Urban Education, post 5

     This week, I observed upper elementary students’ instruction in reading, math, and science. During reading, there were two teachers in the class and the students were split into three groups. Two of the groups had a teacher providing assistance and there was one group reading without a teacher at their table. Part way through the class, another teacher came in and called on students one at a time to read. As I observed each of the different groups, I noticed that students were in the group that was similar to their ability in reading. I was surprised at the difference in the levels of fluency and comprehension among the groups. This reminded me of the importance of assessing a student’s reading level and providing appropriate instruction for individual students. I thought it was nice that the teacher had extra teachers in the room to assist her with the reading groups. In the upper elementary grades particularly, there can be a large disparity between the higher and lower level students. This makes reading groups all the more important. I was pleased to see that this class appeared to be providing individual instruction for its students.
    
     I also noticed that some students were taken to a different room during math. I inquired and learned that these students were receiving math intervention during this time. During science instruction, the teacher had the students split into groups of three or four and gave each group a whiteboard and marker. They were preparing for an upcoming test. She asked the question and had the students use their textbooks and work together to find the answer. One student per group was assigned to write the answer on the whiteboard and another was assigned to bring the board to show the teacher their answer. I liked this teaching method because it teaches the students how to effectively look up information and encourages cooperative learning. I plan to implement methods similar to this in my future classroom.