Tentative Daily Schedule

To help parents visualize what a “typical day” would look like, my former teaching partner and I made  copies of the following tentative daily schedule for them. It was not long before it was modified substantially, but at that first information meeting it really helped parents see that the class wasn’t going to be some sort of “free-choice playtime.”

 

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Daily Schedule 

tentative8:45-9:00 Arrival

9:00-9:30 Opening

• attendance
• pledge of allegiance
• daily planning meeting

9:30-10:30 Math Time Block

• Math Baskets & math centers
• small groups with teachers
• self-paced math activities

10:30-10:45 Recess

10:45-11:30 Communication Arts Time Block

• journal writing
• spelling
• Daily Oral Language (grammar)
• writing projects
• keyboarding & computers

11:30-12:00 Theme Studies (Science, Social Studies, etc.)

12:00-12:45 Lunch

12:45-1:45 Reading Time Block

• Instructional Library
• small group reading (teacher and parent led)
• independent reading

1:45-2:15 Specialists (P.E., Music, Library)

2:15-2:30 Recess

2:30-2:50 Menu Time (student choice between teacher-created options)

2:50-3:15 Daily Debrief and classroom clean-up

3:15 Dismissal

Research Handout

To help interested parents understand that our proposed program was more than just a good idea that we had come up with, Heidi and I compiled and presented a brief summary of research on multiage classrooms. We made this page into a handout for the meeting and I  used it for many years as a part of my program brochure and parent website.

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Summary of Research on Benefits of Multiage Classrooms 

Professor Barbara Pavan reviewed 64 research studies on nongraded (multiage) schools. Pavan found that 58% of those students in multiage classes performed better than their peers on measures of academic achievement. 33% performed as well as their peers, and only 9% did worse than their peers.

Pavan also found that students in multiage settings were more likely than their peers to have positive self-concepts, high self-esteem, and good attitudes toward school. Her review of the research also indicates that benefits to students increase the longer they are in a nongraded setting, and that “underachieving” students also benefit from being in multiage classrooms. (This research summary can be found in the October 1992 issue of Educational Leadership, pp. 22-24.)

Parents are often concerned that older children in a multiage setting will not benefit as much as younger children. Research shows, however, that when older students teach information and skills to their younger classmates, their academic performance, and even IQ scores, dramatically improve. The research of Arthur Whimbey (in his program T.A.P.S: Talking About Problem Solving) showed that when students were routinely given the opportunity to teach someone else, their scores on IQ assessments improved as much as eighteen points.

In another study done in the 1960s, underachieving high school students who acted as reading tutors for younger students, improved their reading scores by an equivalent of two years, in just six months’ time. (From the Nov. 1994 edition of Educational Leadership, p. 58.)

Educational research indicates that students benefit both academically and emotionally from being placed in multiage classrooms.

(compiled by H. Mattern and R. Yates-3/95)

Presentation Outline

My former teaching partner and I made a transparency of the following outline to act as a sort of agenda for our first parent information meeting. It helped keep us and the parents focused on the information we wanted to get across.

 

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Multiage Information Presentation

Why do we want to make this change to a team-taught, multiage classroom?

• Currently we have students for only one year.
• We have no opportunity to learn from other teachers.
• Students learn in spurts, at a varying rate, within a structure that moves them sequentially from grade to grade.

What we’ve done to prepare for this change?

• Taught 2nd and 3rd grade classes.
• Read books and articles, visited multi-age classrooms, attended workshops.
• Implemented some multiage techniques in our classrooms this year.

How will we teach two grades at once?

• Classroom layout
• Begin with 3rd grade subject matter in science and social studies.
• Students will work with one of us to learn specific skills, as needed.
• Students will work side by side on projects, and whole group or small group explorations.
• Examples: math, reading, projects (space, animals, social studies).
• All essential skills and content area will be covered for each grade level.

Here is one of parents’ biggest concerns: “My child needs enrichment,” or “My child needs extra help. How will you meet his or her needs?”

• The issue is not so much which grade levels are in a class, but rather, what is the teachers’ program, style, and philosophy.
• Time is provided each day to pursue learning at students’ own level and pace.
• Materials are available for students who need extra practice, and for those who have mastered skills and need to move on.
• Students will be taught how to work independently, and with others.
• Research shows multi-age classes benefit ALL students academically and emotionally. Older students act as role models, and younger students are stimulated to meet the expectations of the older students.

We want to become facilitators for children’s learning, not just dispensers of knowledge

• Provide models and methods for sharing what students learn.
• Build upon students’ interests.
• Arrange classroom so individuals and groups can work independently.
• Emphasize responsibility.
• Active learning and creation of products: (Models of habitats, plays, videos, experiments, class books).

Multiage Handout

At the first informational meeting, my former teaching partner and I gave the following to all parents interested in our classroom. It gave a concise summary of our program and complimented our initial presentation well.

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Multiage Classroom 

for Second and Third Graders 

A multiage educational program is a union of an organizational structure and unique combinations of teaching and learning strategies. The way learning occurs is made possible by the multiple age structure. Two teachers working together with the same group of children is referred to as “teaming” or “team teaching.” When combined with a multiage program the learning environment can be greatly enhanced through the collaboration of the two teachers.

Why Multiage?

• Allows for flexibility in the grouping of children according to need, ability, or interest; not just by age.
• Problems associated with a yearly transition from one grade to another can be overcome. The teacher has a nucleus of children, trained in the details of the class organization who keep it going while newcomers absorb it.
• As the student-teacher-parent relationship develops over a longer period of time, students will receive greater support for their success in school.
• A more natural learning situation is established. Children work at their own pace. Their program is not geared to the work of a single year but can be adjusted over two or more years.
• Benefits come to the older children from the quality of leadership and responsibility they develop.
• Young children are stimulated intellectually by older children.
• Children have a broader social experience with increased opportunities to lead and to follow, to collaborate and to make stable peer relationships.

It is our goal to use instructional strategies that:

• Change the teacher’s role to facilitator rather than the source of knowledge.
• Produce cooperation.
• Allow students to learn from each other through peer tutoring.
• Give students responsibility and independence in both learning and behavior.
• Build understanding of action-consequence relationship.
• Provide choice to the student in different areas of learning that will reflect learning-style differences.
• Allow continuous learning through the use of learning centers, small group instruction, and individual pacing.
• Involve parents in classroom activities.
• Encourage student responsibility and ownership of the learning environment.
• Teach goal-setting from an early age.
• Build leadership skills in all students.

Team Teaching

• Allows for greater flexibility in grouping and instruction.
• Gives students a variety of approaches.
• Models collaboration.
• Allows for greater observation of students in order to better meet their needs.

Invitation to Attend an Informational Meeting about a Proposed Multiage Classroom

The following is a copy of the first letter that was sent out to all parents of 1st and 2nd grade children, inviting them to come to an informational meeting about our school’s first multiage program (team-taught, 2nd/3rd grade). The subsequent meeting was a huge success and we had more families sign up than we had room for!

 

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April 26, 1995 

An InvitationMultiage classroom for grades 2-3Chimacum Elementary SchoolDear Parents of First and Second Grade Students,

Beginning in the 1995-1996 school year, we will be offering a team-taught multiage class for students entering the second and third grades. This will expand the number of educational options available at Chimacum Elementary.

The classroom will emphasize creation of a nurturing community where students begin to take responsibility for their own education. Students will have the opportunity to remain with the same teachers for two years, and have the chance to work with both teachers simultaneously. Recognizing that learning doesn’t always happen at a steady pace, we will provide an environment in which students can progress at their own rate while ensuring coverage of the curriculum.

If you are interested in this option, please come to an informational meeting on Wednesday May 3rd, from 7 to 8 p.m. This meeting will be held in Russ Yates’ classroom, #916, at the elementary school. You may also indicate an interest in this program when you fill out your Parent Input Sheet, which will be sent to you within the next two weeks. Heidi or Russell  can be reached at Chimacum Elementary (732-xxxx).

Heidi
Russell

Parent Communication

Parents are a child’s first and best teacher and they always want the best for their child. As a professional you are a part of their team, helping to educate their children. Parent support for your efforts comes naturally as you support their effort at raising their children. Information and communication are at the heart of this mutual support.

First Informational Meeting

When a new multiage program is started, parents need to be given information about the proposed program: the who, what , where, when, and how along with the why. When my former teaching partner and I initiated the first ongoing multiage program at our elementary school, we did so with the understanding that if we couldn’t get enough initial interest, we wouldn’t be able to implement it. We decided that the best way to gain the trust of interested parents was to hold an evening informational meeting in the spring prior to the beginning of our school’s student placement process. The meeting turned out to be a huge success with standing room only and more students signed up then there was room for! Below are links to copies of the various handouts and other media used at that first meeting.

• Invitation
• Multiage Meeting Handout
• Multiage Presentation Agenda
• Summary of Research
• Tentative Daily Schedule