Content+Literacy+Trumps+the+Basal!


 * < **Resources:

Title** ||< **Author** ||< **Possible Skills To Incorporate** ||
 * < //Island to Island// ||< Marion Bridge ||< Social Studies, children in different places Long I, -ing endings, sequencing ||
 * < //Me and My Shadow Science// ||< Arthur Dorros ||< shadows -sh blend, long o, How-to writing ||
 * < //Apples// ||< Gail Gibbons ||< Science, plants, fruit parts -le ending, sequencing, recipe writing ||
 * < //Let’s Go to the Museum s// ||< Cate Foley ||< Social Studies, museum types, rules, and components Contractions, sequencing, table of content ||
 * < //Trains// ||< Gail Gibbons ||< Social Studies, transportation, train responsibilities Long vowel a, compound words ||
 * < //Jobs// ||< Susan Canizares and Betsey Chessen ||< Social Studies, different types of jobs and responsibilities Short vowel o, topic sentences in writing, closing sentences ||
 * < //America by the Numbers: One Nation// ||< Devin Scillian ||< Social Studies, basic American history, Math, counting, skip counting Phonemic awareness (rhyming), number words, -ing -ed endings ||
 * < //Bean// ||< David M. Schwartz ||< Science, plants Sequencing, long vowel e ||
 * < //How Do We Move?// ||< Sally Morgan ||< Science, bones, muscles, actions Verbs, table of contents ||
 * <  ||< [[image:trophy.jpg width="138" height="200"]]
 * Strategy Name**: Content Literacy Trumps the Basal!


 * Strategy Description**: This strategy is very basic, but a good reminder of how content area texts can enhance and even drive the most basic concepts. I will use content texts to point out examples and concepts for various basic skills in reading.


 * Description/Name of the class in which you used the strategy**: First grade classroom, reading/phonics lessons


 * Rationale**: I chose this strategy because I was irritated with using the basal and it’s dry, phonetic stories to teach basic concepts. I wanted to break outside of the basal’s resources and use content literacy to help teach my students. I felt this basic change would possibly help motivate my students more, as it would be at a better interest level, and would also cover some of the science and social studies concepts that our district chooses not to enforce/require.

For the book Beans, I chose to focus on the long e vowel. My students had previously worked on a plant unit, so their background knowledge was appropriate for the book. We had talked the day before about the sound long e makes, and the helpers long e has. When I introduced this book, we talked about what we heard and saw in the title. We read and discussed the book, emphasizing the sound of long e in words that were in the text. I created a list of the words we found, and we talked about the patterns and sounds in each one. I then had the students think of their own words that had long e in them. They had to deliver one to me in order to return to their seats. When all of the students returned, I then revealed a bag of beans, referring again to the long e sound. I told the students they would be thinking again of their own long e word and we would be spelling it out in the beans. As each child came up with their word, I wrote on paper (green of course!), and the students began gluing the beans onto just the long e and its helper, for example, just the –ee in see, or just the –ea and bleachers. This helped them highlight the chunk of the word and identify the sound with the sound they heard in “bean”. The students then shared their words with the class.
 * Procedure**: Rather than relying on our reading series’ dry stories and read alouds, I will incorporate content area texts into our reading and phonics skill lessons. This will give my students a more contextual and literature-based experience, and will also cover science, math, and social studies concepts. I will read aloud the stories and have students apply the skill or concept we are working on to the text. They can utilize skills in multiple ways. Story elements can easily be applied to break down the sequence of the text. Phonetic components can be identified in the text. Sight words and vocabulary words can also be identified within the text.

I really felt the students connected with the text, and transferred their knowledge to the long e concept. I liked that the lesson attended to audio learners with the reading, visual learners with the book and seeing the beans, and hands-on learners with the actual making of the words.I feel my students were all reached on some kind of level. A few of my students got a little sidetracked with the concept of plants, and had a little more trouble making the actual connection to the short e sound. However, we referred back to the goal of the lesson quite often, and I feel this helped them focus on the actual task at hand.
 * Diverse Learners:**

I would like to possibly give the students more materials to use (any ideas!?) so they could have the ownership of choosing. I would want to make sure I chose books that reached the interests of my students, therefore, I would need to switch it up to make sure everyone's interests are met at some point.
 * Potential Issues:**

Giving students a visual representation of a word always helps them remember more clearly. Even older students could draw pictures for vocabulary words, making the words into something that represents the definition. Third through fifth grade students could focus on more difficult sounds or “chunks”. Kindergarten could adapt this to each letter of the alphabet. Make an M out of m and m’s, or a t out of Twizzlers!
 * Implementation Suggestions:**


 * Resources:**
 * Seaton, O. (personal communication, March 4, 2009). ||