Behavior - Discipline - Teach

Many teachers and schools struggle with student behaviors and discipline problems. This is not something new and there is really no magic answer. But you can possibly diminish teacher and administration struggles and frustrations with a few simple steps involving where you place your focus of instruction. There is no question that there are special students who bring challenges to our schools and classrooms in which special arrangements might need to be implemented for the safety of the student, other students, and staff.  What we are looking at is discipline disruptions and annoyance behavior that takes away from instructional time in the classroom during such things as lining up, washing hands, and other transitional activities. With a few simple steps, many of these frustrations and loss of instructional time may be relieved, therefore relieving some personal stress on staff.

If we are working in schools everyone in the building is a “teacher”  in some form or way. Therefore, if we are all teachers we need to remember that teaching children how to behave is part of our jobs. Telling someone what to do is only part of teaching. As educators, we know other elements need to be added such as modeling, practice, and sometimes review. Many times we assume the students know, but do they actually know exactly what you are expecting? If as teachers we assume they do not know then we can teach the expected behavior. To achieve this when a disruption occurs instead of stopping and talking with the student about it, “teach” the students what you expect to be occurring. If this disruption is something you have taught already, stop and give a reminder by using a question such as, “Is this the way we wash our hands?” If that statement doesn’t change their behavior it is time for a reteach.  

Looking deeper into this process, assessments are a daily part of education. Therefore use questioning as a form of formative assessment with the students. When you see a student running, asked them, “Did I see you running?” That’s it, and see what they do. Some will drop their heads, others will start walking, while others will go back to the end of the hall and walk. This puts the responsibility on the student and removes the school staff from disciplining to educating. With consistent efforts and reteaching when necessary, the simple question, in most cases, turns to behavior back to positive. 

Quite often it seems many problems that arise in classrooms, cafeterias, playgrounds, and school hallways are due to assumptions. We assume the student knows not to run in the halls, which is a common one. There are other routines we can assume the students should know how to do from year-to-year, such as checking out library books, paying for lunches, using the restrooms, turning in papers, and the list goes on. By changing our focus from discipline to teaching we change the words we use and turn the negative into a positive. Students come from all over the world into our building and at one time we could assume when they came to school all would know how to use the restrooms. This is no longer the case in the world we live in today. Therefore it becomes important as a school that we put everything into teaching mode and not assume they know how things are done. We should not discipline a person for dropping the toilet paper on the floor after using the restroom. We do not know if that child has ever been taught that in most cases in America it is okay to flush the toilet paper. Many places have a garbage for you to drop the toilet paper in, and there was not a garbage can so they left it on the floor. This may seem to be an extreme example yet it is observed in many buildings especially with younger students. 

As teachers, we are not there to discipline students but to teach. Only we often forget that teaching social behaviors is part of the instruction process. There is no question that many years ago there were social norms and expectations and the majority of families and schools and classrooms leaned on the leadership from the homes to develop those. Today we find a multitude of cultures and backgrounds coming into our classrooms therefore it becomes key we teach school and classroom expectations so everyone has the understanding and the ability to be successful. Often there are children who are “disciplined” for actions they had no idea were considered inappropriate. Now the question becomes who is in the wrong, student or teacher because we should not impose a punishment on something the person has no idea is wrong or unacceptable. Therefore it becomes our responsibility to include lessons on expected behaviors in our schools and classrooms.

By changing our focus from discipline to teaching we change the synergy in our teaching which then impacts the atmosphere in the building positively. By taking simple steps of examining the behaviors you struggle within your school or classroom you can then begin to develop instruction to address those situations and focus more on teaching concepts. Classrooms will have more time to focus on academics and not spending energy on the negative impacts of discipline.  

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Grouping for Small Group Reading Instruction Using Data

Grouping for reading instruction can be an interesting task. There are many questions to ask about each student along with how you feel or think they are improving in their reading development. Often reading groups are created based on a student being a good reader, or one...who does okay but is slow, and then one, well who is just not getting it. Then the students move along happily in their groups for the year. 

What if there was a better way of grouping for reading instruction? A systematic way of looking at skills students are missing and then providing instruction so they understand the skill and are able to apply it during their reading. Luckily, there is a systematic way, but it is not easy and takes time to perfect. It consists of three steps which involve assessment, analysis, and action. The same three steps can be found in the medical field as well. 

Start with universal screener for reading to identify whether the students are successful and at their appropriate reading level. There are several available, and a common one is DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills). Once you have administered the screener to all your students then you will be able to place the students in three general instructional groups: Benchmark, Strategic, and Intensive.

Benchmark (Tier I) students need to continue on with grade-level content and skills and should be able to remain at grade level with strong instruction. Their monitoring should come from the reading curriculum for reading instruction. Most reading curricula have an end of unit test. This test is most often overlooked but can provide a great deal of information on how your students will score on most state tests. These tests are an implied test. They cover many skills taught prior and then have the students apply those skills as they will in the state tests. Teachers often overlook these because it appears they are not testing what was just taught in the unit they have been teaching. If you want to know how well your students are able to apply the information then this is your way of monitoring your students’ ability to process the material for the state tests. This group of students should now be further grouped by how they score on the unit test. You will be able to group them into three groups.

Group 1: This is our goal for all students. These students are able to apply and analyze what they have read. They are scoring 90% or higher on their unit tests or theme tests.

Students in Group 1 still need strong instruction in the same areas that the Group 2 students need. They also need the opportunity to expand. In most cases, fluency is not an issue. Therefore, that time may be used to move the students to the synthesis level of comprehension. These students will exceed most often on state testing, as they are able to apply the information they read. 

Activities/Lessons:

• Many of the same activities from Group 2
• Vocabulary applied and expanded
• Writing
• Give information and the students create their own story.
• Use information from different stories and write a new story. An example would be taking the setting from one story, characters from another story, problem from another, and then creating their own story. They can then share and discuss the stories with peers.

Group 2: These students have met their fluency benchmark and are able to pass the themes tests or end of unit tests with a score of between 70% and 89%. Truly these students are on their way to becoming good readers and have fair comprehension. They will meet the expectation of the state tests. 

For the most part, these students have a good understanding of the knowledge level of questioning and are fairly strong on comprehension. They need to work toward the application and analysis of what they read. This group should have no problem passing the state test. The goal is to move them to fully applying what they read.

Activities/Lessons:

• Practice in fluency is still important so they don’t lose it.
• Lessons can be taught and they can work independently on workbook pages or worksheets that match lessons.
• Story Maps
• Retell the story in written form.
• Vocabulary
• Applied vocabulary (replace words with synonyms)
• Crazy Professor (YouTube)
• Guided comparisons / Venn Diagrams
• Guided comprehension skill application moving toward independent application.
• Rewriting or telling the story explaining if the characters made a different choice

Group 3: These students have met their fluency benchmark but are unable to pass the theme or end of unit tests.

Students in this group are using less cognitive energy when decoding text. This will now free up some cognitive power to build on comprehension. They are still at the knowledge level and very concrete. An example might be if the student read: “The dog ran very fast. When he got to the dish it was empty.” Then if you asked the question, “What did the dog run to?” they could not make the connection between the two sentences. They can tell you that the dog ran fast and that the dish was empty, but wouldn’t connect that the dog was running to the dish. Often these are the students' teachers who will say, “They have no problems reading but do not remember a thing!” They need to be taught how to apply information and to read for understanding. 

Activities/Lessons:

• Students still need to practice reading to keep their fluency up.
•  Lessons need to be guided, with comprehension worksheets and workbook pages done together.
• Vocabulary and word use needs to be instructed and practiced orally. Point out vocabulary in the text during guided reading. (Make them look at the word in the text so they don’t just read over it.)
•  Story Maps
• Retell what they have read in their own words. (Orally)
• Crazy Professor parts 1, 2, &3 (YouTube)

Strategic (Tier II) students who fall in the mid-range of the screener, often are able to be split into two groups. They also may require additional diagnostic screening to identify specific areas of instruction needed. In most cases, this group of students can be split into two groups. Group 4 of our student groups are students who are not fluent but are accurate. What this shows us is that they are fairly strong on their phonic/structure skills but it is just not quite automatic, and they are having to take additional time to decode their words. The area of instruction for these students would be fluency. If they are not accurate this is where additional diagnostic screenings are needed (Group 5). There are several available and most reading curriculums have them though you may have to reach out to a primary teacher as they are usually not in the upper-grade curriculum supplies. Upper grades should first check to see if these students are missing single-syllable words or multisyllabic words. Often upper-grade students are just struggling with multisyllabic words and need additional support. 

Group 4: These students are strategic and have passed all parts of a phonics diagnostic screener and are reading passages with 95% accuracy.

These students are on their way to becoming readers. They are currently using their cognitive energy to decode words. They need to work to train their brains so that reading is automatic and they don’t have to think about decoding the words. Comprehension will come when the reader is no longer using their cognitive energy to decode. Comprehension will be stressed in Learning Groups 3,2, and 1.

Activities/Lessons:

• Practice reading orally materials that are at their independent reading level.
• Read Naturally
• Up-Up-Up Reading Activity
• Read word lists to activate the working memory
• SuperSpeed 1000 (Chris Biffle)

Note: These students should be taking the core reading program skills tests and/or unit check-outs. If they are able to pass the skills tests at the exceeds level (90% or higher) you may need to evaluate to see if they have any physical problems holding them back from making the fluency benchmark. They may just be slow-moving or have a speech problem. If this is the case they need to be placed in learning group 1. Caution, they must read the test with none of the material being read to them. It is true that they may be able to process the material at a higher level auditorily, which is great, but the goal is that they are reading and processing themselves. If you focus on their processing ability alone, you are missing the goal of the student becoming a reader.

Group 5: These students are at the strategic reading level and have not passed phonic diagnostic screeners.

The phonics diagnostic screener will direct the instruction of  the student. Once they are able to pass all the tasks, then the student should be ready to move to Group 4.

Grades K-1: Need instruction on specific phonics and language skills.

Grades 2-5: learning group 5 is in two parts.

5A has not passed the first part of the phonics diagnostic screener. Their instruction needs to be driven by the skills identified during leveled skill group time.

5B have passed everything but multisyllabic words. Students in learning group 5B need the majority of their instruction during leveled skill group time in multisyllabic word decoding.

  

Learning group 5 is a hard area for leveled skill group instruction. The instructional focus comes from the missing skills, but uses the materials for the theme that is being taught. Working with these groups requires that teachers understand the spectrum of reading skills to be able to adapt materials to meet students’ missing skills as indicated by the diagnostic screener.

Intensive (Tier III) students make up the last group for the classroom teacher. They are the students who are way below the benchmark goal and are struggling. The first step is to check to see if there is any type of IEP or reading struggle identified in their file. If there is then that file will drive their instruction and you need to follow the plan that was developed. If you are not able to locate anything in their file, then the first place to start is with the diagnostic screener to identify skills they are lacking and need to develop. If they continue to struggle you need to check with your school's referral processes and present data to help develop a plan for those students.  

Group 6 (two groups)

6A - students are in the CORE reading program and are working on basic skills they have not passed on the phonics diagnostic screener. If a student at this level has not moved in three learning group reviews you need to start some deeper evaluations. (Most often these are students who move into your classroom who are below grade level.)

6B - students are working in a Title I program or have an IEP. Their instructional focus should still be what is listed in 6A, but also making sure any previously developed plan in the student file is being followed. 

Using this processing of evaluating students learning strengths and needs and teaching to their specific gaps will allow them to gain a better understanding of the reading process and become successful readers. Though the process is not simple and there are many steps, meeting the students' gaps will allow them to become fluent readers at a quicker rate than just moving through a curriculum hoping they will learn. 

Time to Think About the First Day of the School Year!

Fall is in the air and that means it is time to start thinking about the first-day of school with your new class. So many meetings! So much information! It is hard to know what to set as your priorities for the start of the new year. No matter what the curriculum or your district requirements, setting your routines and expectations needs to be of top importance.  

It is key that you take time to map out your routines and the expectations you have of your classes so you know what your plan is when the students do not comply with something. This is often the biggest misconception in student behavior because the students do not do what you might expect and then you are left to react rather than having a planned response for their interpretation of your expectations. 

Many classrooms have “Classroom Rules.” Think about dropping the word rules and replacing it with expectations. When there is a rule that someone does not follow it usually results in some form of consequence. Schools are an environment of learning and practicing, therefore using the word expectations goes along with our pedagogy of learning and practicing. If we do not meet an expectation we are able to step back and try again without consequences. 

Taking the time in the first few days to set expectations such as those for lining up, washing hands, and using the restroom will provide additional instructional time later in the year. Students want to know what is expected of them and if it is left to them there is a high chance they will assume incorrectly and you will then spend the next few months trying to correct their interpretation. 

Help set your students up for success. Phrase things in questions. This takes the responsibility off of you and puts it on the students. An example might be instead of telling the student to put their name on their paper because you see it is missing, ask them, “Is your name on the paper?” This puts the responsibility on the student in a positive way with the same outcome. 

You also might consider listing some of your expectations on a poster in the classroom. You will find the poster will save your voice. That way when you take a quick glance at the student’s work you can just say, “You need to check number 4.” You have now put the responsibility onto the student without telling them to go put their name on their paper. It can also be used if you have listed work at a whisper voice with your partner and they are at the shouting volume. All you have to say is please review number 5. This will cut down on your teacher talk in the classroom and put the responsibility back on the students. There is no question that at some point you are going to ask them to comply with one of the expectations and you may have to stop the class and provide a short lesson to reteach what is expected, but even so you are providing the students with the opportunity to take control of their own behavior. 

Set your expectations high and make sure your students know what is expected and you all will achieve your goals. Enjoy this school year. 

Vocabulary, the Key to Comprehension

Language is our main form of communication, and with language comes vocabulary. Simply put vocabulary is the persons’ understanding of words being used to communicate. Vocabulary building starts at birth by the child responding to caregivers. Caregivers of young children quickly learn what different sounds and gestures that the baby makes indicating their needs. At the same time, the child is building their communication understanding and their brains continue to develop their personal vocabulary.

If you’re around young children, two to three years old, you begin to realize that many have an understanding even though their spoken vocabulary is still very limited. They are able to complete simple tasks such as, “Get your cup,” yet they are unable to say those words. This is because much of our environmental vocabulary is absorbed and applied as we experience the interaction with the activity or object. As our brains develop the skills of inference and application develop allowing our vocabulary to expand and out ability to communicate with others.

We know there is a large vocabulary gap between socioeconomic classes (Hirsch, 2003). Sparks (2013) showed that low-income children’s vocabulary entering school was between 500 and 600 words. The old school approach of teaching vocabulary by introducing the words as they are presented in the curriculum has shown that struggling students were not able to retain or use those words later in the year (Sparks, 2013). Vocabulary is something absorbed and the student does not take ownership of the word until exposure and understanding along with the application are fully experienced.  

Vocabulary is first a language skill. It begins to develop at birth and continues throughout life. Every language has its own vocabulary which ultimately leads to comprehension. Vocabulary as a reading skill plays just as important a role as comprehension. The reader needs knowledge and a base vocabulary to be able to infer words from meaning in conversations prior to using reading to build vocabulary. There is a point with every reader when the fastest way to expand vocabulary is through reading rather than conversation. Until the student has mastered their decoding and use of language inference skill they will struggle with both vocabulary and comprehension. To keep this from happening the reader has to have strong language skills so that they can then transfer them to their reading.

Students who struggle with reading will often struggle when it comes to gaining vocabulary and comprehension from text and then applying it. If you have a reader who has this struggle, you need to step back and see how strong their ability to pick up the meaning of new words is from conversations. Just because they are able to read the word and pronounce it correctly does not mean they have the ability to decipher the meaning of the word from the context of the sentence. If this is the case the reader needs additional instruction and language support.

There is no question that vocabulary is a key element to reading. Knowing the sequence in which students develop vocabulary will provide the support your students need and lead to better comprehension in their reading. So the next time you have the opportunity to work with vocabulary, stop and quickly evaluate by asking yourself, “Am I providing the type of vocabulary instruction my students need?”

References:
Hirsch, E.D., Jr. “Reading Comprehension Requires Knowledge of Words and the World: Scientific Insights to the Fourth-Grade Slump and the Nationan’s Stagnant Comprehension Scores.” American Educator, Spring 2003, pp. 10-29

Sparks, S.D. “Students Must Learn More Words, Say Studies.” Education Week, February 5, 2013.

Understanding Reading Comprehension

Reading and comprehending what is read is the ultimate goal of every reader and teacher. Achieving this goal can often be a great struggle. There are several key skills which need to be in place before most students are able to fully have success in comprehending what they read. Often struggling readers have a hard time understanding what they read, while there are some good readers who also have difficulties. Identifying the skills used to accomplish reading understanding may assist you in identifying just where your students are struggling with mastering reading comprehension.

Comprehension is a natural skill that begins at birth when the child begins receiving responses which please them from caregivers (Knoph, 1986). As the child becomes aware of sounds (language) they begin building their language comprehension. Babies are able to understand words long before they are able to speak (Holinger, 2012). Many parents teach their children sign-language as a way to communicate prior to them speaking. These simple steps are building pathways of understanding in the brain which allows the child to express their understanding.

As the child develops and grows they are building their vocabulary. Vocabulary forms a foundation for comprehension (Robb, 2015). Vocabulary is a skill in which we mainly absorb the meanings of words. Therefore the more we are exposed to the language and use our language the better we are able to connect the dots to make meaning and understanding.  The first step in building vocabulary is hearing words and connecting them to objects or events. As we develop, we also gain information for context clues. When hearing a word we are unfamiliar with, we must determine the meaning of this new word. We use the information we have gathered to make a meaning determination. All of these steps happen prior to the child ever reading any words. Vocabulary, therefore, is a language skill which begins at birth and is a vital component to future reading comprehension ability.

As a person begins learning to read they are transferring their language skills to texts. Many children have no difficulty making this transfer. For others, it is not so easy. Listening and speaking is a natural skill whereas reading and writing are man created skills and often people struggle with mastering these skills (Moats & Tolman, ND). If a person is having difficulty picking up reading skills their language development and vocabulary levels may need to be checked. Building those skills will strengthen the foundation of their reading and comprehension.

People who are struggling with reading may need to take time to focus on decoding and building their understanding of how our language is put into print. As these skills are presented to students in school, they are often presented several at a time, and some just get confused while others catch on without difficulty. If a student struggles to read, they are most likely going to struggle with writing. Some may have a strong language ability and be able to explain what they have heard, but may not have a strong understanding of word structure and most often won’t write well. This is an observation point. They are able to take and tell, but not read and write. The focus area for these students would be word structure (phonics).

Then, there are the students who have decoding down and have no problem reading but have absolutely no idea what they have just read. These students need assistance with reading comprehension. The first thing to check is language comprehension. Are they able to tell about an event or activity? Can they explain something that they watched? Can they retell something that has been read to them? If they are able to complete these tasks then chances are great they just need some support and guidance to transfer the language skill to their reading. If they are unable to do any of those tasks, step back and spend some time focusing on language comprehension.

Reading comprehension is a transferred skill from language comprehension. Prior to teaching reading comprehension, we need to check to make sure the students have an understanding of their language. Once they have language understanding, a strong vocabulary must be built. The next skill is to infer the meanings of unknown words from texts to build their vocabulary. Most students also need support and practice to retell events or passages read to them. Once they have mastered these skills, in most cases, the transfer to reading comprehension is smooth.

Do You Know the Facts About Dyslexia?

Science Jack 

Dyslexia is neurobiological in origin. The students are NOT being lazy.

People with Dyslexia often have difficulties inaccurate, and/or fluent word recognition along with poor decoding and spelling skills.

People with dyslexia have trouble with the sounds of language (phonology), yet will have average or higher cognitive skills.

Children who have a parent with dyslexia have a 50% chance of having a dyslexic brain. If both parents are dyslexic then the chance is closer to 100% that their children will be dyslexic.

Seeing letters backwards is not an indicator of dyslexia. Macdonald et al. (2017) found that 50% of educators and 76% of the general public felt that children seeing letters backwards was an indicator of dyslexia. Written communication is a man-created/designed form of communication using letters, in the case of English. Our brains are designed to see an object and remember that object, such as a cup. When we see a cup our brains know it’s a cup if it is on its side or upside down. We are also able to transfer that information we know about a cup if the cup is larger or smaller. A cup is a cup. When we move to learn about writing all of a sudden the rules change. The letter “b” is no longer a “b” when it is turned around. It is a “d.” Upside down it is  a “p.” Until the student is able to understand that letters do not operate the same as objects, all children might have reversal problems.

Dyslexia can have an impact on a student’s self-image and self-esteem. Students with dyslexia often end up feeling “dumb” and feel less capable than they really are. They often use distractions to get out of completing school activities.

Dyslexia is often classified as a learning disability when really it is a brain formation that close to 20% of populations are born with. It only becomes a disability when the learner does not fit into the education program in which they are placed. Students who have a dyslexic brain thrive in education when their instruction is provided in a format which aligns with how their brain processes information.

Because a child is born with a dyslexic brain, it is something they have for a lifetime. Dyslexics, with proper instruction, are able to learn to process and read and write well. We have also learned through science that dyslexia impacts the way a person processes information. If pathways are built in younger children they are able to transfer those processing skills. The key instructional time is between the ages of 3 and 7, therefore, waiting and allowing them more time has been disproven to be effective.  

If a child doesn’t read on grade level by the end of third grade, they have a four times greater chance of dropping out and a one in seven chance of becoming a reader as an adult.

Dyslexia is a neurological condition that causes the brain difficulty in processing information in the areas of reading, writing, and spelling. The National Institute of Health estimates that as high as 20% of the children in our schools are on some level of the dyslexia spectrum.

Many students with dyslexia remain undiagnosed. The way the system has currently established a percentage of students will not qualify for special services. General education teachers along with reading specialists and even special education teachers do not have enough training to provide the evidence-based instruction that these students need. Dyslexia is not overcome by a program because every student will need to have special skills addressed. Currently, students with dyslexia in public schools continue to fail to reach their potential, reaching frustration and not feeling misunderstood, which puts them at greater risk of dropping out. They live with frustration and continually ask themselves,  “Why can’t I read?”

How can you help?

Become aware of the characteristics of dyslexia, especially at the preschool age.

Educate yourself on scientific evidence-based early reading skills instruction.

Be proactive for each child’s education and instruction.

Letter / Word Reversals - Learning Disability?

In your classroom, do you have students who reverse letters or words such as “b” and “d,” or “saw” and “was?” Truly, this is very natural and normal for young children to make these errors. It does not necessarily indicate that there might be a learning disability or dyslexia. Our brains are designed to be able to interpret objects in 3D. Written communication is a man-created/designed form of communication using letters in the case of English. Our brains are designed to see an object and remember that object in 3D, such as a cup. When we see a cup our brains know it’s a cup if it is on its side or upside down. We are also able to transfer that information we know about a cup if the cup is larger or smaller. A cup is a cup. When we move to learn about writing, all of a sudden the rules change. The letter “b” they discover is no longer a “b” when it is turned around. It is a “d.” Upside down it is a “p.” Until the student is able to understand that letters do not operate the same way as objects. all children might have reversal problems (Macdonald et al.,(2017).

Seeing letters backwards is not an indicator of dyslexia. Macdonald et al. (2017) found that 50% of educators and 76% of the general public felt that children seeing letters backwards were an indicator of dyslexia. Students who struggle with not being able to recognize letters in isolation or write them might need some scaffolded instruction in letter identification. They need to be seeing letters in words where both letters the student is struggling with appear, such as teaching letter-naming using words like, bed, bip, dip, was, saw. Their brains need to become aware that writing is not like seeing objects, and are found in specific places in words to represent sounds.

Macdonald, K., Germine, L., Anderson, A., Christodoulou, J., & MaGrath L. M. (2017). Dispelling the Myth: Training in Education or Neuroscience Decreases but Does Not Eliminate Beliefs in Neuromyths. Front. Psychol., 10 August 2017 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01314

Understanding Instruction

What is your pedagogy when it comes to instruction? Are you on the inquiry side or the direct delivery side? What is the best method of instruction for your students? These are a couple of questions you might consider when determining your instruction and your students’ performance in the classroom. 

First, we need to refresh ourselves on the forms of instruction. The two major ones most often found are inquiry or exploratory instruction and direct instruction. Both are key when it comes to instruction there is no question, but when used inappropriately, each can create student struggles along with frustration for everyone. This can often lead to misbehaviors from the students. 

Exploratory or inquiry-based instruction was penned in 1969 by Joseph Schwab based around the exploratory pedagogy or constructivism. You build knowledge based on what you know while learning from questions and applying information to answer those questions. Being able to explain how you were able to achieve your answer allows the learner to be working in the upper levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. Instructors using this pedagogy often use questions such as, “What do you think this means?” requiring the learner to apply their background knowledge to respond.

Siegfried Englemann in 1964 introduced the instructional pedagogy form which direct or explicit instruction has been developed. Within this form of instruction, the instructor provides the learner with the information they are learning. Then guidance is provided while students are processing followed by the learner being able to perform the task at a high rate of success. Direct instruction is often associated with scripted instruction, where the instructor is expected to read exactly what is written in the curriculum. This is extreme direct instruction in every possible way, but Englemann focused on the elements of direct or explicit instruction as, “I do it, we do it, you do it”, followed by some form of assessment demonstrating mastery. 

A strong teacher uses both forms of instruction with their students at some point in each day. One key factor in using either one is knowing the students. The background of your students may have a larger factor in your students’ learning than you thought. Even if you enjoy teaching in an exploratory or inquiry-based environment you can run into problems and students not understanding or who are unable to pass the assessment. Therefore, we also need to examine our students and what form of instruction might be best for them in each instructional situation to fully understand the concepts.

Most commonly classroom teachers find themselves using the inquiry or exploratory form of learning. You can observe this by questions the teacher asks,  such as, “What do you think this is?” Then they start fishing the classroom looking for the response they want. If the students do not have the background knowledge to draw their response from you get guesses or they just look at you. English as Second Language learners may not have the vocabulary to draw from to respond, or there may be other factors in which a student might not have the language development to give a respectable response. Therefore, you have to use this form of instruction cautiously because, in the end, you may simply have to provide the students the answer. When the students are unable to respond they become frustrated and talk or work to get you off task creating other discipline struggles.  As long as you know when to use this form of instruction it can provide excellent results.  

Students with limited background knowledge most often thrive with direct or explicit instruction. Their teacher provides them with the information and they are asked to recall that information building their knowledge bank so, later on, they can learn and understand how to determine an answer with their own knowledge. Often as adults, we want to push our students into inquiry before they have the knowledge necessary to be successful, which assumes they have that knowledge. But in reality, some groups still need explicit instruction where you are giving the students the facts for them to store for later use. 

Our students are our barometers for instruction. Their behaviors are your largest indicator of whether your instruction is on point or not. If the students deem the information you are teaching not relevant, whether it is or not, they are most likely to begin to act out. This also might happen if you are working with a group of students who have a large knowledge base and you are trying to instruct explicitly. They are ready to start applying the information rather than hear you talk about it. Whereas, students with limited background knowledge may be fully engaged because this form of instruction meets their learning needs. The same thing may happen when you are using inquiry. The students with limited background are unable to apply the information so they begin to act out or disrupt, while those who bring a wide understanding to the concept are fully engaged. It is also important to note that vocabulary may also need to be taught in two different groups and with two different approaches to meet the needs of all your students because of their wealth or lack of background knowledge they bring to the lesson. 

As you become aware of how your students respond to the different types of instruction and observe their behaviors you will become aware of what type of instruction each student responds to best and which helps them achieve success. This is a case where one size does not fit all and knowing your student base along with your instruction presentation format can resolve many classroom behavior problems.

First Grade in January!

Happy New Year! January is a great time to do a quick check and see if your students are on track in their reading instruction. In December there are always a lot of special activities happening and now we are all back into the swing of school and the new calendar year. Below are some key skills your students should have mastered at this point in their academic year. Make sure you celebrate if they have but if they haven’t you may need to step in and provide some additional support that is not given in the curriculum. Below is a chart for Kindergarten and First Grade of key skills along with suggestions of activities you might implement into your instruction to help reinforce and get all your students to mastery. Yes the information is covered in the curriculum but quite often students needed additional reinforcement / reminders that the curriculum does not provide and we as teachers need to be pros at those 1 minute reinforcement lessons.

Kindergarten

Rapid Reading - Colors - Shapes - Letters	Having students do this will train their brain in rapid memory recall which will help them to transition to reading words.	Print off sheets with rows of colors, shapes, or letters and have the students partner read in a small group activity.
Phonemic Awareness - Hears sounds in words and is able to segment them.	Being able to hear and distinguish sounds in words will lead to students having a better ability to decode larger words along with improve spelling.	When the students line up or move back to their seats have them give you the sounds in words. When they are walking out the door or you are walking down the hall with your class ask 4 or 5 students the sounds in one or two words.
Alphabetic Principle - able to match letter to sound.	Symbols and their meaning (sounds) are stored in different parts of the brain. Children need to learn to build that pathway for rapid recall.	In small groups you can have one student say the sound on a card and the other students write the letter. Then it’s the next students’ turn to say the sound. Put a sticky note on students’ desks who are struggling with this that has four or five letters. When you walk by ask them what sound each letter makes.
Know the CVC rule - vowel is always short in a cvc word.	This is the first rule of spelling. At this point students should know all the short vowel sounds. They can look to see if the word follows the CVC pattern and know the sound. Other words at this point are sight words. Once a new spelling rule is taught a word will become a decodable word.	Have some business card size word cards and when the students are in line or walking have them read a couple of words. Write three or so CVC words on a sticky note and paste it on students desks. When you walk by ask them to read a couple of words.

First Grade

Rapid Reading - Colors - Shapes - Letters	Having students do this will train their brain in rapid memory recall which will help them to transition to reading words.	Print off sheets with rows of colors, shapes, or letters and have the students partner read in a small group activity.
Phonemic Awareness - Hears sounds in words and is able to segment them.	Being able to hear and distinguish sounds in words will lead to students having a better ability to decode larger words along with improve spelling.	When the students line up or move back to their seats have them give you the sounds in words. When they are walking out the door or you are walking down the hall with your class ask 4 or 5 students the sounds in one or two words.
Alphabetic Principle - able to match letter to sound.	Symbols and their meaning (sounds) are stored in different parts of the brain. Children need to learn to build that pathway for rapid recall.	In small groups you can have one student say the sound on a card and the other students write the letter. Then it’s the next students’ turn to say the sound. Students you know who are struggling put a sticky note on their desk with four or five letters. When you walk by ask them what sound each letter makes.
Know the CVC rule - vowel is always short in a cvc word.	This is the first rule of spelling. At this point students should know all the short vowel sounds. They can look to see if the word follows the CVC pattern and know the sound. Other words at this point are sight words. Once a new spelling rule is taught a word will become a decodable word.	Have some business card size word cards and when the students are in line or walking have them read a couple of words. Write three or so CVC words on a sticky note and paste it on students desks. When you walk by ask them to read a couple of words.
Blends - You can hear each letter’s sound in the blend.  (br, gl, pl)	A blend in linguistics counts as one sound even though you hear both. So for blendVC words the vowel is short.	Short 1 minute reviews reading words with blends.(whole class and small group) Rapid reading chars.
Digraphs - a cluster of letters that, when together, create ONE sound (ph, th, sh, tch, ch, wh)	Like blends they count as one sound making the vowel still short.	Short 1 minute reviews reading words with digraphs.(whole class and small group) Rapid reading charts.
Introduction to long vowels	For a vowel to change its sound in linguistics something has to change in the word. If the vowel is open (not followed by a consonant) the vowel in most cases is long, adding another vowel in one syllable words will change the sound.	Short 1 minute reviews reading cvce words. (whole class and small group) Rapid reading chars. Mix cvc words and cvce words.