Two Heads Are Better Than One Literacy Teaming Vanessa Behun and Briana Nesheim 2/3 Multiage Teachers, Victoria Elementary

Two daughters out of high school Teaching since 1990 Loves to sing in public Short Blonde Came to VES in 2005 Two kids Live in Chaska Listen to KFAN Two sons in elementary school Teaching since 2005 Secretly awesome at SingStar Tall Brunette

Once Upon a Time... Two separate multi-age classrooms Leveled flex groups for reading (basal), across grade level Daily 5 in homerooms (one on one conferencing, sign up for choices)

Your Turn! My current reading instruction practices Pros and cons My beliefs about reading instruction Your Turn!

Pros Cons Students were grouped by reading ability Daily 5 worked to have students occupied while the teacher was meeting with other students Only had to plan for one class Cons We did not know our students well as readers (even in our flex reading groups) which made conferencing a problem Classes were different sizes (wanted to keep the lower reading classes smaller) Direct instruction to the entire class Not personalized to the individual student One on one conferences were once a week, surface level Limited by schedule

Our Beliefs We wanted to know our homeroom kids better as readers. We wanted to meet with small groups of kids multiple times a week. The range within a given classroom was too large to do that on our own. The range within a given classroom is similar amongst other classrooms. We wanted flexibility in scheduling with larger chunks of time. We wanted to effectively meet the needs of all of our students by personalizing their learning.

Step 1: Assessments Running Records (what are the other kids doing?)- Reading A-Z File folder for tracking Created groups (6 or less) Looked at combinations of groups to separate behaviors, share the wealth We each had about 5-6 small groups We are required to assess 3 times a year but we find ourselves assessing kids more often depending on individual needs File folder

Teaching By Skills We aligned the skills from gr. 2 basal so they would match gr. 3 We teach the skill in a grade level whole group in the morning (gradual release) Our small groups focus on the same skills but with texts at that group’s reading level Once a trimester, we use non-fiction texts that support our theme topic (Native Americans, Antarctica, Animals)

Texts Finding quality texts at multiple levels that we can read within the time frame is tough! We are constantly on the hunt for good literature. We can fall back on Journeys leveled readers (look at different grade levels) Book room, ReadWorks, Reading A-Z, National Geographic for Kids Magazines, book orders Store materials based on skills, not stories

Fitting It All In Daily Schedule 9:20 Student Arrival 9:30 Specials 10:30 Snack/Morning Meeting 11:00 Grade Level Language Arts Grade Level Standards Basal Skills Grammar and Spelling Vocabulary Writing 12:00 Lunch/Recess 12:35 Language Arts (flexible) 1:05-2:00 Math 2:00-3:00 Guided Reading Groups/Daily 5 3:00-3:45 Theme 3:50 Dismissal Fitting It All In Grouping schedules (group a meets M, W, F...etc.) Three 20 minute groups each day (one group every day during read aloud) Vocab/word work, reading skill/fluency, writing (order depends on group level) We use this for our PLC goal 140 total minutes for language arts instruction each day Weekly schedule with post-its

What Are The Other Kids Doing? Started with Daily 5 with fidelity 30 minutes read to self for everyone- non-negotiable Must-Dos and May-Dos Unfinished Work From Reading Reading with a Partner Working on Writing PL Projects Continue Read to Self Cursive IXL

Our Next Steps Continue “owning” grade level Journeys curriculum Increase multiage writing opportunities Read aloud buddy for small groups or assessments Secretly incorporating reading skills into W.I.N. time Continue searching for resources to teach standards that complement Journeys New theme topics for interdisciplinary lessons Use Empower to track standards for students

Questions Goals Your Turn!