“The skilled use of language is associated with many opportunities in life, including further education, work, and social interaction.” (IRP, 2006, p.3) In other words, language is a foundational tool for learning and being able to communicate effectively in the world. In order to successfully deliver and evaluate the development of language skills in students it is important to recognize the receptive and expressive dimensions of language arts. They are, speaking and listening, reading and viewing, and writing and representing.
This blog entry will focus on the grade 2 and 3 levels of instruction. One description of today’s grades 2 and 3 learners will not satisfy all students in this category. However, generally, the world that these students live in is highly stimulating and increasingly technological. The average grade 2 student may spend more time in front of a screen than they do behind a book. They may have an aptitude for a computer mouse and still have difficulty with fine motor control when holding a pencil. These realities are both a challenge and an opportunity for the language arts teacher. Students can use a variety of mediums to represent knowledge or read information. However, the challenge comes with finding an appropriate balance between exploring different mediums and instilling fundamental skills. By grade 2 and 3 most children are reading with some fluency, making connections to real life experiences and are able to provide predictions in a story. They are developing their active listening skills and are capable of constructing meaning from that which they read, hear and see. Equally, they are able to organize their thoughts in sequence and are working at further developing their skills in syntax, semantics, phonology and pragmatics.
The Integrated Resource Package for English Language Arts provides teachers with a framework for developing lessons and assessing progress. The relation to current student needs is addressed at the beginning of the document in the Considerations for Program Delivery section. In my opinion, this section can seem primarily theoretical and somewhat vague. Therefore, it is especially helpful that the section includes charts that provide a breakdown of particular criteria or concepts. For example, on page 23 you can find a continuum of levels of support in student writing. This allows the teacher to see the progression that can be made for each writer and provides some suggestions on how to move him or her towards independence.
Another particularly helpful component of the IRP, are the boxes describing the attributes of a good learner according to the dimensions of language arts. For example page 184 reads, “Criteria for a good writer and representer (Kindergarten to Grade 3)”(IRP, 2006). This list can be easily adapted and posted in a classroom to provide a referral for students. In doing such, the teacher is facilitating an opportunity for students to take ownership of their progression and learning.
For educators, the assessment model provided in the IRP is a comprehensible way to represent the criteria for each prescribed learning outcome. As a beginner teacher the PLOs can be overwhelming and the idea of ensuring that all are met for each child can be a daunting task. This framework provides some achievement indicators to help teachers generate ideas about how to reach the intended goal. The benefit of this model is that these indicators are not requirements and therefore individual educators can be creative in their delivery and evaluation.
I don’t believe the IRP would be a hindrance to a beginner teacher. A framework of expectations for language arts instruction provides somewhere to start in a position that will inevitably be busy and demanding.
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