RTI FLIP Oral Reading Portfolio - Sacajawea, 3rd Grade

Overview:
This lesson plan is used in the Saints Francis and Clare School Ministry RTI (Response to Instruction/ Intervention) Program. Our RTI reading program pushes below-level readers to grade level in oral reading fluency and comprehension. Students use the FLIP cameras to self-record three separate oral readings of a text. These readings and a final “one-act play” are burned to each student’s personal CD portfolio. The portfolios give students immediate, positive feedback about their oral reading fluency. Previously, students charted their fluency data only on paper graphs. Adding the video component of actually seeing the immediate improvement has increased students’ self-confidence. It has also helped with time on task and discipline because the students understand the necessity of the activities assigned and they work diligently in order to have enough time to film a play. Our school is adding sections of 3rd, 4th, 5th grades and a 6-8 middle school next year. Additional FLIP cameras would greatly help our school and RTI program!


Grade Level:
We currently help students in grades 1-5. If we need to choose grade levels for this lesson plan, this contest submission is for 3rd-5th grade. When our school adds grades 6-8 next year, I will adapt this plan to accommodate middle school student involvement.


Objective:
At-risk and below-level students will master content of a short, non-fiction text to improve oral reading fluency. Students will use the FLIP cameras to tape multiple readings and an acted-out version of the text which will be kept in personal student video portfolios. Periodic viewing of student portfolios increases student reading confidence because they actually see great improvement over a short period of time.

Lesson Plan: (90 minutes-as 1 block or broken into sessions. This plan has 3 sessions.)

Materials-
Read Naturally non-fiction text and accompanying questions
FLIP Cameras
Portfolio CD for each student
Computers from the mobile computer lab to burn FLIP videos
Teacher computer to project comprehension questions onto the Promethean board
One-minute timer
CD of audio text, CD player, and headphones for each student
Student pencils and notebooks


Session 1 – 34 minutes

4 minutes: Getting acquainted with the text
• A group of 4 3rd-grade students is given a 191-word, non-fiction text about Sacajawea.
• Students look at the picture and use 2 minutes to write their prior knowledge of Sacajawea in their notebooks.

15 minutes: Pre-reading activities
• Students share their prior knowledge about Sacajawea.
• Teacher reads 4 key words and definitions and asks why each word might be in the story.
• Students use prior knowledge, key words, and the picture of Sacajawea to write a 2-sentence prediction about the story. They must use at least 1 key word in the prediction.
• Students share predictions and explain why they chose to predict those events.

4 minutes: Cold reads
• Each student videotapes him/herself reading the story out loud for one-minute. Each student uses the timer and FLIP camera and burns to a personal CD for the 1st video of the Sacajawea portfolio. Students in this at-risk 3rd-grade group will read about 70 words-per-minute.
• Teacher reviews the tape for errors and word-per-minute data while the students listen to the text (next activity).

7 minutes: Simultaneous visual, audio, kinesthetic learning
• Each student listens to an audio CD via headphones. Students look at the text (visual), listen to the text (audio), and follow each word with their finger (kinesthetic) as the text is read aloud 3 times. Simultaneous visual, audio, and kinesthetic activities are proven to help students with dyslexia learn better.

4 minutes: Warm reads
• Each student videotapes him/herself reading the story out loud for one-minute. Each student uses the timer and FLIP camera and burns to the personal CD for the 2nd video of the Sacajawea portfolio. Students in this at-risk 3rd-grade group will read about 90 words-per-minute after listening to the CD while following along with their fingers. (Previously, students did not like to listen to the slow text readings. This "warm read" shows the students how important it is to listen and follow along with their fingers when others read. When students watch their 2nd video, they realize that they increase their reading fluency about 20 words-per-minute after a short 7-minute activity. Now they look forward to listening to the CD!)


Session 2 – 26 minutes

20 minutes: Student oral reading practice and comprehension
• Students read the text aloud twice, each taking 2 sentences at a time. Students work on phrasing and expression with the teacher.
• Teacher has students write answers to comprehension questions that are projected onto the Promethean board. During this time the teacher can review the FLIP videos for errors and word-per-minute data. When the teacher is finished, the group will share written answers and answer the remainder of the questions orally.
o What is the main idea and why?
o Why is each key word in the story? (Disaster/Explorers/Survived/Communicated)
o Was your prediction correct, why or why not?
o Look at each bold word and give the meaning or a synonym. (Blazing/Guided/Rescued/Interpreter/Communicated/Survived)
o Why did the baby make the trip “especially hard” for Sacajawea? (Inference)
o What did this story make you think of? (Metacognition)
• Students again read the text aloud twice, each taking 2 sentences at a time. Students work on phrasing and expression with the teacher.

6 minutes: Hot reads
• Each student practices reading the text individually at least 3 times, working on phrasing and expression. Each student videotapes him/herself reading the story out loud for one-minute. Each student uses the timer and FLIP camera and burns to the personal CD for the 3rd video of the Sacajawea portfolio. Students in this at-risk 3rd-grade group will read about 120 words-per-minute after comprehension discussions and text mastery.


Session 3 – 30 minutes

15 minutes: FLIP Videotaped presentation of Sacajawea
• Students are given parts to act out and parts to read. Each student narrates a part as the other students mime the story with no props. Students practice the “play” 2-3 times until they are ready for videotaping. Teacher uses the FLIP camera and includes the play as the 4th and final video of each student’s Sacajawea portfolio.

15 minutes: Students watch their CD portfolios and write reflections in their notebooks:
o What activity helped me make the biggest reading improvement and why?
o If I could change one thing about my reading performance in my cold, warm, hot, or play read, what would I change and why?
o What video am I most proud of in the Sacajawea portfolio and why?



The video portfolios have increased students’ self-confidence because they see themselves reading text fluently and with expression every few days. Parents who see the portfolios are shocked by their children’s comfort in reading aloud and their quick improvement in just 90 minutes of instruction. Teachers, parents and students are amazed by the improvement over time when they see the first few cold (first view) reads and compare them to recent cold reads. Our school is fortunate to have FLIP cameras in place to help us record the RTI reading portfolios. The FLIP camera has certainly proved to our at-risk students that they are excellent readers!!