A Critique of Instructional Materials

During my observations at Phillip Showell Elementary School I have had the pleasure of observing a variety of instructional tools.  My teacher is very active throughout the day and ensures that the students never spend too much time in their seats.  They are actively engaged throughout the day and are always expected to participate.  One of the main focuses in Kindergarten is reading, which is only made possible by acquiring certain skills.  The students are constantly working on letter recognition, phoneme awareness, and learning how to quickly recognize their “sight words.”  The students work on these skills every day using a variety of activities.  Below, I have given a few examples of these activities and how I see them as beneficial to the students.

1)      Sight word Song:  This is an excellent resource.  The students thoroughly enjoy singing and it engages them in the activity.  Through the participation in this song, they are seeing the word, and saying/singing it.  It is also full of positive messages about practicing your sight words every night and learning how to read.  This is a very engaging activity that is also helpful to visual learners in the classroom (since the students are seeing the words on the smart board as they sing along).  By using technology it helps engage those students who have a hard time paying attention during more typical reading lessons.  In addition, music is a great teaching tool that reaches a lot of students (and is often forgotten).  I think that the repetition in this song is very helpful in the beginning stages of learning.  The use of music is also a great way to make learning fun!

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2)      Little “m” Book:  This book helps students recognize the letter and associate it with words that start with that letter.  By reading the words out loud and having students point out the letter, they become more familiar with the letter/sounds/words.  This is a great tool for a variety of reasons

a)      Read alouds have proven to be very beneficial

b)      It reinforces reading comprehension skills

c)      Repetition of the letter/sounds is beneficial to reinforce the new knowledge

d)     This activity helps students visualize the letter and associate various items that begin with that letter so they recognize the sounds when they hear it. 

3)      Phonics Flashcards:  The teacher uses flashcards in a variety of ways.  She often holds them up and asks students to identify the letter and associated sound.  After they have practiced with the cards, the teacher uses the cards to spell out their sight words.  She spells them correctly first and then incorrectly to see if the student can identify what is wrong with how she has spelled the word.  She has also incorporated them into games such as “around the world” where students are required to know their letters and sight words readily so that they can advance in the game.  Flashcards are a great resource for students because they are easy to carry around and therefor easy to practice with.  These cards are great for beginning level learners all the way up and definitely help students get better at recognizing words more quickly.

4)      Jamaica’s Find: Teacher reads the story aloud.  She uses the book as a foundation to teach students about things like; title page, and beginning/middle/end of story.  The teacher used this book to teach a variety of skills.  Not only did she take the time to point on the different parts of the story but she also made a point to pause for a number of comprehension questions.  Although read alouds alone can be beneficial, it is important to make sure the students are paying attention during the activity. 

5)      Practicing letters using a worksheet:  The teacher uses worksheets as a follow up to learning a new word.  The worksheets ask students to trace the word, write it three times, and cut out the letters and glue them in the right order (to form the word).  This is beneficial because the repetitive nature helps the student learn the word.  It is also helpful because it makes the student practice writing the word and visualizing how it is supposed to look.

      All of these materials are great ways to engage students in their learning.  It is also helpful that these tools can be used at home with the use of just a few materials.  The use of technology, music, reading, and written practice are great ways to engage the students in the learning process.  The way this teacher varies the way in which she conducts a lesson is also helpful in that it can reach different types of learners.