This is an exciting project to start to build a course that I can take and use in my classroom. My classroom looks a little different because it only has a few tables, a variety of seating and it is a small space. I am a Learning Resource Teacher. I am new to the role and have only held the position during the pandemic which comes with restrictions including not being able to mix students. This is what has led my thinking in the development of my course. If I can’t mix students but see similar needs across classrooms even different grades, how can I best support these students? To me, it is important to be as efficient as possible as I strive to support as many students and teachers as I can, in a meaningful way. This is the direction I am going with my course profile.
Target population: My target audience would be grade 1- 3 students who are reading below grade level, in French, in a French Immersion classroom. These students could range in age from 6 to 9 years old. Thinking about my current school, we have students from a variety of backgrounds with a variety of abilities. At the beginning of the year, it is my responsibility to get to know that students. I review learning plans including IIP’s and ROA, records of adaptation to see what supports have been used in the past and what learning goals students may be working to achieve. This helps me to better understand the learner I will be working with and adapt instruction accordingly to meet their learning needs. This includes EAL students, students with diagnosed learning difficulties such as dyslexia, a learning disability and ADHD to name a few and students who just aren’t there yet. Also, we often have grade 1 students starting in French for the first time with no background of the language. Grade 1 teachers typically prefer that I wait until January to start working with their students. This gives the classroom teacher a change to develop a base knowledge of French and determine which students are going to benefit from the additional supports.
Course format: This course will be a blended format. My hope is that this would be a support a classroom teacher could use to differentiate during literacy, it could be used as stations with me or could be used as extra support at home. For example at school, it could run as synchronous stations with technology stations as well as face to face small group stations. There will also be asynchronous activities to be done at home or in the classroom setting for extra practice and support.
I would run the course in 4 week blocks with a formal reading assessment at the beginning and end of each block to see if each student should continue for another block or if the support is no longer needed.
The technology tools will include teacher made videos, the use of apps., interactive websites and Google Classroom to manage the information. At school, we would use iPads as each classroom has access to iPads as well as I have iPads I can use with students. When I communicate with home about this support, I would check what technology tools are available and provide paper copies of activities and books where there is a need.
The face to face stations will include guided reading, sound and syllable work and any instruction or reinforcement specific to each student.
Course toolset: As mentioned above, I will us Google Classroom to manage the students, activities and to communicate with students, teachers and parents. I have chosen Google Classroom because I have used it in the past and am somewhat familiar with it. I also know that through the school division my students would have access to it so that I can use this program in the future. I will also use email to communicate with parents.
Assessment will be done in a variety of ways: a formal reading assessment will be done face to face or over Google Meets. Informal assessments will take place when working one on one with a student, checking student progress on the apps and websites we will be using as well as during games played as a group.
Other resources I plan to use are : BOOM cards, Je lis, Je lis, literacie!, Kahoot!, Saskatchewan Lit and GB+ series of books, just to name a few. I have access to some of these programs through Regina Public Schools and I am able to give my students online access to them as well. I will continue to develop a list of resources as I put the course together.
Course objectives: I am designing this course to meet students where they are at. My hope would be to see an improvement in reading level during a block of support. There may be a grade 1 and a grade 3 student working at the same level, doing the same activities. When the students are working online from their classroom or from home they won’t be aware of how is doing the same activities. This could certainly be an advance to working online. The students will only beware that they are working at their level and will be celebrated when gains are made. For this reason, I am including curriculum objects from the grade 1- 3 Saskatchewan curriculum.
The French Immersion curriculum is written in French however, the outcomes have been translated for parents to understand as well as administrators in a French Immersion school who may not speak French. I have included these translations below:
Component: Students acquire knowledge of the language and of socio-cultural references
Grade 1:
| É-AC.3 Demonstrate awareness of the acoustic and prosodic features of the French language. |
| É-AC.4 Manipulate orally the parts of words. |
| É-AC.5 Associate oral language and written symbols. |
| É-AC.6 Build a repertoire of childhood socio-cultural references: certain idiomatic expressions, nursery rhymes, rhymes, songs, and characters in stories. |
Grade 2:
| AP-AC.1 Use cues to negotiate meaning and express themselves, including: visual cues; morphology; syntax; sentence segmentation; syllables; graphophonics; semantics. |
Grade 3:
| Written Comprehension Students will: |
| 3. CÉ.1 Identify the content of a variety of texts: the message in an illustrated cause and effect, problem/solution or enumerative written text;elements in an illustrated story that provide answers to the following questions: Who? Where? When? What? How? Why?the general meaning of a short, unillustrated text. |
| 3.CÉ.2 Use a variety of methods (strategies, language conventions and reading cues), before, during and after, with teacher assistance, to: plan their individual silent reading time;choose a text;understand a message or a text:make predictions;make connections between elements of the text and their prior experience;consult reference material;apply their knowledge of language conventions;respond to a narrative or humorous/poetic text by expressing their preferences and personal opinions; andreflect on their reading process. |
Conclusion: I am really excited about the possibilities of this course. The thought of being able to support more students, create a support that a classroom teacher can fit into what they are doing without taking time on their end to differentiate to meet the needs of a student that is working far below grade level is very exciting.
I welcome any feedback you may have for me.
- Grade 1- 3 teachers, what would you like to see that I may have missed?
- Do you see something like this working in your classroom?
- Challenges that you can predict?
- Successes that you can predict?
Happy planning!