Since I was teaching a 2/3 combo, my students did not previously know each other. I noticed right away the third graders gravitated to the other third graders, and the secondgravitated to second graders. At recess they were only playing with those from their grade level. Iwanted the students to be a cohesive group, so we did lots of team building with the Tribes Learning Communities book and discussed the idea of Bucket Fillers. After a few weeks, second and third graders were playing together during recess. Here are a few books I recommend for helping to build a positive learning community:
All of the Bucket Filler books are wonderful!
Maria Dismondy's books are excellent forbuilding self esteem and discussing character. This one is my favorite!
Thiswon't work for everyone, but if you are able to, ask theteachers at each grade level you teach if you can divide up and send one grade level to the them for certain subjects. This worked well at myprevious school. Those of us who didn't teach the combo were so thankful that we didn't have to do it, that we felt the need to help out the combo teacher. Thesecondgrade teachers each had about three of the second grade combo students during the language arts block. This left only thethird graders for the combo teacher to teach language arts. Then the third grade teachers took the third graders for math,leaving only the second graderswith the combo teacher. The combo teacher did the same thing for P.E., leaving only the other grade for her to spend extra time with, and that was when she taught social studies or science.
This year I had four consistent, dedicated volunteers. I have always had classroom volunteers, but I knew I would really need them in the combo class during certain times of the day. I made sure to have volunteers during my math time and literacy block. During math, I started off with second grade and we corrected homework and I taught their math lesson for the day, while third grade completed anindependent practice page from the previous day's lesson.Sometimes they needed clarification, and I wasn't there to help them, since I was working with thesecond graders. The parent volunteer answered questions and monitored the class and I was able to focus on teaching my lesson. After I taught second grade their lesson, they worked on theindependent page for that lesson, while I pulledthird grade up and we corrected their homework and I taughtthird grade their next lesson. Any second graders who had difficulty withhomework would get called back to correct it with the volunteer, and the volunteer wasthere to answer any questions the second graders had, while I was able to focus on third grade. My volunteers are a huge component to the success of my classroom!
During my literacy centers block, I had two volunteers. I usually did a close reading or other comprehension activity, and the volunteers focused on grammar or word work with their groups. We rotated about everfifteen minutes, and every student was able to get the attention they needed. The parents also pulled back students one at a time who needed extra practice with fluency, spelling, andvocabulary. The planning page below is from my Classroom Volunteers Binder.
I love to spoil my volunteers at the end of the year to thank them for all the help they've given my students. Click on the picturebelow to see my Classroom Volunteer Thank Youfreebie.
This was animportantingredient to the success of my combo. When students were finished with their assignments, they needed to have a meaningful, engaging activities or projects to work on.Sometimes I posted task cardsaround the room and students worked independently orin pairs.
Other times I had task cards set up in baskets and students would take one to their seats.
During math, I set up dice games and students couldpractice basic facts with partners. I gave students a lot of choice during this time, since I knew they would be more invested in the independent work if they could choose what they wanted to do. My main focus was being able to teach and work with one grade, while keeping the other grade engaged and learning, not just completing busy work.
Thiswas really easy for me with language arts, sincethereare so many commonalities betweensecond and third grade. (Math was a little tougher for me, so I taught both grades separately.) I taught writing and guided reading together. I was able to teach many grammar concepts whole group since many standards were the same or very close.Three days a week the students read from their anthologies, and those were grade level specific. On the first day, I read the story withsecond grade, while third grade read independently andworked on their vocabulary four square. One the second day, I worked with third grade, while second grade worked independenly and completed their vocab four square. On Wednesday they partner read andworked on a comprehension page with their partner. Each group also had a readingjournal they completed and was due by the end of the week. The rest of the week was spent doing guided reading activities.
There were days my parent volunteers couldn't make it on their scheduled day. When that happened, I had to rely on the students to workwith each other if they had a question.This ended up being a good thing,because the students were empowered and seen as experts in the classroom. Students who had questionscouldn't just ask an adult for help, they had to work together with their classmates to problem solve.
I know this won't work for everybody, but this year our students each received their own tablets. We added Spelling City, Bite Slide, ABC Ya, Study Jams, Kahoot, and a few other websites our district purchased to their start menu. The students always had their tablets and an on going project to keep them engaged if they finished their assignments early. If your school doesn't have 1:1 devices, but you are able to get your hands on a few iPads or other devices, you can set up approved apps or websites for your students. You will be amazed at how engaged and on task they are!
What I have come to realize is teaching a combo is a lot like teaching a straight grade, but instead of having a variety of levels of students to juggle, you have the two grade levels to play ping pong with! I found myself going back and forth from one grade to the other, much like a game of ping pong. Since I had independent workers, I had very few behavioral problems. It was so nice to just teach for a change! I spent more time lesson planning, but no time in SST or IEP meetings, so that was a fair trade off. I feel I was able to teach more deeply this year than I have been able to in the past. I've already offered to teach a 2/3 or 3/4 combo next year if needed!
One thing that I struggled with at the beginning of the year was how to do my lesson plans. Even though I love
ErinCondren'steacher planers, I knew an EC planner wouldn't work for me with my combo, so I opted for a digital version instead. Ilove this one by Polka Dot Posie Print.
Everything you see on the right side page is what I taught whole class. I was modeling reading expectations and we completed a Me on the Map activity and PEtogether. On the left side, I have math, word work, and grammar, all subjects that were taught separately. The bottom page is second grade's lesson plans, and the part that I'm holding up isthird grade's plans. I cut off the days on the third grade page and placed it on top of second's, so I couldeasily flip the pages back and forth in my binder and stay organized.This worked so well for me this year!
If you are teaching a combo next year, or in the future, I hope you enjoy it like I have! If you have any questions along the way, feel free to email me at theinspiredowl@gmail.com and I would be happy to help you!
