/Latino (4) and 1% Multiracial (2) S Annual Attendance: 96%, students suspended 2% (3)

Mission Statement "The mission of the Wyoming Central School, in partnership with the community, is to enable each student to reach his or her highest potential, instilling in each a commitment to lifelong learning, and thereby empowering each to achieve personal fulfillment in a Global Community. "

Wyoming Free Library S Direct across the road from the school S Includes: S Summer reading S Children’s story house 10 -11 am every 2 nd and 4 th Monday of the month S Traveling Library at Fire Hall Senior Lunch every 3 rd Monday of month 1030 -12 S Many facilities and services including access to computers, printers, copier, fax, mp 3, DVD, VHS

Wyoming Free Library

Links for Learning and Fun S Links on school website for learning and fun from home. S Reading examples include RAZ kids, abcya. com and national geographic kids. S Math, Science, and S. S. games and activities also listed

nd Mrs. F’s 2 grade classroom *The Basics S 13 students S All at different reading levels S Range from level A (K) to level T (4 th grade)

Instruction *picture is not of actual students S Small and large group instruction S First hour of the day is whole group Shared Reading instruction. Popcorn and teacher read a passage and focus on a specific task for that day. Read the same text all week, building more on each day. S Reading Groups/Guided Reading are small groups from 1 -5 students split up by levels. Each groups meets after lunch for 40 minutes and instructed by a teacher. (support or Mrs. F) During reading groups students start with reviewing spelling words and then reading a different book every week and doing corresponding reading activities. S Read Aloud for 5 -10 minutes before lunch. Mrs. F reads out of a chapter book while students listen.

School to Home Connection S Every Monday Mrs. F sends home a sheet with the weeks homework including Math and English. Students must read 15 every night and record it. S Reward for students if they read 5 times a week for 15 minutes and parents sign off on it. Reward given at end of the month if student fills it out for the month. S Every Friday a Friday letter is sent home and students are encouraged to continue reading along with upcoming events or weeks happenings. S Every Friday Mrs. F writes a note to the parents about the students week.

Use of Common Core S Starting in October 2012, Mrs. F classroom started using the Common Core Modules for second grade during ELA instruction. S During student teaching I did a 10 -day unit plan on Fairy Tales and Tales during both reading and writing instruction. S Assessment consisted of teacher observation, multiple choice question test at the end of each module, corresponding writings and worksheets.

Fundations S Wyoming schools uses fundations to teach vowels, digraphs etc. S Every day during a 30 minute period students are taught a certain vowel blend for the week S They are also taught 1 -3 words of the week. These words are words you cannot spell out S Activities to correspond with the word work include white board practice, hearing the words then writing the spelling down etc.

Analysis of texts S Mrs. F used domain 1, from engageny to teacher students about “Fighting for a cause” S Goals: Teach students about their history while teaching specific ELA aspects such as vocabulary, meaningful discussion among each other and retelling important events S Books read and discussed with the students include S Rosa Parks S Martin Luther King Jr. S Eleanor Roosevelt S Susan B. Anthony

Analysis of text cont. S Students are expected to sit quietly while listening to the story, respond to questions by raising their hand S Student were not spilt into groups during instruction. They were either as a whole group or individually. S When spilt groups are primarily based on who the students sit next to, these groups are heterogeneous S The module lasted 10 days

Literacy Assessment S After the readings from the week students are given a test of approx 8 -10 questions relating to the story. S The teacher also assesses students through S Teacher observation S Questioning S Worksheets

Reading Group Assessment S Students are tested in the beginning of the year to see where to place them during reading groups. S During reading groups assessment consists of S Teacher observation S Questioning S Worksheets

State ELA Reading Assessment S The 2 nd Students were given the NYS ELA Reading Assessment in October. S Teachers were unable to read the test to the students, only thing they could read was the directions S The test consisted of most multiple questions with a few short response questions

Interview with Teacher S Tries to include all students by randomly calling on them. Mrs. F uses popsicle sticks to pull students names in order to make it fair S Groups the students heterogeneous, also sits students hetereogeneously. For example, a student who excels in math will sit next to a student who excels in ELA. S Reading groups are homogeneous S Materials used include engageny, fundations, reading A-Z and en. Vision for math

Values and Expectations S Values: Mrs. F values differentiated instruction, including all students, reading meaningful texts and allowing students to construct their own knowledge and use their schema to better understand the material S Student expectations during literacy instruction include S Sit quietly while listening to the story S Respond to questions by raising their hand S Do not distract other students during instruction

Interview with Community Member S Interviewed a parent of a second grade boy who attends speech classes. S His mother was very positive about the speech program and believed it has been helping her child greatly S Praised Mrs. F and says her son loves coming to school S She likes the use of fundations and believe it has greatly helped her son learn to read, write and speak better S Takes her son the public library almost once a week and reads to him and with him every night

Suggestions S I really enjoyed the fundations program and group interaction during shared reading. S Suggestions: S More time spent reading authentic text and non fiction text S Use of Daily 5 and CAFÉ S More discussion between students about the books they have been reading S Share out about books they enjoy, why they enjoy them and suggest them to other students