Reimagining Literacy Instruction in a Virtual World
While the world adapts to new norms and behaviors for daily life, we as educators must rethink and adapt our approach to literacy instruction in the virtual “classroom.”
However, the task of providing high quality instruction and meeting the needs of our students involves much more than just trying to replicate virtually what instruction looks like in the traditional classroom. While students might value the connection to teachers and classmates and the sense of community that synchronous teaching brings in the classroom, the reality of gathering a group of 20 plus students together for a live, online lesson can feel chaotic, messy, and full of distractions.
It is not necessarily the most effective and efficient way to convey content.
Yet when teachers are expected to perform live, synchronous lessons with students, many will attempt to stream lessons to the whole group, exhausting their time and energy without the payoff of transference of content and individualized support. Worse yet, with the demands of family scheduling and the availability of technology, many students can’t attend and miss the lessons completely, frustrating teachers, students, and parents alike. Yet when teachers aren’t required to meet live, asynchronous or pre-recorded lessons often consist of external links to videos, that compromise quality and content and the joy that a familiar face can bring.
With that in mind, we have a few suggestions for how to balance synchronous and asynchronous teaching in ways that support both the cognitive, and social/emotional growth of students.
Synchronous
Synchronous, or live, lessons can be best utilized in a few ways. First and foremost, a teacher might consider hosting a virtual “town hall” meeting where the whole class comes together at the beginning of the week to share some news, discuss a topic related to social and emotional well-being, and where the teacher can provide students with an overview of the week’s learning targets, creating some excitement and anticipation for the lessons and assignments for the days ahead.
The rest of the synchronous teaching should be reserved for small group and one on one teaching as a follow up or extension to pre-recorded lessons that the teacher has created and posted for students to view on their own time. It can also be an ideal time for assessment. This affords teachers time to touch base with students to provide direct support and feedback, review previously submitted work, have follow up discussions about texts read, or to differentiate assignments with conferences, strategy groups, and guided reading sessions.
We might also consider having students meet together independent of the teacher, in small groups or partnerships for book clubs, partner reading, or to give feedback on each other’s writing. These student-led sessions can even be recorded by students and submitted to the teacher for accountability and feedback. The added value of synchronous teaching one on one and in small groups can also help hold students accountable for viewing prerecorded lessons and completing weekly tasks and assignments.
Asynchronous
Asynchronous, or prerecorded lessons, are perfect for read alouds, shared or close reading sessions, and mini-lessons. For example, teachers can read books to their classes, setting stopping points to think aloud and to prompt students to think and jot ideas, or stop and talk to a pet, stuffed animal, or sibling who might be joining them in listening that day.
Shared or close readings can be pre-recorded where a teacher might display the text in a slide show or provide students with a copy to download and encourage the student to read along. The teacher can plan for stopping points to work on a variety of skills and promote fluency through rereading once the texts become familiar. Teachers can also utilize asynchronous teaching to send out short, clear, mini-lessons, demonstrating strategies for our students to try in reading or writing. Without the interruptions of a “live” class, these lessons can be succinct, and explicit.
The beauty of these recorded lessons is that they serve as teaching tools for parents, too, so that they can support their child in completing assignments or applying strategies. Additionally, having these lessons recorded allow for children who may be sick, have momentary tech issues, or otherwise be unable to join one day, still have access to instruction.
Recommended Approaches to Virtual Learning
Asynchronous
Read alouds
Shared and close reading
Reading minilessons
Writing minilessons
Word study lessons
Synchronous
One-on-one reading conferences
One on one writing conferences
Small group guided reading
Small group shared reading
Small group close reading
Small group writing strategy lessons
Small group guided writing lessons
Book club discussions
Partnership work
Running records and reading assessments
Reimagining our classrooms in a virtual world opens up a host of new possibilities in teaching. While it can feel daunting and overwhelming in a variety of ways, it can also help us streamline our teaching.
Having a platform where recorded lessons live and can be revisited coupled with time for live meetings, offers students flexibility while providing them with the tools and experiences they need to navigate an increasingly digital world.
Final Tips
Keep asynchronous lessons streamlined, short, and simple without excessive clip art, media, or bells and whistles.
Make a schedule for synchronous meetings, considering the needs of all students from both an academic and an emotional perspective.
Set limits on time.
Keep tools simple and relevant: share mentor texts, rubrics, and checklists to support readers and writers.
Don’t feel pressure to fit every component into a day, instead fit them into the week.