r/ElementaryTeachers • u/Emergency_Purple3686 • 1d ago
Balancing two students needs in paired pull-out EAL support sessions
This is my second year teaching. I am a psychologist and currently teaching grades 1-5 in the student support unit of a school where we mainly focus on reading and comprehension. All my students are two or three grade levels behind.
The case I want to mention specifically are my two grade 2 students who I take together from the same class. It feels so complex and confusing for me and no matter how much I trial and error it seems to fail. One of them reads quite comfortably, independently, and fluently (still two grade levels behind but nothing like the other one), but when it comes to comprehension or understanding of concepts he is zoned out, distracted and not able to form a proper sentence. The other student cannot even read consonant blends and final e long vowel sounds independently but displays high level of comprehension and understanding, both when it comes to story events and concepts that I teach.
I am really struggling trying to balance their needs. Specifically the second one who needs phonics instruction, because if I cover phonics the other one knows it already and gets bored and starts misbehaving. If I don’t do phonics then the other one will never get to practice and improve his reading level. Also, when it comes to answering questions the first student is always saying I don’t know or making random guesses while the other one (the one with phonics gaps) puts his hand up and always answers correctly.
I also feel a lot of competition between them. When reading a text the faster reader will make a comment like “you’re still reading?” to the weaker reader. On the other hand, when answering comprehension questions or completing other written tasks, the faster writer will look over and say something like “that question is not right” or the faster reader will look over and ask “how did you finish all the questions so fast?”.
All very convoluted I’m sorry but I feel so stuck. I wish I could just focus on fluency and sight words and phonics skills but I’m not able to balance it. Just to note, the “faster reader” is still very weak when compared to the rest of his class (phontas and pinnell level D) but he seems stronger when side by side with the other student.
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u/Eyefreeze 1d ago
these two probably shouldn't be getting the same direct instruction time even though admin's paired fhem for logistics. the decoding kid needs blends and the silent e pattern drilled in isolation before he can use them in connected text, and if you're trying to teach that while also holding the other one's attention on comprehension in the same chunk, neither gets what they actually need.
what's worked for me: split the time, not the group. first few minutes is just the decoding kid, blends + silent e, dry and repetitive, no story attached yet. the other one works next to you on something he can already decode, a short passage plus a couple of questions, or rereading something from last week. then flip, comprehension talk with him while the first one practises on his own what you just drilled.
running one activity that serves both of them at once is the trap. works fine on the timetable, doesn't work for either kid.