Module 3: Video Analysis

I found the first video to be very helpful because I am currently teaching in a 1^st grade classroom. A lot of my students are struggling readers and I am always looking for new ideas in order to improve their reading skills. The students are introduced a new letter each week and they practice echoing words that contain these letters just as the students did in the video. When students have trouble sounding out a word, they are asked to “tap out the word.” This allows the student to individually sound out each letter in order to read the word. The “tap it out” method is the same idea as the block strategy used in the second video. I really like the idea of using blocks in order for students to point to the different sounds that the letters make. I feel as though this would be a very beneficial strategy for when students begin learning words with digraphs. My students have not learned this concept and have trouble when trying to sound out words when they are writing in their journals. The only problem that seemed to confuse the student in the video was that she was sounding out the words and using the manipulative from right to left. We read from the left side to the right side and so this is how the activity with the manipulative would have been completed if I were to administer this activity. Overall I feel as though this is very effective and beneficial for students.

When I am tutoring Daniel in the mornings and he comes across a word that he does not know, I remind him to use the “tap it out” strategy. I feel as though it would be very helpful for Daniel if I were to gather a manipulative for him to use. This also might be another strategy to use with my students when we are working on reading their story for the week. My students are very hands on learners and I think that this might be a helpful tool that they could even use at home.