Navigating the Core Curriculum - Toby J. Karten

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for all students never marginalize either the concepts or student potential.

      Teachers with mindsets that hold high expectations for all students never marginalize either the concepts or student potential.

      The following literacy and mathematics scenarios are examples of multitiered responsive interventions that embrace RTI’s tiered instruction. The lessons offer a glimpse into the RTI process in action. They invite teachers to connect tiered interventions to their own grade levels, disciplines, and students, and to consider the collaborative staff roles and who is responsible for interventions for the whole class, small groups, and individual learners. As teachers plan literacy and mathematics units, they must honor student-centered instruction with an eye on increasing listening skills, fluency, reading comprehension, vocabulary, written expression, oral expression, and critical thinking skills.

      Literacy Scenario

      This scenario takes place in a fourth-grade language arts lesson. For Tier 1, students read Cynthia Lord’s (2008) book Rules. The book depicts the themes of differences and accepting others through exploring the relationship between two siblings, the main characters. Catherine’s brother, David, has autism. Students search the book for text-based evidence in response to written questions, explore character traits, and write a book report. During core instruction, students participate in read-alouds, guided practice, and buddy reads. The teacher offers students characterization graphic organizers where students can record their thoughts, along with writing frames to assist with the book reports.

      The teacher offers students who easily grasp the concepts nonfiction articles on autism to review and summarize and present their findings to the class. They compare and contrast the knowledge from the nonfiction autism resources to how Lord presents David. Some students in core instruction write a literary review of the novel, others act out scenes from the novel, and some create storyboards with hand-drawn or digitally created visuals.

      For Tier 2, a few students receive literacy instruction in small groups in addition to the core instruction. These students require daily assistance to better understand how to interpret the text to identify the characters’ appearances, actions, and thoughts. Students elaborate on the rules, such as explaining why a boy takes off his shirt to swim, but not his shorts; why no toys are allowed in the fish tank; and why late does not mean you are not coming. The tiered instruction offers students increased chances to discuss the plot, answer inferential questions, and practice and apply new vocabulary.

      Some students need additional assistance with written expression and receive more intensive, small-group instruction on how to write a cohesive book report with a beginning, middle, and end that cites text-based evidence. This occurs during Tier 3 instruction. A few students receive additional scaffolding by listening to a digital version of the book on Audible (www.audible.com) so they can hear the correct fluency and pronunciation modeled. This allows students the opportunity to access the text to answer the comprehension questions and write the book report. Students receive mini reading and writing lessons to sequence and understand the events. With guidance, they independently and collaboratively complete Rules activity sheets (www.cynthialord.com/pdf/rules_worksheets.pdf).

      Mathematics Scenario

      This scenario takes place in a tenth-grade geometry class. The teacher introduces geometric models of theorems and mathematics vocabulary, and students learn to solve a complex geometric theorem. However, all students in the class do not grasp the concepts at identical speeds.

      During Tier 1 instruction, students receive step-by-step procedures, engage in mathematics journaling, participate in think-alouds, and have access to manipulatives. In Tier 2, some students require small-group instruction, practice circle theorem applications, and receive instruction to strengthen weaker computational skills. These students have extended opportunities to practice the geometry skills with daily progress monitoring.

      In Tier 3, a few students need more assistance to identify shapes within other shapes, since they are missing essential prior knowledge with many skill gaps about chords, diameters, arcs, and congruency. Another small group of students requires enrichment activities instead of repetition. The teacher prepares materials for learning centers and invites students to cooperatively explore them. Pattern blocks, pegboards, compasses, rulers, solid 3-D shapes, and virtual manipulatives are available for additional student exploration, reinforcement, and enrichment. The teacher offers instruction in tiers, giving students time to practice, refine, and own the skills and concepts.

      Teachers must continually synthesize and tweak the instructional routes they choose based on the data—student progress. Chapter 1 began this journey. Literacy and mathematics navigation requires inviting classroom dynamics where all students can learn in an accessible, nonthreatening environment as well as teacher expertise in delivering a multitiered system of supports. G. Rexlin Jose (2015) frames the learning conversation and guides the way as we continue to navigate the core curriculum: “Vocabulary is the gateway to knowledge that unlocks the doors of sublime ideas to the readers” (p. 7).

      Chapter 2 follows with an exploration of the academic language—the core vocabulary.

      CHAPTER 2

      APPROACHING THE CORE VOCABULARY

      Literacy involves applying reading, writing, language, and critical-thinking skills. Vocabulary, a building block of literacy, describes events, plots, people, and places. Vocabulary explains actions, expands thoughts, and increases conceptual understanding (Sprenger, 2013). Some students have more exposure to vocabulary at home than others, so the instruction at school must attend to that diversity in exposure.

      Vocabulary instruction includes more than memorizing definitions.

      Vocabulary instruction includes more than memorizing definitions. Providing graphical representations of words, transforming unknown vocabulary into a student’s own words, mapping, reading selections aloud, performing skits, and playing cooperative word games all exemplify ways to connect vocabulary to students. The evidence-based practices in this chapter help teachers assist their students to explore and embrace vocabulary as they read, speak, write, think, and interact with text and people.

      Figure 2.1 (page 20) illustrates the structure of this chapter.

      Vocabulary is an indispensable part of language, whether a student is a first or second language learner (Wangru, 2016). Students with different reading levels and vocabulary exposure have different starting points when they enter schools, in terms of their exposure to vocabulary. Some learners have home environments with families who read to them, and other students have fewer words spoken and limited literacy experiences. Research shows that developing vocabulary skills facilitates richer listening, speaking, and writing abilities (Jose, 2015). However, ways to effectively incorporate vocabulary instruction within a given class period often challenges teachers (Robb, Sinatra, & Eschenauer, 2014). Vocabulary navigation is therefore complex, but as this chapter shows, it is also very navigable when a teacher utilizes RTI and systematic strategies.

       Figure 2.1: Plan for approaching the core vocabulary.

      Like RTI, vocabulary is divided into three tiers (Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002); however,

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