Instructional Groups in the Teaching and Learning Process - Essay Example

Instructional Groups The placement into groups is an effective strategy in the teaching and learning process. This paper discusses situations in which whole group instruction, within-class grouping and flexible grouping can be combined within the classroom. Whole group instruction refers to the presentation of material to all the students at the same time. Students are not separated into different groups for instruction. The teaching method, resources, and time of delivery are the same for each student. Within-class grouping involves the categorization of students into groups based on their ability or performance level. Thus, the teacher may have a number of high achievers in one group and low achievers in another. Students enter the system with varied levels of reading abilities and mathematical skills. Hence, it is common for teachers to practice within-class groupings for the teaching of Reading and Mathematics. Flexible grouping encompasses the arrangement of students based on their learning levels. Hence, students may not remain in the same group for an entire semester. The teacher closely monitors students’ progress to ascertain when students may have improved in a particular subject area. This student is then placed in a group that contains members of similar aptitude. However, a student may be excellent in one subject area yet weak in another. Regardless of the type of grouping used, the teacher should establish only two or three groups within the class for easier supervision and timely intervention. Each group should work on material that is suited to their unique needs and abilities. Some situations in which whole group instruction may occur include storytelling, the introduction of new concepts, ideas and skills, writing composition, poetry appreciation, dramatization of a story and the generation of a language experience chart. Specifically, there is a lure about story-telling that equalizes all students irrespective of their reading level or their ability in any other content area. For example in the telling of the story of Little Red Riding Hood, the teacher could read aloud this story, varying the intonation of the voice in order to portray different characters. All the students are allowed to participate in this session. However, at the end of the reading of the story, students can be divided into groups based on their ability or skill. Thus, the teacher of a third grade class for example, may ask each ability group to write a different ending to the story. At the end of the writing period, the students can come together as a whole class to share what they have written. Thus, whole group instruction was used with the storytelling, yet some of the exercises that were devised were inappropriate for whole group instruction and required flexible grouping or ability grouping. For concept teaching the teacher needs to focus all students on a specific new material and should be given equal opportunity to receive the content of a concept lesson. Dividing the class into ability groups after the concept lesson has been delivered would be more beneficial to the students. As a result, whole group instruction may be inappropriate when assigning exercises for practice of the concept learnt. For example, in the introduction of the concept of a three dimensional shape to third grade students, teachers would use whole group instruction to discuss the previous knowledge of the students and to supply examples and non examples of the particular shape. Nonetheless, it would be inappropriate for the teacher to use whole group instruction to allow the students to practice the identification and remodeling of the given shape. For poetry appreciation the whole class can recite a poem as a choral speaking piece or they may demonstrate echo reading of the poem. As a group the children will be instructed in how to enunciate their words, the significance of rhyme and the rhythm in which a verse may be said. On the other hand, whole group instruction may be inappropriate when the students may be required to compose a similar poem or reread the poem. Ability grouping would be more appropriate in this instance since the students would be able to compose or reread at their ability level. More students participate in smaller group so students who would not volunteer to read in front of the whole class may be willing to share in the smaller setting. The teaching of science and social studies are also two content areas that are more effective with whole group instructions. Therefore if the objective of a Social Studies lesson is for students to list three of the previous Presidents of the United States then the entire class should benefit from the various strategies the teacher would employ in achieving this objective. For example the teacher may engage in dramatization of different eras or displaying a video clipping of the Presidents. One major drawback of whole group instruction is that individual needs are neglected, therefore the smaller ability groupings compensate in this area where students can receive individual attention. Consequently, reinforcement and enrichment exercises, drills and circumstances where some students are lagging behind in a particular topic are situations in which within-class grouping may be effective. When giving reinforcement or enrichment exercises, the teacher may provide different activities to match the performance or ability level of the students. In this way low achievers are given the repetition and the individual attention that is needed. Similarly the high achievers are given an opportunity to compete with their peers and so competition drives them to excellence. Further, this type of grouping is suited to the development and practice of specific comprehension and vocabulary skills that may have arisen from the whole group sessions. For example, in the teaching of vocabulary, after the teacher has used whole group instructions to introduce the new vocabulary words. The teacher may divide the students into within-class groupings to practice the use of these words in various contexts. The teacher may utilize a paragraph that is appropriate for the high achievers whilst giving sentences to the low achievers. These ability groups should be continually assessed so that students may be moved to a different group at the right time. Ability grouping in this case lends itself to flexible grouping. Flexible grouping allows a student to be a leader in one subject area and simultaneously be the one that needs help in another group. Students in this type of grouping would be encouraged to work at their own rate. Therefore, after reading “Little Red Riding Hood” some students may be placed in a particular group for comprehension activities but be placed with a different group of students for vocabulary. Flexible grouping and ability grouping would be inappropriate for the reading or the dramatizing of the story but these types of groupings are excellent for the practice and the repetition of vocabulary or comprehension practice. Research indicates that low achieving students feel “more comfortable and participate more when grouped with peers of similar ability” whilst high achieving students “maintain interest and incentive in homogeneous groups, but languish when grouped with slow learners.” (Westchester Institute for Human Services Research) Hence, whole group instruction, within-class ability grouping and flexible grouping are valuable for the overall success of each student in the teaching and learning process. References Westchester Institute for Human Services Research. July 2002. The Balanced View: Research-based information on timely topics. 6:2 http://www.sharingsuccess.org/code/bv/abilitygrouping.pdf Read More