Use
the LINCs Table Routinely
Our
high school utilizes the semester block schedule resulting in new class groups
for our teaching team each semester.
During the 1st semester of the 2017-2018 academic term, my
co-teacher and I shared one co-taught English 9 class and during the current
second semester we are sharing two co-taught English 9 classes. Our respective other teaching assignments
have us in different classrooms and disciplines.
The
LINCing routine has been used in the noted co-taught English 9 classes as the
instructional method for delivering new vocabulary instruction. We have been able to increase the rate at
which students become independent in the LINCing practice, having worked
through its intricacies in the 1st semester of the term.
Each
of the three co-taught English 9 classes have an average of 24 students, with
the number of IEP students per class averaging between 52% and 60% of the class
populations. Overall, they average 75%
male and 25% female in make-up, with African American students accounting for
approximately 15% of the total. Our two
at risk subgroups in our overall student population are IEP students and
African American students.
Depending
upon the literature (short story) work we are engaging at any given time within
the curriculum, our vocabulary selections have been composed of lists running
from seven to eleven words. Our
experience during the 1st semester with longer works, Homer and
Shakespeare, have resulted in multiple vocabulary lists per work.
The
introduction of the LINCing routine in each of the three classes has required
explicit introduction upon introduction.
The overall speed at which the students have grasped the concept seems
to be quicker in attainment during the 2nd semester when compared to
the 1st semester. We, as
instructors, are having more opportunity during the 2nd semester to
use the routine while building on what we learned of it in the 1st
semester. The students are benefiting
from this.
We
just completed our third short story and have achieved the best student
performance to date. The third table was
handed to them and two-thirds of each group began and completed the tables with
little or no extra instructional help.
One third of all students are still requiring assistance to get started
and complete their tables. As we
introduce the fourth and final short story, we are planning to have the
students construct their own tables. We
believe a majority are up to the task.
Student
cognitive skills are growing as the routine is used more. The story lines using the initial vocabulary
word, the linking word, and the cartoon representations are growing in
creativity as exercises evolve. One of
the best things is that they are enjoying coming up with stories and cartoons
that make their peers laugh. Student
scores on vocabulary assessments are improving at a moderate rate.
J.L.
Miller, Gloucester High School
