Send me email - robert15115@gmail.comA great thing about a textbook, workbook, or kit is that is continuous - the student can see that he or she is progressing systematically. Each assignment relates to what came before and what will come ahead. Students see the educational purpose of textbooks, workbooks, and kits.
Teachers who teach from a textbook have the problem solved of how to organize work so that it is continuous.
There is a problem in the more open style of teaching found often in elementary schools. Usually, textbooks are used in some subjects, such as math and spelling. Occasionally, social studies, science, language, and health textbooks are used. However, when a decision has been made not to use a textbook as the organizing structure for a school subject, what can a teacher do to make the work continuous and to have students see it that way? One technique is to use a syllabus and to share it with students.
Another technique is to use contracts. The assignments are all listed together, and the student progresses from one to the next. Either the student or the teacher puts initials next to each assignment as it is completed. Contracts are most often used in assigning "extra work."
Another technique is for the teacher to select an educational objective from the "scope and sequence" curriculum guide and to pursue it for a stretch of days or weeks. The educational objective is displayed in the classroom and is referred to by the teacher as the unit or task underway.
Students benefit from seeing their progress. When handwriting exercises, spelling tests, creative writing, and math tests are saved in folders or notebooks, students can see their progress over time.
When a notebook containing new vocabulary words or a notebook containing new sight words is kept, students can review the words they have learned and see their progress.
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