The idea of pulling a small group of students to go over a skill is likely not a foreign concept to any educator. As many of you are likely aware, we call this instructional model Alternative Teaching. (And you can brush up on the definition and basics of this model by reading our previous blog here!)
Today, we are going to focus on one of the most underutilized and undervalued co-teaching strategies out there: using alternative teaching for enrichment. If you’re eager to revitalize your alternative teaching and give all your students an academic boost, read on.
What do we mean by enrichment?
Your alternative teaching enrichment groups would be for students who have already mastered the class-wide objective. It’s for students who are ready for deeper learning or a greater challenge. The goal is to provide these students with opportunities to engage in advanced content, explore subjects from new perspectives, and develop higher-order thinking skills.
Adding enrichment groups to your alternative teaching arsenal ensures that all students are challenged at their level, keeping the pace of the class engaging for everyone. By offering enrichment opportunities through alternative teaching, co-teachers can create a dynamic, inclusive classroom where all students can grow, regardless of where they start.
What are some of the benefits of using alternative teaching for enrichment?
- De-stigmatize the small group: When the small group is exclusively used to support the students who struggle, students catch on really quickly. And except in rare cases, this creates a climate in which students dread going to the small group. At best, they’ll develop a view of themselves as always needing help, and at worst, their peers will view them in this stigmatized way, too. Students will want to avoid getting or asking for help. Using the small group for enrichment can effectively reverse this trend.
- Prevent boredom and disengagement: Students who grasp concepts quickly may disconnect, act out in subtle or not so subtle ways, and feel unseen and unmet when being asked to keep going over the same material. Enrichment allows them to dive deeper and explore new areas of interest.
- Encourage critical thinking and creativity: By challenging students to explore beyond the standard curriculum, alternative teaching for enrichment helps students develop analytical, problem-solving, and creative thinking skills.
Need some examples of what you could do with an enrichment group?
If you’re having a hard time coming up with ideas for how and when to use your small group for enrichment, here are a few examples to get your gears turning!
Phonics: students who have mastered digraph sounds come to an enrichment group where they practice decoding two-syllable words with digraphs, while the large group reviews single-syllable words with digraphs.
Elementary math: Following a shape scavenger hunt, most students need a shape review. A few students have mastered the shapes they are learning and are taken into a small group to do a sort with more complex shapes found in the real world.
Science: Following a quiz on the water cycle, a few students who got close to 100 come to read a short passage on the impact of climate change on water systems while the rest of the class goes over the quiz.
Social Studies: Following a lesson on a sequence of historical events, students who finish the independent work correctly and early are taken to an enrichment group for a few minutes to discuss a prompt on the significance of these events.
English: After students have finished peer-editing each other’s papers, a few students have no further edits/revisions. While the large group is continuing to make corrections to their papers, students who have finished this step are meeting to choose a sentence or two from their papers they would like to workshop with peers.
Algebra: Following a unit test, one teacher is going over answers with the majority of the class. The handful of students who got between a 95 and 100 come to a small group to solve a real-world algebra problem.
Final Thoughts
Adding enrichment groups to your co-taught classroom not only provides students that are ready with more challenge but also creates a culture where everyone gets what they need. By redefining what the small group is used for, it becomes a place of excitement and learning, where all of your students will be motivated to go and engaged in their learning.