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1. Have any specific routines, materials, or parts of the lesson structure become easier or more natural for you now that you have watched these videos? Why?

My first take-away was the specific, procedural language Mrs. Gardner uses to prompt students during the first two steps of the lesson. The manual does not get that specific. For example, in Step 1 (Segmenting) the manual reads: /m/ /a/ /t/ (mat) In the video, she says: (1) The word is mat. (2) The sounds in mat are /m/-/a/-/t/. (3) Say the sounds in mat with me. For the visual drill, the manual only provides a list of the selected graphemes for the lesson. In the video, Ms. Gardner demonstrates a three-step script to use: (1) t spells /t/ (2) Say it with me. (3) Now your turn by yourself. The language is simple, but helpful for those who haven’t worked with Wilson or taught  foundational reading skills.

Another take-away later in the lesson (Step 8: Connected Text) is when Mrs. Gardner ties all the pieces together and establishes the goal for future learning. When reading connected text, she explains, “we’re not just reading single words, we’re reading words that work together to tell us something.”

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Were there any teacher moves (e.g., pacing, prompts, student engagement techniques) that seemed especially effective?

I really enjoyed the teacher's enthusiasm and use of visuals behind her. I could see this being very engaging for students as it was engaging for me, an adult. Specifically, the robot blender was very helpful. Her use of body movements and gestures is also useful for students as they receive multi-modalities of instruction. She also made it clear by stating, "Your turn!" I would use this with my students to make the turn taking clear. I find these videos extremely helpful as I can see UFLI put into action. It gives me ideas of what I can do when I use this program with my students.

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I noticed this was an introductory level as lesson 5 is at the start of the UFLI curriculum. The lesson flowed slowly enough for newcomers to grasp each step. I think it worked well that students were shown exactly how to set up and maintain the blending board so it stays organized in later lessons which is building good habits from day one. I also noticed she used UFLI language with phrases like “T spells …” and “S spells …” which is the mindset I need to get into when implementing UFLI. Lastly, rather than the usual tap‑out, the teacher raised separate fingers for each sound and then squeezed them together. This was a conversation we had last time and I felt this was effective to show putting the sounds together with your fingers. These strategies made me feel like she was setting students up for success in future UFLI work.

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Have any specific routines, materials, or parts of the lesson structure become easier or more natural for you now that you have watched these videos? Why?

The checklist that comes up before each part of the lesson is a great way to develop metacognition for students. It allows them to anticipate what is going to happen next and feel accomplished moving through each part. Originally, I thought the checklist might become repetitive that comes up between part of the lesson. My view of this changed a bit as the checklist actually helped me learn each step pretty quickly. Often times, step by step programs can feel overwhelming and it can be difficult to know which lesson part to complete on each day. I think this checklist solves all of that worry I've previously had while teaching a program. So I appreciate that this part of the lesson is helpful not only for students but for the teacher too.

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Have any specific routines, materials, or parts of the lesson structure become easier or more natural for you now that you have watched these videos? Why?

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Having the opportunity to watch these videos helps to reinforce what you are teaching us in the UFLI class. I found that the teacher in this week's videos was more engaging than the first. I also made note of Mrs. Gardner's pacing in these two videos. It seemed like she wanted to allow wait time for students to process. If she were in front of a class of students, I also think that her pacing and wait time would allow her to more easily assess how the class as a whole as well as individual students are internalizing the skills being taught. I also like how she modeled the finger movements with each word she segmented and blended. I think this is helpful for students to be able to see.

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Were there any teacher moves (e.g., pacing, prompts, student engagement techniques) that seemed especially effective?

Yes, I thought there were many techniques that she used that seemed effective. I viewed this lesson as if she was teaching it to young students/beginning readers, and therefore I though that the pacing of the lesson was very well done. Mrs. Gardiner spent a lot of time on each part of the lesson, assuring that all students were able to keep up and follow along with the steps. I also thought she prompted the students very clearly when it was their turn to participate or to just listen to her model. It was very easy to follow what was expected of the participants of the lesson.

Additionally, I thought the interactive images and characters were a great way to keep students involved. The robots attached to blending and segmenting seemed like a creative way to help students remember what each part of the lesson required. I feel like they would also keep the students engaged and help the parts of this lesson feel less like work for young students.

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1. Were there any teacher moves (e.g., pacing, prompts, student engagement techniques) that seemed especially effective?

Yes, there were several teacher moves that stood out as especially effective. Mrs. Gardner’s pacing was clear and deliberate, which helped ensure students had time to process each sound and letter before moving on. She used consistent prompts and routines—such as “Say it with me,” “Your turn,” and gestures to reinforce letter-sound connections—which kept students actively engaged and participating throughout.

Additionally, Mrs. Gardner incorporated interactive elements, such as call-and-response and visual aids, to support different learning styles. These engagement strategies not only made the lesson more dynamic but also helped reinforce phonemic awareness by involving students in multiple modalities—seeing, hearing, and saying.

Overall, her calm and enthusiastic delivery created a warm learning environment that encouraged participation and made foundational reading skills feel accessible and fun. I also find watching these videos to be super helpful for me personally because it gives me a much clearer idea of what effective instruction should look and sound like while I’m teaching. It’s a great model that I can refer back to as I continue building my confidence and skills.

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2. Is there one thing from these videos that made you feel more confident or “clicked” for you?

I have spent all of my career teaching the upper grades (5th and 6th), so it has been a long time since I have taught reading at this level. In the beginning of this course, looking through the teacher's manual and the slides alone were overwhelming. I couldn't visualize how to take each step and teach it. However, watching the videos on youtube has been extremely helpful. I am glad that we have even been exposed to different teachers teaching it and making it their own. With each new assignment, I look into the manual and have a stronger understanding of what the lesson might look like. This increased and varied exposure has made me feel more confident in teaching the program. I believe with more continued exposure, I will become even more confident and ready to implement this whenever needed!

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What specific strategies did you notice Gardner using that you would like to try in your own classroom?

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There were many strategies that Gardner used that I definitely will be using when I teach UFLI! I liked how she engaged the students in her lesson. I found that even just the slight change of images that she used made the lesson more engaging and would keep students interested. I also liked the pace of the lesson. It was slower than the last video, but also not too long where we would lose a student's interest. She continued to applaud the students for learning the new concept and working hard during the more challenging sections. Also, I liked that she gave time for the students to review on day two. This helped give a refresher before expecting them to read the connected text fluently on their own.

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1. Were there any teacher moves (e.g., pacing, prompts, student engagement techniques) that seemed especially effective?

I found this teacher's videos much more helpful. She really explained everything step by step and moved at a slower pace. It felt as if she was teaching teachers as well as her students. I think she did a good job explaining irregular words. I like how she went through each sound and then discussed how it's not the regular sound the letter would make. Her videos will definitely be a good resource to refer back to prep for teaching a specific lesson.

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2. I definitely feel more confident watching the videos now. I ran through the lesson before watching the videos and wrote down my questions, most were answered. Where was the Blending Drill? She skipped it and that was the one I was most confused about.... going to need some clarification on that!!! Also in Day 2 she skipped spelling... please explain what that looks like!? I was completely confused about step 7 and the video helped me understand that. I really liked the videos to review what I would do in a specific lesson.

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1. Were there any teacher moves (e.g., pacing, prompts, student engagement techniques) that seemed especially effective?

I found the teacher’s teaching style engaging for students. She made the lessons visually appealing for her students. The use of the robot images was adorable and may help students to be more excited and invested in the process. I also noticed that she used a clear “I do, We do, You do” sequence while completing the visual drill and I found that to be effective as well. Overall, she moved through the lesson more slowly and modeled things more often as well. I still feel that certain aspects of the lessons could be slowed down, and I am really curious to see what these lessons would look like in a real classroom with real students engaging in them. Right now the lessons feel very teacher centered, and I would like to see the students’ role more closely and how active they really are in participating during the lessons.

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1. Were there any teacher moves (e.g., pacing, prompts, student engagement techniques) that seemed especially effective?

Yes, there were several teacher moves that stood out as especially effective. I appreciated the pacing of the lesson—although the teacher moved slowly, it still remained at just nine minutes. This slower pace allowed time for student participation, clearer understanding of what was being asked, and a variety of opportunities for repetition. I also really valued how she modeled the new concept using the blending board alongside the students. It served as a strong visual representation to reinforce the skill. In the Day 2 video, the repetition and breakdown of the skill, particularly during the review of irregular words, is something that would be very effective. Additionally, I liked that she reviewed the words in the connected text before expecting students to read it fluently on their own. I feel like this video was much more beneficial to help guide the UFLI lesson.

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1. Were there any teacher moves (e.g., pacing, prompts, student engagement techniques) that seemed especially effective?

I like how she started the lesson by stating what the new concept would be.  I am not sure if that part was teacher facing or student facing however, I think it would be nice to very very briefly tell the students what would be coming like she did!  Since our students are older, I think this will allow them to have more ownership over their learning and for them to start to think about what is coming rather than having to wait through most of the day 1 lesson.  I also like how she owned her mistake and talked about how mistakes allow thinking to happen.  Although this was something small, I do think that it is important for students to see that teachers make mistakes too.  In terms of the actual lesson, I LOVED the blender visual.  I think this is especially good for beginner ENL students who might not know the word “blend” or “blender” and explaining it to them the first time, and then showing the visual would be very beneficial to them.  Lastly, I like all of her visuals and hand motions.  I think it would be very beneficial for primary and ENL students.  I fear that most students at Rushmore would find it “young” but for the students who need these skills most, I think they might find it fun and engaging.  I wonder if her slides are available as they are very different from the standard UFLI slides!

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Q: Were there any strategies used in the video that you found particularly effective in engaging students?

A: I found Mr. Holland's hand gestures and body language very helpful in both videos. He seems to have a clear knowledge of his students and their abilities. Perhaps this is a reason why he seems to be going so quickly. He mentioned in his Day 1 video that his class had just reviewed digraphs and specific sounds, so I wonder if the speed was partially due to showing the sequence of activities in one video and knowing his students' capabilities at that time. Going back to his hand gestures, as someone who speaks with her hands all the time, I noticed I often also teach with my hands. I find visuals and signals helpful for students to follow along and better understand what is expected of them. For example, when Mr. Holland points to his ear, he clearly shows his students that he expects to hear their voices. When he points to his mouth, he expects students to listen and watch as he says a word or makes a sound. When he taps out words, he clearly shows each sound represented by each finger.

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I felt the pacing of the lesson was quite fast! Given that it's a new concept, I think we would need to allow more time for review to help students truly retain the information. In my experience using UFLI lessons with one of my students, I've noticed that frequent check-ins and a more interactive approach make a significant difference in their understanding. We often need to redo the lessons a few times for review. The review and extended time helps me be sure that the concept is understood. But then again, I might just be viewing this through the lens of my own classroom and students!

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When watching the UFLI lesson, I felt the pace he went was too fast. However, in the warmup and review, the students did seem to know the drill and were able to keep his pace. When it got to the let's read together slide that’s when I really thought the pacing was very fast. For a new concept, I felt like by the time students were able to just process the word and begin saying it, he was already showing the next word. I also felt he was going so quick that there wasn’t as much as students decoding and participating as him explaining it to the video viewer. Similarly, I felt he did a lot of speaking and side explanations and I am not sure if he was doing that for us teachers watching his videos, but I found it a little confusing for kids listening to him. I do think that this teacher and his students might be very familiar with UFLI lessons and how they run. The pacing could seem so quick to me being that we are just looking into UFLI right now and this group might be using it every day. I know there is a pacing guide for each day / lesson, and I find the two videos just accomplished all areas in a much shorter time.

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The pacing of those lessons were wild! Perhaps Mr. Holland knows his students and thier abilities and knows they can keep up, but it felt very fast to me, especially when teaching a new concept. I felt like he couldn't really assess students' understanding and involvement at the speed he was working. It didn't seem like he was checking in with the children to make sure they were on pace with him before moving on to the next step of the lesson. During the second video during the Word Work section of the lesson, it sounded like he was asking the students to spell the words along with him using thier own materials, but he moved so fast. It seemed like each time he changed a phoneme in the word, he changed the writing on his board before giving his students the chance. I'm not sure he was able to monitor students' progress or if they were following along during the lesson at the pace he was going. However, we can assume he knows his students and is familiar with monitoring/assessing them in his own ways.

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1. How was the pacing of the lesson? Did it seem appropriate for the student's needs?

I thought the pacing of the lesson seemed very fast especially for struggling readers who have difficulty retaining information/keeping up. I think these two day lessons would need to be broken down over the course of a longer period of time. The videos were very engaging and entertaining but would have loved to see the students have more of a hands on experience instead of it just being direct instruction. However, I think it just comes down to the need of the students and preference on approach.

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How can you adapt the videos' strategies to fit your student's specific needs?

As teachers, we are masters at adapting things to meet the needs of the students in front of us. One thing I noticed that could be adapted is the pacing of the lesson. Other than slowing down overall, I think if we have a student who is struggling in one particular area, we can spend more time on that specific section of the lesson. The teacher in the video did a lot of modelling. With a struggling reader, or a small group of struggling readers, I would probably give them boards to do with me as we go through those parts of the lesson.

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Wow- that 2nd lesson blew me a way... so fast I couldn't even follow along! The first lesson seamed doable, however, I would move slower. the 2nd lesson was difficult to follow with the lesson plans. Were the students writing their words he dictated on wipe boards or using their letter boards? That would take ions for my students to do! That was too fast. Also about the scooping... I didn't see that in the lesson details- is that something they do in every connected text lesson? I feel like I was lost on day 2 but I'm sure with practice it gets easier. I like that he worked seamlessly on the smart board.

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I think that the pacing of the lesson was a little too quick, but I'm also wondering if that is because it was a "how to" video to show the different parts of the lesson. The sequence of the activities in the model lesson was appropriate. Students had the opportunity to review the sounds in order to blend first then segment. I wonder if instead of choral reading, students can work in pairs for the connected text and scoop the text within slip sheets. I think it could be an engaging way of holding them accountable to make sure they are reading and applying the word attack strategies.

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1. What challenges might you anticipate when implementing these strategies and how can you address them?

I thought these 2 videos were a great way to show us how a lesson would flow! I was surprised to see all direct instruction though... I think it could be challenging to keep students engaged if things continue to be primarily direct instruction. I'm assuming as lessons progress there are more components that become more hands-on for students? Another challenge could be the pacing of the lesson. It seemed to move very fast. It seemed appropriate for average and above-average learners, but I could see struggling decoders really having difficulty keeping up and retaining the information he's presenting.

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What challenges might you anticipate when implementing these strategies and how can you address them?

I really enjoyed watching the videos. He flows very seamlessly from section to section of the lesson and is clearly well versed in the steps. A challenge that I think I will face is keeping up with the speed he did. For my students that would benefit from this, they are slow at processing information so I would definitely have to slow the lesson down for them and possibly break it into three days. I was also thinking about how he did a lot of the blending, segmenting, and reading. For the first lesson or two I may do that, but then I would want it to be more student led rather than them hearing me say the words. When I use to teach fundations, I would have a student come up and lead the beginning drills. I think this would be beneficial for these students as well and is something I definitely want to try.

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Mr. Holland has super upbeat energy, which made the learning experience feel more fun. The wig he wore added to the fun and made things feel more relaxed. He made engaging with the content feel low-stress, which probably helped students feel more comfortable jumping in.

His pacing could be exciting for confident learners since it keeps things moving, but it felt very fast for students who are just learning the material. I think having high energy is important for teaching a program like this to keep students interested, but for Mr. Holland, it seems like high energy also means moving really fast... which might not work for everyone.

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I felt that Mr. Holland's pacing of the lesson was too fast. His day one ran about 6 minutes long and day one is supposed to take about 30 minutes according to the lesson plan. Day two also took about half as long as what the lesson plan listed as the amount of time it should take. The content was appropriate for the student's needs, but I felt his speed did not leave enough time for students to fully engage or process what they were being taught. I noticed he skipped some things as well, like the writing portions of the lesson plan. Not being familiar with UFLI yet, perhaps it doesn't actually need 30 minutes to complete a day's lessons, but regardless it felt to rushed to me, almost like he was doing a dry run of the lesson, not actually teaching it to real students. And Maybe that was the case, because he did seem to be talking to the camera a few times, especially in the second lesson.

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I really enjoyed the videos. Watching the directions being applied in a real classroom was very helpful. However, I felt that Mr. Holland moved through some parts of the lesson a bit too quickly. I would need to adjust the pace for my students, especially during the sections where they read words and decodable texts together as a group.

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I thought Mr. Holland's colorful wig strategy was very engaging:) His pacing was also very quick. I move much slower, but I'm still getting the routine down and including the spelling practice which takes time. He also had the students read connected text chorally which works whole class, but when working with struggling readers, I prefer to hear them read individually.