Picture this: it's 8 AM, you're in a
Language Arts classroom, and there are around 7-10 students (the only ones who
consistently show up) sitting in desks. Can you imagine the mood, the energy in
the room?
If a word similar to "dead"
popped into your head, you would be correct. This class is one that my
mentor teacher has struggled with since the beginning of the year. Although the
students are not a classroom management problem, they pose another teaching hurdle
in that they often become disengaged throughout the lessons. When discussing
the classes I would focus on, my mentor teacher encouraged me to bring my fresh
ideas to the students in order to give them a new face with interactive and
innovative activities. With a class of less than 15 students, this seemed like
an amazing opportunity to get creative with my instruction and become more
intentional in designing lessons that truly engaged and motivated each student.
One of the easiest and most effective ways
to accomplish this is to allow students the opportunity to make choices about
their own learning. In The Highly Engaged
Classroom, Marzano and Pickering establish four different ways to offer
students choices: choice of tasks, choice of reporting formats, choice of
learning goals, and choice of behaviors (14). Alternative Book Reports offer
students both choice in task as well as the reporting format.
As I was talking with colleagues about my
different ideas, one teacher suggested a method called Layered Curriculum. According
to H. Donovan Colding in an article titled “Integrating a Layered Curriculum to Facilitate Differentiated Instruction”, Layered Curriculum was
developed by Kathie Nunley and “. . . is a teaching method that builds on
students’ varied learning styles and multiple intelligences”. The foundation of
this method is allowing students to choose activities that best fit their
learning styles, needs, and skills.
There are three levels in Layered
Curriculum which correspond to the grade students receive: the C level requires
that students show their basic understanding of a topic by choosing from a set
of assignments, B level applies knowledge learned from the C level tasks to
create new knowledge, and the A level requires students to think critically
about the topic and produce tasks in the analysis and synthesis levels of
thinking (Colding). Not only do students get a choice of tasks, they also get a
say in their learning goals and can be held accountable for the grade they want
to receive.
I plan to use this Layered Curriculum
method while reading Keesha’s House with
the students. Each student will be required to complete the C level by choosing
from the tasks offered, but it is up to the individual student to determine their
learning goals and how much work they are willing to put in. Hopefully, by
using a text students can make connections with and giving them options as they
read and learn, the motivation and engagement in the classroom will be
increased.
References
Colding, Donovan H. “Integrating a Layered Curriculum to
Facilitate Differentiated Instruction.” Association
for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Web. 6 April 2016.
Marzano, Robert J. and Pickering, Debra J. The Highly Engaged Classroom. Bloomington: Marzano Research, 2010.
Print.
Ms. Brill,
ReplyDeleteI love that you are taking this challenge head-on! I appreciate your enthusiasm over this hurdle! I absolutely love the idea of layered curriculum and adding choice to your assignments! I've found that students do really well with that! In addition to your fabulous ideas, have you thought about how you could use this method with other classes? Would it work in every class? Thanks for your insights!
-Aleisha Bryan
Ms. Brill,
ReplyDeleteThis was a thoughtful post into a strategy that many teachers could potentially use in their classroom. My mentor teacher also used layered curriculum for our sophomores last semester (I know you know them...) and she found it quite successful. With the specific information she provided, the sophomores were able to work independently on which type of level they wanted to complete (the C-level, B-level, or A-level as you mentioned in your post).
I'm glad that you are potentially considering this strategy for your classroom. It can be especially useful with a class that is hard to motivate (such as your freshman and my sophomores) and the results that you receive from out will tend to turn out better than expected. My question for you (that I've also found myself asking) is: do you think every class is different? I wonder if some classes would do better with a different strategy. I wish you luck!
~Mr. Naylor
Ms. Brill,
ReplyDeleteIt is such a great opportunity to work with such a small class - I'll opening admit to being jealous!
We've used a type of layered curriculum a couple times this year by offering students a menu of assignments to choose from rather than assigning one project or paper. The students loved it! We laid it out like a tic-tac-toe board and students had to do three assignments in a row that added up to a certain number of points. It was really great because there was something for pretty much every style of learner and the students really did some great work.
How do you tackle the grading side of layered curriculum? I think that is the hardest part - it felt like it took a lot more time - any tips you have would be amazing!
Thank you for providing several resources - they have been added to my "to read" list.
--Mrs. Tolbert
Thanks for this post, Shea. It sounds like the Layered Curriculum definitely falls under the umbrella of differentiating instruction, and I like that it offers students choice and ownership in their learning and how they demonstrate understanding.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I’m curious about … Do students choose whether or not to complete the B and A level assignments? If so, how do you push students who choose to complete the C level assignments to strive for the more critical thinking that goes into the B and A level tasks? Do we just allow students to settle for the C tasks? Maybe I’m misinterpreting this, so please correct me.
Thanks for this post!!