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1st grade teachers...
I have a huge range of abilities in my class. Some non-readers, to some reading at 2nd grade level.
I was thinking about getting together some activities for my higher level students to do if/when they finish their regular work. Any ideas of things I could give them that are not too labor intensive for me to do?
TIA
Re: 1st grade teachers...
I'm not sure about this. So it will always be the higher readers that get to do something special and never the lower readers because it takes them longer? During our reading workshop everyone does the same thing and everyone always has the same amount of "work" to do. Do you have your students in their ",just right" level for independent reading? All of my students have a book baggie filled with 6-8 books that they read from while I am meeting with small guided reading groups. It doesn't take any extra special effort, every student is doing the same thing, only at their level. It's already differentiated.
ETA: I also wouldn't say that you have a huge range of abilities either. Non-readers to reading at second grade level isn't that huge. What kind of assessments do you do? I'm just curious at this point.
I agree with PP. I don't have my own classroom, but from what I see others do and when I was in 1st grade student teaching. they had centers that they rotated through during Reading Workshop. Everyone did the same work. Centers changed daily, it could be listening, reading from their book box(which they were supposed to do when finished as well), Illustrating a poem they had read as a whole class, game, word sorts, the list is really endless.
Now, the word sorts may be different based on if you have the same word study words or not for each group. But the book boxes were great if students finished early. I would put in/take out books at the very least every Monday, and then maybe change out books mid-week. Rereads are always good for comprehension and fluency.
During my reading block I do have my students doing centers, while I meet with one group at a time to give them direct instruction.
I am talking about other times of the day. For example, on a Friday afternoon, we have 30 mins where I do a Weekly reader with my students. I would like to give my higher level students the chance to go off and do it by themselves..because I know they can..while I help the lower readers to read it and answer the questions. but I know it is not going to take my top group 30 mins to do tis, so what else could they do after they are done? That is really the time that I am not sure about. There are not many times when they would get to do this which is why I don't want to spend a ton of time preparing these extra things.
Hope that clarifies things a bit more.
Also, they already have 30 mins of SSR per day so I was thinking something other than silent reading.
Thanks
30 mins of SSR for first grade? Wow... how does that work?
I love the fact that you are thinking about differentiated instruction for your more advanced kids. Lower children often receive extra help, because we need to give them a little more attention, but sometimes those average and advanced children need some special attention as well.
What about some kind of story boards, or something that allows you to check for comprehension? This could be drawing a picture of their favorite part of the book, or retell the story with pictures etc.
Have fun!
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I'm personally shocked that over 1/2 way through the school year you are just thinking of differentiated instruction.
If I was a parent in your class I would be pissed that my child hasn't been taught at an appropriate level all year long.
@ Redcabbage:I think this is a perfect time of year for a first grade teacher to focus on d.i. I'm sure she has not neglected those more advanced learners. First grade is such an important time to ensure that the students have those early literacy skills locked in place. It will not hurt any child to have those basic skills reinforced for the first half of first grade.
In my experience, most (please note, I used the word most, not all) first grade students who have parents that react they way you are reacting, are average learners, who are being pushed to "read" with out a strong connection to comprehension. We recently had a parent who told the first grade teacher that her first grader was reading the Wizard of Oz... the original novel by L. Frank Baum, and that the teacher needed to raise the bar and stop sharing all of the juvenile picture books. Sure the was "reading" the most of the words in Wizard of Oz, but the child was barley keeping up with his first grade classmates in comprehension and retelling.
My kid is an average reader with excellent reading comp. Memory like an elephant who gets inferences even at 6.
I still stand by my comment about differential instruction. I have one kid in 9th grade. We had elementary teachers that did differential instruction well and others that focused only on those who were struggling. We literally had a teacher tell us she wasn't worried about our kid becuase she knew she'd pass the state test.
Thanks for your comments redcabbage! And for the negativity!! I differentiate all the time in my room. I was trained to be a teacher in England, which is a long way ahead of the US in their teacher training etc. 15 years ago that is exactly how I was trained..whereas when I worked in Atlanta a few years ago, they were only just introducing guided reading.
My point was, that some teachers have a box labeled "What to do when I am finished with my work" and they have activities for ANY student who has an extra few minutes.
My other comment is that at school last week, we had a meeting about our literacy block for next year and we are going to be introducing 'Fundations'. I don't know much about this program, but from what we were told..all students are taught WHOLE GROUP for 30 mins on the same phonics work. I don't know exactly how this works but my immediate question was "What about the students who already have these skills?" ie. my readers at a 2nd grade level? That does not seem to allow any differentiation. Isn't this moving backwards????
If anyone knows about this program I would love to hear about it.
I don't teach 1st grade, but I do have a wide range of learners in my classroom (I teach a 6th grade Inclusion class - some of my students are reading on a 2nd grade level, others above grade level.) When any of my students have any sort of "free" time (which is rare), I have activities ready for each group to do. Groups are given work based on their needs - both general needs (spelling, phonics, etc.) or more specific (related to the topic we're studying during that class period.) For instance, we spend some time each day working on writing/editing skills. After the lesson is complete and students are given time for individual work, yes, there are some that finish faster than others. I make sure to have differentiated work for each group to work on until it is time to move on. For the group that struggles with spelling, they might complete an editing activity where they look for misspelled words and correct them. For a more advanced group, they might do an editing activity where they are looking for correct comma usage. Depends on what we're working on that day, week, etc. I do also have "fun" activities - logic games, crossword puzzles based on our units of study, etc., readily available for all children.
As for reading, my students are required to complete a 7 day reading chart each week - either at home (where they're supposed to read for 30 minutes each evening) or at school (where they get time to read, though it is not usually a full 30 minutes - there's just not enough time in the day.) There are 7 different activities on this reading chart: create a visual of a scene from the book you're reading (what you think it looks like), make a prediction about what will happen next, summarize what you read, list the main characters and describe their personalities, etc. This way, each type of learner gets the chance to showcase his/her greatest ability while working on the other skills. (If you PM me your email address, I can send you a copy of what this looks like and you could most definitely tailor it for use in your classroom.)
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As for reading, my students are required to complete a 7 day reading chart each week - either at home (where they're supposed to read for 30 minutes each evening) or at school (where they get time to read, though it is not usually a full 30 minutes - there's just not enough time in the day.) There are 7 different activities on this reading chart: create a visual of a scene from the book you're reading (what you think it looks like), make a prediction about what will happen next, summarize what you read, list the main characters and describe their personalities, etc. This way, each type of learner gets the chance to showcase his/her greatest ability while working on the other skills. (If you PM me your email address, I can send you a copy of what this looks like and you could most definitely tailor it for use in your classroom.)
This sounds like a wonderful tool. Would you be able to send it to me? My email is in.vinoveritas @ yahoo
TIA!