S16: Blog 6: Matters of Time and Money
Things are changing in my classroom. My CT and I have decided to try doing more parallel teaching. This means that while one of us is teaching a lesson to the majority of the class, the other is pulling a small group of struggling students and teaching the same lesson to them, with more time and more support. We began doing this this past week during reading and math.
Our reading time this week was monopolized by a module that the students had to complete. They had to read several different texts about polar bears and what is happening to them due to ice melting in the Arctic Circle. By the end of the week they had to compose a letter to an editor of a newspaper and tell him or her about what is happening to the polar bears and why the polar bears depend on ice. I pulled the small group of students during reading time. The small group consisted of our 3 Tier 3 students and 2 other students who are on the verge of being moved from Tier 2 to Tier 3 because of their lack of academic progress. I enjoyed being able to give them more individualized support as we read through the two texts, which included some rather complex vocabulary for primary-age elementary students. I also appreciated how having them in the small group setting allowed them to share their ideas openly, without having to compete for attention against some of their classmates who were not having difficulty with reading and understanding the texts.
I worked with the same small group during ERT (Extended Reading Time) too. We are currently spending our half an hour of ERT having the students work in their iReady workbooks, as well as spending time going over concepts the students might come across when they take their SATs (a standardized test being given to primary elementary students) at the end of March. Concepts include: synonyms, antonyms, compound words, etc. I found the small group setting to be beneficial for my students during this time as well. It allowed them to have more time to complete tasks in their iReady workbooks that they typically wouldn’t get to finish because the rest of the class is ready to move on. It also allowed me to see that some of them are struggling with the concept on which we are currently working, compound words. This means I will be finding some extra practice to do with some of them soon.
On Thursday afternoon, I was able to teach the day’s math lesson to the larger group of students while my CT worked with the small group. This small group is slightly different than the one pulled during reading. Some of the students are the same, but others are much more on-level in math than they are in reading. Also, my CT pulled two students into her group who had been absent the day before when the new unit, about money, was introduced in order to see where they were and help them catch up.
I decided to start my lesson by reading the “Money Song” (pictured above) with my students as an echo read. I thought it would be a fun way to help my students remember and review what they had begun learning the day before. I also thought it was especially helpful in pointing out some differences between nickels and quarters, which students can often mix up. Another way in which I addressed the nickel/quarter issue was by having the students closely examine the images on the front and back of each. Even though nickels and quarters can look different depending on when they were made, it’s a pretty sure bet that they’ll have Thomas Jefferson or George Washington on them. I was proud that my students were able to readily identify George Washington, because he had been learning about him and President’s Day earlier in the week.
I spent the rest of the math block working with students on pages in their workbook that had to do with labelling and counting money. I chose to allow my students to work at their own pace, since some students were already ahead from the day before and clearly had a good grasp on the concept. I was able to keep an eye on them while working more closely with a few students who were having a more difficult time and were seeking my help. At times I felt that it got a little chaotic and noisy, especially when I had 3 kids trying to get my attention at the same time; but I also felt that my students were enjoying themselves, working well, and learning.
I look forward to having more opportunities to teach math in the future. I also look forward to more parallel teaching and seeing the progress I hope to see in my Tier 3 students as we find ways to cater to their individualized needs.
Addresses FEAPS 1 a and b 3 c and h
