Opitz Chapter 12

               In my 1^st grade class, we are constantly creating activities to improve phonics instruction in order to help students reading strategies. One activity that my students really enjoy is listening to a letter sound and being able to write the letter in the sand tray. Through this, I say, “Write the letter that makes the sound ___.” This allows students to have to listen to the sound for the particular letter as well as practicing their letter writing. I really enjoyed this chapter because it is very applicable to my current classroom. I have never worked in a 1^st grade classroom before and I feel as though I am still new to the whole phonics instruction. Luckily I have been able to watch my lead teacher present different forms of phonics instruction and take note. The most important concept that I took away from this reading was how to take phonics instructions and have students apply this knowledge. I also really enjoyed reading about the whole-to-part phonics instruction. As a first year associate teacher, I feel as though I am able to take the different readings and apply them into my teaching strategies in order to become a more effective teacher for when I have a classroom of my own.