I spent the first three weeks of homeschooling ironing out a system for my 4th and 7th grade boys to practice the skills of reading, writing, math, and typing each day. I post assignments in each of their Google Classrooms, they click on each, complete it, and click “turn in”, so I can track how they’re doing and work one-on-one with them as needed. Here are the details on how I began with them, what the expectations are, and the approaches and resources I’m using…
MATH
For math, Khan Academy is absolutely amazing! It’s come a long way since I first saw it in action at the high school where I was a Dean of Curriculum & Instruction almost a decade ago. The grade level units and questions are completely aligned with the Common Core Learning Standards for Math adopted by the CA State Department of Education, and the approach and videos build strong conceptual development. The program has them working at their instructional levels at all times, so it’s never too easy or too hard, and if the boys get stuck on a problem, they can click to get a how-to video or a hint. The videos do a way better job teaching them than I could alone (and I used to teach middle school math?!). The videos break the ideas down, use different colors, and use visual prompts and cues to accompany the auditory at all times. Each time I watch over my boys’ shoulders or sit next to them to learn alongside them (I’m quickly catching up on my 7th grade math skills!), I wonder why any math classroom or math teacher would continue to use workbooks, textbooks, worksheets, or bother to assign homework anymore? It’s all neatly packaged in Khan Academy, and it’s free!
WRITING
To attack writing, I’ve gone back to my old school Collins Writing Program approach that I used when I first started teaching elementary school in the mid 1990s (Thank you, Boston Public Schools for the AMAZING professional development I enjoyed during my almost decade there.) Collins Writing was a sure bet for progress toward success for my 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students then, and I’m hoping it’s a sure bet now. It involves the kids engaging in five different types of writing, each with different purposes and audiences. One to get ideas out on the paper, others to show an understanding of a concept or correct answer, and others to practice meeting specific expectations or standards, using the writing process for editing and critiquing. Skills are built cumulatively through focus correction areas, developing to master the learning standards. It’s not a pre-made or pre-packaged curriculum. You use whatever your child is writing about to guide their practice and growth. I am excited about that flexibility.
Grade Level Writing
In order to help the boys understand what quality of writing would be expected of them by the time they finish this school year, and to help them determine where they currently lie in their skill levels, I did three things. First, I turned all of the learning standards for English Language Arts for each of their grade levels into “I can” statements and printed them out. Then, I printed out all of the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts Samples of Student Writing for each grade level from K through 9th grade. Finally, I sat down with each of my sons separately, and we read through the grade level “I can statements” and reviewed the writing models to get a sense of the progression of skills from grade level to grade level.
Lots of ah-has and ohs followed looking at everything. It’s daunting for sure, and I needed to verbally translate much of the language into kid-friendly phrases to ensure they really understood all of what is expected to produce grade level work. “Have you ever been shown a list of what you need to be able to do for each grade you’ve been in before?” Blank stares. I don’t know if they have or they haven’t, but the idea of having an overall picture of what they’re shooting for didn’t seem to ring any bells for either of them. As we proceeded to review some writing samples of their own from their first week of journal writing, we learned that even though Tanner got an A in 6th grade English Laguage Arts last year, he doesn’t actually have a strong grasp of the skills expected of the grade 6 common core standards. Cole’s report card at the end of last year said he’s approaching grade level, but he’s not yet producing anything that resembles the writing samples beyond first grade. Whether that’s a significant summer slide, them not doing their very best, or them just missing the mark in last year’s school experience, I’m not sure. I’m excited to now have the opportunity to have a strong impact on the development of their writing skills, so I mapped out the following for informal and formal approaches to practicing.
Formal Writing
For Tanner’s first 7th grade writing assignment, he chose informational/expository writing. I highlighted the “I can” statements that we would be addressing via the assignment. Then, I turned those highlights into a checklist for “must haves” in order for the assignment to be considered on level. These became our focus correction areas because we weren’t tackling ALL of the grade level standards at once. I assisted him in engaging each of the stages of writing (brainstorming, outlining, researching, drafting, editing, improving, perfecting), working in collaboration with him – as if we were doing it together, breaking it up into chunks to tackle each day, and cuing him for ideas. We reviewed how to brainstorm, then outline, then turn his thoughts into sentences, then make the sentences more sophisticated, then edit for all of the components in the checklist. “Have you been taught to do it like this before?” Ummm…Kind of…Not really…I’m not sure… Quizzical look. Since I’m not sure what specific strategies or approaches he’s been taught either, I’m starting with the basics. As the year progresses, he will have to do it more and more independently for each type of writing – narrative, expository, persuasive, and descriptive. I’ll work closely with him at first, then gradually release, so he can produce a grade level piece completely independently. I’m hoping the real world situations of our travels and learning will give them lots to write about.
Informal Writing Practice
In addition to formal writing practice each day, the boys have daily journal practice. Either on the computer using their typing skills or in a marble composition notebook (their choice), they can write about whatever they want, however they want, but the expectation is that they will use all of the rules and ideas for writing that they know how, to the best of their ability. I printed out a series of questions that they can look at to get ideas about what to write if they’re feeling kind of blank on a particular day.
I am using their journal writing to get them to practice getting their ideas out, practice use of language, and to observe for myself how much they will focus, for how long, how much they can write, and what quality of writing will get onto the page. During the first week of our homeschooling, I told them to write for a certain amount of clock minutes each day, but that didn’t work, since they would dilly dally and need reminders to get back to work, not accomplishing much within 15 minutes. Discovering the feature in google docs that can give you a word count is now super helpful. Based on trial and error for three weeks, I now know that Tanner can manage to get about 160 words typed successfully into a google doc in about 15 minutes. As his typing skills improve, I expect this number to improve, and I will adjust the expectation every few weeks or so. For now, he needs to complete a total of 160 words in his writing journal (Collins Type 1) each day. If he is strong in his thinking and typing skills, he knows he can achieve that amount of words in less than 15 minutes. If he wants to dilly dally, he knows he may be clocking more like 20 – 30 minutes to get it done. Each day, that’s up to him and how he feels. Not having a whole class that needs to finish by a certain clock hour (for example to switch to going to Art or Science class) is a luxury here. He can truly work at his own pace, and that can vary each day, but the quality of the work has to remain at the same high bar. As I continue to observe what kind of writing he produces, I know what kinds of skills I need to teach him. Similarly, Cole is expected to produce a minimum of 100 words per day, and he chooses to hand write them. His number will increase over time as well.
Writing Skill Building
During the entire first week of our homeschooling, I don’t think Tanner ever used a single comma in his journal. It drove me nuts to watch it happen, but I had to keep my mouth shut to have a true baseline sense of his abilities. Then I reminded him to use commas, to see if, during the second week, he would magically muster up and start executing the skill. I watched for a day or two, and still nothing. So, I set out to teach him all about commas in the middle of the second week of homeschooling, offering him a variety of ways in which to learn it. I was able to quickly and easily find several youtube videos about commas. I posted a task in his google classroom indicating he can choose to either watch the videos about commas or come and ask me to teach him commas. He chose the videos, but still the commas didn’t surface in his writing by the end of that week. Back to the internet I went, and I got a bunch of pdf practice sheets for the 8 rules of commas. I posted in his google classroom to read the pages about commas and do one of the practice sheets. He did that, but still there was no improvement in his comma usage! Finally, I worked one-on-one with him to complete two practice sheets together, both of us sitting side by side, me modeling the tone and inflection for commas with each practice sentence and rule. Voila! That was what he needed. Now, he’s finally putting commas into his writing independently, almost always correctly, and we are just at the end of week 3. Phew! Onto the next basic skill…
Writing with Cole
I’m using a very similar approach to writing with Cole, but it’s trickier because he is well below grade level in his ability to produce quality writing. We are going back to some pretty basic standards from previous grades. It’s really hard to see him lagging, and it gives me great stress and worry – is he going to make it by the end of this year to master the 4th grade standards?! What if he doesn’t? Will that make me a failure? Him? I take deep breaths and remind myself that a child can’t learn unless he is available for learning, and it’s my job as his teacher to find what works for him and not give up. Annie Sullivan hung in there until her breakthrough with Helen Keller, and we all know the success story there. Digging deep into my Master of Science in Education: Moderate Special Needs from decades ago, I am determined to find a breakthrough with Cole, or at least a series of learning patterns that work for him. While Tanner can be left alone to get work done, as of right now, Cole needs me right there next to him, making sure he doesn’t engage his educational Houdini acts, escaping from learning at any turn he can get. With no capitals or periods in sight during the first week of writing, he is finally getting them in there somewhat regularly now three weeks later, but not always successfully, I know he will test me EVERY SINGLE DAY until he gets a sense of autonomy in writing, and I know it’s going to be a long haul. He has been a challenge in this way for all of his super talented teachers in the past, and I’m getting my own dose of it now. I also know that his escapism is a cover up for a worry that he just can’t do it, that he’s not good enough compared to others. I want him to come away from this year knowing that he can do it, and he is good enough, regardless. I will press on to that end.
READING
For reading, so far we’ve adopted a pretty straightforward practice borrowed from the homework routines we’ve had for years. Read a book at your independent (or sometimes instructional) level for a certain number of minutes daily, then record the date, the page you ended on, and a few sentences about what happened in your reading log. It feels kind of dry and forced, but I have to do what I have to, in order to get both of my boys – who have ZERO interest in reading whatsoever – to pick up a book. I let them choose their books; I get a sense of the reading level of the books by using an app on my phone that scans the bar code and tells the approximate grade level. I encourage them to read as close to their grade level as they can get, but it should be relatively easy for them and hopefully enjoyable. The boys’ reading logs are google docs (more typing practice!), and I don’t correct writing skills within them, but I do use the observation of what they include to see which writing skills are sticking and which are not. I’m also noticing whether or not they are summarizing their reading well and if they are actually reading or just giving me some sentences about what they think is going on. Tanner has transferred his skill of commas to his reading log (hooray!), but Cole has completely ignored the existence of capitals and periods within it, and I have to be ok with that for now, nails down a chalkboard for me though it is. I have visions of both of my boys ending this homeschooling year having fallen in love with reading, their noses constantly in books, and their phones and x-boxes lying desolate in another room for days on end. Ah my dreams and visions…
Grade Level Reading
To ensure they are getting practice with grade level reading, even if they are not actually reading independently on that grade level, I’m reading a grade level chapter book aloud with each of them each day. I’m using this time to unleash the love of reading and focus on the nuanced skills of good readers and the skills listed in their grade level standards for reading. It’s like we have our own mini book clubs and we discuss the books and focus on good reader skills in a similar way to the Teachers’ College Reading/Writing Project, though I haven’t been trained in decades. I’m starting with The Outsiders for 7th grade because I don’t know a single dude who doesn’t love that book or the movie who has seen it, and I read it when I was in 7th grade; I’m hopeful it will help me connect with Tanner and foster his love of reading. For 4th grade, I will start with Island of the Blue Dolphins mostly because I know they read it as a class when Tanner was in 4th grade. Since it also exists as a movie, it will help Cole’s language processing. According to last year’s awesome Speech & Language therapist at his school, he will always benefit from pictures and visuals accompanying text. (Graphic novels are actually ideal for him), Following along with that, if he can watch the Island of the Blue Dolphins movie before we read the book together, then he can have pictures in his mind to understand the grade level language while we are reading. For both boys, I can subsequently tackle the learning standard of comparing and contrasting the story presented in the book to how it is presented in a different medium. I got teaching guides for each book, so I don’t have to create questions for discussion from scratch, and I can ensure they have practice with responding to their reading in a variety of ways.
I need to figure out a reliable way to test their actual reading levels and progression. I want to find an app for reading that works as well as Khan Academy does for math. Please leave suggestions in the comments if you have some favorites! While the kids work on their assignments in Google classroom next week, this is what I will be tackling as well as preparing for us to go out on field trips and enjoy more hands-on, experiential critical thinking and learning through Science, Social Studies, and the Arts over the next few weeks…
🙂 Carolyn