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The ABCs of Supporting Reading Specialists

Jun 2, 2022 | Differentiated Instruction, Early Literacy, Holistic Learning

Reading specialists, or literacy specialists, undergo specialized training that enables them to help struggling readers. They work with classroom teachers in the early grades to support and supplement reading instruction. 

They also have the added responsibility of assessing students and analyzing data. This is to identify students who may need further help and to monitor their progress. 

Reading specialists work on specific skills that are essential on the path towards reading mastery. They help reinforce these skills which the general curriculum may or may not cover. 

In the US, there are approximately 19,000 reading specialists. 

Approximately 4 million students are enrolled in Grade 3 in the US in 2022. We regularly read reports from different states about the percentage of Grade 3 and Grade 4 students scoring below the state assessment level for reading proficiency. It ranges from 20% to as much as 60%. 

Even if the lower quartile is considered, that means 1 million students are struggling to read in the US. It’s quite a daunting task for reading specialists, with each reading specialist, on average ,responsible for supporting 52 students!

In this article, we look at the nature of the job that is done by reading/literacy specialists, evidence of their effectiveness, and put forward ways in which we can better support them. 

 

Understanding The Role of Reading Specialists

Understanding The Role of Reading Specialists

In order to support reading specialists, it’s important to understand their role.

Though at times used interchangeably, the reading/literacy specialist, the reading teacher, and the reading/literacy coach are different roles. 

The reading teacher is the primary classroom teacher in the early elementary grades. They are responsible for teaching the language arts curriculum. 

The literacy coach role has many overlaps with the reading specialist, but one important differentiator is that the literacy coach provides in-class literacy coaching to the teachers. They are often involved in the planning process of how to raise the literacy achievement for a whole classroom. As such, they are more involved with teachers.

The reading specialist works more closely with students, and acts as a resource for teachers. They assess and instruct students, provide personalized instruction as required, and create literacy activities for the teachers. 

Due to their close proximity to students and knowledge of early literacy instruction, they have a special significance in any pre-K to 3 education team. 

 

Success of Reading Specialists

Success of Reading Specialists

​​Reading specialists are well versed in structured literacy approaches. 

As more schools are shifting towards the Science of Reading in their early literacy strategies, the knowledge and training the reading specialist possesses has become a valuable commodity. 

Literacy specialists are able to combine their skillset with assessment tools to provide science-based reading instruction to the whole classroom, but also work on specific skills for those students that need the extra help. Thus, they are an ideal fit for early literacy intervention programs in schools. 

There is evidence to suggest that early reading interventions work best when facilitated by technology. In a study of seven schools in southwestern US in rural low-income communities, groups of students who received technologically facilitated early reading intervention outperformed their peers in all reading outcomes.

The Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan policy think tank, recommends the U.S. Department of Education give competitive preference to educational programs that provide teachers opportunities to work with certified reading specialists. 

This highlights the invaluable position of reading/literacy specialists in their ability to positively influence outcomes in early reading programs. 

 

Reading Specialists’ Principles That Unlock Student Potential

Reading Specialist Principles That Unlock Student Potential

Sprig Learning aims to provide every child a fair shot at success. 

To maximize every early learner’s reading potential, it’s imperative we support our reading/literacy specialists. 

Reading specialists follow these four principles to raise literacy performance. These four important conditions have to be met in order to support our reading specialists.

1) Provision of resources and professional development opportunities that focus on the latest evidence based approaches.

Reading specialists need to use the right content and practices to teach reading to their students. 

Proven practices and educational materials should be chosen in order to empower reading specialists. With support from administrators, the most accurate and effective instruction can be provided to the students that is conducive to literacy achievement.

Professional Development should also focus on science-backed content and instruction. It can include grade-level meetings, workshops, professional learning communities, teacher collaboration, and conference attendance. 

 

2) Student assessments throughout the year for implementing effective differentiated instruction.

Reading specialists benefit from assessments that are formative, reliable and efficient. It’s best when these assessments are easy to implement and are paired with a progress monitoring mechanism. 

With an intuitive assessment and monitoring system, reading specialists have more time to adapt instruction and deliver it to students. 

Taking the dual administrative burden of assessment and tracking off their shoulders, allows them more time to spend with early learners and work on those critical early literacy skills and concepts.

3) Immediate adjustments when interventions fail.

Every student is unique. It’s possible that they fail to understand the instruction that is provided to them based on initial assessment. The reading specialist should be ready to adjust the:

  • number of learning activities in daily lessons (too many or too few).
  • level of direct and explicit instruction (more direct).
  • pace of instruction (slowing down the rate).
  • duration of each lesson (more or less minutes).
  • frequency of lessons (more or less in one week).
  • level of difficulty (appropriateness of the instruction level).
  • number of students in a learning group (more or less students).
  • educational materials used (appropriateness of the educational material).

 

4)  Setting comprehension as the ultimate goal.

There are two main goals at play here. First, the student needs to be able to read. Second, the student must be able to understand what they read. 

The Science of Reading takes a systematic approach to this, tackling the most fundamental reading skills first such as phonological awareness and phonics, eventually reaching fluency, and ultimately working all the way up to comprehension. 

Everything is done sequentially and systematically, so the basic building blocks of literacy are covered and no child gets left behind. It puts reading specialists in a strong position where they do not have to remediate years or months worth of missed learning. Rather they can work to unblock whatever difficulty the early learner is facing at present.

 

Supporting The Whole Early Literacy Team

Supporting The Whole Early Literacy Team

It’s not only literacy specialists that need support, but other members of the early literacy team as well. This includes the primary classroom teacher, the literacy coach, the literacy coordinator, speech language pathologist, and others. 

Literacy inequity is a challenge big enough to warrant the joint efforts of all. Sprig hopes to do its part.

By understanding the fine details and principles of success for each role, it’s possible to bring everyone together for optimum collaboration. 

This is the beginning of our early literacy team series.The series will be continued next week, where the focus will be on literacy coaches.

If you have any questions about using technology for assessments and early literacy science-based instruction, do not hesitate to contact us. 

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The Undeniable Case for Early Literacy Intervention

May 26, 2022 | Early Literacy, Equity in Education, Holistic Learning

Literacy gaps that emerge in the earlier grades tend to widen in the later elementary years. To address educational inequity immediately, it’s necessary to intervene at the right time. 

Early literacy interventions provide additional literacy instruction to those K-3 students who require it. 

Sprig Learning builds early learning programs that build foundational literacy skills. 

It’s better to create an education system that assesses everyone early on for learning strengths and deficits, and provides appropriate instructions. 

Such an education culture is inclusive towards all and mitigates the need for interventions.

Often the word “literacy intervention” conjures up thoughts that relate to cost-inefficiencies and doubts over its overall efficiency. 

But with hundreds of reading intervention programs being used by thousands of schools, we are past the point of debating the usability of interventions. 

Rather, the focus should be on how to best implement literacy interventions in schools. 

In this article, Sprig makes a case for early literacy interventions.

 

How Early Should Interventions Start?

How Early Should Interventions Start

The question of when to introduce intervention implies that supplemental reading instruction should only be an afterthought to initial reading performance. 

But it’s known that early learners arrive in kindergarten with a wide range of skill levels in phonological awareness, alphabet recognition, print awareness and other essential literacy skills. 

Students at this stage who lag behind often have difficulty catching up with their peers once they begin to receive instruction. 

Thus, early literacy intervention should be implemented in accordance with identified skill deficits as soon as possible. This can occur as early as preschool or kindergarten. 

Early literacy interventions in kindergarten have produced significant results in multiple language domains for students who are linguistically diverse learners.

Results from multiple studies show that a higher percentage of Grade 1 students tend to reach grade-level proficiency with the help of interventions than Grade 2 students. Thus, intervening at Grade 2 is sometimes too late.

Early literacy intervention should begin as early as possible. 

If literacy skills fade-out is a concern, then it must be noted that early literacy intervention participants have consistently shown to read at or above their grade level as far as three years beyond their intervention.

We all know that Grade 3 reading performance is one of the most reliable predictors of lifelong academic and social success. 

Thus, we can say that in order for the early learner to sharpen all their reading skills, leading to mastery by Grade 3, they should be properly assessed by kindergarten or Grade 1. 

Doing so will not only boost their literacy achievement performance in the short run, but establish a runway for them to become confident readers by Grade 3.

 

Prevention of Reading Failure

Prevention of Reading Failure

​​One of the main advocacy points of early literacy intervention is its ability to prevent reading failure.

While it’s important to maximize the learning potential of every child, it’s just as important to help those children who are at risk of falling through the cracks of the current education system.

The National Institute of Child Health & Human Development reports that 74% of children entering Grade 1 at risk for reading failure have reading challenges later as adults. This further corroborates the urgency of early interventions.

Research shows that children who have difficulty acquiring phonemic awareness and phonics skills generally fail to read, or read poorly, and that those poor reading skills are perpetuated without proper interventions. 

Thus we see that when it comes to interventions, it’s not just about intervening early, but making sure those interventions are informed by instruction that is backed by the Science of Reading.

Intervening very early on by creating a culture of assessments for all types of learners may help increase the size of the safety net. 

But the type of explicit and systematic instruction that goes into addressing some of these skill gaps speaks to the quality of the safety net. Interventions should also be a part of structured literacy. 

 

Lessons from Popular Literacy Intervention Approaches

Lessons from Popular Literacy Intervention Approaches

​​Literacy interventions are best when they are:

  1. applied early. 
  2. part of the education system where everybody is assessed for their current skill levels.
  3. backed by the Science of Reading, or structured literacy.

Now, let’s look at some examples of current literacy interventions. Lessons can be borrowed from them and applied to early literacy interventions. 

 

Structured Literacy Intervention

Structured Literacy Intervention is based on structured literacy instruction, which is a comprehensive and evidence-based system of explicit, systematic and sequential instruction. It provides sample intervention activities. 

The term was first popularized by the International Dyslexia Association, but now is widely recognized as the application of the science of reading method. It not only helps those with Dyslexia, but all students in general. 

Is it fit for an early literacy intervention? 

Absolutely. It supports point #3 above, in that it is based on the science of reading. Dyslexia has been receiving a lot of attention lately, and it explains why certain students are prone to being underachievers in reading. 

 

Short-term interventions

Short-term interventions consist of one-to-one teaching for the lowest performing grade one students. Students receive 30-minute lessons each day for 12 to 20 weeks from a trained literacy specialist. 

There is evidence to support that such targeted interventions work to raise the performance levels of the lowest performing Grade 1 students. 

Is it fit for an early literacy intervention? 

It’s nice that it begins in Grade 1, but it would be even better if it started in kindergarten. Also, it leaves out other students who may or may not have been identified as needing intervention in Grade 1. Furthermore, this approach does not follow through in the later grades to ensure that there is no fade out of skills. 

It’s one of the most popular reading intervention approaches used today. It would be further strengthened if it was more inclusive, integrated into daily reading instructional practices and followed up in the later grades. 

 

Intensive Reading

Intensive Reading teaches small groups of students various reading techniques for 40 minutes a day. Parents are also asked to commit to do their own homework, which includes reading to their child every night.

Teachers have also noticed that these students in this approach are more engaged with reading and are excited to participate in the reading lessons. They are benefited from the continuous reading reinforcements that happen both at home and at school. 

Is it fit for an early literacy intervention? 

It’s a good program with fantastic books, best used in group instruction methodology. It’s a fast-paced system designed to move students along quickly. But in the early years, individualized instruction is just as important, and certain skills may need to be worked over and over until they are perfected.

 

The Ideal Early Literacy Intervention Program

The Ideal Early Literacy Intervention Program

It’s time to look at new solutions to the old issue of struggling readers. The recent Right to Read report released by the The Ontario Human Rights Commission was an eye-opener for many. What can be done differently? 

It’s our hope that this article presents some new ideas to you about how to ensure that more early interventions are inclusive towards all. Current approaches can be improved to ensure that there is sufficient planning and foresight for every young learner.

We have written more on this topic. If you liked reading this piece, you may also want to check out Building Early Literacy Skills in Schools. Thoughtful Considerations.

Interested in an inclusive early intervention framework case study? Let us know. 

Go to Sprig Blog

Design a Summer Reading Program for Early Literacy

May 19, 2022 | Early Literacy, Holistic Learning, Parental Involvement

Anytime early learners are away from school for an extended period of time, there is a risk of their literacy skills deteriorating. It’s easy to see why.

  • A school provides young students with regular, structured lessons. 
  • Students have access to experienced teachers who know how to support early learners.
  • Students also have a consistent learning environment to practice reading, with access to numerous books and other educational materials.

The concept of the summer slide or summer learning loss is very real.  This is where there is a loss of knowledge that students gained from the previous school year following  the summer break.  

Sprig highlighted the summer slide phenomenon in a previous blog, where it was mentioned what learning recovery looks like for school children.

Indeed, schools should be well equipped to manage returning students that had varied summer experiences and were exposed to diverse learning opportunities.  Some students may require more help than others in the form of one-on-one or group support. 

But how can we mitigate the summer slide? 

Or looking at it from a more positive angle, what if more learning opportunities were available during the summer so all students could continue to maintain and build their early literacy skills?

Summer reading programs provide opportunities to both retain and grow literacy skills. Not all summer reading programs are the same in how they go about doing this. 

This article focuses on designing a summer reading program for early literacy. 

Some very important questions are first answered to understand the heart of summer reading programs, followed by some thoughtful considerations on the best way forward for early literacy.

 

What is a Summer Literacy Program?

Summer Literacy Program

​​A summer learning program centered around language or reading is called a Summer Literacy Program. 

 

It is intended for students who: 

  • are struggling to read at grade level. 
  • have socioeconomic or other identified challenges to literacy achievement. 

 

There is often no fixed age range for students who are selected for the program. 

They can be early learners in kindergarten, elementary and middle schools, depending on the local education board. The 3 to 12 age group is a common participation criteria for a lot of these summer programs. 

The summer literacy program encourages students to read during their summer break so they retain the literacy skills they have gained throughout the school year. 

Many literacy activities are offered according to the age group and reading level of the student. The duration of the program is often flexible. It can range from three weeks to the whole summer.

Reading knowledge and skills are not only retained in Summer Literacy Programs, but are often added as well. Students can make literacy gains during the summer break, which they can carry back to school in the fall. 

Summer Literacy Programs are especially pertinent for young learners as there is a short window of opportunity to maximize learning at this formative stage of learning. This includes:

  • Correcting wrong learnings
  • Recovering lost learnings
  • Adding new learnings

 

Every single day in the early childhood stage of learning is important. 

The learning students acquire at this crucial juncture of their lives helps develop and establish the necessary and foundational skills. These skills, when learned properly, serve students well in their learning journey for the rest of their lives.

Summer is one quarter of the year and provides a helpful boost to early learning when this time is well used.

 

What is a Summer Literacy Camp?

A Summer Literacy Camp is very similar to the Summer Literacy Program, if not identical.  

Some school districts call it a Summer Literacy Camp and make it available to their students who are struggling. 

The students enrolled in the program are recommended by the teacher and/or principal.

 

Is There One Model of Summer Literacy Program?

There are in fact many examples of what a Summer Literacy Program can look like. 

 

Some programs are directed at groups of students from multiple school districts. They are part of a study. 

Harvard funded the Reading Enhances Achievement During Summer program where children from low-income families were mailed books to read that matched their interests and abilities. 

The findings from this study showed that the children who received these books did better than their peers who did not receive them.

 

Some programs are multimodal. They have in-person, virtual and hybrid options. 

The Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge allows kids to log their reading milestones and unlock weekly milestones, thus creating an incentive to continue reading. 

It definitely helps to have such an interactive learning program which motivates children to pursue reading.

 

Some programs are completely resource based. 

Any principal, teacher or parent can benefit from a resource package that is designed specifically for early literacy. By using videos, books and other resources, they are able to create their own summer literacy programs, even if the official infrastructure for it does not exist. 

 

Is It An Early Literacy Intervention?

In some summer literacy programs, kids receive individual and small group literacy instruction. So the students who are already struggling are further differentiated to understand what would help them become better readers.

So yes, it can be thought of as an early literacy intervention during the summer break. But as discussed before, some summer literacy camps also see it as an opportunity to enrich learning. 

Usually, when schools have intervention in mind, they will explicitly create intensive summer intervention programs for a particular group of struggling students. Most reading research points to the success of such programs, showing a significant relationship between the hours of intervention and improvement of reading ability. 

 

The One Common Theme: Books

Sprig Storybooks

                                                                                                Sprig’s Storybooks

Whether it’s taking part in a reading challenge, doing a book review, participating in book giveaways, or maintaining reading logs, the one common theme in all Summer Literacy Programs is books. 

As such, it’s important to involve people who are knowledgeable about and have access to books.

Some school libraries stay open for the summer for this very reason, and the school librarian plays a key role in summer reading programs.

Even without a librarian, at the very least, kids should have access to fun books which appeal to them. These books can be accompanied by animations or other effects like augmented reality. 

Anything that encourages early learners to read should be favoured.

 

The Involvement of Parents

Involvement of Parents

The involvement of parents in summer literacy programs is not only recommended, it is actually imperative to student success! 

Yes, the literacy programs and camps are a way to keep kids engaged in a productive way during the summer. But just as it is during the school year, it’s important for parents to actively participate in their child’s learning. 

Active parental involvement makes a big difference when it comes to making literacy gains.

Nearly half of parents are not even aware of the summer slide. So summer literacy programs have the responsibility to make families aware of the opportunity that exists to make use of the programs, and also support families in their own efforts to work on literacy. 

The Sprig Home app has supported parents both during and post-pandemic to provide easy, accessible learning activities that turn those everyday moments into learning opportunities. 

 

Summer Literacy Is Both Fun and Serious

Summer Literacy is Both Fun and Serious

​​While summer literacy programs are meant to be fun, it’s also serious enough that many different types of organizations (school districts, colleges, societies, and educational organizations) are now offering some version of summer literacy instruction.

In a recent study of 580 public and private elementary schools in the US, 65% of them held summer literacy programs, despite not being required or funded to do so. 

Regardless of the type of organization, it’s clear that to provide an enriching learning experience to kids that truly excites them to pursue reading, educational resources are required that are specifically created for summer literacy. 

The Family Summer Literacy Boost bundle from Joyful Literacy helps parents and summer schools teach students who are in kindergarten to Grade 2.

This fully digital video series contains downloadable books, videos from topmost experts in the field of literacy, and instructional materials geared towards reading mastery.

Sprig fully endorses the video bundle, given its equal emphasis on both teachers and parents, the collaboration of whom is absolutely essential for a successful summer literacy program. 

 

Using What Works in Summer Literacy

The group of students you select for a summer literacy program, the modes you use to teach them, and the roles you involve to coordinate the program are all important decisions. 

But it’s most important is to use an evidence-based literacy strategy that works. 

The number of literacy activities one can do are endless.

Stories

Crafts

Explorations

Worksheets

Experiments

Etc.

But to do it all in a structured setting, supervised by literacy specialists and parents, is the real difference maker. 

Teachers know their students. When teachers are given the opportunity to modify program components for their students, the effectiveness of summer literacy programs is further enhanced.

When prior assessments are conducted to understand the student’s areas of strength and growth, reading instruction is adjusted accordingly for the student. 

From that point onwards, teachers can follow an evidence-based framework to monitor student progress until full literacy has been achieved. 

Achieving early literacy for all is Sprig’s passion! If you can’t get enough of early literacy improvement articles, please also be sure to check out:

The 4 Golden Rules of Early Literacy Development

Building Early Literacy Skills in Schools. Thoughtful Considerations

Have any questions about summer reading or summer literacy programs? Contact us.

Go to Sprig Blog

The 20 Best Strategies for Teaching Early Math Skills

May 12, 2022 | Holistic Learning

Learning math is a fundamental part of early childhood education. It’s why Sprig offers the Sprig Math program, to pair Sprig Language in teaching early numeracy and literacy respectively.

To ensure every child has a fair shot at success, both core subjects of language and math are fundamental and must be taught well. They complement each other. 

Making sense of oral language helps to learn math concepts by understanding what is being said or instructed.

Math also builds reasoning, which increases comprehension, including language comprehension.

The two subjects are so interconnected that language and math learning difficulties tend to coincide in primary school. There is also evidence to show that it’s more difficult to overcome a math learning gap than it is to overcome a language learning gap. 

In a study on school readiness and later achievement, it’s said that early math skills have even greater predictive power than reading and attention skills, when it comes to determining success.

Given math is such an integral part of early childhood education, we wanted to do a comprehensive roundup of all strategies written on this topic. 

We present them in this article. 

 

The Many Strategies for Teaching Early Math Skills 

Many Strategies for Teaching Early Math Skills

There are numerous strategies for teaching early math, and they have varying degrees of shared characteristics. 

We reviewed many different strategies (from multiple sources) to arrive at this list of 20 math strategies. Their overlaps are minimized. 

 

From Many to The Best

 

Repetition

  1. Use Repetition to Build Familiarity: Although the most basic strategy in this list, it is still very popular in teaching students early math. Through repeated practice, early learners get to practice skills such as anticipation, prediction, and cause and effect.

 

Start by Counting

  1. Start by Counting: Counting is one of the most common activities in teaching early math skills. Due to its prevalence, it can be thought of as a strategy. Instead of counting by rote, it’s better to develop quantity sense. Counting is reinforced in many literacy lessons, as well as everyday life situations.

 

Hands on activities

  1. Do Hands-on activities: Abstract concepts in math can be difficult to absorb for early learners. Doing activities with manipulatives, blocks, relational rods or clay are helpful to visualize these concepts. These methods of learning math are the first step of the concrete, pictorial, abstract approach to learning math. 

 

Graphics to engage and explore

  1. Use Graphics To Engage and Explore: Using colourful moving images, catchy sound effects and songs engages students in learning. Static images are good for demonstrating math concepts, but moving visuals accompanied by audio are even better. They support deeper thinking about the mathematical concepts in which they are engaged.

 

Differentiate using technology

  1. Differentiate Learning via Technology: Most teachers use some sort of differentiation tactic to teach their students. Technology amplifies this differentiation capability, by 1) keeping track of student profiles to see what they have completed 2) offering a chance to those students who are more adept at learning on-screen.

Early Learners will explain concepts

  1. Ask Early Learners To Explain Concepts: It’s good to ask students how they want to solve a problem or what strategies they are thinking about. It develops meta-cognition, which is an important aspect of learning early math.

     

     

    Implement Storytelling

  2. Implement Storytelling: Stories capture the imagination and keep kids engaged. Real-life scenario problems told through stories help kids understand the practicality of math. Fictional stories also grab their attention to look at a problem closely, and the use of characters engages them to solve a problem.

 

Provide Feedback

  1. Provide Feedback: Addressing learning gaps also involves fixing errors so they don’t turn into bad habits in the learning process. While a strength-based approach helps students to learn in their preferred styles, it’s equally important to correct mistakes when they do happen. 

 

Positive Attitude

  1. Develop a Positive Attitude: It’s easier and more enjoyable to learn math if the students believe that they can succeed. It’s beneficial for students if they develop a positive identity and attitude when it comes to learning math. It’s important to reward and praise students when they do well, so they are encouraged to learn more. 

 

Play Games

  1. Play Games: Playing games is one of the ways to make math learning fun. Research shows that playing with puzzles, blocks, and cards all enhance math skills in the early years. Interactive digital games take it one step further in engaging students and increasing learning gains.

 

Schema and Patterns

  1. Use Schema and Patterns: Recognizing patterns, making connections, and predicting sequences are all things that occur when children learn from recurring designs, or patterns. Once kids at an early age figure out the schema, or the underlying pattern behind a math concept, it’s easier for them to learn.

Developmental Progression

12. Use Developmental Progression: Children have some innate abilities to recognize patterns and to count at an early stage. Developmental progression uses such abilities to build a platform from which more advanced mathematical operations can be taught.

 

Formatively Assess

13. Formatively Assess: Monitor progress of what every student has learned. Determine their current level of math knowledge and differentiate instruction accordingly. A formative assessment tool can inform instruction by monitoring progress for each student. It’s helpful for pacing instruction according to the curricular outcomes at the end of the year.

 

Connect Math

  1. Connect Math to Other Learning Areas: Encourage students who see and explain their world in mathematical terms. Introduce general concepts informally, before formally connecting those concepts to formal math vocabulary. Students become more invested in learning math when they see how it is connected to the world around them.

 

Encourage Math talk

15. Encourage Math Talk: Bring up math in every situation, so students can practice applying the learned knowledge and concepts. Verbalizing mathematical thinking gives students greater understanding and awareness of their own problem-solving skills.

 

Time for Math

16. Set Time Aside For Math: Schools have learning blocks dedicated to math, so this strategy is well practiced. But it is extremely important nonetheless to reserve time for teaching math. It should be something that kids look forward to and not dread.

 

Cooperative Learning

17. Set Up Cooperative Learning: It’s possible to learn math alone, but working together in a pair, or in a group with many other students are also great options. Students get to learn from each other and  brainstorm problem solving ideas as a group. Teaching others leads to high retention of a math skill. It’s best to pick groups that are of mixed ability.

 

Teacher Collaboration

18. Promote Teacher Collaboration: Teacher collaboration, or collaborative planning, is one of the major markers of high-quality differentiated instruction. It’s no different in teaching math. Collaborating with other teachers, coaches or specialists improves instruction skills and helps to plan more effective lessons.Furthermore, teacher collaboration helps to build the right math culture in early learning, where math ideas are made fun, and are treated as concepts to be discussed and reasoned through.

 

Support Independent Practice

  1. Support Independent Practice: Scaffolding can be used to teach math, but not to the extent where it hampers independent learning of a certain skill or concept. There should be enough opportunities provided to the student to demonstrate their understanding. 

 

Foundational Skills

  1. Work on the Foundational Skills: Early math foundation includes number sense, representation, spatial sense, measurement, estimation and patterns and problem solving. There are many early childhood math activities for each of these learning areas. There are tools available that map such activities to their respective learning outcome. Sprig Math goes one step beyond this, and maps activities to the underlying math learning processes as well. 

 

Teaching Early Math Strategy Takeaways 

Teaching Early Math Strategy Takeaways

Going over the 20 strategies mentioned above, there are some themes that can be observed. 

 

  • Focus on existing math ability
  • Sense of belonging in the classroom
  • Math’s connection to the world around us
  • Maximization of potential according to math interests

 

Math teachers do a lot when it comes to achieving these objectives! 

They meet students at the level they are in, show them how math can be fun and relevant, and provide ample opportunities for them to develop as early math learners.

With technology specifically meant for early math, it acts as a force multiplier to the work teachers already do.

Students who take part in technology-based adaptive math programs score higher on all math strands in assessment, compared to those students who do not take part. There is a clear advantage to be gained in tailoring math instruction with the help of technology.

If there is any strategy in this article that you need help with ideating, implementing or measuring, feel free to reach out to us. Sprig Learning built Sprig Math specifically for early math learners.

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Early Childhood Teachers— Creating the Perfect Team

May 3, 2022 | Differentiated Instruction, Early Literacy, Holistic Learning

Today is National Teacher Day in the US! Where would we be without teachers and the lasting contribution they make in our lives?

To mark this special day, we want to highlight the team aspect of teaching. 

There are many studies that suggest teachers think highly of collaborative teaching and consider it a valuable and effective use of their time.

As the teaching profession evolves, there are new roles created that focus on a single specialty or help manage a number of different activities.

All of such roles ultimately have an unified purpose of providing the maximum benefit to the student. 

The goal is always to raise student success and ensure student well being. 

Despite all the challenges commonly faced by teachers, they are committed to the teaching profession to help students.

It takes an enormous amount of effort and dedication to teach preschoolers, kindergarteners and students in the early elementary grades. That’s why Sprig Learning supports the teaching cause by designing holistic early learning programs for Pre-K to Grade 3. 

For this year’s National Teacher Day, let’s take time to understand each teaching role to truly appreciate them! 

 

The Most Essential Early Childhood Teacher Roles in Pre-K to Grade 3

Most Essential Childhood Teacher Roles

The foundational years are absolutely critical to a child’s long-term educational success. Listed below are the customary and indispensable roles in early childhood education. 

All early childhood teachers contribute tremendously to the assessing, teaching and evaluation of early learners. 

 

Pre-K Teacher

Preschool or Pre-K teachers both instruct and care for children typically aged two to four years old. They have to prepare their young students for kindergarten.

At this stage, it’s crucial that all early development milestones are reached. 

 

Kindergarten Teacher

Kindergarten is considered to be the start of formal education. It is the starting grade level for the majority of elementary schools in North America.

Kindergarten teachers have to plan and implement lessons for children generally aged five years old. They have to supervise their students, keep them motivated, and guide their development as they develop the foundational early learning skills.

For many school systems, assessments also start at this level. There are best practices to design assessments for early childhood education.

 

Grade 1, Grade 2 and Grade 3 Teachers

Early primary teachers (namely in Grades 1, 2 and 3) help children transition into the elementary grades. They ensure learning progress in all the core subjects: language, math, science and social studies. 

 

Teacher Aide/ Teacher Assistant

The teacher aide assists preschool teachers in their work. They perform a variety of tasks such as preparing classroom materials and completing administrative tasks. There are teacher aides in preschool, kindergarten and the early elementary grades.

 

Remediation Teacher/Intervention Specialist

Remediation teachers help children who are struggling with early reading and/or math. They work alongside the student’s regular teacher, and work one-on-one with those students who require the most help.

 

Reading Specialist/Literacy Specialist/ Elementary Math Specialist

Reading specialists teach kids that are struggling with reading and/or writing. They work with students in small groups, and like homeroom teachers, they also plan, teach and evaluate instruction.

Reading specialists have advanced training and experience in teaching reading. They assess literacy performance of readers in general, and struggling readers in particular.

 

Literacy Coach/Literary Coordinator

Literacy coaches work with educators and students to improve literacy scores. They help to develop lesson plans, conduct lesson demonstrations and evaluations, and analyze student literacy achievement data. The coach can also observe the teachers as they present lessons and make suggestions for improvement. 

Sometimes the role can also include leading professional development and collaborating with all teachers to improve literacy for an entire grade or the whole school. 

 

Director of Elementary Education

The Director of Elementary Education formulates and implements a vision for the district’s instructional programs from Pre-K to Grade 6. 

 

Don’t Forget The Home

Parents/Caregivers

Learning happens both in the school and at home. Parental involvement is critical for student success. Parents and other caregivers are able to support the learning journey of the child as they go to school everyday and come back home. 

 

The Need For Collaboration in Early Childhood Education

Need for Collaboration in Early Childhood Education

At a school level, the administrators always want to understand the role of each educator in creating a successful learning program. It’s important for them to understand the relationship between the members of the team.

In kindergarten classrooms that have an educator team consisting of more than one role, it’s seen that the team members have complementary skills that allow them to address individual student’s needs and ensure meaningful learning opportunities. 

In its full-day kindergarten programs, Ontario pairs teachers with early childhood educators, who are trained in child development, observation and play-based learning. 

There has been a lot of research done on the positive influence of teacher collaboration on student achievement. While teacher quality alone is a big factor in determining student performance, working collaboratively enhances teacher effectiveness and expertise.

In light of all the emerging evidence that advocates for teacher collaboration, there is a rise in early childhood educator teams where collaborative planning is a part of the agenda. 

By respecting the unique skill sets each teacher brings to the table, it’s possible to optimize high-quality early learning for every child. 

 

All for One. One for All.

Early Learning Dream Team

Early Learning Dream Team

Sprig Learning is a purpose-built company that provides early learners, educators and parents with access to the tools needed to build a foundation for lifelong learning.

We produce early learning programs that are culturally relevant, teacher developed, and curriculum aligned. 

Any teacher can quickly be set up with an account on Sprig Language or Sprig Math. They can begin managing their class in no time at all. 

They can access holistic assessments, personalized activities targeting learning areas, and surveys from others to get a better perspective of the student.

When every teacher onboards on the platform, the teaching experience transforms into something even more magical! 

The homeroom teacher, or main classroom teacher in preschool, kindergarten and the early primary grades, can keep track of all students from one platform. They can assign activities that work on all the different learning outcomes outlined in the curriculum. 

The reading specialist or elementary mathematics specialist can closely monitor performance in the different learning domains in language and math. They can group students accordingly to deliver differentiated instruction.

Those students who need even more support can be looked at by the remediation or intervention specialist. They can formulate a one-on-one learning strategy, and take help from classroom resources available in the program, or look at survey results from caregivers for more insight into the early learner’s educational environment. 

The director of elementary education, or any assessment director at the elementary level, can compare classroom performances to see what is working and identify teacher collaborative planning strategies.

Team work really does make the dream work, especially in early learning! To learn more about how Sprig Learning can facilitate team work to raise student achievement, simply reach out!

Again, let’s take this time to celebrate all the different teachers working every day for our early learners. 

To show our gratitude, we have slashed prices at the Sprig Store by 20% for all products. Simply use the promo code Sprigforteachers at the checkout cart. 

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Using Play-based Technology to Teach Early Math Skills

Apr 28, 2022 | Differentiated Instruction, Holistic Learning

Play-based learning has always been a major staple of early childhood education. 

In kindergarten and in the early primary grades, engaging students is as important as teaching students. This is especially true for mathematics, where negative experiences can dissuade a student from further pursuing the subject.

Encouraging and motivating a student during their early math experiences allows them to develop a keen interest in math. Such enjoyment and persistence in learning math pays off. Students explore creative ways to advance their learning instead of being discouraged and frustrated. 

Play-based learning drives engagement in the early years. 

Technology facilitates play. 

In this article, we explore technology’s potential in teaching early math skills. 

 

Technology’s Role in Teaching Early Math Skills

Technology Role Teaching Early Math

​​By engaging students early on using technology, educators have more power to teach the essential math skills and concepts. 

When you can capture a student’s attention, teacher’s are in a better position to deliver the content and concepts of the lesson.

Technology also enables teachers to monitor the progress of students and collect valuable insights.

It’s a way to differentiate instruction and ensure all students benefit from personalized instruction.

The Sprig Math program is an example of leveraging technology to teach early math skills. 

It provides every child a strong foundation in early numeracy by focussing on the underlying concepts (or processes) that are critical to success in mathematics.

The intuitive Sprig Math app is easily downloadable by teachers and parents alike. 

The program combines technology and classroom resources such as the Sprig Math Classroom Kit. It fits seamlessly into day-to-day lesson plans mapped to the local curriculum.

 

The Right Way to Teach Early Math Skills and Technology’s Fit

Teach Early Math Skills Technology Fit

High-quality, challenging and accessible mathematics education for 3 to 8 year olds is necessary to build the right foundation for future mathematics learning. 

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) lists 6 principles for school mathematics that are relevant across all grade levels, including early childhood. They are:

Equity: Equally high expectations and strong support for all students.

Curriculum: Coherent, well articulated, and focused on important mathematics.

Teaching: Understanding what students need to learn and then challenging and supporting them to learn it well. 

Learning: Learning mathematics by understanding and actively building new knowledge.

Assessment: Supporting the learning of important math concepts and providing useful information to both teachers and students. 

Technology: Influencing the mathematics that is taught and enhancing student’s learning.

 

Taking a look at Sprig Math, it is carefully designed to meet all the criteria for effective early math instruction. It uses holistic assessments to identify the strengths, interests and needs of every learner, thus ensuring educational equity for diverse learners. 

The Sprig Math program maps to local curriculum and supports the teaching of essential math skills with targeted learning activities. 

Students benefit from learning the underlying math processes, which helps them develop a deeper understanding of early math and build a strong foundation for success. This learning is made possible by the Sprig Math App, an example of technology that enables educators to more effectively enhance learning, differentiate instruction and manage a classroom of diverse learners. 

Thus we see that technology is fast becoming an inseparable part of teaching mathematics in early childhood education. 

It is a strong facilitator of the principles of teaching math, and it is a principle in itself. 

 

From Math Apps to Math Games

Math Apps to Math Games

We see that technology is an instrumental part of teaching early math. Examples include apps, assessments, etc. What about interactive technology? 

Studies have shown that using interactive technology promotes student collaboration and engagement in a play-based learning environment. Using game-based math learning apps lead to greater learning gains in math compared to students who do not.

Do Digital Math Games Work?

The short answer is yes! 

In a world that is rapidly becoming gamified, there is a role for digital games in education, especially when educators and parents are allowed to monitor its application.

A 4-week Stanford study on Grade 3 students found that those who played a digital math game for 10 minutes a day, 3 days a week, demonstrated a 20.5% improvement in scores, compared to those who received the same material and instruction, but did not play the game. 

 

The Next Frontier- The Sprig Math Game

Aliet is no ordinary bear! 

She is one of the beloved Sprig Learning characters that early learners love to interact with and learn from. 

Originally created for the Mi’kmaq community in Nova Scotia, she, like all Sprig Learning characters, has her own story, puppet and digital classroom resources that portray her.  

Each of the characters’ stories has also been casted as animated videos for a more engaging experience, complete with sounds and motions. 

Sprig Learning will soon take the next leap from animated storybooks to augmented reality (AR) and interactive learning games. 

You would not only see Aliet move, but experience her in three dimensions, and engage in learning activities in AR.

Furthermore, you will be able to have an interactive math experience with Aliet and friends, by doing engaging activities in a play-based setting and learning essential math concepts.

Pikto’l Bridge is one of the activities in the soon to be released Sprig Math Game. The new Sprig Math Game will include hundreds of math activities that are organized into the Big Ideas that help children develop the underlying math concepts.  The math activities will include levels and incentives for students that will ensure learning these math concepts is both fun and engaging!

For example, Pikto’l’s Bridge is a quantity sense activity, which helps young students build their reasoning, representing and problem solving skills.  

Students use wooden planks of different lengths, modeled after Cuisenaire rods, to complete the bridge. Students demonstrate their ability to represent and partition numbers up to 20 using the wooden planks. They show their understanding of the addition of two single-digit numbers pictorially, as well as model story problems with Pikto’l.

 

Beginning of an activity in the game.

Pikto'l's Bridge Beginning

Completion of the activity.

Pikto'l's Bridge Activity Completion

The activity has different levels and sublevels that get increasingly more difficult and have different incentives and rewards for students. 

In one sublevel, the student is asked to complete the different rows of the bridge using as many different combinations of planks as possible. 

On another, the student has to add the plank that fits perfectly into the different sized gaps.

The game is being developed in collaboration with the Faculty of Education at St. Francis Xavier University, Indigenous math educators from Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey, math researchers, numeracy specialists from the Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, and our developers, designers and illustrators at Sprig Learning.  

 

Focusing on Math Essentials by All Means

Focusing on Math Essentials

Similarly to early literacy and reading, foundational math skills are strongly linked to success in the later grades, leading all the way up to graduation from high-school. 

Sprig Math is unique because it focuses on the  mathematics processes that span the K-12 curriculum and are critical to success. Combining that focus with technology and a game-based learning experience, Sprig Math is able to nurture a positive math mindset for young learners. 

During this play-based approach teachers continue to control the differentiated learning experiences, as they guide students in their exploration of math concepts. By giving enough freedom while at the same time offering instruction, the scope for productive play opens up, where students are better able to understand the essential math concepts. 

As presented in the article, the evidence for play-based learning in early math is overwhelming. At a time when we are all trying to close the achievement gaps, it’s an approach that better helps children to see, hear and feel mathematics. It helps students develop a positive attitude towards math early on, that reap massive benefits in the years to come.

Sprig Learning will be presenting its work at the Ontario Association for Mathematics Education golden jubilee event next month. 

Even if you are not registered for the event, you can sign up here to attend the virtual trade show. See a demo of Sprig Math. All attendees are entered into a draw to win a Sprig Math Classroom Kit!

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