Wednesday, June 15, 2011

CCSS Reading Foundational Skills {Rhyme Recognition}


For the first week of my break, I have been privileged to attend our District’s Common Core State Standards Summer Institute. While it has been hard to wake up even earlier than a normal school day, I am glad that I will have a head start for the new school year. It will also be my privilege to take what I have learned and instruct my staff. Since I am so excited about this new phase in education, I figured I would share some of my new learning. So here it goes…Summer To Do List: Understanding CCSS Reading Foundational Skills.  

The standards establish a “staircase” of increasing complexity. A great starting point in English Language Arts will be with the Common Core’s “Reading Foundational Skills”These skills include: Print Concepts, Phonological Awareness, Phonics and Word Recognition, and Fluency. Researchers Lyon and Alexander state that “phonological awareness is the single most important factor in learning to read.” Phonological awareness is an understanding of language at the spoken level. It is the ability to perceive and manipulate sounds of spoken language, such as words, syllables, onset & rimes, and phonemes. In the CCSS, Phonological Awareness standards are only addressed in grades K-1.
To promote the lower levels of phonological awareness, students must be aware of sounds. Here are some rhyme recognition activities called “Draw a Rhyme” and “Rhyme Away Story”. These activities have been floating around for some time. I have used them for the past 9 years, (even with third grade ELL students), and all of my students have loved them!! During training, I was surprised at how many teachers have never heard of them or incorporated them into their own classrooms. So, here is a download for you to use in your own classrooms to cover CCSS RF.K.2a 

Stay tuned for more activities to support the CCSS Reading Foundational Skills.

7 comments:

LaNesha Tabb said...

THANK YOU!! I love that you share your learning with us!!!

mrs tabb =)

Leslie @KindergartenWorks said...

How cute! Sharing this on fb!
- Leslie
KindergartenWorks

Anonymous said...

Hi Alicia,
I have a quick question (I live in Vegas, also)... Will the CCSS be "scope and sequenced" like our old benchmarks were? Has the district created a document(s) that will have their expectations on it so that when kids transfer from school to school, they have been exposed to the same material? I wasn't chosen to attend the meetings at my school, but I'm trying to get a heads up for the next year. I'd appreciate anything you can tell me. :) Love your blog -- used your anticipation guides the last trimester for the last two basal books! They were awesome and the kids loved using them! Lots of "ahas!" were heard in my room. Thanks again!
Catherine

Alicia Lochridge said...

Hi Catherine!

A fellow Las Vegan!! How cool is that!?! The CCSS is tentatively scoped and sequenced by trimester (like our district's prior benchmarks). You will need to login in to Clark County School District's new Curriculum Engine to view this the document. The Curriculum Engine was just released June 3, 2011.

Step 1: go to http://curriculum.wiki-teacher.com/
Step 2: login using your Interact login and password
Step 3: click on "Select Course"
Step 4: use the 1st pull down to select content (the only content that is "benchmarked" is CCSS Mathematics and CCSS English Language Arts)
Step 5: use the 2nd pull down to select course (which is your grade level)
Step 6: use the 3rd pull down to make sure you have selected "Pacing View"
Step 7: click "Show"
Step 8: it will list trimester 1 standards for that subject
Step 9: to go between the trimesters, you will click the black arrow just to the right of the trimester that you are viewing

**Note the little boxes to the right of a standard. There are three boxes total, each one representing a trimester. If a box is gray, that indicates the trimester in which that skill will be introduced. If there are dots in a trimester's box, that means that you will continue to build upon or review that skill.

**Mastery for all the new Common Core State Standards is expected at the end of the year. Our district's old benchmarks expected mastery of certain skills within specific trimesters. That's why you will see lots building upon and reviewing of skills.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any difficulties or need assistance.

Anonymous said...

Hi Alicia,
Thank you for all your help. I was able to access Curriculum Engine and print out the pages that I needed. Your steps were perfect! Have a great weekend and THANKS AGAIN!!
Catherine in Vegas

Katie and Steve said...

Love this rhyming activity! Thanks for sharing!

Amy said...

Hi Alicia,
I was at the CCSS training as well. I loved the Draw a Rhyme activities. Did your instructor tell what book these ideas were from? I cannot remember, and I wanted to look at the entire book. I was in training with Casey Juliano, and i just do not remember any more. If you can let me know, that would be awesome. You can email me at rocknmoose@embarqmail.com or interact me if you remember. My name is Amy Hirsbrunner

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