An introduction to rotations
At our school we have a unique ELL population, as well as a wide range of learning levels. Levels range from DRAII level 3 to 60 in just one class, with the same trends in math. This created some questions: 1. With the No Child Left Behind criteria there is pressure to focus on "bubble kids," (students who missed the standards test by a few bubbles.) This plan is "ok", but what about the lowest and highest levels? 2. Most teachers put students in 3-4 guided reading groups based on reading level; but our students would be placed in 8-9 groups. How do you accommodate such a wide range of learners? 3. Why are the lowest students low? Was it language acquisition, since a majority of our students are Spanish speakers? Is it a processing problem or a special need? Does the student not have enough background knowledge? This is when our fourth grade team decided to create a unique teaching system for our students. This may not work for all students, and some schools may not have a need for this type of instruction; but we feel it has worked for our students.
In order to answer some of the questions we had decided to level our students across our grade level in both reading and math. The students are still working with statistical and age appropriate peers, so it is better than leveling across all grades; however, ability grouping can be a very tricky. We had to think of ways to make it work for us. Each teacher decided to teach a specific reading level, math level and subject area. Below is an introduction to each teacher with a description of the content they teach.
In order to answer some of the questions we had decided to level our students across our grade level in both reading and math. The students are still working with statistical and age appropriate peers, so it is better than leveling across all grades; however, ability grouping can be a very tricky. We had to think of ways to make it work for us. Each teacher decided to teach a specific reading level, math level and subject area. Below is an introduction to each teacher with a description of the content they teach.
Our 4th grade teachers
Mrs. De Herrera- Proficient Reading, Advanced Math, Science
Mrs. Nunez-Emergent Readers, Proficient Math, Social Studies
Mrs. Patitz- Nearing Proficient Reading, Emergent Math, Writing
Ms. Chiuminatto- Advanced Readers, Nearing Proficient Math, Study Skills
How we "make it work"
1st- We don't focus on how the student is learning, we focus more on how we are teaching the content. Leveling our students allows us to differentiate instruction, but we all agreed to cover the exact same content. All our students learn the same major standards, but in a different way; or at a different pace. For example all students read the same Treasures stories at the same time, but the emergent students are focusing on the phonics component, while the proficient class is focusing on grammar.
2nd- Students are taught to focus more on their own individual progress, than on where they "should" be as a collective class. Every student has a data binder they maintain. They keep student progress graphs in the binder to observe their own individual progress. We always tell our students it isn't about what level you "should be" at, but the level you are on "right now" and where we want to go from there. Together the student and teacher create a goal, and we create a plan to accomplish that goal. We always celebrate individual and class achievements.
3rd- Pacing is always differentiated- Students do receive the same content, but each teacher has their own adapted pacing plan. For example there is a lesson in Everyday Math that makes students measure the surface area of their skin. The proficient students love this lesson, but for the beginning steps class it was impractical. The emergent class spent an extra day with further enrichment from the day before determining 2-D area. Both classes will take assessments and finish units at the same time, but may be on different lessons.
4th- We create a safe environment for learning. One of the benefits of ability grouping across grade levels, is that the teacher knows that all the students range from level 20 to level 24; but the students don't need to be singled out. There are no groups of 12s and then another group of 60s so students feel uncomfortable in one classroom. The higher level students feel uncomfortable because teachers tend to rely on the higher students to "always help out," without truly challenging them; and the lower groups feel uncomfortable because the higher level groups are intimidating. In each classroom, students are not ability grouped further. Instead they are grouped by skills or a specific need; such as fluency or extra math fact practice etc. There is still a large enough academic range to group students by higher and lower levels in each classroom. In our ELL atmosphere, grouping high and low students with academic and language peers helps the students acquire the English language. The cooperative learning groups allow the students to feel more comfortable, which allows them to take risks both academically and linguistically.
5th- A variety of instructional strategies are used to differentiate classes. This is where I believe our fourth grade team excels and I am very proud to be a part of it (shout out to my ladies). Every single class has a combination of direct instruction, group work, center work, one-on-one teacher conferences. In reading there is also read aloud, reading time, guided reading and literacy centers. In math there are math games, math centers, cooperative learning teams and guided math groups. Each area is adapted to the student's classroom level. See the chart below for an example of reading instruction:
2nd- Students are taught to focus more on their own individual progress, than on where they "should" be as a collective class. Every student has a data binder they maintain. They keep student progress graphs in the binder to observe their own individual progress. We always tell our students it isn't about what level you "should be" at, but the level you are on "right now" and where we want to go from there. Together the student and teacher create a goal, and we create a plan to accomplish that goal. We always celebrate individual and class achievements.
3rd- Pacing is always differentiated- Students do receive the same content, but each teacher has their own adapted pacing plan. For example there is a lesson in Everyday Math that makes students measure the surface area of their skin. The proficient students love this lesson, but for the beginning steps class it was impractical. The emergent class spent an extra day with further enrichment from the day before determining 2-D area. Both classes will take assessments and finish units at the same time, but may be on different lessons.
4th- We create a safe environment for learning. One of the benefits of ability grouping across grade levels, is that the teacher knows that all the students range from level 20 to level 24; but the students don't need to be singled out. There are no groups of 12s and then another group of 60s so students feel uncomfortable in one classroom. The higher level students feel uncomfortable because teachers tend to rely on the higher students to "always help out," without truly challenging them; and the lower groups feel uncomfortable because the higher level groups are intimidating. In each classroom, students are not ability grouped further. Instead they are grouped by skills or a specific need; such as fluency or extra math fact practice etc. There is still a large enough academic range to group students by higher and lower levels in each classroom. In our ELL atmosphere, grouping high and low students with academic and language peers helps the students acquire the English language. The cooperative learning groups allow the students to feel more comfortable, which allows them to take risks both academically and linguistically.
5th- A variety of instructional strategies are used to differentiate classes. This is where I believe our fourth grade team excels and I am very proud to be a part of it (shout out to my ladies). Every single class has a combination of direct instruction, group work, center work, one-on-one teacher conferences. In reading there is also read aloud, reading time, guided reading and literacy centers. In math there are math games, math centers, cooperative learning teams and guided math groups. Each area is adapted to the student's classroom level. See the chart below for an example of reading instruction:
6th- We consider ourselves a teaching team, not just a team of teachers. All the fourth graders are considered ‘our students’. If one student is struggling we come together as a whole team and develop interventions for them and we all implement them throughout the day. We all coordinate our grade books together, we develop rubrics together to make sure we are grading consistently. We trade sample papers to each other and discuss how we would each assess a lesson. We differentiate and build homework, field trips, and parties together. This is collaboration at its best! Not saying it is always roses and clear skies, we are women in jobs that require us to pour our hearts into everything we do; so there is always some emotion attached. Over the years we have learned how each other works and how best to communicate with each other.
7th- We don't just switch for reading and math, we switch for all subject areas. We don't level our students for the other subject areas, only math and reading. For other subjects students stay together with their "homeroom" but go to another teachers classroom for a specific subject area. This is sometimes called departmentalizing or "platooning" students. We each teach one subject area once a week to all the 4th grade students for an hour. This may not seem like a lot of time, but when you consider most school are not teaching science, social studies or writing at all throughout the year we cover a LOT of material. We wanted to each take a content area so we could focus more on how to shelter our instruction, and incorporate ESL strategies to make the content accessible to all of our students. We also believed switching classes only once a week helped ease the students into switching all classes once they go to middle school, so it isn't as much of a shock. We hold very high expectations for what we want our students to be able to do by the end of the year. Read below to learn more about each of the different subject classes below. I discuss my emergent reading class and my nearing proficient math classes under the reading and math tabs.
7th- We don't just switch for reading and math, we switch for all subject areas. We don't level our students for the other subject areas, only math and reading. For other subjects students stay together with their "homeroom" but go to another teachers classroom for a specific subject area. This is sometimes called departmentalizing or "platooning" students. We each teach one subject area once a week to all the 4th grade students for an hour. This may not seem like a lot of time, but when you consider most school are not teaching science, social studies or writing at all throughout the year we cover a LOT of material. We wanted to each take a content area so we could focus more on how to shelter our instruction, and incorporate ESL strategies to make the content accessible to all of our students. We also believed switching classes only once a week helped ease the students into switching all classes once they go to middle school, so it isn't as much of a shock. We hold very high expectations for what we want our students to be able to do by the end of the year. Read below to learn more about each of the different subject classes below. I discuss my emergent reading class and my nearing proficient math classes under the reading and math tabs.