Monday, 10 December 2012

"Restaurant" Integrated Unit- Spaghetti & Meatballs Game, December 2012


Restaurant Integrated Unit-  Darcie Pike-Wilkie
Lesson 17
Lesson Title/Activity
Spaghetti and Meatballs
Curriculum Strand
Early Literacy
Outcome/Objective
Reading and Viewing: Begin to recognize some sight words, environmental print, and words that have personal significance
Rationale
To determine which words the children can identify independently and with support.
Question
Which words (sight, environmental, and personally significant) are identified by each student?
Assessment Methods
Anecdotal Notes, See assessment sheet attached
Differentiated Instruction
Accommodations/Modifications
Do not only use sight words- Have children’s names on meatballs as familiar words, also environmental- printed words
Resources/Materials
Yarn- to look like spaghetti, meatballs-made from brown construction paper- with sight words and familiar words written on them, tongs- to pick meatballs out of spaghetti, colander or bowl to place spaghetti and meatballs in, paper to write words on, pencils

Sequence of Activities
Procedure,
Instructional Practices, Groupings,
Student Engagement
In small groups, the children will use the tongs to pick a meatball out of the spaghetti, identify the word on the meatball, and write the word on paper provided. Teacher will record if the student was able to correctly identify the word or if they required support.
Reflection
As I prepared for the lesson, I realized that to be better prepared I would have three baggies- one bag for the meatballs with sight words, one for children’s names, and one for environmental print. I felt that I would be better able to manage who was getting which meatballs based on their needs and strengths. I was a bit worried that the children that were struggling identifying the words would lose interest in the game but the writing component (which was initially considered to be an extension and a time- manager) helped keep most of the children engaged. It also allowed me some flexibility when I did not get to hear a child’s response right away- I could go back and ask him/her to read me the words they had written on their list. There were a few incidents when a child would look over and answer for another child. I should have mentioned at the beginning of each group how important it was to only read their own meatballs. I found it very interesting how many of the children could make connections to words on the meatballs- Some children would look at the word wall, some looked around the room for the person whose name was on the meatball, and some recalled songs. It re-iterated to me how important it is for sight words to be taught in context. Something else that happened several times throughout the game was that some children would look at the last letter instead of the first and then guess the word- for example, the word on the meatball was “is” and the child would say “see”. Other tricky areas were words like “no” and “on”. I would usually just need to ask the child to show me the first letter in the word and then make the sound and they would self-correct. I was pleasantly surprised with the level of interest in the game…some children who did not get to completely fill their list of 10 words wanted to stay longer to finish. The tongs added to the fun of the game for some, but were not mandatory. I had not thought of giving them the choice of using them or not before the game…it wasn’t until during the game I thought that some children may find them difficult and so I gave them the choice to use them or not. I was caught “off-guard” when two boys struggled to identify some environmental print. I thought that everyone in the class would be able to recognize the McDonald’s sign…I was wrong! At first, I thought it may be because of cultural differences, but then after discussing it with my faculty advisor, came to realize that environmental print is not universal and is based on a child’s experience. If a child has not been to McDonald’s or seen McDonald’s many times before, they will likely not be able to identify the sign. Nonetheless, both boys left the game having had a positive learning experience. We will be able to play this game again later in the school year as we add more words to the word wall.


Spaghetti and Meatballs Assessment
Name
Words Identified Independently
Words Requiring
Support


















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