“How can I encourage productive behaviors in order to successfully facilitate differentiated reading

During my final semester, I am currently interning in a kindergarten class at a charter school named Channelside Academy of Math and Science. From kindergarten through eighth grade, the students are placed in homogenous classroom based on academic ability. Typically, prior to the start of each year, parents of kindergarten students are encouraged to bring their children to the school for pre-screening. The school utilizes this data to place students in certain kindergarten classrooms, so that students can receive instruction on their level from day one. In some aspects, this system works, but in other aspects, it is a flawed system. From my experience with interning in a kindergarten class in the past, I realized that some students started kindergarten at a “lower level” due to lack of exposure to phonics instruction prior to kindergarten. Some of these students learned at a very quick pace and were on level (or above) by second semester. What happens to these students once their teacher realizes they should have been in a higher class?

My collaborating teacher is normally given the second lowest ability group. However, this year there were a number of students whose parents failed to bring in for pre-screening, and were subsequently placed in my collaborating teacher’s classroom. As a result, the classroom if filled with 17 students with varying academic ability levels, similar to a typical public school classroom. There are students who are able to reading and easily comprehend text, and there are students receiving RTI interventions because they still do not recognize a number of letters and their corresponding sounds.

Going into this semester, I had every intention of continuing my mathematics-related inquiry from last semester. While, it could have worked, there are areas that need greater attention in my kindergarten classroom. I noticed that during reading centers my collaborating teacher assigns all student the same work, thus lacking differentiation for those students who are in need in specific instruction in a variety of phonics skills. My concern was that the work really only targeted students that are on level. Neither the above or below level students are truly receiving differentiated instruction. I began to wonder how I can rearrange the reading groups so that they are grouped homogeneously. I also realized that the students do not rotate during reading centers. The students only complete one center a day, and are allowed about an hour to complete the activities. I began to observe a lot of off task behavior. The reason the students take so long to complete their activities is because they are not working diligently. I then began to wonder how can encourage on task behavior?

I understand that it is unrealistic to take on way too much during the course of my internship. The most important factors to focus on, is behavior and differentiation. I am most concerned about the fact that students are not receiving the instruction they need, at their own level. My goal is to encourage on-task behaviors, in order to facilitate successful, homogeneous reading groups. Currently, the students complete reading centers with the classmates they sit with all day long. As of right now, I do not plan on implementing center rotations just yet. By “rotations” I mean they will not be required to get up and physically move anywhere. I do, however, want to limit the time allotment to 45 mins, then 30 mins, and then, eventually, to 20 mins. In order to achieve this, a few things need to happen first: 1) The students should understand the meaning of being on task, and what exactly those behaviors consist of. 2) The students should also understand what it means to work together as a team to achieve what their teacher requires of them. 3) My collaborating teacher and I should display consistency in enforcing on-task behaviors, and recognizing students who are exhibiting positive behaviors. 4) The activities assigned should be differentiated, and realistically achievable within a structured timeframe.In a nutshell, my wondering is, “How can I encourage productive behaviors in order to successfully facilitate differentiated reading groups?”

Within the first couple of weeks I began to assess the students on capital/lowercase letter recognition, letter sound recognition, sight word recognition, rhyming words, syllables, cvc blending, and ccvc blending. This data will be used to create groups, and the students will be assessed again mid-semester and at the end of the semester.

(Some students have yet to be assessed. Updated graph coming soon)