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During my observation, I noticed that the teacher supported students motivation to read and write by using clear routines and visual supports. Students were asked to take out their wind books and work with words that included digraphs such as wh, ch, sh, th, and ck. The digraph sound chart was displayed in every child’s desk and while the teachers shouted the word and made hand gestures to make sure students understood the word. The teacher said elbows up let’s tap it. Teacher said Fog. They repeated the word various times and asked students to write it down. After, the teacher said quick. Repeated the word quick 3 times and told students to write it down and circle any digraphs.

The students demonstrated generally positive attitudes toward reading and writing. Many students took their time when writing and paid attention to letter formation and spacing. The use of skyline and plane paper helped students feel more supported with their writing and being able to correctly use punctuation.

I did not observe the use of tangible rewards during this lesson. Instead, the teacher relied on verbal encouragement and structured expectations to motivate students.

The writing students worked on was directly connected to phonics instruction. Students practiced writing their own words without seeing an example on the board other than hearing the sound and listening to the word the teacher said. This was great seeing students focusing on writing structure.

Writing was also used to check students’ learning. There were 2 teachers and 2 paraprofessionals they walked around the classroom and observed the children’s windbooks and asked them if that’s the correct way of spelling. Technology was not used in this lesson. The teacher used student’s windbooks and listening ears to hear for the words.

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In one of the observations I observed during a writing lesson where the students had to pick a room in the school to write about; the teacher provided a list of rooms in the school for the students to choose. Providing a list of options to choose for the student gives them the freedom to choose what they like so they can be motivated and passionate to write about a topic. There are many ways the teachers support a students’ motivation to read—the classroom contains a library with many different subjects, genres, and reading levels, but the library also contains books in languages like Chinese and Spanish which also can peak a students interest to read more.

Overall, the students’ have a positive outlook on reading and writing because I observed that during choice time and play time some students choose to read their favorite book, and some students would continue working on their book project from the previous lesson. Since both the teachers place so much emphasis on literacy (writing, reading, phonic/ phonemic awareness) in the classroom, the students’ gravitate improving their literacy more. The teachers use intrinsic and extrinsic motivators in the class especially during the writing lessons. The teachers use extrinsic motivators for almost all the students that write neatly, and use of grammar, etc. giving the students praises and compliments. The teachers would give beebucks, candy, or stickers to the students that finish early. One of the things I noticed that it was always the same couple of students that get materialistic rewards which I find unfair for the rest of students that tries their best to finish their work on time.

In the writing lessons that I observed, the children are in the process of learning the steps to writing: brainstorming, concept maps, first drafts to the finished product. The teachers provide sentence starts for the students so they can form full sentences. The teachers also provide explicit instructions during each step of the writing process. Writing is used for the assessment to see how well the students can translate their thoughts and ideas into full sentences—one of the main scaffolds that expand comprehension.

The technology used in literacy instruction in the classroom is very limited when it comes to literacy instruction. The main technology used is during the main class session, either a projector or a slideshow presented on the smartboard. When the students work independently, they use whiteboards, and worksheets with the skyline and grass lines to keep their handwriting neat and legible. I personally believe that technology can be useful and accessible but it can hinder a students’ attention span because personal tablets can be very distracting but one worst cons about using technology in the classroom because it doesn’t help with students fine motor skills which can result in poor handwriting.

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!st Picture: Smart Board, 2nd Picture: Reading selection, 3rd Picture: Cozy Corner, 4th Picture: Reading Anchor Chart.

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☆°。My CT has created a visually inviting reading corner that has a small bench and a comfortable pillow seat cushion. It allows the students to have a space for themselves to read! Additional to the reading corner, there are physical books available to read such as decodable books! However, the students have their Epic reading time on their tablets so that takes up their reading time.

☆°。For guided reading, the teacher uses the smart board to reread The Little Red Pen. The expressive narrator and inclusion of Spanish vocabulary which many students enjoyed because the character in the story is Latina/Hispanic and relatable to the class community.

☆°。Additionally, students are currently learning how to write summaries using sentence starters such as “First…,” “Next…,” and “In the end….” The teacher provides a clear model and uses the smart board projector to show the students how to do their work.

☆°。My CT frequently praises the children for their effort while doing their work. Students seem to respond in a good way to her encouragement. A simple and small gesture like a smile or hug seems to serve as powerful motivators.

☆°。Students also have designated Epic reading time that they really do enjoy. Even though they do this independently, because they are in group tables, they often interact with each other's stories.

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This is their writing section, where Ms.Almache has all the steps in the writing process 

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For this observation, the teacher did a great job keeping the students excited about reading and writing. They continued to read a book about animals, this time it was specifically about  frogs and owls. The teacher asked lots of questions and made them feel involved by starting off the book with a close up on an animal and having students guess which animal it is. After reading, she modeled how to write a sentence about what she learned by using an example about cats which was also part of the book. This helped the students understand exactly what they were supposed to do.The students seemed to enjoy both the reading and writing parts of the lesson. They were eager to share what they noticed.When they went back to their desks you can hear students already choosing which animal they wanted to write about. Even the students who usually struggle looked engaged and ready to write because the teacher broke everything into small, clear steps. She also provided sentence starters like "One thing I learned about Owls was….." or “One thing I learned about frogs was …...” During writing centers, the teacher used differentiation to support different learning needs. Some kids worked with a partner for more help. In this station two kids were paired up and they were going over reading words, some worked independently on writing tasks, and one group used laptops to do iReady lessons. This gave everyone work that fit them. The teacher used the students’ writing as a quick way to see what they understood about the animals and how well they could write a complete sentence. Technology played a role during the literacy centers. One group used laptops to complete iReady reading lessons. The advantage of using technology is that it can offer personalized practice.It also keeps some students more engaged because they enjoy using the computer. A disadvantage is that technology can sometimes distract students, or they may rush through tasks without fully thinking. It also means the teacher needs to manage multiple learning formats at once. Overall, the teacher created a lesson that kept students motivated, supported all learners, and blended reading, writing, and technology in a thoughtful way. The students seemed confident and engaged, and the learning experience was positive for everyone.

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The writing prompt and the anchor chart. 

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In the 2nd grade classroom I was able to observe a lesson on connecting the text with the visuals. The lesson started with the reading of “The Great Fuzzy Frenzy” which is a story about prairie dogs and their frenzy about the fuzz from a tennis ball. Students have this story in their HMH books. First the teacher started by asking questions about the part they had read and underlined the day before. For example questions like ‘what is the name of the animals we are reading about’, ‘where are these prairie dogs living’. The teacher reminded the students that if they were confused about the questions she was asking that they could always go back to their reading. Most importantly this encouraged the students to read their books to refresh their memories to be able to answer the warm up questions. This also made students to go back to their text when they don’t know information for certain. Next after the warm-up the students got in their reading positions which is with their finger in the words and the teacher started reading. She used different voices for each character which got the students excited about what they were reading. When she read one page from the book where the prairie dogs describe a specific character named Big Bark the teacher stopped to ask the students to tell her what external character traits did the other prairie dogs used to describe big bark which is something that they did before for another story. Along with that question she would ask the students to tell her specifically what the prairie dogs were saying and to use the page number while answering. The student would say ‘on page 154 the prairie dogs described Big Bark as bossy’. I believe this supports the students motivation to read because as they are having fun with the story which is engaging the teacher is asking them even more engaging questions. It makes them want to keep reading to find out what’s going to happen next. Also in another part of the story Big Bark is taken by a bird when he gets out of the hole they dug up in the ground he’s taken by an eagle. The teacher asked the students what do you thinks is going to happen next in the story? Is big bark going to be ok? Where do you think the bird took him? Are the other prairie dogs gonna work together to save him? These questions made the students come up with crazy theories which showed how engaged they were with the story.

Along with the story the students had a writing assignment. For this assignment they had to write an invitation letter to persuade other prairie dogs to join in the fun. The writing prompt was "Come to my fuzz fiesta” and then they had to write three reasons. Before starting on their writing the teacher modeled what they could do on their smart board. Which is what you can see in my picture. While doing this the teacher would ask the students questions and along with her they filled out the example chart.

I believe that the students have a positive attitude about reading. They start their day with independent reading which they choose on their own after the teacher gives them their level. I have seen them enjoy those books even though they are not so much for fun, but for them to learn how to read. As I said before all the readings that they have done in class have been very engaging like Perfect Picture Day, Clark the Shark, and finally the Great Fuzzy Frenzy. I believe stories like those encourage students to want to read on their own. Also the engaging questions throughout the reading teach the students a reader mindset which they can use when reading for fun. To have an active imagination and ask their own selves questions about what they are reading.

They also have a positive attitude about writing even though some of them struggle with spelling. The writing for this reading which is in the form of an invitation engaged the students to find good reasons for the other prairie dogs to come to the fuzz fiesta. They laughed so hard when the teacher told them that when writing they were not students they were prairie dogs. During the writing time the teacher encouraged them to go back to their reading so they could use stuff that happened like how the prairie dogs made costumes out of the fuzz. This encouraged students to go back to their text and not just make up stuff which is good.

The teacher uses the smart board during the literacy lessons. Usually she puts the reading in the smart-board and when it’s time to stop and underline she does it there so she asks where should I underline and the students can see it and follow the example in their books. Sometimes they get up to a point a specific characters but most of the time the students have passive participation with the technology.

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The writing prompt and the anchor char. 

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The teacher supports motivation by having students put their finished stories on the “Shining Star” board and letting them regularly pick books they actually want to read. They also use a little “Book Hospital,” where kids fix damaged books, and a “book shopping” routine so students can choose their favorite books. All of this makes them feel proud of their work and more excited to read and write. The students generally enjoy reading, but they find writing a bit harder, especially when they need to fix their spelling or revise their work. Rewards like “Bee Bucks” are used in the classroom. They help keep kids focused and give them something to work toward, but sometimes the kids get more into earning the bucks than actually enjoying the reading or writing. In terms of writing, the students work on short stories and practice editing. The teacher gives them guidance as they go, so there is some explicit writing instruction.

Writing is also used for assessment when students turn in their finished pieces for the teacher to look over and display. Technology is used for reading activities and sometimes for writing practice. It keeps the kids engaged, but it can also be a distraction if they pay more attention to the device than the assignment.

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The teacher supports student's motivation to read and write by giving a scaffolding sentence to start with like "I know that.... because..." It provides a supportive structure that helps students get started on writing and building confidence.

The writing was based on a memory of the weather. The student had and students were eager to write. The teacher also explained what makes a sentence complete by expelling there's a who, whether it's you or someone else and a what. She also explains that every sentence ends with a period because most students do forget to add one. When students were done writing, they were also very excited to read because they were allowed to choose their own books to read, this was also seen during their little field trip to the library. The students were practically scrambling looking for books they wanted to read.

The writing that I have observed were personal narratives or answering questions from a short reading.

The teacher checks for understanding and the use of the sentence starter. S

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During the lesson I observed, Students completed heggerty and then went over the week’s heart words. The teacher reviewed the words and the different phonemic components of the words that the class was using for the week. After this the class segwayed into independent reading. The students all had their decodable books. Something I noticed about the way the teacher taught was that during phonics, the teacher used a mix of explicit instruction and materials to aid student understanding. She had different colored cards for different phonemes like digraphs, vowels, consonants and each card had a word written in a full sentence with the heart word underlined. This helped students see the sound in context instead of just memorizing the letters by themselves. The structure felt clear and easy to go along with (not confusing), and the kids seemed to know exactly what to expect.

During independent reading, every student had their own decodable books, which I thought was also a very good instructional tool. It lined up perfectly with what we read and discussed in class as well as what we read in Shifting the Balance. For example, the book talks about giving students texts they can actually decode instead of ones they have to guess through. You could tell the kids felt confident because they weren’t stumbling through pages way above their level. They were actually reading.

For reading comprehension, the teacher pushed students to slow down and think about what they were reading. She referenced the anchor chart shown above to help guide their reading. First, they read the text once straight through. Then she told them to go back and clarify anything they didn’t fully understand. If a student wasn’t understanding, she didn’t just explain it to them she asked them probing questions like “who did that?” and “why?”. Students responded really well to this kind of questioning and very clearly appeared to be less confused about the stories they were reading.This method stood out to me because it wasn’t about giving students the answer, it was about teaching them how to monitor their own understanding and teaching them strategies to use when they read alone.

Before their independent readings I observed them working on writing they were doing the day before. It was a scaffolded sheet with questions. The sheet helped them answer and write down questions about the stories they read. The worksheet had sections separated into who, what when/where? From previous observations I know that the teacher goes over steps with the class on the smartboard and models ways to begin sentences and organize their thinking. I watched students shows signs of phonemic awareness by using their fingers and sounding out sounds in the words they were attempting to write. I also saw students looking up at sound walls or the word bank to access spellings of words they were unsure of.

Students' interest/motivation in reading and writing seemed staggered. It appeared that most students enjoyed the reading portion but some students seemed to hit a dead end when it came to writing. I observed a bit of frustration and uncertainty from some students. I also observed some pretty empty papers from some students. When I asked how they were feeling and why they weren’t writing one student told me “I don’t know what to write.” On the other hand, I observed some students that were extremely enthusiastic about writing and some who breezed through it without a problem. The teacher sometimes pulled some students and sat one on one with them to clarify things and help them begin their writing.

I did not observe any kind of rewards used in this teacher’s class. The only form of reward I saw was acknowledgement of students’ hard work or achievements. Something else I observed was a little dance break after their lessons which I think qualifies as a sort of reward for the students.

Technology took up a portion of the class. There was a section of my observation when students did i-Ready. Another piece of tech that is widely used in the class is the smartboard. A lot of things were done on the smartboard from modeling work, projecting student work, reviewing heart words, etc. An advantage of i-Ready I believe is that it targets the exact reading and writing levels that the students are at and is flexible so it meets each student where they are (personalized) but a downside I would say is that it lacks the ability to interact with the student the way a live teacher can. There is also that lack of conversation which is so important for developing language, something we’ve read about and discussed in class.

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The teacher uses multiple avenues and strategies to promote and compliment her teachings of both the act of reading and reading comprehension as a whole. One of the strategies I saw in the classroom was the implementation of the anchor chart above. This “3-Read” chart was used heavily during reading instruction, whether it be during a read aloud or independent reading. During the first read of a text, or short story, students are told to search for the gist, or main idea of the text. This can be as simple as understanding that the main character is having issues at school, or that they lost their dog, and that’s the overarching theme of the story. In the second read, students are told to search for important words and information they might need. During this reading, students are encouraged to annotate the text, using circles or stars to highlight important words or phrases. Other encouraged annotations are “Text-to-self and –world”, along with writing a small question mark to symbolize that they’re still confused about something. This step, and the encouragement of annotating text, heavily furthers reading comprehension, as it allows students to leave a visible trail of their thinking, while also cementing key details of the text in their brains. For the last reading of a text, students are then asked to figure out what the question is asking, and what strategy they can use to find the answer. When discussing this step in relation to reading comprehension questions, the teacher talks about highlighting key details, and targeted re-reading as possible strategies for answering reading comprehension questions.

This “3-read” strategy is also seen in other subjects in the classroom, like with math word problems and scientific texts. I think that the fact that this strategy is being used in other subjects is great, as it strengthens the students’ reading skills, while also allowing them to become comfortable comprehending other kinds of texts. The teacher encourages reading in the classroom consistently, often letting students pick their own independent reading books, as long as it has to do with the unit’s main idea. An example of this was during the Animal unit that coincided with science lessons. Students were allowed to pick any animal they wanted, and the teacher then found a book in the classroom that was about that animal. This made students excited about reading time, as they were reading about animals they picked out and were interested in. This excitement even bled into the associated writing assignments, as they were excited to share what they had learned. While reading these independent books, the teacher reminded students of the “3-Read” technique, along with annotations, in order to further their understandings of the text and get them ready for any comprehension questions that they may encounter.

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In my fieldwork observation, the teacher supported students’ motivation to read and write by starting the lesson with a read-aloud of Waiting for the Biblioburro by Monica Brown, which helped capture students’ interest and gave them a clear understanding of the story before writing. After the read-aloud, the students received a worksheet asking them to retell the story by writing and drawing, and this activity immediately had them excited. Many students talked to each other about what part of the story they planned to draw and what colors they wanted to use, showing that their creative element allowed them to feel motivated to actually do the task. Even though the teacher did not use rewards, the drawing part acted like a small reward that encouraged participation. I could tell that these first graders loved to draw and color, so allowing them to do so can be seen as a reward. The advantage of this approach is that students become more engaged and eager to complete the work. However, a small disadvantage is that some students might focus more on drawing than on the writing portion if they are not guided carefully. I noticed some students were spending most of their time on the drawing, so I reminded them to finish the sentence portion first, then draw. The writing that the students experienced in this lesson involved summarizing the story with the help of sentence starters such as “It started in ________ when _________,” which made the task simpler and helped students begin writing without confusion. This demonstrates that the teacher included explicit writing instruction by giving structured supports, modeling expectations, and reminding students to use their “trick words” folders for spelling help. Writing was also used as an assessment tool, as the teacher could review each student’s retelling to see whether they understood the story, remembered key events, and could communicate their ideas. Technology was not really used in this particular literacy lesson, which has both advantages and disadvantages. One advantage is that students were fully focused on the book and the hands-on task without distractions, but a disadvantage is that technology could have added helpful visuals that might support visual learners. Overall, I think that the teacher created a motivating and supportive environment for reading and writing through structure, creativity, and significant connections to the text.

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Throughout the semester, I have observed this second-grade class and have concluded that most students enjoy reading and writing when they are working in a whole-group setting with guided instruction, but many struggle when it is time for independent work. The teacher supports students’ motivation primarily through group discussions, modeling, and the use of visual aids, which helps students stay engaged; however, at times the teachers seemed unavailable or used a tone that did not always encourage confidence, which may have contributed to some students feeling discouraged or unmotivated. Students generally showed positive attitudes toward reading and writing when they were working with the teachers, participating in discussions, and sharing ideas, but their motivation tended to decrease when they worked independently. Although the school uses ClassDojo, I did not observe it being used during lessons, so I did not see a reward system in action. Rewards could potentially increase engagement, but they also risk motivating students only for rewards rather than building genuine interest in reading and writing. The types of writing I observed included descriptive and narrative writing. For example, during a lesson on Three Hens and a Peacock, students reread the text together, reviewed the story with the teacher, and examined a projected text-structure chart on chronological order and a sheet of transitional words. The teacher explicitly modeled how to summarize the story and used pair-share so students could discuss what happened in sequence before helping her compose a group summary. Students also demonstrated an increase in vocabulary during this lesson, using words such as “jealous,” “attention,” and “admire,” and successfully incorporating transitional words to clearly phrase their summary. This demonstrates that explicit writing instruction is present and is used to prepare students for upcoming writing assessments. Technology is used primarily for whole-group instruction, such as projecting the text and writing templates, which is helpful for visual learners and keeps students focused, though students do not use individual devices during lessons. The advantage of this approach is that it increases engagement and clarity, but a disadvantage is that students do not get opportunities to develop independent digital literacy skills.

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For this fieldwork observation, I observed Ms. Ferris’ 2nd grade class’ literacy lesson on reading comprehension. She begins the lesson by saying, “Today, we will be reading a new book called “Mango, Abuela, and Me.” Let's repeat the title together.” She then transitions into introducing the vocabulary words before the read-aloud. She begins by modeling. She first says the word and has students repeat it, then reads the definition, goes through digital flashcards, and shows the image corresponding to the word.  She begins with the word "belong," has students repeat it, and provides the definition, “to be a part of something”. She then says, “This dog belongs to their owner” as an example sentence. She continues this process with the words "company," "bundle," "snaking," "bob," and "weave," using visuals and example sentences.

Throughout the read-aloud, the teacher paused multiple times to ask questions to guide the students’ comprehension. She would ask a question based on the pictures on the page by saying, “Why do you think Abuela has a red feather in her suitcase?” which makes students curious as to why, and they begin to make guesses, where a student said, “I think she brought the feather to have a memory of her parrot that couldn't come with her.” She also asked critical thinking questions that motivated the students’ reading, such as “How do you think Mia feels that she can’t speak to Abuela?” where students actively participate and share their ideas on providing solutions to the story.

During the read-aloud, the teacher reads with enthusiasm, using different voices for the characters, while also letting students know what the words Abuela is saying in Spanish are, like “Pasas means raisins” and “Buenas tardes means good afternoon.” Throughout this lesson, students showed a significant positive attitude towards reading and writing through their active participation in predictions of the story, new words in a different language, and also discussions of what is happening between Mia and Abuela and what lesson was learned.

Following the read-aloud, students were then asked to complete an independent writing exercise as a form of assessment. She reiterated that in the story, Mia does a variety of things to help her grandmother learn English so they can communicate. She then tells the students to make a list of things they can do to help someone in class or a family member who doesn’t speak the same language as them. Ms. Ferris motivates them to write through giving suggestions. After, students share their responses: “One way I can help my classmate is by reading books together and helping them with what each word means.”

Next, Ms. Ferris reiterates point of view. She starts off by saying, “Who do you think the narrator of the story is?” A student says, “I think it's the first person because I see my, me, and I.” Ms. Ferris begins explicit writing instruction through an “I do,” “we do,” and “you do.” She begins by giving the students a point-of-view graphic organizer and reads a page from the story. She models by saying, “I think this story is first person because Mia uses the words ‘I,’ ‘me,’ and ‘my’ to describe the story. For “you do,” Ms. Ferris has the students do the same process on their own using a page of a book for text evidence. Throughout their independent activity, Ms. Ferris has the definition of point-of-view and some sentence starters like “this shows this point-of-view because…” to help guide students with their responses.

Technology played a major role in Ms. Ferris’ literacy instruction. The smart board showed all of the vocabulary words through digital flashcards, which transition the word to the image to help students visualize what the word means and connect them together, which can significantly help students with a variety of different learning techniques and ELLs. One possible disadvantage would be that students may only be able to connect the definition to that image rather than the word in general.

Overall, Ms. Ferris’ lesson on point-of-view and the book “Mango, Abuela, and Me” helps students not only become better readers by learning a new skill but also helps students develop writing skills through writing in complete sentences and also learning the world around them through learning words in Spanish. Although rewards are not given throughout the lesson, the teacher often praises students after their responses, which further helps to keep the class fully engaged and excited for what they are doing next.

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When I observed the class, I noticed that the teacher did a lot to support students’ motivation to read and write. She first gave them time to think independently and then asked them to turn and talk with a partner. This helped students organize their ideas and feel more confident before sharing with the whole class. She also let them choose any school they wanted to write about, which made the assignment more personal and meaningful. The teacher gave clear guidance on how to write a strong focus statement and reminded students not to use words like “because,” so they understood exactly what to do.

The students’ attitudes toward reading and writing were mostly positive. They seemed engaged during partner discussions and excited to write about a topic they picked themselves. Most students stayed on task and participated actively, and the ones who needed extra support received guidance from the teacher. Overall, the students appeared curious and willing to try their best when they felt confident and prepared.

The teacher used a point system to motivate students. They earned points for correct phonics, spelling, and writing clear sentences. This helped students stay focused and gave them quick feedback on what they were doing well. However, some students focused more on earning points than on learning the skills, and students who struggled with spelling sometimes felt discouraged if they earned fewer points than others.

Students were working on informational writing, and the teacher provided explicit instruction throughout the lesson. She modeled how to write a clear focus statement, offered step-by-step guidance, and helped students revise their sentences as needed. Writing also served as an assessment tool, allowing the teacher to see which skills students had mastered and which areas needed extra support. Technology was used at times to support literacy, such as digital reading or writing tasks. It helped keep students engaged and offered extra resources, but it could also be distracting and sometimes caused delays due to technical issues.

Overall, the classroom showed a strong balance of motivation, structure, and support. The teacher combined clear instructions, partner discussions, student choice, and rewards to keep students engaged. Students were mostly positive and curious, and the lesson provided opportunities for both guided and independent work. By using writing as both a learning activity and an assessment tool, the teacher created an environment that encouraged students to develop their literacy skills while building confidence and motivation.

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For my observation, I observed a 1st-grade classroom at PS 748 in Brooklyn. This week, the students have been learning about communities and the different people who make them up.  Students have been introduced to various community members and their roles, including teachers, police officers, doctors, nurses, and pharmacists.

During the lesson that I was observing, the teacher introduced a book to the students and read it aloud. The teacher read the book about different community members. Before reading the book, the teacher went over four vocabulary words to help the students understand the story more clearly, and afterward she asked if the students had any questions. During and after the reading, the teacher asked students questions that helped them comprehend the story. She asked them to look for the evidence in the text and in the pictures.

After reading the story, the students returned to their seats and wrote a letter thanking their chosen community member for their service. However, before the students worked on their own, they wrote a letter together with the teacher. She asked them to use someone other than the person they used in the letter they wrote together.  On the board, students had some vocabulary words to help them write the letter, as well as a sentence starter. The students were asked to explain why they are thankful for their chosen community member, and to use the word “because,” which was also written on the board. While writing the letter, the teacher reminded the students to use the text as a helpful example.

I connected this observation to the reading from our class titled Chapter 4: The Writing Revolution 2.0, by Judith Hochman and Natalie Wexler. This chapter focused on expanding sentences and changing simple sentences into more complex ones. This technique allowed children to express themselves more clearly and to better understand the subject they were learning.

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This image is of a story map, character map, lesson graph, and overall summary chart of one of the books the class read together. These charts are displayed on the closet doors with a variety of other charts from previous books the children have read. They are filled out together with the children and Ms Lauren. She pre-makes the story map chart, but the children always end up hitting it spot-on. It allows them to look back and see examples when they fill out their own story maps and develop their own sentences. It helps them continue to identify the conflict, resolution strategies, and themes of stories, and it is accessible to them.

Ms. Lauren supports the students’ motivation to read and write by going over and analyzing the books they read together in class, incorporating their ideas into the class story maps and charts, and displaying them to help with their own writing. She gives out the map templates and has the children fill in what they believe belongs there. Since they have gone over it with Ms. Lauren, they can identify the characters, settings, problem, resolution, themes, lessons, and character traits. They are learning how to incorporate these into their own story maps and into other contexts, and the various books they have been reading. Going back to one of their past books, I remember when the children responded that books change lives around the world and essentially that “books are not dumb,” meaning they are learning the importance of reading and writing. By doing these story maps so often, they can really break down and understand what they are reading. The students also went on a library trip, the week they got to learn about books all over the world.

Regarding reading and writing, the students are always encouraged to try their best and use the resources they have. The biggest supports provided are sentence structures, alphabet charts, phonics charts, and the story map layouts on the closets. They have many anchor charts without it becoming overwhelming. They also have their folder and their octopus notebooks, where they can look for any information they need. During an assessment in which they had to fill in the blanks as Ms. Lauren read the questions out loud, one student looked back to her octopus notebook and folder to find trick words and to count the lines she needed to write. It was nice seeing her actively use the resources provided to complete her writing work.

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During this observation, I saw the teacher provide word banks on the board so students know how to start their writing and what words to use. The sentence starters like “The ______ reminds me of ______” helped them share their ideas clearly. The students show a positive attitude toward reading and writing. They are excited to share their own connections to the stories. For example, during the rereading activity, many students quickly raised their hands, eager to explain how parts of the text related to their own lives. When working with partners, they talked actively and pointed out parts in the book that were similar to their experiences.

The teacher also uses Class Dojo to give points to students who try hard, share ideas, or help others. This makes students feel proud and excited to learn. The advantage is that students work harder and feel happy when they get points. The disadvantage is that sometimes students might focus more on getting points than on really understanding the story. Some students might feel sad if they don't get as many points as their classmates. Also, students may only participate when they know they can get points, rather than because they genuinely want to learn.

Students experience different kinds of writing in the classroom. They annotate texts by circling parts that connect to their lives. They write sentences using frames provided by the teacher. They also share their writing with partners. Writing instruction is clear and direct. The teacher shows students exactly how to write connections using the sentence starters. The teacher also models how to use the words in sentences. Writing is used to check what students understand. The teacher looks at the connections students write to see if they understand the story. The teacher also uses the written sentences to see if students can use the vocabulary correctly.

Technology is widely used in the classroom. The teacher displays reading materials on the whiteboard, which is much larger than regular books. This allows every student to see the text clearly from their seats. The teacher also uses Class Dojo to track student participation. The advantage of using technology is that it makes learning more accessible and engaging for all students. However, there are some disadvantages. If the technology stops working, the lesson might be interrupted. Also, students might become too dependent on digital tools and forget how to learn with traditional books and paper.

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In the first grade classroom I’m observing, the teacher like to start the morning off with a prompt on the smart board for students to write about and giving them a sentence starter to begin writing. The students showed their enjoyment in writing their opinions and experiences more than writing phonics in their workbook. The teacher instructed them to finish the prompt at their seats and most students listen and sat for a majority of the writing time. When the teacher saw that students were sitting and writing independently she rewarded them some class points that are added up and traded in for a prize.

In general, students seemed more on task and interested when they were writing something that related to their experiences. They were able to form sentences from their thoughts way more easily compared to the writing they did the week before about the characters and setting in a book.

When it came to workbook writing, however, students struggled to keep up with writing sentences after the teacher announced them. They struggle to stay on task and put the words in the right section of the workbook and it becomes more of an instruction of workbook directions than instruction of writing. Especially throughout their assessments in the workbooks , a lot of students just copy off of their peers instead of trying to sounding or tapping out the words. The same could be said for writing about the books they read in class. The students struggle to retain information like the main idea or the setting of the book and often just copy whatever sentence the teacher wrote in the smart board. I think the workbook writing does give students the foundation of how to spell but it is not intentional writing since the students are not gaining any real context from the workbook sentences. It is learning that is more based on memorization than deep and supported thinking.

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In the first-grade classroom the teacher supports students by  motivating them to read and write by making reading feel fun and safe. The teacher uses exciting books, reads with expression, and lets students choose books they like. For example, this week they were reading about the winter season. They learned how cold it is and they also connected with it by saying “I wear a jacket and hat” or “ I have winter because of Christmas”.  The teacher also praises effort,  and not just correctness, so children feel proud and keep trying. Children Write in their  journals. The teacher gives them a prompt and they write in their journals while the teachers are walking around and helping them.  Most of the first graders feel excited and curious about reading and writing, but they also sometimes feel nervous when things are hard or when they are doing independent work. That is when the teacher comes over and encourages them and helps them out.  Many students enjoyed  listening to stories, and looking at pictures. They felt proud when they read new words by themselves. In writing, some students usually like drawing and sharing their ideas and the teacher encourages them to also write under the drawings. Overall, their attitude was positive because it was a fun topic for them. Using rewards for reading and writing can help students feel excited and confident, especially when they earn stickers. However, rewards can also cause problems because some children focused only on earning the sticker instead of enjoying the activity. I noticed If this way is used too often, students may lose interest when no reward is offered because they feel much more interested in the stickers. The students write in journals,  and label their drawings. The teacher shows them how to write by modeling sentences on the board and explaining each step. Students practice using capital letters, spacing, and punctuation. Yes, there is explicit writing instruction because the teacher teaches skills clearly before students write on their own. If a student doesn’t understand, the teacher walks to them to help them. Writing is used for assessment when the teacher looks at students’ journals, and exit tickets to see what skills they understand. The teacher checks things like spelling, spacing, punctuation, and if students can express ideas clearly. These things help the teacher see who needs more support and who is ready for more challenging work. Technology is used in literacy instruction through laptops. The advantages are that technology makes learning interactive, interesting  and it  keeps them engaged. The disadvantages are that some students may get distracted, rely too much on screens, or have less time for real books and handwriting practice.

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In the classroom, the teacher uses a story map to lead the class to guide student’s comprehension of the story during read alouds. He asks the students what the characters are doing and what they see, then encourages deeper thinking by following up with more questions to elaborate on. 

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Masuma Begum

EDCE 32300

Megan Blumenreich

Fieldwork observation 4

November 23, 2025

The teacher read aloud a book, “My Biblioburro” by Jeanette Winters, continuing where he had left off from the previous reading. As he read, he asked the students what they noticed in the story. The students raised their hands, and said that they saw the teacher’s two donkeys, Alfa and Beto, being used to deliver books to children in villages. To deepen their thinking, the teacher asked, “what do you think these children feel when they see these books?” Students responded that the children would be happy and fascinated because they had never encountered books before and liked the pictures and words written on them. These critical questions reinforced student’s comprehension of the story and encouraged them to make personal connections to the character’s experiences, promoting empathy and critical thinking. By involving students in the discussion, the teacher showed students how to notice small details, understand emotions and tones set in the story, and explain their observations, which is crucial for written language development and reading comprehension.

After the teacher stopped at a page showing the teacher delivering books to the children, he moved onto the story map displayed in the classroom and asked the class “who are the characters in the book?” The students raised their hands and said “Alfa and Beto, the teacher, and the kids.” As the students responded, a second teacher recorded their answers on the story map using dry erase markers in the characters section. The teacher then asked the next set of questions by asking, “where do you think the story takes place?” Students made different inferences with responses such as “the village, student’s homes, and the school.” Through this variety of answers, it demonstrates student’s understanding in making predictions and drawing connections to the story’s challenges, such as navigating through difficult weather and landscapes that could create danger.  By guiding students through the story map and encouraging them to express their ideas, the teacher is helping them practice important reading comprehension skills by identifying characters and settings, making inferences, and connecting story events to problems or conflicts. This approach helps students use their observations to organize their writing and summarize the story accurately.

Next, the teacher had the students return to their seats to complete a written assessment, with the prompt asking them to predict what might happen in the story based on what they read so far. As I walked around the classroom, I observed students writing predictions such as “a storm will happen, the children will return their books, and there will be a new school.”In addition to writing a single sentence, they were asked to illustrate their predictions, connecting their ideas to the story. This activity not only encouraged students to make inferences and think critically about the narrative, but it also integrated writing and drawing to support a variety modes of expressions. By having the students write a written response, the teacher provided an opportunity to assess student’s comprehension, their ability to use prior knowledge to make predictions, and communicate their ideas through reading and visuals. This showcases how reading, writing, and visuals can motivate students to engage with the texts and deepen their understanding of story elements of characters, settings, problems and solutions.

This observation connects to the reading, The Writing Revolution 2.0, chapter 4, which highlights that “And as we’ve mentioned, teaching students how to construct complex sentences can boost their reading comprehension. Because the syntax, or sentence structure, of written language is more complex than that of spoken language, it's often unfamiliar and confusing for students.” (Hochman and Wexler (2024). This is crucial as students were encouraged to write simple ideas, but had trouble including more details. By teaching them to expand their sentences, it would help them express and elaborate their ideas freely and understand the story.

Overall, through the teacher’s read aloud, story map activity, and written prediction, it helped students understand the story and practice writing. By asking questions and encouraging inferences, students could connect ideas and express their thoughts more clearly. This observation showed how combining reading, discussion, and writing supports overall literacy and writing comprehension development.

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This “Make Inferences” sheet was passed out to help students remember how to combine text clues with their own knowledge. It gave them a simple visual guide to use while reading, thinking, and writing. This helps students remember to apply the inference strategy whenever they read or write about a text, making the skill easier to use on their own.

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In this lesson, the teacher was teaching students about matter (solid, liquid, gas) while also teaching them how to make inferences during reading. She introduced vocabulary using clear examples and pictures, and she even demonstrated how gas takes up space by blowing air into a zip-lock bag. This kept students curious and excited. At the end of class she also gave a five-senses writing worksheet for homework, which allows students to be creative instead of just answering right or wrong questions.

Overall, the students seemed engaged and interested. They asked questions about gas, talked with partners when making inferences, and shared their ideas confidently with the class. Their attitudes toward reading and writing felt positive because the teacher has made the lesson active and easy to understand.

There were no material rewards used in class. I think the lesson itself was already motivating because it was so interactive. The only writing activity was the five-senses homework, which not only helps students to practice descriptive writing but also gives them the opportunity to observe their surroundings and describe them in their own words.

Technology did play a big part in the literacy instruction. The teacher used the smart board to display the book Many Kinds of Matter, the smart board clearly shows the headings and bold vocabulary. And the inference chart was also presented onto the smart board while the teacher is giving instruction. But the disadvantage is that it depends on the technology working well. I remember one class when the smart board wasn’t working, and the teacher had to call someone to come fix it before the lesson could even start.

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In the first grade classroom, the teacher supports students’ motivation to read and write by providing clear visual aids, like the “Sentence Starters” chart that helps children begin their writing and feel confident, and the “What Makes a Complete Sentence?” poster that teaches them the rules step-by-step. These tools make writing feel manageable and encourage students to try on their own. The students seem engaged because the charts use colors, simple language, and examples they can relate to, which helps them develop positive attitudes toward writing. The writing they do focuses on building sentences, practicing weekend recounts, and using proper punctuation, showing that there is explicit writing instruction. Writing is also likely used for assessment when students complete their own sentences or weekend stories. Technology doesn’t appear heavily used in this lesson, which can be an advantage because students get strong practice with handwriting and sentence structure, though the disadvantage is they may get less exposure to digital literacy tools.

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In this observation, the cooperating teacher uses a large whiteboard that he uses in front of the classroom. He has students sit on the carpet as he introduces tricky words, such as "into" and "come." The teacher has several white magnetic strips that can be attached to the whiteboard. However, before attaching the strips to the whiteboard, the teacher first reads the sentence aloud to the 1st-grade students. "The friends went into the school." He repeats the sentence aloud twice, and then he asks for a volunteer to come up in front of the whiteboard. Based on the sentence they heard, they have to place the number of white magnetic strip pieces on the whiteboard as the number of words in the sentence.

The teacher chose two students who volunteered, and they put seven pieces of magnetic white strips, which meant that they heard seven words that make up the sentence. The teacher then had the rest of the students raise their thumbs if they agreed or thumbs down if they disagreed. Most of the students disagreed, and the teacher asked why they disagreed. One student replied, saying that the sentence has six words, not seven. The teacher then asked why they chose seven, and it was because they separated the word into two separate words, "in" and "to". He then had another student come up and insert the six white magnetic strips.

The teacher then guided the students and explained why it was only six words, stating that the words "into" are written together, not separated by "in" and "to". He then wrote the word on the whiteboard. He then circled the word and introduced it as one of their new tricky words. He then wrote the sentence on the whiteboard and had the class read the sentence aloud. He then has the students rewrite the sentence in their writing journal that includes the tricky words.

Writing is also used for assessment because the teacher can see which students correctly write and identify the tricky words in their journals. This gives him a quick check of who understands the word and who may need extra practice. He has students read their sentences aloud after they finish writing in their writing journals, and after he has students sit on the carpet, he reads a book to them that includes the tricky words they have just learned. The cooperating teacher would give a small chocolate to students that was able to identify the tricky word in a sentence without the teacher telling them.

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This image shows the Proofreading Checklist that the students use in one of the LAB groups for writing.

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During this observation of the 2nd-grade classroom, I observed their three different literacy-focused lessons for the day. These three parts of their day are known as LAB, Red Thread, and Fish Tank.

Throughout these three parts of their day, the teacher is supporting the students’ motivation to read and write through a variety of different ways. During the LAB portion of their day, the teacher focuses mainly on small-group instruction, which is helpful because the students receive more personalized attention regarding their individual needs. During today’s LAB, I observed that one of the small groups focused on reading a short book called Finding a Prize by Red Thread Readers. Red Thread is the curriculum mainly used during their Red Thread portion of the day. During LAB time, the teachers mainly use Phonics for Reading Anita Archer, Ph.D., by i-Ready for this group. Since the Red Thread and LAB groups are split into three groups based on where the students are at grade level, each pair of teachers uses a different curriculum during the LAB portion of the schedule.

Another way that the teacher supported the students’ motivation to read and write was through positive encouragement. When in small groups, the teacher encouraged the students by making comments like “you’re doing great,” which actually went a long way despite how minor it might seem. The students seemed happy when hearing those things, and they kept trying. The positive encouragement helped them stay engaged; it didn’t discourage them.

The teacher also instructed the students to do partner reading during Fish Tank, while they reread the Water Habitats book. Allowing for partner reading is very beneficial. Not only is it beneficial to the students in the sense that they are being social, but it also increases their engagement because they are having fun, and they are also sharing and receiving different thoughts and perspectives based on what they are reading.

During reading and writing, the students seemed very focused and interested. When reading, they stayed on task, and when writing, they got straight to work on their independent writing time.

In past observations, the teacher never really used rewards to support reading and writing motivation. However, in this observation, she did because she mentioned to me that she had munchkins left over from a meeting with the 1st grade team. At the beginning, one student earned it, which got every other student engaged because of the possibility of being able to earn one. However, the teacher didn’t have enough for all students, which was a disadvantage for students who were doing the right thing but didn’t get the chance to earn one. It made them distracted because it resulted in their being upset.

The students are experiencing different writings in the classroom. During LAB time, the students were told sentences (word by word) by the teachers, and they were expected to write them. During Fish Tank, the students began by sitting on the carpet and doing partner reading. They usually sit on the carpet and read with the teacher while she asks them questions in between. After reading, they are then instructed to respond to the question about the reading independently. I have observed that during this time, the teacher always gives them sentence starters. I decided to ask her about it, and she mentioned that it’s just for now to get them used to sentence starters, but that eventually they will have to do it on their own. The teacher did use explicit writing instruction. One form that I observed was that during Fish Tank, the teacher began by reviewing all the words and their definitions. She also asked the students comprehension-based writing questions. For the vocabulary, the teacher encouraged the students to think on their own about the meanings before reviewing the answers, and she also encouraged them to think about how they could use these words to answer the question.

The writing they do to answer the question during independent work time is used as a form of assessment by allowing the teacher to check for comprehension. It also assessed their knowledge of the vocabulary words that they were learning in this unit.

During LAB time, it is the only time that I observe technology being used by the students themselves. The students who aren’t receiving small group instruction are required to be on the laptop, either completing i-Ready lessons or doing Amplify, which are the two applications used for literacy. The advantage of this is mainly for the students who are able to stay on task and just use both of those apps. However, the disadvantage is for the students who use the laptops for other things. I’ve noticed students who use the laptops (designated to them specifically) to do things like take pictures and play games. Another disadvantage specifically to writing is that technology reduces their practice of handwriting.

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Students were writing reflections for their student-led conferences this week. Students were to use this reflection to lead their personal conferences and tell their parents how they were doing and the teacher just has a small input on it. They had a sheet of "I can" statements specifying what they can specifically do in each subject that they have. The teacher explained how to write it and that each reflection page was for a different subject. Students also participated in explaining how to write the assignment before starting.

Quite a few students were confused and frustrated by the prompt and didn't understand how to write it. Oftentimes, I'd help a student by going over the question and what they plan on writing, but they wouldn't put the plan into action and ask for non-specific help again with the questions. Sometimes it was about examples on how they did text-to-self connections in class, which was a week or two ago and many didn't recall it. I think many didn't understand the tier 2 words they were using to describe themselves in the reflection.

One student was struggling with it a lot and tried to turn it in once she had a full sentence. The teacher asked her if that was her best work and student got very upset and wanted to turn it in regardless.

The teacher had some students in a small group in the back to work with her on some writing.

I believe the writing instruction is explicit and most students understood it, but some examples before they started working might've helped.

Usually they get a sticker at the end of class if they've completed their work, same thing for writing in science class. Although in science now, the teacher was giving stickers as long as they were trying and working on the pages. I'm not sure if the rewards help or not, I think they're more for the teacher in checking completion. I know some students feel pressured when the teacher goes around checking with the sticker and their work is behind. So there's a lot of focus on the progression of other students work rather than what they're gaining from writing.