Inside the Classroom: Seven Hills Elementary - Jenna Ford
Inside the Classroom: Seven Hills Elementary - Jenna Ford
Inside the Classroom is a series that visits Northwest ISD campuses throughout the year and highlights the magical moments that happen between teachers and students each and every day across the entire 234 square miles of NISD.
One of Northwest ISD’s top priorities is to promote literacy in its students, especially its youngest learners. For our next edition of Inside the Classroom, we visited Jenna Ford whose smiles and positive energy have her kindergarteners at Seven Hills Elementary excited to read.
Northwest ISD utilizes UFLI Foundations curriculum for reading and phonics in its youngest readers, and that provided the base for Ms. Ford’s lesson during our visit. It is a curriculum that helps children learn letter sounds, how to blend sounds to make words, how to read and spell, plus it also teaches them how to build fluency and comprehension.
When we visited, Ms. Ford’s lesson started with her introducing the letter H and the sound it makes by giving her students the tip to blow on their hand to ensure they were making the correct sound.
Ms. Ford demonstrated how to draw the letter H on her board, then students returned to their desks and drew them on their own whiteboards.
They then returned to the front of the class and read some words beginning with H out loud. Each student then grabbed a baking sheet with magnetic letters and spelled words as Ms. Ford called them out.
As students worked through spelling numerous words on their sheets, Ms. Ford was happy to come around and give out high-fives for a job well done!
Next, the lesson transitioned to irregular “heart” words. These are high frequency words students have to learn by heart, because they contain one or more irregular parts that can’t be decoded yet using the phonics rules students know.
They started by reading a few heart words, then students went back to their desks and wrote heart words as Ms. Ford called them out. Again, she was always walking around and quick to give out a big high-five to anyone doing great work.
After a quick introduction of new heart words (he, me, be) by Ms. Ford, students returned to their desks and practiced writing the new words.
Next, Ms. Ford asked students to put their seats in “airplane mode.” Each student pulled their chair out of their desk and turned it toward the board. Once they were all boarded for their flight, students read sentences aloud that used words with H and their new sight words. Then, they wrote similar sentences on their whiteboards and got even more encouragement from Ms. Ford.
After a quick wiggle break, Ms. Ford read the book “Pumpkin Soup” to the class. The story taught students about traditions and the class had a discussion connecting it to their own family traditions. The class was captivated by the book and Ms. Ford’s expressive reading of it.
The Wolves finished their morning with literacy stations, which are fun, interactive activities that engage them in further practicing their reading skills. Stations included literacy-themed Candy Land, a pocket chart activity that involved hiding letters, a classroom library and much more.
As students rotated through the stations, Ms. Ford was always there to offer advice and encouragement. Her love for her students and the genuine desire to see them succeed was evident throughout our visit. That love was certainly reciprocated by her students, and they are all becoming better readers, one heart word and high-five at a time.
Check back regularly all year as we continue to visit students and teachers throughout Northwest ISD and offer a rarely seen look Inside the Classroom.