Teaching a multiage has been a rewarding, challenging, and fun experience. It does require a lot of hardwork, a lot of time, and thinking outside the box. When I tell people that I teach in a multiage classroom, the responses are usually, "How does that work? What is a multiage? How do you teach such different curriculums in one classroom?" There is one word that answers all 3 of these questions and many more. The word is DIFFERENTIATION. I differentiate for every child in my classroom. What does that mean? What does that look like?This is my 4th year teaching in a multiage classroom (3 years in a 3rd/4th multiage and 1 year in a 1st/2nd multiage), 7th year teaching overall, and 7th year using differentiation in my classroom. I have previous experiences long-term subbing in a 1st/2nd multiage classroom as well (which I am very thankful for). Based on all of these experiences, I have built the classroom and program I have today. Of the 4 years I have taught in a multiage classroom, I have never done the same thing twice (yes, it would be way easier, but I need something to do in the summer, right?). I reflect daily and take notes on what works and what needs to be tweaked for the next year.
This year when I was asked to teach a 1st/2nd multiage, I thought back to a couple of years ago when I taught a 3rd/4th multiage. I thought about what worked and what didn't work. What I liked and thought was valuable and what was not worth the time. I also did some research on other multiage classrooms to see how those teachers structured their school day (I am always looking for new multiage resources). With all of this information, I created the outline for our multiage classroom.
Going into the school year, I had a basic outline for what our reading block was going to look like. I knew I was going to teach reading in small, differentiated groups with whole group mini-lessons sprinkled throughout. I was not sure how many groups I would need until I met my students and did some assessing. With the assessment data, I was able to place my students into 3 flexible, differentiated groups that would work with the students' strengths and weaknesses. If throughout the school year I find that a student's needs change, I can easily slide them into another group that will fit those needs. For example, I had a couple of students who needed to be challenged a little more, so I bumped them into a different small group that would challenge them. I NEVER label these groups. I just call them Group 1, Group 2, and Group 3.
This is my second year using the Reading Mastery reading program in my classroom. This program has been perfect for my differentiated, small groups and we have had excellent results with this program. Below is a copy of our reading block schedule: (FYI: Dictation is our daily spelling lesson. I do not give traditional spelling tests at the end of the week; however, we do work in-depth with words to become familiar with spelling patterns, Our spelling program is included in the Reading Mastery program we use.)
8:10-8:30
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8:30-9:00
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9:00-9:20
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Meet with Group 1 for Phonics, Spelling, and Reading
(The other students will be working in Daily 5)
Phonics Lesson:
Dictation Lesson:
Story:
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Meet with Group 2 for Phonics and Spelling
(The other students will be working in Daily 5)
Phonics Lesson:
Dictation Lesson:
Story:
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Meet with Group 3 for Phonics and Spelling
(The other students will be working in Daily 5)
Phonics Lesson:
Dictation Lesson:
Story:
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9:20-9:35
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Reading Mini-Lesson
Story:
Concept:
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9:35-10:05
Reading
Interventions-
Meet with these students for reading
interventions:
Intervention being used:
Page:
The rest of the students will work in
Daily 5.
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This schedule does not account for grammar and writing. I do have a separate grammar time in our daily schedule in which I teach a quick 10 minute grammar mini-lesson before we move into our writing block. For writing, I use a writer's workshop style schedule.
As seen in the schedule, while I am working with a small group of students, the other students are engaged at Daily 5 centers. I do teach the Daily 5 expectations according to the book written by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser before students are allowed to work in the centers independently. Every group of students I have ever taught on any grade level have been capable of using Daily 5 independently and have been successful with it, if it has been taught according to the book. I also use differentiation with Daily 5 to meet the needs of every child in my classroom. I do reteach lessons on expectations throughout the school year to keep the students thinking about those expectations.
These are the basics of the daily reading block in our 1st/2nd multiage classroom. I am able to meet the needs of every student in my classroom and every student is engaged in a valuable lesson or activity at all times helping them to become fluent and independent readers and thinkers.
