Combo Class Management

Last school year I had the pleasure of teaching a 1-2 combo. It was my first combo. And it was great! I got to keep some of my firsties from the previous year, change up my teaching techniques, and get amazing parental support.

The hardest part of teaching a combo class, is the classroom management. I struggled with, "How do I get my students to be able to know what to do, when to do it, and allow me time to work with smaller groups of kids?" I finally came up with this board:

They can do the three things in any order. I set the timer for the day (usually 45 minutes). They have to learn to manage their time too! The numbers next to the students' names are the order they go in to work on the computer. At the computers, they have a choice of three-five different tasks they can work on during their 7 minutes. To the left of this board is an explanation of what the different tasks mean as well as their spelling words for the week.

My favorite part of this board, was that it allowed students to walk over, know exactly what they are to do, and it becomes part of their routine. This made life SO much easier for subs walking in the door. I would write in my sub plans, "They are on auto-pilot during this time. You can monitor the class and check in on ______ and _______ as they tend to 'forget' what to do at times."

I thought about printing off each individual student's tasks for the week and put it in their BEACH Binder, but thought better of it. I didn't want to be responsible for more paperwork and be committed to this board, should I decide to change it up.

I also have a board at the back of the room with almost the same idea, but for math. This board (which I don't have a picture of) had these tasks: computer, iPads, Task Cards, Flash Cards, Math Notebook (Interactive Notebook by Yvonne Crawford).

I'm hoping to use these boards again even though I'm not teaching a combo class this year. It has helped so much in just classroom management of daily life alone, that I can't see giving it up!

What types of reading or math classroom management helps you during the day?

Spelling Chain

Since my school is a magnet school for art (among other things), we incorporate art into our units. Our current math unit is about geometry. They just learned about solid figures and plane shapes. This week they are learning about equal parts.

I got a sudden burst of inspiration as I was thinking up some fun activities for the kids to do with their spelling words when it hit me! Spelling chains! I'm surprised I hadn't done this with them yet this year. I guess with all the other things going on, I completely forgot the obvious, tried and trues I used to do.

But I also thought they need extra practice in getting along as well as using equal parts. So I got out two different colors of large construction paper. I gave all my Peanut Butters (one of my classroom management systems, which I can write about another time) one color, and Jellies another.

I told them to fold it into two equal parts (or half). Once they did that, I told them to fold it again, and then again. This created eight equal parts when unfolded.

They were to then cut out along the lines they made.

They then had to sort the strips of paper so that each partner got the SAME NUMBER of green and purple. I left this step pretty ambiguous so they could figure out their own way of making that happen. I was surprised that most kids understood what it meant. I was also surprised that one of my brightest/nosiest (not noisy, but nosey) student and his partner were not able to figure it out. The first time I walked over to them, they had basically swapped colors one strip at a time. The second time, they had most of the purple on her side, and he had most of the green. Quite comical.

Once they each had equal parts green and purple, they were to write their spelling words with one word on each strip in the middle of the strip and then make a pattern. I gave them two more strips beyond what their spelling words are so they could find two words with the skill for the week in their decodable reader (Super smart idea by the way! It kept the fast finishers busy letting the other catch up.).

They then linked the paper strips together to create a simple chain. I gave them the option of either taking their chain home, or donating it to our classroom for a spelling display above our Reading Wall. Many students donated and I couldn't have been more thrilled!

Here's the final product!

If you need the spelling cards (unit 3) that I have on my focus wall, check them out here on my TPT store.

5 Finger Rule

This past week a parent, with whom I have a great rapport, approached me to talk about how her student was doing. She was worried because while reading at home, her student becomes very frustrated and throws tantrums. She said, "I catch her cheating and looking at the pictures! Then we get into an argument and I punish her."

_____________SCREEEEEECH!___________________________________________________

I immediately felt bad for my student. Reading should never be an argument, and I know my student is fully capable of reading. She is a "bubble kid"...you know, a kid on the cusp of being at grade level. She can do it, but just needs a little more practice.

Like a doctor or a car mechanic, I began asking questions to further understand the situation:

• What does she read at home?
• Who reads with her?
• Do you read to her?
• What does she like to read?
• How often is she reading?
• Do you have a homework routine?

Turns out, the books she has been reading are books that she enjoys. However, they may be too hard for her. I was not familiar with the titles, but gave mom a suggestion for finding out if a book is too difficult or too easy for her student. It's called, "The 5 Finger Rule."

Have the student pick a book they like, and read a page (preferably the first page, but really, any page will do). On your fingers, where the student can't see, keep track of their mistakes. If the student makes 5 mistakes within that page (or paragraph, depending on the length of the book), the book is too hard. If the student makes zero mistakes, the book is too easy. If the student makes 2-3 mistakes, the book is "just right". 

I also let mom know that we do "picture walks" before we read a story. Looking at a picture is not "cheating". It is a sign that the student wants to comprehend the story. It is there for clues to words she may not know. 

I also showed mom how to do "window fingers" before reading the page. Mom can then point out any vocabulary or sight words that her student is unfamiliar with and have the student use her window fingers to find the words.

I took Mom through an actual reading lesson using a book her daughter will be starting on Monday so she can see it in action. We talked about high frequency (sight) words and the importance of memorizing them. I reminded her that reading to her will help. I gave her my website with many different resources to use.

Reading should not be a stressful topic at home. I asked mom if she felt better now that she has some tools to pull out at home. She said she felt bad that she wasn't doing things right and stressing out her daughter, but she will try them and see how it goes.

I wish her the best! Hopefully this will put her daughter over the top to be successful!

 

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