“DIBELS Distracters”

"DIBELS Distracters"

For further information contact...

Sarah Sesser

Medulla Elementary 850 Schoolhouse Rd. Lakeland, FL 33813

Route D 863- 648-3515 sarah.sesser@polk-

2008 - 2009 Idea Catalog of Excellence

n PROGR AM OVERVIEW

I developed my collection of literacy activities to "distract" students from test day jitters and empower children to tackle the DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) exam with full confidence. Through the year-long use of my program, I have taught my students to view the DIBELS exam as an opportunity to show off how much they have learned. I do not advocate "teaching the test," rather I have dissected the exam into its four sub-parts and developed skill-specific lessons for each section of the exam. The four sections administered in kindergarten are: Letter Naming Fluency, Initial Sound Fluency, Phoneme Segmentation Fluency, and Nonsense Word Fluency.

Activities found in this program were created for use during my 90 minute reading block of instruction. My instructional objectives for each activity align with the specific assessment measures of the DIBELS exam. Along with increasing their understanding letter-sound relationships, students work towards becoming fluent in letter identification and decoding words by segmenting and blending phonemes during pre-reading activities. Some activities, such as Kung Fu Readers, fit perfectly into whole group instruction when the children need to get up and move after a long read-aloud. Here, my student ninjas use kinesthetic motions to "chop up" the sounds in spoken words.

Other activities, such as Letter Naming NASCAR, can be used independently by students in small literacy teams. Most activities, however, are designed for small group instruction guided by the classroom teacher.

When teaching phonemic awareness, my favorite approach is to use handheld objects to visually represent the phonemes in words. (For example, in Leapin' Lily Pads, the toy frogs must "hop" three times to form the word R-U-N.) Whether we use race cars to "drive over the sounds" (blending) or magnifying lenses to "spy" a medial vowel, my students stay engaged because they are active participants in each lesson.

n OVER ALL VALUE

Students stay challenged and rally around each other during center time, creating a stronger classroom community. This year even my lowest-performing reading group shifted their attitudes from, "I can't do it..." to "We CAN do it!" Ironically, it is not only the children who will become "distracted" from test anxiety... but also the teacher! As the DIBELS exam draws nearer, you'll find peace-of-mind knowing that you have a well-prepared group of students. My program promotes student self-esteem and confidence to conquer the DIBELS performance benchmarks. (The spike in test scores is a nice perk too.) It also teaches future FCAT-takers that assessment does not have to be something that we dread. As a

whole, it incorporates teaching strategies that research has proven to be effective: hands-on, kinesthetic, and cooperative learning.

n LESSON PLAN TITLES

? Leapin' Lily Pads ? Pocket Chart Mix-Up ? Build-a-Word Necklaces ? Initial Sound Laser Tag ? Kung Fu Readers ? Circles & Sticks ? Slinky Word Stretch ? Letter Naming NASCAR ? Jump-It-Out

n MATERIALS

Materials for each lesson are listed within individual lesson plans. An itemized materials budget including pricing and vendors follows the lesson plans.

n ABOUT THE DEVELOPER

An Ohio native, Sarah Sesser earned her B.S. in Elementary Education from Florida Southern College. She has taught for eight years in Polk County and currently teaches Kindergarten at Medulla Elementary in Lakeland. She is a two-time Teacher-to-Teacher grant winner and has also earned her National Board Certification. Sarah is currently pursuing her Master's degree at Southeastern University.

HHH

"DIBELS Distracters" Sarah Sesser

Activities Included in the Program

1. Leapin' Lily Pads

Students align three lily pads in a row to create a word. Using a plastic frog, they make their frogs leap across the lily pads as they segment the beginningmiddle-ending sounds orally.

2. Pocket Chart Mix-Up

Using 100 plastic letters, students fill each compartment of a pocket chart. The letters are then read aloud from left to right, as done on the DIBELS exam. A partner monitors fluency with a sand timer and students compete to beat their best score. Letters are scrambled periodically.

3. Build-a-Word Necklaces Students wear paper plate necklaces, each with an individual letter on display. As the children wander the room, they try to join arms with their peers to form a 3-letter word. When a word is formed, the team shouts it out for all to hear.

4. Initial Sound Laser Tag

Each student in the group is given a red laser pointer. The teacher selects a letter card and the students compete to "tag" an object that starts with that initial sound using their lasers.

5. Kung Fu Readers 6. "Circles and Sticks"

7. Slinky Word Stretch

This kinesthetic game addresses phoneme segmentation. As the teacher reads a 3-letter word aloud, the students imitate Kung Fu ninjas and "chop" the word apart. With each chop, the students say the phoneme as they segment the word.

4 infamous letters confuse students on the Letter Naming Fluency test: b, d, p, q. These letters are formed from "circles and sticks." For this activity, these letters are cut out and glued onto a stack of index cards. Students randomly attach the letter cards onto a yard stick with Velcro. They then read the letters from left to right. Afterwards, the yardstick is flipped and the children read the same letters upside down (as new letters are revealed!) b=q and d=p

Like the PSF portion of the DIBELS, the teacher reads aloud a hidden list of real 2 and 3-letter words. Using a closed Slinky, the students slowly stretch it out as they speak the sounds within the word. "c...aaaaaaaa.....nnnnn"

8. Letter Naming NASCAR Students line up random foam letters around a felt "racetrack." Using toy cars, they practice letter naming fluency as they drive around the track.

9. Jump-It-Out

Students select decodable word cards and segment the phonemes by jumping into 3 hula hoops lined up in a row.

2008 - 2009 Idea Catalog of Excellence

"DIBELS Distracters" Sarah Sesser

Lesson Plan No 1: Leapin' Lily Pads

n SUBJECTS COVERED

Reading

n GR ADES

Kindergarten

n OBJECTIVES

4 The student will listen to a spoken word and orally identify the phonemes within the word.

4 The student will phonetically spell 3-letter words read aloud. He/She will then orally segment the phonemes in the word. (using a manipulative toy.)

4 The student will blend the beginningmiddle-ending phonemes together to read a 3-letter word.

n SUNSHINE STATE STA NDA R DS

LA.K.1.3. Shows awareness of sounds that make up spoken words.

Benchmarks: ? Identifies beginning-middleending sounds of simple words ? Separates simple words into individual sounds ? Creates new words by adding, taking away, or changing letter sounds

LA.K.1.4. Shows knowledge of Phonics, Uses skills to read text ? Decodes simple words in isolation

n DIRECTIONS

*This is a teacher-led small group lesson.

1. Spread out the laminated lily pads across a large table for all children to reach. (These lily pads will serve as letter cards which will represent the beginning-middleending sounds in the words read aloud.)

2. During this game, students take turns. The teacher reads a word aloud from her word list and Student #1 selects 3 lily pads to spell the spoken word.

3. Once the word is spelled, the child uses his plastic frog to jump across the lily pads. With each jump, the child speaks the beginning, middle, and ending sound. (This may be done several times by the child if needed.)

4. Finally, the child blends the sounds together to form a complete word. When finished, Student #2 may repeat the process.

5. Based on the teacher's judgment, 1-3 children may follow these steps at the same time.

Please note: For a successful lesson, make sure to have several copies of each vowel, as well as commonly used consonants.

n EVALUATION/ ASSESSMENT

Teacher observation, DIBELS nonsense word fluency and phoneme segmentation fluency. Note: As students gain confidence, I

often enrich this activity by adding "s" or "ing" to the end of words.

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n MATERIALS

? Laminated green ovals (resembling lily pads) labeled with large consonants and vowels,

? Plastic frog manipulatives ? Teacher's list of decodable 3-letter

words

2008 - 2009 Idea Catalog of Excellence

"DIBELS Distracters" Sarah Sesser

Lesson Plan No 2: Pocket Chart Line Up

n SUBJECTS COVERED

Reading

n GR ADES

Kindergarten

n OBJECTIVES

4 The student will increase letternaming fluency as he/she reads lines of letters presented in random order (mimicking the DIBELS LNF sub-test.)

n SUNSHINE STATE STA NDA R DS

LA.K.1.1.d Understands how print is organized and read

Benchmark: ? Names upper and lower case letters

n DIRECTIONS

1. Place 100 upper/lower case letters into the compartments of a hanging pocket chart in random order.

2. As one partner monitors for time and accuracy, another partner practices fluency by reading the letters in left to right, top to bottom fashion.

3. At the end on one minute (as determined by a sand timer,) switch partner roles.

Keys to remember:

? Students are to record their top performance in student log books.

? Peer tutoring may be used to pair a high achieving/low performing students.

n EVALUATION/ ASSESSMENT

This exercise imitates the LNF subtest on the DIBELS exam and September, January, and April assessments will track students as they reach the benchmarks. Students will also keep logs to record their best weekly times (number of letters read per minute as monitored with sand timers.)

Teacher observation is also used to monitor specific letters missed by students during this activity. By purchasing multiple alphabet sets, difficult letters (such as b, d, p, q) can be practiced more frequently.

HHH

n MATERIALS

? Hanging pocket chart w/ 100 small pockets

? upper/lowercase foam letters

2008 - 2009 Idea Catalog of Excellence

"DIBELS Distracters" Sarah Sesser

Lesson Plan No 3: Build-A-Word Necklaces

n SUBJECTS COVERED

Reading

n GR ADES

Kindergarten

n OBJECTIVES

4 The student will work collaboratively with peers to form 3-letter words.

4 The students will change or modify words be rearranging the beginning middle/ending consonants.

4 The student will decode a one syllable word and read it aloud by blending phonemes.

n SUNSHINE STATE STA NDA R DS

LA.K.1.3. Shows awareness of sounds that make up spoken words.

Benchmarks: ? Identifies beginning-middleending sounds of simple words ? Separates simple words into individual sounds ? Creates new words by adding, taking away, or changing letter sounds

LA.K.1.4. Shows knowledge of Phonics, Uses skills to read text ? Decodes simple words in isolation

n DIRECTIONS

*This activity works best when taught in a collaborative "whole group" setting.

1. Write consonants and vowels on paper plates. Attach string to form paper-plate necklaces.

2. Distribute the necklaces (one per student.) Spread out across the classroom.

3. The teacher reads a 3-letter word aloud. Three students form an appropriate CVC group (based on their necklaces) by joining arms to form the one syllable word.

4. Once a word is formed, they should stay interlocked until all peers have also had the chance to form a word. (Any remaining children may be used to form a 4-letter/1-syllable word such as chip or shop.)

5. Once all students have had a turn, the teacher read aloud new words that require only one child per group to move. (For example: Change CAT or CUT... the middle child moves.)

n EVALUATION/ ASSESSMENT

Teacher observation and DIBELS nonsense word fluency and phoneme segmentation fluency. Note: As students gain confidence, I

often enrich this activity by adding the following blends: sh, ch, dr, fr, gr, pr, st, sn, sk, fl,gl, sl, th.

HHH

2008 - 2009 Idea Catalog of Excellence

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