i nstructional s trategies by: mary bates edrs 698 capstone in reflective teaching february 2010
TRANSCRIPT
INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES
By: Mary BatesEDRS 698
Capstone in Reflective TeachingFebruary 2010
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Wolf River Elementary in Denver Suburban district Enrollment was 569 students Population by ethnicity was as follows; 3
American Indian or Alaskan Native, 28 Asian or Pacific Islander, 19 Black (Not Hispanic), 27 Hispanic, and 492 White (Not Hispanic)
1st grade - 26 students (16 boys and 10 girls) 1 student on ILP, 2 students on IEP’s, 2 students
on a behavior plan, and 2 student’s referred to RTI.
Population by ethnicity for first grade was as follows; 4 Asian/Pacific Islander, 5 Black, 4 Hispanic, and 62 White.
INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICE - DIFFERENTIATION
Book box – “Just Right Books”
Writing Journal
Small group work
Individual work
What an Easy, Just Right and Challenging might look like.
Sample of student writing at beginning and mid year.
Notes from small group activities.
Notes from low readers and their and smart goals.
Notes from other readers and writers.
Differentiation Data
INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICE- DIFFERENTIATION
Lesson Plans Two lesson plans on the trait of word choice. They show different
approaches to teaching the same writing trait. (an example of student work)
Differentiation Data
INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICE – GROUPING STRATEGIES
Reading Groups
Writing Groups
Math Groups
Leveled abilities according to # of sight words known and DRA scores.
Mixed abilities or Interests grouped.
Varied from mixed to leveled abilities.
Grouping Data
INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES – ASSESSMENTS
DRA’s Check-lists for math 100 sight words
6+ traits of writing
Assessment book
DRA assessments Class list of tasks Class list with # of
words known Check-list with each
students’ level, and a picture of student friendly rubric on ideas.
1st grade assessments
Assessments Data
“PUZZLES OF PRACTICE”
What is the most effective way to provide differentiated instruction to reach the wide range of all learners?
What is the most effective way to group students for differentiation?
TEACHING PRACTICES
What was happening. What should happen?
Differentiation Grouping Assessment
DIFFERENTIATION
What happened for reading?
Students chose their “just right” books independently, but this was not monitored.
Small groups doing shared reading with teacher. One-on-one conferences doing guided reading. Whole group lessons. A classroom library. Books were coded and
students were taught the levels of the books.
WHAT COULD HAPPEN TO ENRICH DIFFERENTIATION FOR READING.
It is important to conference with students to guide them in picking out appropriate leveled books for Independent Reading (IR).
Develop a routine for working with small groups and meeting one-on-one.
Whole group lessons can consist of choral reading and reader’s theater.
Learning centers to provide more differentiated learning opportunities.
DIFFERENTIATION, CONT.
What happened in writing?
Each student could choose what they wanted to write about on a daily basis. (No writing to prompts on a regular basis.) Students bloomed in their ability to write! (The ability to come up with ideas, and the length of writing.)
Shared writing as a whole class. (ie. Dear Santa letter, describing a person.)
Writing celebrations – a group of students shared their writing every day.
WHAT COULD HAPPEN TO ENRICH DIFFERENTIATION FOR WRITING.
More shared writing opportunities. Interactive writing opportunities where the
students can take turns with the teacher. Writing aloud – where the teacher explains
their thinking and planning before they write and then model their writing.
Constructivist approach to writing lessons. Provide opportunities for students to have more interaction with writing activities.
Paired writing opportunities.
DIFFERENTIATION, CONT
What happened for math?
Wolf River used Investigations for math. Differentiation is built into the curriculum,
allowing students to discover at their own pace. Students who make breakthroughs in their discovery help support their peers through a strong discussion component.
GROUPING
What happened?
For reading, student’s were grouped according to similar abilities. Most attention was given to the low readers.
For math, student groups varied. Sometimes students were in groups because of matching ability and other times in groups with varying abilities to help support their peers.
For writing, students were grouped according to similar abilities.
Groups were changed as students abilities changed.
WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED
A routine for rotating groups for reading and writing should take place so that all students receive differentiated instruction. Students at every level should have the opportunity to be challenged.
ASSESSMENTS
What happened?
The use of the classroom spreadsheets to keep assessment data organized.
A system was developed to determine level of understanding.
. = not understanding / = starting to understand X = understanding * = above average
HOW DID ASSESSMENT DRIVE INSTRUCTION
It facilitated grouping and what the next step was for the student and the group.
It helped determined level of understanding and the need for more practice.
HOW DO THE LARGER SOCIAL CONTEXTS CONSTRAIN OR INFLUENCE THE PRACTICE?
Moderate level of parent volunteers. Fairly strong parental support promoted
these practices that might not occur in lower SES schools
Staff training to support critical thinking. When a thinking routine is developed, each student is thinking at their level, but they are challenged to see others thinking. There are strategies such as; Headlines, 3-2-1 Bridge, Think-Connect-Reflect, and Think-Puzzle-Expl
BIBLIOGRAPHYBrooks, J. G., & Brooks, M. G. (1999). In Search of
Understanding: The Case For Constructivist Classrooms. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Huebner, T. A. (2010). What Research Says About Differentiated Instruction. Educational Leadership.
Routman, R. (2003). Reading Essentials: The Specifics You Need to Teach Reading Well. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Routman, R. (2005). Writing Essentials: Raising Expectations and Results While Simplifying Teaching. Portsmouth, NH: Heinmann.
Tobin, R. & McInnes, A. (2008). Accommodating Differences: Variations in Differentiated Literacy Instruction in Grade 2/3 Classrooms. Literacy 42(1) p. 3-9.
APPENDICES DRA levels on spreadsheet Picture of writing/reading groups Check-list/spreadsheet for math tasks Picture of 1st grade friendly rubric on the Ideas trait 6+1 traits checkpoint list Picture of what it means to be an easy, just right or
challenging book Sample of student work from writing journal Example of what is done in small reading groups Notes from low readers Notes from individual reading/writing folders Lesson plans on the word choice trait 1st grade assessment booklet