One of my teammates and I were recently discussing our literacy instruction, in particular, reading. Our school has a block schedule with 45 minutes of whole-group, grade-level curriculum, and then 45 minutes of small-group instruction at the students' level. In theory, this seems ideal. However, we are expected to teach the Houghton Mifflin program in 45 minutes to all students and make it meaningful. That is the challenge. My teammate feels that for many of our students, that 45 minutes of whole-group instruction is not meaningful. Our advanced students are not being challenged, and our most impacted students are not able to comprehend the material. We both believe in the importance of students (no matter what reading level) being exposed to grade-level content.
This brought our discussion to a general philosophy...all students should receive instruction that is meaningful and accessible. Students need to be explicitly taught reading strategies and comprehension skills, but at a level they can decode and understand. When our classrooms vary in levels from a DRA2 independent level 1 to a level 50, how do we ensure we are doing this?
My teammate tries to do this by offering weekly rotations/activities, similar to the Daily 5. She believes that by giving the students independent activities, with choice, she is able to meet with small groups and feel secure that her students are getting instruction at their level, and also practicing the skills they need in a meaningful way. She tries to choose activities that support the comprehension skill of the week in an engaging task for students. She does not expect to get to every small group in one day, but starts with the students she feels need the most attention. Throughout the week, the students work to complete their activities list. Some of the work is independent and some is done with a partner. The students are interacting during literacy, but still held accountable for their learning.
After talking about our literacy block with my teammate, I have been thinking a lot about my own instruction. I have many of the same concerns about reaching all students as my teammate. I am trying to also incorporate rotations into my 45-minute, whole-group instruction, but I am struggling with time management. I need to explicitly teach our skill of the week, practice that skill with the students, and then allow them time independently. This becomes extremely difficult in 45 minutes, 4 days a week (library takes our 5th day of whole-group). Most skills are covered for more than 1 week, so I am trying to stretch my rotations over two weeks, in order to feel more successful with them. I still find that I am working to fit meaningful instruction into the block schedule and curriculum program that is mandated by the school/district.
Teaching reading with such a wide range of abilities is quite a task. Adding in that your school is asking you to put everyone in the same program for 45 minutes, makes it all the more challenging.
ReplyDeleteI agree that “All students should receive instruction that is meaningful and accessible.” We know that children make the most growth when they are reading at their own independent level. It sounds like you are on the right track with the rotations. The management of it all might not come right away, but keep trying!
We teach our comprehension skill whole group. After a lot of modeling, kids practice activities aligned with that skill in their own self-selected, leveled text. We then meet with rotations of groups while kids are working independently.