SLIDE 2 A Day in the Life of a Virtual 3rd Grader
Third Graders will sign on each morning promptly at 8:55. We begin each day with Announcements and Morning Meeting. Afterwards, we work on Reading, Specials (Art, Music, PE, Library/STEAM), Social Studies or Science, Math, and Writing. We end each day with a Closing Meeting. We have several movement breaks spread throughout the day to allow students to get up, move away from their iPads and move their bodies. Lunch, recess, and quiet time are blocked together to provide an extended opportunity to enjoy time away from a screen.
English Language Arts: Instructional Shifts
This year , we will be teaching using structured literacy practices and resources that have been shown meet the needs of ALL students in our classrooms. Our goal is to meet our students where they are and we will be using a combination of whole group, small group, synchronous, and asynchronous instructional practices to do so.
APS ELA Instruction
➔ Whole group instruction that is explicit and systematic ➔ Small group instruction that is explicit, systematic, and cumulative. Targeted small group instruction will utilize diagnostic information and include frequent progress monitoring, if necessary ➔ Whole and small group instruction will include the following evidence based elements of reading instruction, as needed to support individual student needs: phonemic awareness, phonics, structural analysis, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. ➔ All students will use Lexia Core 5, a structured literacy instructional resource
English Language Arts: Instructional Shifts Arlington Tiered System of Support (ATSS)
Schools will continue to use the three tiers of the ATSS framework to respond to the individual academic, behavioral, and social-emotional needs of students. For those students who require additional supports, certain adaptations and modifications will be implemented to accommodate these supports in a virtual setting. These supports could include:
- Frequent individual check-ins with APS stafg,
- On-going diagnostic assessments,
- Direct, explicit, and systematic synchronous instruction,
- Increased frequency and duration of small group instruction and/or intervention, and
- Difgerentiated and scafgolded Tier 1 synchronous and asynchronous instruction
utilizing Universal Design for Learning guidelines. APS stafg will continue to ofger a wide variety of interventions for students in need, including but not limited to Orton-Gillingham and Zones of Regulation, in a virtual setting. For more information on APS’s student support process, please refer to the Student Support Manual using the QR code located here.
Arlington Tiered System of Support (ATSS)
Helpful ATSS Definitions: ➔ Diagnostic Assessment- form of pre-assessment that allows a teacher to determine students' individual strengths, weaknesses, knowledge, and skills prior to instruction. It is primarily used to pinpoint student difficulties and to guide lesson and curriculum planning. ➔ Tier 1 instruction- core instruction that happens in the general education classroom that meets the needs of 80-85% of the students. It focuses on differentiated, flexible, and inclusive instructional practices. ➔ Universal Design for Learning- Universal design for learning (UDL) is a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all students based on scientific insights into how humans learn. UDL framework guides the design of instructional goals, assessments, methods, and materials that can be customized and adjusted to meet individual needs.
