To basal or not to basal.....my latest conundrum

Well, my friends. I have decided to plunge back into the land of the basal. I have debated and debated and debated not only with my self, but with input from several of my outstanding colleagues.

I feel that with this group of students, this might be my best bet to see the greatest amount of growth. I feel that the structure the basal provides will help them stabilize themselves a bit more. Also, holding onto my two daily rounds with each section will help me differentiate my whole group instruction as well as keep discussions ongoing in regards to current good fit books.

I think that using the basal will help provide structure and perhaps push my 'white' group, yet I know that quite a few will struggle and this could be stressful. It will provide grade level material that we can work steadily through while providing the most support that myself and the two aides in this class can.

The basal will do the same for the 'blue' group, but I think with more success. This group is right on the cusp of grade level material. They should be challenged with grade level work.

The last group, silver, I feel will not be as challenged by the basal series. The structure will be good for this group, but I hope to see quick success with this group and move them into a UbD (Unit by Design) soon. I just want to be sure to not gloss over this group's capable-ness. There are a few red flaggers in this class that I do not want to slip through the cracks or get lost in the crowd.

So, today we dove in headfirst with the vocabulary lesson. Two groups did amazing...and one really struggled. Oh, the bane of cluster grouping. It is so difficult to do any partner work in this group. Many of these kiddos are not into school, find it difficult to focus (especially when a task is deemed too hard), cannot communicate in friendly manners, and even struggle to make it through a short 12 minute focus lesson. Uff da!

We'll see what the week brings...stay tuned.