Universal Access (part 2)

Universal Access (part 2)

Have you ever wondered how to differentiate reading in your classroom? Have you wanted to help your struggling readers and help your proficient readers dive into deeper thinking?  You can! If you read my blog last month, you learned about my Language Arts Universal Access and how I group my scholars with SUCH different needs in order for them to achieve success in reading and writing. Now, as teachers, we are continuously looking at numbers for success, but I look at success as overcoming obstacles that have prohibited one from achieving a goal. To reinforce the idea of positivity and motivation getting us to where we never imagined, students watch videos and read stories of leaders and celebrities overcoming obstacles.

When students focus on the positive,
the NOW and ALL they have accomplished,
you get them to realize they ARE smart and can achieve what they set their mind to.

The goal of my Universal Access Time is to target the different areas and different pace due to different academic needs. The goal would be GREAT to have all Proficient/Advanced students and be able to form our groups according to the Multiple Intelligences, but it’s not likely. Therefore we celebrate the small steps, the daily effort that is leading us towards success and adds activities/lessons to also target the Multiple Intelligences. Student BUY-IN (students have to know the answer to the question, “What’s in it for me?”) leads to independent learners., but the key to continued success is keeping them engaged within their team when you are not there to support. Have them come to an agreement with a team name and draw/write the talent/strength he/she can bring to their team.

In order to keep them engaged, I keep them on track with team roles. Since I am not there to support every team on a daily basis, students know to choose a leader, writer, time-keeper, and the rest are responsible for being collaborative workers that can add to their team as they see fit necessary (this all comes from the teaching of “The Importance of Teamwork” which I have previously talked about in my blogs). Once they have the responsibility, the teams will function without your assistance); for the most part, the students will read their directions and just roll with it. Now, it’s not to say that you won’t have to revisit norms and responsibilities because it’s always good to teach at the beginning of every trimester, to give students a new and refreshed perspective when working in a team.

As you get ready to set up your Universal Access, look at numbers initially to form your teams. Form homogenous groups, meaning you focus on Diagnostic/Placement and  Scholastic Reading Inventory to know who your readers are: Far-Below Basic, Below Basic, Basic, and Proficient/Advanced. I usually have 25-30 students; therefore end up with 4-5 groups. I keep my Far-Below Basic and Below Basic groups, the smallest, 5-7 students, my Basic group will have 7-8 students, and my Proficient/Advanced group will have approximately 10 students (but you can split this team into two if it suits best). Keep in mind, after setting up your groups/teams, let your students know that they are fluid; groups can and should change due to progress.

That's at the core of equity: understanding who your kids are and how to meet their needs. You are still focused on outcomes, but the path to get there may not be the same for each one. ~Pedro Noguera

Once it’s all said and done, don’t go above and beyond on recreating what’s already there. Wonders McGraw Hill has many resources for our use! I have four groups this year:

Teacher Group

Technology Group

Fluency Group

Writing Group

The Teacher Group is meeting time with ME. We read and discuss the Wonders Leveled Readers. For my struggling readers, I always start with a 5-10 minutes Phonics review, running the Spelling Cards and focusing on segmenting and blending a couple of words that have our spelling focus of the week. We then focus on Sight Words, 5 minutes of rapid automaticity naming words that don’t follow Phonics and Decoding rules.

The Technology Group works on Wonders Grammar Games. The Fluency Group focuses on the fluency passage of the week, found in the Student Practice Book. The Writing Group focuses on the RACES strategy answering the Essential Question of the week; students use their student book and Anthology to find evidence in supporting their answer.
My Proficient/Advanced group works on all of this, but I also challenge them by reading a chapter book together that will lead to deeper discussions and the writing of poetry or story skits. Universal Access is an hour of our learning day; the first half hour of Mondays/Tuesdays is dedicated to my Far-Below Group and the second half hour is dedicated to my Below Basic Group.  By Wednesday and Thursday, we have read the Leveled Reader twice and are ready to do the 3rd read without my support. I leave them to read and take notes to form a summary of the book. This gives me time on Thursday/ Friday to meet up with my Basic and Proficient/Advanced groups to check on their progress and know if they need my assistance in any area. It’s not a perfect setting because things will go wrong, but I can say that my students have gained an interest in reading and writing. The interest has led to LOVE for some, and that LOVE has led to academic growth.

Live, Love, TEACH!

Hilda Sanchez