Is it the responsibility of the regular classroom teacher to teach Tier 2 and 3 instructional lessons in the regular classroom? This is usually dependent on resources and school’s structure of the response to intervention (RTI) model for reading. Some schools have multiple learning opportunities for Tier 2 and 3 instruction outside of the classroom. Some schools may have push-in assistance for students with an Individual Educational Plan (IEP) for literacy instruction. Tier 2 instruction is usually taught in small groups, two or three times a week for 30 minutes. A student who receives Tier 3 instruction often has an IEP and is taught in a one-to-one group setting, five times a week for 30 minutes. Some schools will not have pull-out or push-in programs.
There is not enough instructional time to teach both regular grade-level and Tier 2 and 3 instructional lessons for literacy in the regular classroom. Some classroom schedules allow for “intervention time”, which is often when Tier 2 and 3 students are pulled out of the classroom. The schedule is usually dictated by administration. There may be some wiggly room, but often not. Tier 2 and 3 instruction should be taught in a systematic manner close to student zone of personal development (ZPD). Often part of Tier 2 and 3 instructional needs are be met through scaffolded instruction and short one-on-one conversations about a current task that helps them in completing the current task. The short conversations are usually closer to student ZPD. Each student has different instructional needs. Some students show that they are not functioning at grade-level on paper, but they may be able to orally complete the task at grade-level. Students who are English second language learners are often not able to participate orally or on paper. Some students are missing prerequisites; others may need more practice.
As a classroom teacher, your core responsibility is to teach grade-level subject matter and skills. Most skills can be scaffolded to meet the learning needs of all students. The scaffolding may happen in both directions. Higher level students need some stimulation to keep their intrinsic motivation going.
For instance, if you are going to teach a lesson on writing Haiku poems. Think about the underlining skills or prerequisites that a student must know before they can write a Haiku poem on their own. If you have taught this lesson or a similar type lesson before, you should know the students that will need help to accomplish the assignment. Think about how you might incorporate scaffolds to assist them in accomplishing the task more on their own. Scaffolding is meant to be a temporary help until student can accomplish the new task on their own. A student may need the scaffold for multiple years or just one time. You may need to change the type of scaffolding, as the student moves more towards ownership of the task. See my July 7, 2021 blog post for more information about scaffolding.
Below are some possible ways that students may need help or scaffolding during a Haiku poem writing exercise:
- spelling – depending on the age of the student they might use a personal or class dictionary. Some students may need help finding words in a dictionary. Some students may need a reminder about how to sound out words. Some students may need assistance with phoneme-grapheme correspondence. Their classmates might also be a resource that they can use.
- coming up with a topic—dictate the topic or offer topic choices. This gives student power to choose. Or brainstorm with the whole class to conclude a topic.
- words to include in their poem—brainstorm words in small groups or whole class. Write down the words, so they may use the list as a reference. Students might asked their neighbors. Students often like to read their renditions to their neighbors for approval, before reading it aloud to the class.
- Formatting—The poem structure relies on syllables and lines. Provide a template, give all students the option of using one.
- counting syllables—students may need a refresher on how to determine the number of syllables. Some may need additional help/practice during the writing process.
- formatting letters—students may need letter formation modeled or a reminder question about upper- and lower-case letters.
- writing words on paper—often students can write orally, but struggle to write words on paper. Write down the words and have them copy the words, if possible.
- early finishers—write a second poem or draw a picture depicting their poem.
This is not an exhausted list of the types of scaffolds that students might need for writing a Haiku poem. Scaffolding is a delicate, precise process.
Students enter the classroom at different levels, meeting them at their ZPD is often complex.
References
Ray, J. S. (2017) Tier 2 interventions for students in grades 1-3 identified as at-risk in reading. (Doctoral dissertation). https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/egi/
Wanzek, J. & Vaughn, S. (2010). Tier 3 interventions for students with significant reading problems. Theory Into Practice, 49, 305-314. doi: 10.1080/00405841.2010.510759
