Transcript Using Assessment to Inform Instruction: Small Group Time

Early Literacy Matters
February 25, 2010
Implementing OWL
Interactive
Reading
Let’s Find Out
About It & Let’s
Talk About It
Small
Groups
Songs, Word
Play & Letters
Morning
Meeting
Center Time
Expectation
Implement Small Group time 4 x 4
Break into Coaching Cohorts
Reflecting on Work Plan
 Describe what shared reading techniques you
have tried. (PEER, CROWD, Interactive
Reading)
 Thoughts on OWL vocabulary
 How did you use the vocabulary during
shared reading?
 Did you implement the vocabulary across the
curriculum or throughout the classroom?
 What differences have you seen in children
since you began implementing interactive read
aloud?
Moving Forward
Think about when and
how are you currently
doing Small Group
instruction in the
classroom.
Overview of the Day
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Review Materials and Housekeeping
Develop Ground Rules
Define Small Group Time
Work in Small Groups
Reflect on What Research Tells Us
Observe Small Groups in Action
Lunch
Brainstorm ways to implement small group
Discuss forming small groups
Wrap Up and Evaluations
Work Plans
Ground Rules
Define Small Group
OWL Small Group
 A regularly scheduled
component of the day
 4-6 children with a
teacher
 Intentionally planned
activity.
What makes Small Group successful?
•Preparation of materials
•Efficient transitions to and from Small Group
•Timing that fits instructional goals
•Clearly defined roles for teachers, teaching
partners and children
Working in Small Groups
 Divide into 10 small groups
of 5-6 people per group.
 Each group will be given a
problem to solve in the next
10 minutes.
 Each group will be asked to
report out their answer.
What Does Research Tell Us?
Cooperation in small groups promotes
achievement and productivity and yields
strong social and attitudinal benefits.
- Yager, Johnson and Johnson (1985)
Small Group promotes
cooperative learning by…
 increasing oral interaction between students:
 Child to child interactions tend to occur more
in Small Groups, and are unlikely to occur in
whole class settings.
Small Group promotes
cooperative learning by…
 increasing the number of interactive dialogues
between adults and children resulting in
improved comprehension.
Small Group promotes
cooperative learning by…
 building upon the diversity of the group
 passive learners are more likely to benefit
 teachers provide more scaffolding
 children are given more time to respond and
explain their thinking.
Opportunities for literacy in Small
Groups include…
 sharing books and re-reading favorite stories
 modeling reading behaviors
 talking about letters by name and sound
 modeling use of print in the environment
 engaging children in playing with sounds and
words
 introducing literacy-related play activities (e.g., at
Center Time)
 scaffolding children’s representation and writing.
Small Groups provide opportunities to observe
and document what children know and can do
in a systematic way.
 strengths
 learning style
 learning goals
Observing and Documenting
 Watch the video clip
 List the language and literacy
skills you observed
 Discuss with your neighbor how
you might use this information to
inform future instruction.
LUNCH
ELM Goals for All Children
 Increase expressive and
receptive language
 Increase letter
knowledge and RAN
 Increase children’s
ability to segment words
and sounds
 Increase print
awareness
 Increase letter/sound
correspondence
Progress Monitoring
 Identifies strengths and needs
 Informs instructional practices
 Documents what a child is able
to know and do independently
 Documents what a child is able
to do with support
Resources for Collecting Data
 Work Sampling Alignment with OWL
 Portfolios
 Evaluating Language & Literacy in Four Year
Olds: A Practical Guide for Teachers
 Progress monitoring records
 Informal assessment tools
Additional OWL Resources:
 Adaptations for English Language Learners
 Adaptations for Children with Special Needs
Using Child Level Data
How can you use current data collection
systems to monitor student progress
on the ELM’s five goals for children?
Research Supports
Assessment-Guided Instruction
Refine
instruction
and/or
teacher new
information
Assess
students’
performance
during
learning
activities
Provide
instruction
based on
Preschool
Guidelines
and OWL
Progress Monitoring
Using ongoing assessment information to guide
instructional decisions is a primary purpose of
early childhood assessment and should be a
component of a high quality early childhood
program.
- NAEYC & NAECS/SDE (2003)
Effective Implementation of
Small Group Requires…
 Team commitment
 Developing a system to ensure all children’s
participation
 Providing opportunities for children to revisit
Small Group activities during Center Time
 Ensuring smooth transitions
- Circle to Small Group or Center Time
Remember that you can…..
 revisit small group activities
with individuals needing
more support at the end of
the week.
 change small groups over
time (flexible)
 extend or revisit small group
activities during center time
and or an additional small
group time.
Form small groups to:
 Extend conversations between and among
adults and children
 Learn more about all children’s strengths,
learning styles, and needs
 Provide opportunities for students to interact with
one another
 Revisit small group activities on Friday with
individual children who may need additional
support
Moving Forward
 Create 4 small groups using your class roster
 Determine when and how your team will implement
small groups
 Discuss team member’s roles and responsibilities
related to implementing small groups
 Preview OWL small groups and consider what skills
you will observe and document
 Discuss process for revisiting small group activities in
center time
 Provide additional support for children identified as
needing additional small group support
Work Plans: Documenting
Continuous Improvement
What will your coach
see and hear?
Major Goals of ELM Coaching
 Improve language and literacy outcomes for all at risk
preschooler via high quality, age-appropriate
language and literacy instruction.
 Provide model high quality language and literature
rich classrooms
 Increase teachers’ knowledge and skills in using SBRR
practice.
 Integrate ERF with community literacy programs to
foster children’s language and literacy skills, enhance
home support and coordinate the Program with
Reading First.
Why develop and implement work plans?
 Facilitate team communication
 Develop common goals and practices
 Promote team reflection and discussions
 Document continuous improvement
 Implement professional development
 Celebrate growth
Effective teams establish:
 Clear goals
 Result driven structure
 Standards of excellence
 External support
 Recognition
Work plans are a living documents
 Coach follow-up
 Revisit work plans at next professional
development session
 Begin new work plan today
 Work with your teaching partner to set goals for
implementing:
 small groups,
 using data to inform instruction
 shared reading.
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Evaluation
Thank you