Reading the Word and World
Practicum Observation Journals
Read Classroom Instruction that Works in preparation for the practicum observation, and search the Internet for academic articles about research-based literacy strategies.
Throughout your practicum, observe the students in your class as they demonstrate different literacy traits. Identify them and discuss them as they inform the students’ overall learning.
Write a journal entry on each practicum observation identifying and evaluating the effectiveness of literacy strategies used by the instructors to support reading in the classroom.
Reference strategies from Classroom Instruction that Works and from your search for other research-based strategies.
APA format is not required, but solid academic writing skill is expected.
A title page is required.
Ensure that the classroom teacher has completed a Classroom Teacher
Evaluation Feedback Form, found in the practicum manual, for each observation.
Class and Student Literacy Profile
Initially, observe the class as a whole. Focus on the literacy behaviors you see and interpret their general effect on the learning taking place in the classroom. Consider how fluency, vocabulary skills, and comprehension strategiesare emphasized in the learning process, how the differences in interacting with expository and narrative text influences understanding, whether literature is used to motivate, and whether you see evidence of
critical literacy (higher-order thinking skills) at play in the classroom.
Select one student to observe more closely. Look at the student’s written work, listen to the student specifically in discussions, talk to the student about how reading and literacy are incorporated into the student’s life, etc.
Create a class/student profile of 1,250-1,500-words that describes both the class and your selected student in terms of literacy traits.
Address the considerations listed above and interpret what you saw as it relates to the overall literacy and learning process.
Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
Submit the Class and Student Literacy Profile as part of the Benchmark Assignment.
Venn Diagram
Construct a Venn diagram that illustrates the literacy skills the student demonstrated at the onset of the lessons (into), those that intersected (through), and those that remain to be mastered (beyond). The time you spend with the student should facilitate this process through an investigation of the student’s prior knowledge and literacy experiences (into), a best practice activity to stimulate literacy growth (through), and an assessment of what
future literacy goals should be set. As you work with your student, consider, on an individual level, how fluency, vocabulary skills, and comprehension skills influence learning, how the differences in interacting with expository and narrative text affects this student’s understanding, whether literature motivates this student, and whether you see evidence of critical literacy in your student’s approach to text.
APA format is not required, but solid writing skill in APA style is expected.
Submit the Venn diagram as part of the Benchmark Assignment.
