Beyond "Sound It Out"

January 30, 2021

Beyond "Sound It Out"

This week started with an invitation to play centred around the book, Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson.

Using the Daily 5 framework, here is a sample of what a week of English Language Arts could look like building upon the invitation to play:

The Daily 5	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
Read to Self	Students can explore a book of their choice independently.
Work on Writing	Opportunity to play. Note vocabulary words connected to the Invitation to Play (bear, snow, winter).	Revisit Invitation to Play. Choose a starting sentence to begin winter story. Use transitional sentences.	Continue with winter story and transitional sentences. Choose an ending sentence for story. Illustrate.	Finish winter story. Read winter story to teacher and/or classmates.
Read to Someone	Access to classroom library setup displaying books about bears, snow, and winter. Students can choose to read to someone in their group or a class stuffed animal or puppet.
Listen to Reading	Epic Books - students login to app using a laptop or mobile device. This may be one for the group or one for each student. Group may listen to one story quietly in designated space or use headphones on individual devices. Teacher has created a collection on Epic Books that contains a selection of books on bears, snow, and winter. Teacher can either assign a specific book for that day or students can choose from the collection.
Word Work	Using class generated vocabulary words from the Invitation to Play, students can spell out the words using alphabet discs.	Using class generated vocabulary words, students can practice letters and words on a chalkboard or whiteboard and illustrate.	Teacher has chosen up to three of the No Excuse Words to focus on this week. Students can create in playdough.	Students can create the selected No Excuse Words in loose parts.

English Language Arts Curriculum Connections

Kindergarten:

Content
- Story - structure of story; literary elements and devices
- Strategies and processes - reading strategies; metacognitive strategies; writing processes
- Language features, structures, and conventions - letter knowledge; letter formation; the relationship between reading, writing, and oral language
Curricular Competency
- Comprehend and connect (reading, listening, viewing)
  - Use sources of information and prior knowledge to make meaning
  - Use developmentally appropriate reading, listening, and viewing strategies to make meaning
  - Explore foundational concepts of print, oral, and visual texts

Grade 1:

Content
- Story/text - elements of story; literary elements and devices
- Strategies and processes - reading strategies; writing processes
- Language features, structures, and conventions - print awareness; letter formation; sentence structure
Curricular Competency
- Comprehend and connect (reading, listening, viewing)
  - Use sources of information and prior knowledge to make meaning
  - Use developmentally appropriate reading, listening, and viewing strategies to make meaning
  - Use foundational concepts of print, oral, and visual texts

We also looked at reading strategies this week that are beyond the typical "sound it out" strategy. Connecting these strategies with an animal can help solidify the concept in a child's mind and allow for easier recall.

Image from Lisa Mattes - Growing Firsties

We will be learning more about using MSV in regards to reading assessment, but here is a brief overview from our textbook this week. (Johnson & Keier, p. 53)

OK Math and Reading Lady

Meaning (M) Knowledge that includes any background knowledge, information gained from the pictures in the text, or ideas gathered from the context of the sentence or story. Readers think about what makes sense.
Structure (S) Knowledge that comes from being familiar with spoken language, English structure, and how it sounds. Readers choose words that sound right.
Visual (V) Any letter/sound correspondence knowledge a person has. Readers check to see if the word looks right.

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The No Excuse Words are a collection of sight words that students should work towards mastering in reading and writing. Here is a sample by grade. Note that each year is building upon the same list.