Extended School Observation

Extended school year was an option I had heard discussed during IEP meetings in my fifteen years of experience, but today I was able to observe one of these classrooms in action first hand. The lesson I observed took place at a small group table with the teacher leading the lesson, a paraprofessional providing one on one support to one student, and a nurse supporting another student who is using a Tobii for communication.
The teacher began the lesson by introducing a set of five sight words. The teacher then read the words aloud, gave a simple meaning, provided a sentence with the word, and the students traced the words with their fingers. The teacher then began a sight word bingo game. The teacher then called a variety of words including …show more content…
The ability to recognize and read grade level appropriate irregularly spelled words is a reading foundation skill found in the first through third grade standards of the Alabama College and Career Readiness Standards and also in the Alabama Extended Standards for first through fourth grades (Alabama College and Career Readiness Standards for Reading Task Force, 2015; Alabama Extended Standards Task Force, 2015). The lesson observed allowed for students to work to meet this standard. According to the Alabama Extended Standards, two of the words used in the lesson were on the words lists for 2nd and 3rd grades. Three of the words were not found on the 1st-4th grade lists (Alabama Extended Standards Task Force, 2015). Little redirection was needed during the lesson because sight word bingo was an engaging activity for the students and the close proximity of the students to the teachers. The lesson also aligned with the Alabama Extended Standard, which states that students should be able to follow two-step directions (Alabama Extended Standards Task Force, 2015). Students were asked to clear their bingo chips and place them into a