Effective Strategy for Phonemic Awareness Practice and Quick Whole Class Assessment

 "Classroom strategies should not only support students but also help teachers efficiently measure both student strengths and needs at the same time."

Here is a glimpse at an effective strategy for supporting phonemic awareness in primary grade classrooms while also giving the teacher a quick and accurate measure of student needs and strengths. A few suggestions to consider:

  • Give students time to initially practice using the magnetic wands to accurately pinpoint the sounds in the Elkonin boxes.
  • You may want to only focus on one sound location, but I have found it effective to bounce around the initial, medial, and final sounds to ensure you measure the broad scope of depth of knowledge and understanding.
  • Be sure to have a notepad to record both general patterns and trends you observe during the activity and also track individual student progress to help you plan for small group instruction.
  • You should not spend more than 5-7 minutes on the activity. You will find that the students will be engaged and want to continue beyond the short activity. But that’s a great thing, right?
  • And be nice about my narration! This is new to me! 🤷‍♂️



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Embracing Change: The Shift from Professional Learning Communities to Professional Improvement Communities

Image
"Let's move beyond learning to doing, transforming our practice and supporting achievement for ALL students. Together, we craft their success." In my journey through the dynamic landscape of education, I've come to realize the essential nature of continuously evolving teacher practice to meet the ever-changing needs of our students. Reflecting on my own experiences, I've seen firsthand the pivotal role that Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) have played in fostering collaborative learning among educators, encouraging the exchange of ideas, and promoting collective growth. Yet, through both my successes and challenges, I've recognized the need to transition towards a more action-oriented approach. Drawing from these experiences, I propose a shift from "learning" to "improvement" in our communities. This shift not only redefines our objectives but also amplifies [what should be] our commitment to not just acquiring knowledge but activel
Read more

Why Schools and Teachers Need to Grow Together (or Growth Spurts Aren’t Just for Teenagers: The School System Edition)

Image
“Growing together isn’t just a strategy; it’s a school’s superpower. When teachers learn and systems evolve, we don’t just teach lessons—we transform futures.” Part of the “Barriers to Professional Learning & Doing” series… Ever noticed how teacher training can sometimes feel like it’s happening in a bubble? Teachers get all this new knowledge and then, without the right support from the system, it just… fizzles out. It’s not just a hunch—research shows that for teacher training to stick, the whole school environment needs to evolve alongside our educators.   One key study by Timperley et al. (2007) drives this point home. It found that effective professional development isn’t just about learning new strategies; it’s about the whole school system—policies, resources, culture—adapting to support these strategies.   And it’s not just about systems. Leaders playing an active role in this learning matters a ton. A study by Darling-Hammond, Hyler, and Gardner (2017) showed that when adm
Read more

Teaching, Persuading, Healing: The Triple Art of Educational Consulting

Image
  “Straddling the line between a physician’s care and a salesman’s zeal, educational consultants wield the dual tools of empathy and persuasion to navigate the complex world of education.” I’m climbing towards 30 years of service in education.    I’ve worked directly with Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment and educational consulting for the last 12 or 13 years. I’ve learned that those of us serving educators as an internal or external consultant are placed in a unique position. We bring with us lots of knowledge and experience; which causes me to feel like a physician. We observe, diagnose, and provide a prescription.    On the flip side, we are faced with the idea that we have very little “mandate power.”      We can encourage and support educator development, but we can’t force it. In this respect, I feel more like a salesman, peddling curriculum and strategies like they are the cure for all the ills in education.  An Educational Consultant as a Physician My first thought is alw
Read more