CoTeaching and the Components of Literacy

As a co-teacher, you might wonder how co-teaching fits in with the components of  literacy. Or you might be a main stream (general education) teacher that has a co-teacher and you wonder how to best utilize two teachers in the room during reading and writing instruction. Many ESL teachers co-teach in classrooms during reading and writing blocks.  It's important to know which co-teaching approaches fit best with each component of literacy instruction.
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One of the best things about co-teaching is that it can lower the student-teacher ratio allowing for more interaction with individual students and the ability to customize instruction. 

One of the best things about the workshop model is that it allows for differentiation for all students. Students are reading and writing at their ability and on THEIR level. 
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When these two amazing instructional approaches collide, they can be quite powerful! What we want to avoid is one teacher taking the lead of instruction while the other only assists a single student or the same group of students all the time. 

These are some of the main components of literacy (and a brief definition) that we will merge with co-teaching:

• Read-Aloud
  • A read-aloud is a planned oral reading of a text. Depending on the students' grade levels, reading levels and language levels, the read-aloud could be a wordless picture book, a picture book, a chapter book, an excerpt from a book, a song or poem, etc. The read-aloud provides students with the opportunity to hear text at a higher level than they can read independently. It also supports vocabulary development, critical thinking, comprehension, listening, speaking, reading, and writing, plus so much more. Read-alouds usually happen in a whole group setting.
• Mini-lesson
  • The mini-lesson is a short, explicit, whole group lesson that directly teaches one skill students can use in reading or writing. Then students are sent to work independently while the teacher confers with students or gathers a small group. 
• Shared Reading/Writing
  • During shared reading or writing, the teacher and the students work together to read a text or write a text. Often teachers use big books or blow up a text for all students to see for shared reading. If you think about Guided Release of Responsibility, shared reading/writing would be part of the WE do. Shared reading and writing can be done in whole group or in small group settings. 
• Independent Reading/Writing 
  • Students read or write on their own. We know that to become better readers, students must have ample time to practice reading. Students read books of their choice during independent reading. Independent writing is very similar only instead of reading, students are writing on topics they select. The goal of both is that students do the work and they read and write a lot. 

Small Groups: 

• Guided Reading
  • Guided reading is gathering a small group of students who are reading at a similar level and listening to them read a given text. The purpose of guided reading is to help students grow as readers. The teacher begins by introducing the book or text and then students read while the teacher listens in on each student. The teacher is able to offer support and confer with each student in this small group setting. There is a misconception that guided reading is only for primary grades. Not so...even intermediate grades can practice guided reading. Just be sure that the texts you select don't take too long for students to read. The goal is that students are reading abundantly. 
    
• Strategy Groups
  • This is a group gathered to work on a certain reading or writing skill. Students may be reading on varied levels. The teacher begins with a mini-lesson and then invites students to practice the strategy in their reading or writing while they are with the teacher in the small group. The teacher is there to guide and support each student as they try the strategy. Strategy groups are often confused with guided reading groups. 
    
• Conferring
  • Conferring is simply a one on one conversation with a student about their reading or writing. Conferring is key in a workshop classroom because the formative assessment that is gathered helps teachers build strategy groups and guided reading groups. This individual attention is valuable to student growth. It helps to build relationships and supports each student where they are as readers and writers. 

Word Work/Word Study

• During word work or word study, students study letters, sounds, words and their connection. This is a great way to build vocabulary that will be useful in reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Word work is really beneficial to language learners but should be quick, authentic, and engaging lessons. Word Work can be done whole group but is most effective in a small group setting that is tailored to group/student needs. 

Here are 6 popular co-teaching approaches:

• One Teach, One Assist
  • This is one of the least effective approaches yet most observed in classrooms. During this co-teaching approach, one teacher leads instruction while the other assists a student or wanders around the room to assist a few students as needed.  
• One Teach, One Record
  • This approach is useful prior to a staffing, RTI meeting, ARD, LPAC, or parent teacher conference. During this co-teaching approach, one teacher leads instruction while the other observes a particular student and gathers data. The data can be used to guide instruction or to bring to the upcoming meeting. It is not recommended that this approach be used often but as needed. 
• Parallel Teaching
  • This approach is highly effective because it lowers the student-teacher ratio. During this co-teaching approach, the class is divided equally. Each teacher teaches the same content to the group of students. It's helpful to purposefully divide the groups based on student needs. The groups can still heterogeneous so students at all levels benefit from learning from one another. 
• Station Teaching
  • This approach is another highly effective method of lower student-teacher ratio while differentiating instruction. The class is divided into 3 groups and will rotate into 3 stations. Each teacher will have a station and the final station is independent reading or writing. 
• Alternative Teaching
  • This approach is highly effective because it allows for small group teaching and differentiation based on needs. Alternative teaching offers the ability to meet with a group of students who have a similar goal. While one teacher leads instruction with the majority of the class, the other teacher gathers the small group. In this smaller setting, they can work on word work, pre-teach vocabulary, reteach a skill, or enrich and extend learning.
• Team Teaching
  • Though this approach is effective, it is often misunderstood and confused with One Teach, One Assist. Team Teaching requires complete sharing of responsibilities in the classroom. This includes planning, assessment, teaching, etc. When team teaching is effective, both teachers have planned instruction together and work as a well-oiled wheel to present content in the classroom. 

The most effecting co-teaching happens when teachers build a strong, healthy relationship with one another, respect each other, plan together, and see one another as equals in the classroom. All students should see both teachers as "their teachers". If you are the ESL teacher or a support teacher going into a classroom, always remember to think of yourself as another teacher in that room and not as a guest. On the other hand, if you have an ESL or support teacher coming to your classroom, remember to share the space. 

In the following document, you will find a merging of literacy components and co-teaching approaches. 

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