Our school has done such an incredible job with its approach to distance learning. We continue to meet with our students in three groups for one hour each day that are divided by ability level. This allows us to provide differentiated instruction and meet our students right where they're at, as well as preventing regression, or loss of skills. Most schools are providing at-home assignments and sometimes having whole-class meetings, but I haven't personally seen anyone else providing daily instruction in small groups.
In addition to this, another great thing we've been doing is providing one-on-one Zoom calls with individual students during our Study Hall block from 12:30 - 1:00pm. In my class, Ms. T and I meet with 3-4 students a day to provide them with extra help and individualized instruction just for them. This is something that is not possible in a regular classroom and has helped my students make HUGE progress with their reading fluency!
Here are some important things we've been working on in our one-to-one sessions...
Reading fluency:
I've been tracking the reading fluency of my students and we are able to continue working together on decoding new words and recognizing sight words. Some of my students have books that I also have at home and have been loving reading them to me. Caleb and I, for example, have been reading Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss!
Sight words:
Recognizing sight words is hugely important in first grade and with these one-on-one sessions, I can work with students on the particular sight words they need practice with. Because of this, students have been making lots of improvement with their sight words!
Lastly, we at Alma Fuerte have a quick favor to ask of you...
At our charter school, our budget depends on how many students are enrolled; the more students we have, the bigger our budget for next year will be. We have so many awesome ideas for improvement and growth for next year and would greatly benefit from getting more students to join us!