I found this article to be quite useful in a classroom because it is often rare that every student is on the same instructional level in reading and spelling. If they are all on diverse levels, the teacher is only hurting them when they give out spelling words that go over their heads. To have several reading groups and spelling groups is a great way to help these students along. The progress in Mrs. Brown’s class from the first of the year Shlagal assessment to the end of the year assessment was phenomenal. The fact that the lowest spellers rose up to the average spellers in her class was just amazing!
The activities/games are great resources for any teacher who has several levels of spellers in his/her classroom. Words their Way also has many activities that would be helpful in building upon a weeks worth of spelling.
Having separate spelling, reading groups would be a tedious task to plan, the first time. But once you have done it once and found your “groove”, you can reuse the activities, lists, etc for years to come.
I guess what I am stressing about is that where will I find the time in my 6 hour day to do everything? Reading, spelling, math, social studies, science, etc and make sure that everyone is on their specific level… no one is being over/under challenged… they are comprehending it…. how to tie it all into one unit? I am beyond nervous for having my own classroom and seriously doubting myself as to whether I can handle it. :/
Posted by Beth Frye on September 24, 2009 at 3:25 am
Thanks for your honesty Kate…you can handle it. Start small: one below grade level group and then your on grade level groups. Accommodate those struggling readers and writers, gain your confidence and get your groove on, then start adding more instructional levels. Keep it manageable at first…feel free to bring this up in class. Thanks for your comments.