Out of all of the student's in my kindergarten class, I would have to say that Rebecca is struggling most when it comes to reading and writing. By this time in the year, students should be reading at a level 12 according to the DRA's. This means that they should be able to read a short story, with a sentence on each page. Rebecca struggles to even recognize the letters in the alphabet. During field last week, I watched Rebecca during all of the literacy activities to try to see how (and how much) she is participating. What I realized is that every time the students are asked to do a literacy activity, they are in groups. In the morning, my CT reads a story and asks a morning message about it. During this time, the students are in a whole group at the rug. Rebecca never raises her hand to participate in the morning message. When they sing their ABC's, Rebecca looks embarrassed and does not sing along. This made me think... do I ever see Rebecca participating in front of a group?
After Mr. C reads the daily story he sends the kids into their centers. Here, they work in front of or with other students to complete literacy activities. When they go to work more closely with grandma, they are still in their center groups. Mr. C will sometimes pull kids to work with, but again, they are together.
To get a better understanding of Rebecca, I pulled her aside to talk about reading and writing one on one. I asked her if she liked to read. She said no. She also said she didn't like to write. The whole time, Rebecca looked away. I wondered why I had never noticed how shy Rebecca was before and it hit me. I never really noticed Rebecca. It is the loud, excited, and outgoing kids that catch your attention. It takes effort to really pay attention to the students who are shy and afraid to participate in front of others. I wonder if Rebecca would be more engaged with literacy if she had the opportunity to learn one on one with her teacher? But with a class of 31, I do not see many chances for that type of learning. So what else can I do?
Reading the Gibbons chapter made me think about the importance of group work. Rebecca could really benefit from working with her peers, and instead of solely focusing on how she may improve with individual attention, I think it's important to consider helping her become more comfortable in the classroom community.
Several activities stood out to me in the chapters. First, having students interview each other and fill out questionaires (although simple- putting a one word answer to a question about the other student) about their classmates would be a great way for Rebecca to get to know the other kids. There are many group activities throughout the day, but Rebecca is never challenged to participate. The students are supposed to, but expectations are not enforced. Having this activity would allow all students to learn about each other, and would challenge Rebecca to talk to and in front of others.
I really liked the Hot Seat activity, but I think it may be too complex for kindergarten. Instead, I think that if Mr. C had name sticks or some other random calling method, Rebecca would have to participate in discussion and morning message responses. She doesn't participate but knows she will never have to. If a name is called, Rebecca will get used to sharing just like everyone else. Learning to work with her peers will help build literacy skills that will hopefully translate to improved reading and writing.
1 comment:
Kelley, you seem to do a really good job with observing Rebecca and you make a lot of interesting comments about her performance. I definitely agree with you that the children who do not act out as much seem to be able to slip past your radar. It's really hard when you're trying to focus modify problem-students' behaviors and make sure everyone is getting the attention they deserve (especially in a Kindergarten classroom as large as yours). One thing I wonder about Rebecca not participating is WHY she isn't participating. I'm curious to see how your classroom community is set up and I wonder if you feel that this has anything to do with her lack of participation? Or is it more based on her shyness and inability? I really agree with your idea of getting her to practice or even forcing her to practice working with her classmates or group members. Starting to bring her out of her shell at an early age will be something that will help her throughout the rest of her education career. I feel like most kids who are shy are not really encouraged to move past this (since it gives the teacher a break from all the other active or interruptive students) and so if you can get her to start gaining more self-confidence now, it will help positively affect the rest of her schooling. I also wonder though if you think she might benefit from some one-on-one while you are working on getting her more comfortable in group. Obviously she isn't going to become "un-shy" overnight so perhaps spending some time with her individually might benefit by boosting her self-esteem and confidence simply by showing that she matters enough to be paid attention to. It's a very interesting case and one that I think we will all come across in our careers as educators, so keep us updated on how Rebecca does!
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