Teaching a Lesson Introduction

This guide examines the planning resources and lesson support iLit provides to help teachers deliver efficient, effective instruction.

Preparing for Your Lesson

As you prepare for an upcoming iLit lesson, refer to the Lesson Overview on the Planner tab. Here you will find a lesson summary, student learning objectives, and connections to relevant Common Core State Standards. Depending on the lesson, you may also find helpful professional development videos.

For detailed information about the lesson, look to the Lessons tab. The left-hand navigation provides user-friendly access to all seven segments of the instructional model. Simply tap on each instructional segment to see the daily lesson. Throughout the lesson, be on the lookout for embedded support to help you implement each segment successfully. Embedded supports include Tech Tips, professional development support, suggestions for supporting English language learners, and contextual teaching support based on students’ responses or knowledge.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 1

Lesson Segments Time to Read

Each iLit lesson is made up of seven segments. Each day of iLit instruction starts with fifteen minutes of self-selected independent reading time. During this Time to Read segment, students choose from a library of nearly 300 high-interest selections. As students read, they have access to interactive features such as a highlighter, a note-taking tool, and a dictionary that can instantly provide a definition for any word in the text. The system also provides statistics about the number of words, pages, and books students have read so far. Teachers use the time to hold individual conferences. You have the option of relying on the system to remind you which students you are to meet with next. When allotting time for conferences, use your best judgment based on class size and student needs. Simply tap the student icon to access the Student Conference form. Here you will find Guiding Questions to help you informally monitor reading comprehension. The Student Conference form provides preset Process and Engagement comments and a place for you to record your own comments. It also features a four-point rubric that helps you capture your overall assessment of the student’s reading comprehension. Use the slide tool to assign a rating, 0–4.

You may choose to use the last five minutes of Time to Read to assign a daily writing prompt. These generic prompts can be applied to any text that students are reading. Students record their responses in the Student Notebook. The daily writing prompt provides an opportunity for students to practice referencing specific evidence from the text to support their written responses. Students can even use the highlighter tool to copy and paste quotations directly from the text to their Student Notebook.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 2

Vocabulary

Time to Read is followed by the daily Vocabulary lesson. Students learn up to three new words each day. On Days 1–4 of each week, the lesson begins with a Knowledge Check, where you will use a poll to determine students’ levels of familiarity with each word.

The system provides contextual teaching support to use with students based on their responses. This scripting only shows on the Teacher TabLit—it will not appear on the projection of your screen. Vocabulary words are always taught in context, using engaging animations, images, and scenarios so that students develop a true understanding of their meaning and multiple uses. Day 5 of each week is devoted to review and assessment. This gives you a chance to see whether students have mastered new vocabulary terms.

Read Aloud, Think Aloud

After Vocabulary comes Read Aloud, Think Aloud—the capstone of the iLit program. Read Aloud, Think Aloud helps struggling readers understand the specific strategies good readers use to make sense of text. During this segment, all students read the same on-level text. Each grade level features three fiction and three nonfiction on-level selections across the six units. Students follow along on their Student TabLits as the teacher reads aloud and models effective reading strategies. To help ensure that students are on-task and following along appropriately, you can project the text onto a big screen at the front of the room and onto each student’s iPad. Each text includes designated stopping points, which provide opportunities for you to call attention to specific strategies or vocabulary terms. In order to maximize the effectiveness of the Read Aloud, Think Aloud segment, it is essential to utilize these stopping points. Copyright © 2012 Pearson, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 3

In this example, the teacher demonstrates how to make text-to-text connections. Later, during Work Time, students practice applying strategies on their own.

Classroom Conversation

Classroom Conversation follows Read Aloud, Think Aloud. This short but critical segment gives students an opportunity to apply the metacognitive skills and strategies modeled by the teacher to familiar topics and ideas.

During this segment, you may want to display the daily prompts on a large screen at the front of the room. Classroom Conversation includes a variety of activities, such as whole-group discussion, partner talk, and independent response. Activities give students a chance to make connections to the text as they use new vocabulary and work on oral language communication.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 4

Whole Group

After Classroom Conversation comes the Whole Group segment. This is your opportunity to explicitly teach either the reading skills and strategies that are the focus of Read Aloud, Think Aloud, or another English language arts skill such as grammar, vocabulary, or writing. The Whole Group session follows a gradual-release model. First, you will introduce the target skill or strategy. In this example, the teacher talks about the types of connections students can make with a text.

Next, you will guide students as they practice applying the skill or strategy to a familiar text or situation. You will then perform a Knowledge Check by polling the group. Then students connect the skill or strategy to a text from the library. This segment might also include a Vocabulary Pause, where students have a chance to enter new vocabulary words into their word banks.

Work Time

The Whole Group segment is followed by Work Time. Work Time provides an opportunity for students to focus on the skills and strategies they need the most practice with. Begin Work Time by introducing the daily assignment. Students will find this task in the assignment list on their Student TabLit. In addition to completing the daily assignment, students working independently focus on the additional tasks listed on their Personalized Study Plan. This plan is based off of each student’s most recent assessment results. You are able to easily monitor and manage these activities through the teacher dashboard. Individual activities often include leveled tasks on the interactive reader. These activities give students a chance to practice the strategies presented during the Read Aloud, Think Aloud segment in an accessible text. This activity might involve students writing a summary of what they have read—for you to monitor reading comprehension—or generating a written response to a critical-thinking question.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 5

The program provides students with instant, focused feedback on their written work. Students should be encouraged to revise their work based on this feedback before submitting this assignment to the teacher. Students can also use Work Time to work on the unit project. Projects range from collaborative, multimedia tasks to individual essay assignments. Students who finish the assignments listed on their Personalized Study Plan can spend time reading their independent reading book. You will spend Work Time leading intensive small-group intervention lessons and using any remaining time to hold independent conferences. The system recommends grouping for small-group lessons based on students’ reading levels, needs, or problem areas. As always, you have the ability to override system recommendations.

On the last day of each unit, use Work Time to administer a unit benchmark assignment.

Wrap Up

Review

The Wrap Up segment provides closure for the day’s lesson as well as an opportunity to preview upcoming instruction and assign homework, if applicable. This guide examined the planning resources and lesson support iLit provides to help teachers deliver efficient, effective instruction.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 6