(Virtual) Reality: Teaching Tips for Early Learners
We have all been reflecting on lessons learned about remote learning from the end of last school year. As some schools are gearing up to offer virtual instruction in the fall, many teachers and school leaders are taking on the challenge of how to best support learners in PreK and Kindergarten. At EdConnective, we’ve reached out to our coach and teacher network across the country and asked them to share their best tips, tricks, and lessons learned about what works for our youngest learners.
Synchronous vs Asynchronous Instruction
While virtual learning can’t replace the richness of the in-person learning experience, we consistently heard from educators that when it comes to teaching students in PreK and Kindergarten virtually, they saw the most academic growth through synchronous (live) instruction. Our educator team also shared that there is still a need for asynchronous (pre-recorded) instruction to provide additional practice opportunities.
Tips for Success with Live Lessons:
Lesson Length: Developmentally young learners may find it difficult to sustain attention for long periods of time, especially during virtual instruction. Based on what we heard from early childhood educators, we recommend that core academic time should be no longer than 15 minutes of live instruction. Additionally, if you decide to incorporate some social interaction, the total time students spend in one session should be no longer than 30 minutes.
For example one Kindergarten teacher held a 30 minute virtual morning meeting with the entire class, followed by a rotation of small groups lasting 20 minutes each through the rest of the morning, and planning one on one virtual meetings in the afternoon. Students who were not meeting in small groups or in one one instruction worked on asynchronous lessons.
Another teacher had one day each week to hold 15 minute one on one sessions with their students. They use this time to work on skills and goals specific to the student.
Find Observable, Interactive Data: In order to keep young learners engaged, we need to think about how to keep the live session interactive, and not just by calling on one student at a time. As we are engaging students, we can also be intentional about collecting data that is easily observable to check for their understanding. When asking a question, think about how you can have students respond that is both fun and informative - maybe they touch their head, clap their hands, or stand up as a visible response.
One teacher would ask her Pre-K 4 students to get up and count how many steps it took them to get to the bathroom and share their answers upon their return. During a one on one session, another teacher noticed a box of cereal in the background and asked the student to use the cereal pieces as counting manipulatives. Another teacher would share a letter sound like “z” and ask students to touch their nose every time they heard them say a word that started with the same sound.
Encourage Social Learning through Student Interest: Students are spending more time at home. Think about ways you can incorporate their current experiences and interests into your questioning, especially during small group or individual instruction. We know that students do some of their best learning through social engagement. By incorporating their interests and experiences, you can provide more opportunity for students to practice their language skills and learn from each other. Some of the suggestions we heard are:
Using characters, toys or activities students have told you about in their word problems, when making a connection to a text, or when providing speaking or writing prompts. One teacher noticed that a student loved Super Mario and would make the math word problems all about defeating Bowser.
Making time for fun. One dance teacher met with their kindergarten class once a week for 30 minutes to add on a few steps at a time to their choreographed dance to "Can't Stop the Feeling.”
Having students go on a letter sound scavenger hunt in their home then share what they found their classmates.
Adding a “show and tell” section to your meeting. Students can share something that is important to them.
Sharing fun videos like Blazer Fresh or Jack Hartman that kids can move around to! GoNoodle has a variety of videos.
Interactive Online Programs: There is quite a selection of online tools to support virtual learning and engagement. Many teachers we interviewed suggested only choosing 1-2 programs that you use consistently to help make learning structures predictable for students. When thinking about which program to use, consider how well the program will allow students to easily demonstrate their thinking. If you are looking for a website that allows for students to interact with you in real time, consider using Nearpod or Peardeck where students can easily respond by drawing, typing, playing games or clicking and dragging content. If you would like for students to be able to respond independently you might consider Flipgrid or Seesaw where students can record short videos of themselves. There are other programs that provide activities that students can complete independently such as Epic Books. Also think about tools students are used to using in the classroom and how you can replicate them online. One teacher used Didax to provide students with online math manipulatives. Lastly, think about online programs students may already be using at school - i-Ready, STMath, Lexia, Reading A-Z to name a few. Here are some examples on how teachers used these online tools:
One Kindergarten teacher used Seesaw to ask a social question. For example, she recorded herself in her garden, and said, "My favorite place to be is in my garden. Let me show you around... I'm wondering, what is your favorite place to be?" Then students recorded their responses and shared so all students could see.
Another teacher would assign books on Epic which offers flexibility across devices like a phone, tablet, or computer. Students had the option of reading the book independently or having it read to them. During one on one conferences this teacher would also use Epic books to do a quick running record.
Tips for Pre-recorded Lessons
What to Pre-Record: Think about what routines and concepts students would benefit from having multiple opportunities to practice and saving new content for live instruction. The teachers we surveyed suggested recording read alouds, letter ID/letter sound routines, or counting sequences. Students can engage with these videos multiple times beyond the day the concepts are first introduced. Ideally these videos would be 3 - 5 minutes in length, with no recordings no longer than 10 minutes.
How to Organize Your Videos: Once you have recorded your lessons, you will need a place to store them in an organized way that makes them easily accessible later on. Think about what is already familiar to your student and their families. Perhaps you have already been using websites like Google Classroom or Padlet. Once you decide the platform where you would like to store your videos think about how you will title them and organize them. After you’ve decided which system to use be sure to stick with that organizing system. It will help create a predictable experience for students. You can considering organizing in the following ways:
Unit and Lesson (Ex: Math Unit 1 Lesson 1)
Week and Day (Ex: Week 1 Monday Math Lesson)
Small Group/Homeroom Class (Blue Jays Math Lesson 1)
How to Make it Engaging: No need to have Hollywood production level videos! When it comes to recording content, keeping it simple is best. The most powerful tool you have is your voice. One teacher we interviewed suggests spending time observing young children’s programming. Notice the intonation of characters’ voices, the types of questions they ask, and the wait time they provide for response. Additionally, how do they help young learners understand if their answer was correct or not? Think about how you can incorporate some of those moves into your lessons.
Community Building: Maybe it’s a song, a special chant or your community agreements. It can be powerful to record important parts of your classroom culture. Some teachers shared that they also started recording their morning or community meeting sessions so that students could rewatch it throughout the day. It also became especially meaningful if a classmate was absent from the group.
Individual vs Small Group vs Whole Group
Our youngest learners need a combination of individual, small group and whole group instruction when engaging with virtual learning. One of the benefits of remote learning is that you can meet with a small group of students and not worry about what 20 other students are doing! Individual instruction allows for closer monitoring of student progress and the ability to provide immediate feedback. Small group instruction provides more opportunity for students to engage with each other, while the whole group experience is good for virtually recreating classroom community building experiences such as a morning meeting.
Suggestions for different formats:
Whole Group: Use a whole group structure for community building experiences like morning meeting, read alouds, or class celebrations.
Small group: Use a small group structure when you want to spend more time introducing new content and observing how well students are understanding. Many teachers named that small group instruction is where they noticed the most growth with students. It provided students with an opportunity to learn from both the teacher and their classmates. Teachers recommend about 3-5 students in a group when possible.
Individual: Use individual instruction when you need to collect specific data about student progress and want to provide immediate feedback. One-on-one sessions are also helpful for when you might need to conference with both a student and their parent about specific feedback.
Whether in-person or virtually, across the nation we are all preparing to welcome students back to school in a very new context. The tools we use, the length of time spent on a lesson, and the ways we collect data may look different but our mission remains the same - build community with students, support positive engagement, and continue to foster a love of learning.
Author:
Jessica Law (M.A.T. Early Childhood Education)
EdConnective Instructional Coach