Literacy Unit: Vowel Teams
Pre-Assessment
Anchor Chart
Whole Group: Complete an anchor chart with the class for that day's given vowel team. For example, vowel team 'ay'. Brainstorm as a full class words that contain 'ay'. Make a note of students who contribute and who do not. Make a note of how many words the class is able to come up with independently.
Differentiated Instruction
Emerging
Developing
Proficient
Note: I use the 'Bootcamp' curriculum for kindergarten, which starts all students off at the exact same place in the first week of school: alphabet bootcamp. Students all learn starting from 0 and progress as a group through alphabet, sounds, vowels, vowel teams, Blends, CVC words, etc so the differences are very small in my experience with my preschoolers and my observed experiences of other teachers using this curriculum. Most students are at least on target with some gifted and talented students who are ahead. Most of my observations and personal experiences with this curriculum there was often 0 students not meeting learning targets, and if there was a student or two not meeting targets, it was easy to support them in a differentiated small group setting.
the 5 students who answered most, including the most difficult, of the pre-assessment questions correctly
the 12 students who have some knowledge about the topic as shown in their score, but need to develop higher order thinking skills
5 students who appear to have limited knowledge about the topic:
- 3 struggling with language/different reading levels
- 2 students have little to no comprehension of the the topic (special needs?)
Game: Play a whole-group game that is designed to measure students' existing knowledge of the vowel team.
Small Group:
Vowel Team Books
Small Group:
Small Group
Vowel Team Writing
Vowel Team Word Building
Students look at a picture, identify the word, and then from a selection of cards which contain random letters and vowel teams, put the cards together to attempt to build the word. Then write the word.
Students have printed books, each page containing a vowel team. Each day at small group time students work with the teacher to identify the sound of the vowel team, and then words that contain that vowel team. Then depending on their ability & needs, they will either draw pictures of those things or attempt to write the words (or both).
Students look at a picture, identify the vowel team, verbalize the spelling, and then write the word.
Tracking Student Progress
Evaluating Center Work
Students complete similar activities during their independent literacy centers as they did during small group instruction. Center work is turned in but not graded, so I am able to look over their work and see who is on target and who needs extra support,
Students with special or outstanding needs, depending on how many, may work 1:1 with me or if there are more than two students, in a small group containing only these students.
ELL Students: Since the instruction is ELL-based for an entirely ELL-composed class, all instruction and progress is designed around this and all students are on the same page.