“To the greatest extent possible, pupils and teaching staff should consistently be in the same Class Bubbles although this will not be possible at all times.”
“Staff members who move from class bubble to class bubble should be limited as much as possible.”
So timetables will need careful consideration. If you typically work with all classes for Maths then that will need to be reviewed. It is better to be assigned all of your caseload within one or two class bubbles and work with that class for literacy and numeracy support and those at SS+. That way you will only need to be in and out of 1 or 2 classes depending on the size of your school, minimising your need for contact with multiple class teachers and SNAs.
“Where possible, work-stations should be allocated consistently to the same staff and children rather than having spaces that are shared.”
So does this mean that support should be all in-class to avoid shared use of resources in the SETs classroom? We all know that certain children need a break from the classroom so this is where we need to seek balance and use common sense. It may mean the SET assigns individual resources for each child or small group withdrawn and cleans all shared equipment before the next withdrawal. I would keep this to a minimum and provide in-class support where possible.
“Class bubbles should stay away from other classes, and pods within those classes should be established to the extent which is possible." “Sharing educational material between Pods should be avoided/minimised where possible”.
SETs and Class teachers should work closely together to create these ‘pods’. Is it better to group according to ability for when Literacy and Numeracy Support is being offered by the SET? This has its own disadvantages as we all know the power of peer learning and heterogeneous groups. It was stated that PODS appear to be a further safety measure but class bubbles are a requirement. Maybe if the SETs classroom can facilitate 1m distancing between pupils then Literacy/Numeracy or Social groups would be okay to be withdrawn even if those pupils are not from the same pod.
Other recommendations from the Return to School: Curriculum Guidance for School Leaders and Teachers that may be worth considering:
https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/govieassets/81988/6505b962-fada-4333-b5eb-b582dda26645.docx
What is clear is that the flexibility is there for schools to take their own school needs into consideration. Keeping everyone safe has to be top prioirty but the inclusion of the phrases such as 'balanced approach and apply common sense' is going to be useful when marking out our own roadmap at school level.
]]>A powerful book by Lisa Papp highlighting the voice of the struggling reader.
We all have children in our class that have to overcome various challenges during literacy acquisition and fair to say as teachers, we do our very best for them in any way we can. The author's choice of words in this book resonate with me...'Stars are for good readers... Instead I get a heart that says Keep Trying'. These words make me mindful of our reward systems and the importance of nurturing those reluctant readers with great care! Are we always fully cognisant of their real struggles and how it can impact their self esteem and confidence.
💜 Consider supports you put in place for struggling or reluctant readers in your class? In this story Madeline experiences success by reading to a therapeutic dog.
In addition to a focused intervention with the support of a Special Education Teacher, here are a few simple things I do in the classroom:
💥Ensure they are reading at their Instructional Level. Use Running Records to decipher their strengths and needs.
💥Allow them to CHOOSE books that interest them (differentiate text and/or use technology (audio books) where appropriate).
💥Create a Classroom Culture where there is a clear understanding and acceptance of the different ways we all learn and that we all have strengths and needs. Share your own needs as a teacher and lifelong learner.
💥Use the child's strengths to allow him/her to be the Expert in other curricular areas
💥 Create opporunities for Buddy Reading with a younger child.
💥 Give them Extra Time to prepare a piece for reading aloud if they want to partake in Readers Theatre.
💥Engage them in story through Teacher Read Alouds...get them hooked by sharing your love and enthusiasm of reading.
💥 Read the books that they are reading. Discuss it with them. Show them that teacher likes to read what they are reading. Show them the value of the books chosen for them or chosen by them.
💥GIVE THEM THE STAR!!💥
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Here are my top tips I would like to share with you.
I cannot say how important this is. It can save you a lot of time in the long run. Outside of the usual collection of data such as reading age, reading level, writing samples, maths competency, a quick rundown of personality/friendships from previous teacher, etc, I believe it is crucial to find out what type of learner they are. I always do this at the beginning of the year. I will determine their learning style, strengths in multiple intelligences, learning environment preferences and attitudes to school. I will also try to incorporate the ‘Parent Voice’ by asking parents to complete a questionnaire about their child. This type of data collection will help you determine reluctant learners, insightful information from parents on personality and specific interests, etc. I always do a series of lessons on how we learn and involve the children in this process. How powerful would it have been to know your strengths (and weaknesses) as a young learner?
Here is a Class Overview of one of my classes using the Multiple Intelligence Test "8 Kinds of Smart by Martha Kaufeldt"
2. Striking a balance between low and high-prep differentiation
It is important to build a bank of both high and low prep differentiated techniques that you can use across the curriculum to avoid teacher burn out. At times, I feel teaching practice can set unrealistic expectations on NQTs that the level of preparation they engaged in during that time is sustainable. It is not!
Levels of Preparation
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(Adapted from Carol Ann Tomlinson, 2004, How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed Ability Classrooms)
3. Start small but just start!
Begin by trying one or two new things every half term in relation to Content, Process and Product. You might decide that this month I am going to ensure for Content: I am mindful of student interests for project work, for Process: I am going to use tiered activities (activities based on same key learning goal but different levels of difficulty) and for Product: I am going to give a choice of two activities for one new subject. Lots of us are very good at differentiating for the core subjects as the varying needs are evident. But there are simple techniques you can incorporate into other subjects that will enable you to make things a little easier and more engaging for the learner who is struggling with literacy. There is an element of literacy embedded in nearly every subject, so imagine being able to make some small changes in your lessons to play to the strengths of that ‘weak’ child and allow them to be the expert. One of those techniques is Choice Boards, a very underrated strategy for both process and product. By using what you know from the pupil’s profiles and giving the children choice it can be a powerful learning experience. If you have engaged the children in your data collection process at the beginning of the year they can make an informed decision on the type of activity they chose to do.
Here is another example of how a child's work can improve by adapting the way in which they demonstrate their understanding of the topic.
Differentiation can be very time consuming if many of your efforts to meet needs require high levels of preparation. Some very simple techniques that don't require much preparation is varied teacher questionning, varying pace and varying expectations of product. However, I would advise that in simplifying topics for children who are struggling in literacy do not underestimate their ability to shine in other ways.
"If a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn".
(Ignacio Estrada)
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Here are my top 5 things I brought back to the class.
This is an obvious one but not one size fits all and not every child will fit into a group! Class readers are useful in exploring a concept (a particular genre, oral language skill) in mixed ability groups. It should not be used for whole class reading instruction.
Children need to develop a range of reading strategies when they meet tricky words and develop the skill of adapting which strategies to use depending on what they are reading. Explicit teaching is needed to model the wide range of strategies available to any reader.
Reading fluency has to happen from day one! A child reading level 1 books ‘I am at the park’ should be expected to read at a good pace, smooth voice with appropriate intonation. Teacher modelling is key here. A good prompt to use is ‘Make it sound like your speaking voice.’
Talk about the reading and writing connection a lot! What they know about one will help them learn about the other. The reciprocity between reading and writing is undervalued.
Provide a wide variety of reading experiences. Read them a novel, use picture books, guided reading, buddy reading with an older/younger child, let them read for pleasure, give them choice and most importantly give them the opportunity to talk about what they have read. Children love to discuss!
]]>This article will hopefully give parents some ideas to help their children become more independent spellers and relieve some of the anxiety they might be experiencing during written activities. Teachers may also find this article useful and can share this advice to any concerned parent and within their own school community These strategies are based on the renown work of the literary legend Marie Clay, the founder of Reading Recovery.
There is nothing more frustrating for a child than to have to continuously rub out their work when they get something ‘wrong’. I think we have all fallen into the trap of having to get everything right on the first go, resulting in feelings of frustration during writing for the child.
But imagine if you could help your child build a growth mindset when it comes to writing and spelling in particular. Imagine if your child changed from ‘I just don’t know how to spell this, tell me Mom!’ to ‘I’ve had a go but will you help me check it’. The first step towards achieving this change in mindset is to have something for your child to try out words before it goes into the final piece of writing. Granted some words they will write straight down as they will believe they have the correct spelling, but there will be a lot more that they will have to stop to think about. You can give your child a blank page, a mini whiteboard and marker or give them a ‘Have a go’ copy that they can have next to them each time they are writing. This is hugely important in helping them realise that writing is a process, and good writers have to edit and have a go of words!
The following tips are for when they have stopped and are looking for you to step in and spell for them!
This strategy is all about developing phonological awareness, tuning the ear to hear the parts in words. How often do you hear ‘Mom, how do you spell….?’ A simple strategy to begin with is to prompt them to ‘clap the word!’ What this does is help the children break the word into ‘chunks’, making the task of spelling that particular word a more manageable task. For example, if your child needs to spell ‘going’. Ask them to clap it. It is much easier to spell ‘go’ and ‘ing’ than attempting the whole thing in one go. This works effectively even with older children, as we know even as ‘fluent spellers’, we often use that strategy when spelling more complicated longer words. Look how beneficial it would be for the child trying to spell ‘immigration’ or ‘gardening’.
What does it mean to stretch a word? Children often omit a particular letter inhttps://youtu.be/6cviAPu1h7c a word because of quick pronunciation of that word. For example, some children may write ‘wet for went’, ‘sip for slip’ or ‘shos for shops’. Some sounds can get ‘buried’ so that when children go to write a certain word things get ‘lost’. Slowly saying a word can help children to hear every sound in a word. Ask your child to pretend they have a piece of blu-tack/chewing gum in their hand and to stretch it with both hands as far as it goes while saying the word they are trying to spell. You will be amazed how they will hear a missed sound using this stretching technique!
The next strategy comes from a teaching technique called ‘Elkonin Boxes’. It gives your child a visual to support their spelling using a box. Rule of thumb is each sound gets a box! Ask your child to stretch the word, draw an appropriate sized box for them and get them to push the sounds in with their finger. They can write in whatever letters they know. If a box is empty, then the child immediately sees a gap and will be prompted to try again.
The final tip is to get your child thinking about how words are connected! This is called word analogy. Help your child to use a known word to help them write a new word. For example, if your child wanted to spell the word ‘them’, you might prompt them to write the word ‘the’ and add the ‘m’. Helping them to make a connection for the next time they write it. If they wanted to write ‘starting’. Let them start with a small chunk they might know. You might get them to write the word ‘car’. Change it to ‘star’, then ‘start’, then ‘starting’. See more examples below.
Some of these spelling strategies are best used together but it really depends on the type of word. One strategy will be more useful at different times. Sometimes you might start with clapping the word, then stretching the word, thinking about a word that it sounds like would also help. It is always good to look at your child’s attempt with a positive mindset and see the parts they got right, and support them in the parts they still need to learn!
If your child was able to practice these strategies and come back to school with a new found confidence and a few of these in their back pocket to try when they are ‘stuck’ wouldn’t that be just super!
Check out my video demonstration of these strategies on https://youtu.be/6cviAPu1h7c
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