9/9/2023 0 Comments Spiral review in mathWhat Changed in Mathīecause we did not rely as heavily on the Mountain Math program, things did not shift quite as dramatically in that subject. When I went on extended parental leave, this was still an imperfect process, but I was excited about the direction and potential for growth. We started to design and select our own mini-grammar practices wherever we noticed students could use extra practice. I loved the shift in the mentality even more than the shift in the program selection. Choices included read to self, read with someone, word work, work on writing, and listen to reading. And so we adopted the Daily Five, which helped us lay out a better structure in teaching students to make purposeful choices for how they spend their time. Eventually, we realized that students could learn how to prioritize that time themselves, if only we gave them the tools to do so. Our school’s practice of dedicating about an hour of independent language arts study time underwent a gradual transformation over the next few years as we worked to identify better ways for students to practice language arts while teachers met with small reading groups. Not only did this serve as a helpful visual reminder as we built upon unit concepts, but the connections to grammar ideas became more organic–which resulted in greater student ownership and retention. As we shared our connections and defined new concepts (especially during wrap-ups), we would record and display them on our bulletin board throughout each unit. With the extra space, I got a second large bulletin board installed on my wall, and designated one for reading workshop and one for writing workshop. I began to be more mindful in helping my students highlight specific concepts that occurred naturally in our lessons. Wrap-ups became a golden time for connection-making and conclusion-recording. I was already committed by that point to wrap-ups for most lessons, but I became even more acutely aware of their necessity. We scrapped it cold turkey and worked together toward more purpose, more thoughtfulness, more curative effort, and more reflection. Was it worth the sizable chunk of time spent every week? Did it help struggling students to improve? Did it help not-struggling students to grow? Were there better ways to help them with retention? Most importantly, what was the big-picture program design more about: students becoming better readers, writers, and mathematicians, or standardized test drill?Īs a fifth grade team, we reflected, and came to realize that while it did have some merits, the program was an opportunity cost for better things. However, the summer after my second year of teaching, I began to doubt. The security of knowing my students were practicing concepts that could show up at the end of year tests.ĭuring Independent Study time, students would grab a fresh answer sheet and try their hand at weekly examples of 20 grammar concepts (ie, parts of speech, dictionary guide words, spelling corrections, syllables), and about 22 math concepts. The simplicity of swapping laminated cards each week. I used to love Mountain Math and Mountain Language.
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