SPIRE Foundations: Sounds Sensible Whole Class Implementation Guidance
- We recommend SPIRE Foundations: Sounds Sensible with whole class if being used in Pre-K or K with class size no larger than 15 students.
- Depending on the number of students, teachers would need possibly two or three SPIRE Foundations: Sounds Sensible Kits for whole class and a student workbook for each student along with red/yellow/green handwriting chart.
30-Minute Whole Class Suggested Implementation Schedule (Daily)
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Monday: Introductory Lesson Steps 1-3
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Tuesday: Introductory Lesson Steps 4-5
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Wednesday: Reinforcement Lesson (same skill) Steps 1-3
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Thursday: Reinforcement Lesson (same skill) Steps 4-5.
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Friday: Teacher could have "center activities" set up for students to work to practice the skill learned that week. This is where the additional SPIRE Foundations: Sounds Sensible Kits would come in handy since the teacher would have students participate in the center activities rotations with small groups of 3-5 students. This would only be effective if the teacher has a teacher’s aide to help manage classroom behaviors during rotations. If that is not possible, teacher could use Friday for general review and practice of the skill taught that week in whole group. If that is the case than the additional S.P.I.R.E. Foundations: Sounds Sensible Kits would not be necessary. Teacher would then repeat the above implementation schedule the following week with a new skill.
5 Step Lesson Modifications for Whole Class Instruction
Since SPIRE Foundations: Sounds Sensible is a language-based program (like SPIRE) the challenge with implementing whole class is making sure that you are having an opportunity to hear all the students with sound production. This may not be possible to do with every step all the time, but it is recommended to try and quickly go around the class during the steps to make sure students have a chance to show you they know the rhyme.
Below are some suggestions on how to adapt each step for whole class instruction:
Step 1: Listening
When you are doing the Same/Different Activity you can make up some extra pairs of words or just use the same ones over and over and give each student a chance to repeat the two words that you say and then tell you whether those two words are the Same or Different. (You can have them give me a thumbs up or down or stand-up for the Same and sit down for Different). You can also choose a read aloud for Step 1 which can easily be completed whole class as an alternative to Same/Different Activity. Whole body movement can be incorporated, if appropriate for the group of students: the class can walk to one end of the room or carpet for same (can use thumbs up picture in the kit) or the other side for different (can use thumbs down picture in the kit).
Step 2: Introduction to Rhyme (and all the other rhyming activities)
One of the goals here is to make sure the students repeat the rhyme shown on the card (ex: this is a dog on a log) so again, you may have to go around the whole class of students more than one time to make sure the students repeat at least one of the rhymes.
Teachers can project the cards on a document camera and then they call out a student to repeat the rhyme. This way, all the students can see the card and even if they make up a slightly different rhyme (ex: this is a dog sitting on a log or this is a dog waiting on a log) that would be fine.
High-yield strategies can also be beneficial, such as Think-Pair-Share. Have students think about the rhyming words that might match, then turn to a student near them and discuss their answer, then call on a pair to share their responses.
Step 3: Segmentation
Again, you may need to add in some other examples so you can give each student a chance to answer. For instance, in first part where you dash sentences, you can make up a few more simple sentences so more students can answer. You can also ask them to circle more than just one of the words in the sentence. (ex: The cat ran. The Teacher’s Guide instructs you to have a student circle where ran is, you can also have someone circle cat.) Sentences from the text being used for comprehension can be brought in as a segmentation sentence, just be mindful of the complexity and quantity of words in the sentences that are used. If you are doing the alternate activity with Post-It notes, all students can participate and all you need to do is make sure you move around the room to see what Post-It note the students have moved. Other manipulatives can be used (unifix cubes, bear counters, red/yellow math chips, felt, buttons, etc.) can be used, and students could be given a choice as to which manipulative they would like to work with during this day of instruction.
Steps 4: Phoneme-Grapheme Relationships
Any activities with flashcards can be divided and the teacher can create “centers” that the students rotate in small groups of 4-5 and the teacher and teacher’s aide provide guidance as needed.