My first visit back to my practicum classroom following the Christmas break was very exciting. I hadn’t realized just how much I had missed all of the kids and was very happy to be back in the classroom and working with them again.
One of the first things I had noticed upon entering my classroom was that the desks had been re-arranged. Though this was expected, as my SA switches their desk locations at the start of each month, I had observed that something was different this time; the students were sitting in groups pertaining to their grade level. All of the grade 5 students were sitting in a group towards the left side of the room and all of the grades 4s were sitting in a group to the right of the room. My SA later explained to me that this was because the grade 4’s and 5’s were now learning different concepts in both socials and science. Upon hearing this I was very eager to see how my SA would handle managing two groups of students who are learning different things simultaneously.
When science finally rolled around I was able to see exactly how my SA was able to handle teaching different topics to each grade level. She started out by getting all of the students to take out their science binder. She then asked that the grade 4s continue working on their booklets (that she had already given instructions for the previous day) while she got the grade 5s started. She then handed out the grade 5s worksheets and explained to them what to do and then went back to the grade 4s and got them started on their next activity. I think that my SA handled this tricky task quiet seamlessly. One strategy that I picked up was creating booklets (with implicit directions for how to complete each worksheet), therefore allowing the students to work at their own pace and allowing for independent work that does not require too much instruction, giving time for the teacher to work with the other group. Another strategy that I experiences when I was in elementary school myself was pairing up with another combination class and having one teacher teach all of the grade 4s and the other teacher teach all of the grade 5s.
Having a split class can be difficult in terms of teaching specific curriculum. Many teachers look for the big ideas in both areas and teach to the whole of the class for those. They then provide separate activities or individual research projects specific to the grade curriculum. Sometimes a centre approach works well with two different topic areas. It can really be a juggle!