After working with the Reading Units of Study over the last trimester, I am looking forward to starting with a fresh group and a fresh start to the unit. I enjoyed using the lessons and believe they are valuable, but my sixth graders were not ready to tackle the rigor of the first unit: A Deep Study of Character.
I realize that as the years pass, students will have the vertical knowledge and experience with the units; they will understand the vocabulary and be familiar with the scales. This last trimester was challenging because they did not have the background skills and knowledge to support the lessons in the first reading unit.
It is frustrating that the middle school units of study are 6-8; they are not differentiated, so they are not leveled. Having experience with the writing units, I anticipated that the lessons would be challenging, but in the future, I need to be mindful of how to modify for each grade level. Not only are the lessons challenging, the anchor books seem to be inaccessable. And...we all know what it takes to change to anchor books in a Lucy Calkins' unit...uggghh...
I am going to use the 5th grade unit for the second quarter; I am excited to fill in some of the gaps the kids have and look forward to the successes that my 6th graders will experience. I am going to focus on giving them more time to actually read, but I also need to work on assessing them and collecting more data.
Phew...it's a lot, but it is my first time through this unit; I am not discouraged!
I think that is the best part about Lucy is that she builds grade by grade. Therefore, you can go back and use the 5th grade. Kudos to you for giving your kids what they need and making sure they have the prior skills before just moving on. Although it is tough to change text, I do like that you can modify her lessons, or given that they are so long, pick the pieces that you really need and leave other parts out, or teach them separately. Keep on going!
ReplyDeleteMelissa,
ReplyDeleteI definitely connect with your post. It can absolutely be a challenge to change the anchor text in these units, so it seems like a good decision to go back to the 5th grade book. I'm struggling with the same thing right now while planning out more of the second trimester. Good luck!
I also discovered how important it is to have the scaffolding of previous years exposure to LC reading units with my 4th graders. Thanks for sharing a similar issue with your 6th graders. I made the decision to ditch the 6th grade LC writing and stick with the 5th grade writing units!
ReplyDeleteIt is important to keep the units of study going throughout the grades. Right now I am the only one fully using the units in my small school. I do feel though that the units are giving the kiddos a solid base to start their reading experience with.
ReplyDelete