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Multigrade Matters
A Flexible Learning Module in
GEE-MGC - Teaching Multigrade Classes

Michelle Sarol Baguinat

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Implementing a lesson
in a Multigrade Classroom

Teaching in a multigrade classroom demands extra preparation and

organizational skills, because the teacher is faced with a wide range of learners’
ages, abilities and interests.

In this unit, you will be provided with guidelines for implementing a lesson
in a multigrade classroom and apply these in your actual demonstration teaching.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this unit, you are expected to implement a lesson employing
pedagogical approaches and strategies in teaching multigrade class.
Specifically, you must be able to:
• Execute a lesson in any subject area of various grade levels in the Basic
Education Curriculum through a video-recorded teaching demonstration.

Pretest

Read the text in the box and answer the questions that follow.

Advice to a Beginning Teacher

Knowing that many teachers find primary school multigrade teaching a major
challenge, one inspector had the following advice:

Start with the topics that you know well and in which you are confident. If poetry is
your strength, then include it. If attribute blocks and set theory are something you love,
then teach them.

Be careful not to be too unbalanced; but starting with your own strength will help
you develop techniques for handling the wide range of pupils. Once you have made
this start, you will be in a better position to teach the rest of the curriculum.
Source: Bray, M. (1987: 41). Are Small Schools the Answer? Cost Effective Strategies for Rural Small Provision. Hong
Kong: University of Hong Kong and Commonwealth Secretariat .
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1. Do you agree that starting with what you know can help you build the necessary
confidence in your presentation of a lesson? Explain.

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2. Why is it important for teachers to have good lesson presentation skills?

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Thank you for taking the pretest! Let us now proceed!

The next section shows the content of this unit. It contains vital
information of the topics based on the learning outcome. Please read the
content thoroughly.

Content

Guidelines for Presenting a Lesson

The main function of the multigrade teacher is to teach students by imparting

knowledge. The teacher is expected to be versatile and utilize different strategies to make
learning meaningful and effective for all students in his or her classroom, no matter what
individual differences may exist among the students.

The teacher should be able to understand differences between pupils, be able to

motivate them to learn and guide them through their learning materials. The teacher
should be able to do this for all grade levels in the classroom, no matter what curriculum
subject is being studied. The teacher should not only be a provider of knowledge but
should also be a facilitator of learning.

For each grade level for which the teacher is responsible, he or she must
determine the answers to the questions:
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- Whom do I teach ?

- What must I each ?

- How do I teach ?

- When do I teach ?

- Why do I teach this ?

Once the teacher has determined the answers to these questions, he or she must
then devise an implementation plan in order to achieve the objectives of the lesson as
discussed in the prior units. Such implementation strategies include lesson planning,
selection of week activities, time- tabling. All these must be carried out before the actual
lesson is given.

Below are the guidelines for presenting a lesson ((The Commonwealth of Learning,
October 2000).

1. Be prepared.

Don’t come to teach a lesson unprepared. What do you think will happen if the
teacher comes to teach a class unprepared? In a multigrade classroom, this can result in
chaos. If you are unprepared, you will not be able to meet the learners’ individual needs,
interests and abilities. Nor will you be able to monitor their progress. The advantage of
planning in advance is that you would have thought through the lesson carefully and
completed the necessary research about content. Then you would plan accordingly. An
essential factor for successful multigrade teaching is the teacher’s ability to plan and
prepare the lesson. Always plan carefully.

2. Clearly state your message.

Don’t ramble by talking constantly and aimlessly. When you present your lesson,
clearly state what you want to say. When you ramble, you confuse the learners, and they
will lose interest. You want your learners to be actively involved in your lesson. Therefore,
limit your talking time, give clear instructions and provide opportunities for students to
become active participants.

3. Plan your lesson.

Do not make up the lesson as you go. If you do make up the lesson as you go, it
is likely that you will forget a piece of information, not have the materials available that you
need or forget to involve the students. You must plan to ensure that your lesson is
interesting and caters to the needs of the learners.
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4. Know your material.

Don’t read from the text with your nose in the book. Prior to your lesson, read your
material carefully and be prepared to explain what the text means during class time. Gone
are the days when the teacher considered learners as empty vessels to be filled. Now the
learners have to discover things for themselves and the role of the teacher is to direct and
facilitate learning.

5. Use teaching materials.

The teaching materials are there for you to use and to allow learners to utilize them
to assist their learning. For example, if there is a computer in the school, don’t talk about
what it can do. Use it to show what it can do and show learners how to use it so that they
can learn.

6. Help students with their writing.

Don’t say, “Open your books and start writing.” Writing is a difficult skill. Students
need guidance to write well. They need to listen, speak or read about what they are going
to write. Give students a basis for writing. Discuss the writing assignment before you ask
students to write.

7. Set an example.
Don’t shout, scream or cry. You should set an example for your students. You should
model caring behavior. Be gentle, smile and laugh with your learners. Learners should
feel free to ask the teacher questions. Learners should feel comfortable in the classroom.
Remember! Whatever you do in front of these learners, it should be exemplary.

8. Speak clearly.
Don’t speak very rapidly. In a multigrade classroom, learners are in the same class,
but they have different abilities. If you speak too quickly, some learners will not understand
you. Take note of how you speak to your learners and how they react to your use of voice.

9. Help students answer questions.

Don’t ask, “Maria, what is the answer?” The purpose of teaching is not to ask learners
to supply answers to an endless series of questions. But if you do ask questions, you need
to prompt learners by rephrasing the question, providing hints, referring to other
knowledge and simplifying the content or structure of the question.

There are two questioning techniques you can use to improve the learners’
participation: (1) redirecting, a technique in which the teacher asks several learners the
question without restating or clarifying the question; (2) affective technique, which allows
learners to state their attitudes, opinions and preferences. By using affective techniques,
you are sending a message to your learners that you value them and accept them.

10. Direct questions to individuals and small groups.

Don’t ask the whole class to answer in chorus. Most teachers prefer whole class
instruction. Why do you think this is so? Whole class instruction gives teachers more
control over their classrooms. Whole class instruction works well for the presentation of
information and less well when information is to be manipulated. Chorus answering is not
a sign of learning because it only tests for knowledge and not for comprehension or other
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higher thinking skills. With a group of 60 to 80 learners, it will not be effective. Even with
a small group of learners, if you ask learners to answer in chorus, you are assuming that
all learners learn in the same way and have the same understanding. However, chorus
activity has its place in teaching and learning. It can be used effectively in music or
teaching pronunciation.

11. Don’t say, “Children must be seen and not heard.”

Children must be seen and heard in a multigrade classroom. Every learner is
important and must be reached because what we are trying to do is to develop citizens
who are active and able to participate and contribute to the total development of their
nation.

12. Help all your learners.

Don’t ignore a child who seems confused. Frequently, learners who look confused
and lost in large classes are ignored. A good teacher would try to find out why the child
looks confused and try to help the child.

13. Arrive on time.

Don’t come late from the staff room. Begin and finish your lesson on time. If your
learners see you using your time effectively, they will do the same. Remember you should
be exemplary.

14. Be consistent.
Do not act one way, and then act another way. It is human nature to have good and
bad days. But as a teacher, you should not be ruled by your emotions. Every day, you
must maintain the same standard and level of order. Establish routines and assign
responsibilities. In a classroom where there are no established routines or rules, learners
may feel that they are free to do whatever they like.

Rules, on the other hand, make it clear what is the acceptable standard of behavior.
There is a need for the teachers to be consistent themselves. You should treat all learners
the same. You should not give special privileges or treatment to certain learners just
because you like them. You should not punish learners just because you do not like them.

15. Follow routines that you and your learners have set.
Don’t violate them. Try to establish classroom routines at the beginning of the year.
If you allow your learners to participate in the establishment of these routines, they will be
more willing to follow them. They will also have a sense of ownership. Establish routines
for questioning, leaving the room and using resources. Once these routines are
established, they should not be changed without consultation with the learners.

16. Reward and praise your students.

Don’t use praise unless it is deserved. Everyone has a need for emotional security.
Children are by nature eager to please. Remember to give them praise when it is due.
You can use different words to indicate your degree of appreciation. You can use words
such as very good, smart and great. You should let learners know when they have done
well and deserve praise and when you do not approve of their behavior. We all like to be
told that we are good at something, but it is also good to be told about our weaknesses in
a nice way so that we can try to improve.
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17. Help students to understand.

Don’t beat a child who doesn’t understand. If a child does not understand what is
being taught, what should you do?

There are many reasons why learners behave the way they do, and we cannot
ignore them. Some behaviors can be traced to the learner’s own physical and emotional
development, some to social factors and others to weakness in the teaching situation.
Find out why the learner behaves the way he or she does.

Speak with him or her. Diagnose the causes of the problem. Remember that
corporal punishment is not acceptable in many parts of the world. If the child is already
experiencing difficulties, that child does not need to be punished. The child needs to be
understood and assisted.

18. Let the students be active.

Don’t dominate the lesson with teacher talk. In a multigrade classroom, teacher talk
should be at a minimum. Teaching should be learner-centered, meaning that you should
give more time to the learners so that they can discuss ideas or topics and be actively
involved in their learning. Give them time to ask questions, to discuss topics in groups, to
build something, to write a report and to report back to you about their activities.

19. Address the needs of learners.

Don’t neglect their needs. What are some of your learners’ needs and backgrounds?
What will happen if you neglect them?

In a multigrade classroom, learners have various needs. Some may need to gain
confidence and learn how to interact effectively with others. Some may find reading or
doing math difficult. A few may have health problems or come from one-parent families.
Your class will comprise a mixture of individuals with different needs and backgrounds.

20. Make your own decisions.

Do not let others tell you what to think. It is wise to listen to the advice of others, but
as a multigrade teacher, you know your learners best. It is professionally appropriate to
make decisions about your instruction. Remember that whatever decisions you make
affect you and your learners.

Seven Ways to Present a Lesson Effectively

There are several ways you can present your lesson so that it can be effective (The
Commonwealth of Learning, October 2000).

• Get your learners’ attention.

• Show enthusiasm.
• Provide clear explanations of the content and the instructions.
• Provide smooth transitions from one part of the lesson to the next.
• Present your lesson at a good pace, not too fast and not too slow.
• Use a variety of teaching methods.
• Provide a clear and interesting closure to the lesson.
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Each of the items above will be explained in more detail below.

1. Get your learners’ attention.

There are several ways you can gain the attention of your learners:

• Tell them a story.

• Announce what the lesson is going to be about and note the objectives.
Objectives specify what you want learners to be able to do by the end of the
lesson. • Review a previous lesson.
• Check the learners’ existing knowledge on the topic of the lesson. For example,
if your topic is ‘water’, find out what they know about ‘water’, its uses and its
different forms.
• Demonstrate something. For example, show them how to make a sandwich and
ask them “What am I doing? Why am I doing it? What did I use?”
• Use materials. For example, you could bring a compass and ask the learners
how the compass could be used.
• Use body language to start your lesson. Smile!

2. Show enthusiasm.
If you are enthusiastic, your students will respond in kind. They will be enthusiastic,
too. They too want to enjoy themselves.
• You can show enthusiasm through the use of your voice. Use different tones
and intonations to indicate excitement and feelings.
• Use your body language, facial expressions and gestures to show emotions
such as fear and joy. Move around the class. You can show length and height
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with your hands and arms. Encourage the learners and assure them that they
are making progress throughout the lesson.
• Keep students awake by using warm-ups and telling jokes.

3. Provide clear explanations of the content and the instructions.

Ensure that words are chosen carefully, that they are spoken clearly and that they
are simple and comprehensible.
• Give clear instructions and explanations on what you want the learners to do.
• Do not write and speak at the same time.
• Allow learners to ask questions as soon as they realize that they do not
understand something. Don’t keep the question period at the end of each
lesson.
• Ask the learners to tell you when your instructions must be repeated or clarified.
Always emphasize key points and remember to use examples and summarize
the main points.

4. Provide transitions.
Help your learners understand where they are in the lesson.
• You can say, “Now we are doing reading,” or “We are now moving into writing.”
• Give clear directions and ensure that the learners know what you expect them
to do. For example, tell them what materials they will need and where to get
them.

5. Consider your timing.

You can keep your learners’ attention by presenting your lesson at a good pace –
not too quickly and not too slowly. You can pause to indicate that you have reached the
end of an important point in your lesson. When you are about to begin a new concept, you
can use silence to gain the learners’ attention. Use your voice to signal important points.
Give sufficient and efficient instruction. Provide help. Allocate time for each stage in your
lesson plan and remember to be flexible. You are not teaching time, you are teaching
learners. There is no point in finishing the lesson if learners are left with a lot of queries
and confusion.

6. Use various teaching methods.

A multigrade teacher must know and use many teaching and learning methods.
• You should use methods that appeal to the five senses: sight, touch, hearing,
smell and taste.
• The methods should be appropriate for the learners’ needs, interests and
abilities.
• Ensure that the learners have a great number of opportunities to participate and
to learn something new.

7. Provide closure.
The closure of a lesson accomplishes several things. Closure can highlight the
lesson objectives, answer the important questions in a lesson and explain the meaning of
the lesson. Techniques for providing effective closures are provided below:
• Tell the learners that the lesson is about to end and, if they are working on a
task, they should prepare to finish it. Do not let the lesson end abruptly. Do a
closing activity. For example, you could summarize the main points and ask
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learners what they have learned and how they can use the information they
have learned.
• Praise the learners for their participation during the lesson.
• Use a closing ritual such as a song, prayer, a story or discussion circle.

Now, are you ready for your demonstration teaching in a multigrade class? I know
you are, but before that, here is a summary of lessons in multigrade teaching which will
help to reinforce the major lessons discussed in the previous units which should be useful
to you, as a future multigrade teacher, in ensuring the best quality learning for your
students (UNESCO, 2015).

As a multigrade teacher, you should try first to understand the diversity

1 and complexity of your students – by gender, age, family and socio-

economic background, language, ability, and special education needs – and
see this diversity not as a problem to be solved but as an opportunity to be
used to produce better learning.

Given this diversity, you need to personalize your teaching (and

2 eventually your assessment methods) to respond to the different

backgrounds and learning styles/needs of each of your students. This
includes identifying early on children who are at risk of failing and giving
them the extra attention they need to make sure they succeed and stay in
school.

You need to make your classroom “child-friendly”, especially for new

3 students coming directly from their families to the school; this means not
only teaching what needs to be taught but also ensuring that the classroom
is healthy, welcoming, inclusive and protective of children of all different
backgrounds and abilities and that your teaching is sensitive and responsive
to the needs of both boys and girls and promotes student participation in the
classroom.

If it has not already been done, you will need to adapt the standard

4 national curriculum to both the local culture and context and to your
multigrade situation. This may require breaking down the curriculum into
themes that can be taught across grades while ensuring that students in
each grade level learn what the system expects them to learn.

In implementing this adapted curriculum, you should try to be creative in

5 your management of the multigrade classroom, arranging whole grades,

mixed grades, large and small groups, pairs and space for individual work.
This requires special attention to establishing routines for students to work
and study independently through activity-based learning.

You need to be flexible in your use of time, moving from one kind of group

6 to another and balancing the attention you give to strong students acting as
peer tutors and weaker students needing extra attention.
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You should try to be innovative in the development and reproduction of

7 teaching and learning materials - use locally available resources and

make them relevant to the local context and culture. As far as possible, you
need to bring teaching closer to local conditions and available resources.
The involvement of students from higher grades in designing workbooks is
always helpful in making the curriculum more relevant to the local culture.

Where permitted and possible, you should use the students’ mother

8 tongue as the medium of instruction, ensuring initial literacy in that

language (e.g. by Grade 3) and then, where appropriate, helping students
transfer the literacy skills in that language to the national language(s).

Since you are often working in remote and isolated places, you should take

9 advantage of whatever resources there are around you to help you in

your work – your principal/ head teacher, parents and the local community,
and other schools relatively close to your school which can form a cluster
and share useful experiences, materials and lesson plans.

You must try to master the other skills needed to help a small, remote,

10 often poor (and poorly-supported) school succeed. Multigrade teaching

is a challenge in itself, but working with your teaching colleagues to make
your small school “work” requires other skills as well: making do with limited
resources and trying to raise more; carrying out a school self-assessment
of its achievements and its needs and developing a school improvement
plan; mobilizing support from impoverished and often disempowered and
disinterested parents; and gaining the support of local community leaders –
all of these are skills useful in schools with multigrade classrooms.

That’s all for the content. Thank you for patiently reading and
understanding every detail.

Now that you have read and understood the concepts, please do the
learning activities that follow.
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Learning Activities

1. Read the story in the box and answer the questions that follow.

Mr. Ralph, a recent graduate of a teacher’s college, was about to teach his first class,
a multigrade class of students in Grades 5 and 6.

He read the Teacher’s Guide and saw that the first topic was ‘Plants’. He felt that
since he was fresh out of college and he had made enough plans, it was unnecessary for
him to go through the process of planning a lesson.

In teaching the lesson, he stood before the class reading from a text. Most of the
ideas were new to the learners, and Mr. Ralph himself mispronounced many terms.

The class became restless. Some learners rested their heads on the desks. Charles,
Justice and Trevor were busy making paper planes. While Mr. Ralph’s head was in the
book, they sailed the planes across the classroom. Others in the class found this activity
much more interesting than the lesson and soon they were making and sailing planes.
Noise filled the classroom.

Mr. Ralph was very angry with his learners. He stopped reading and ended the
lesson abruptly.

Source: Adapted from Commowealth Secretariat, Caribbean Community Secretariat and Commonwealth of
Learning. (1998: 64-65). Multigrade Teaching Programme. Module 9: Preparing the Scheme of Work and
Lesson Plan. London: Commonwealth Secretariat.

a. Why did Mr. Ralph lose control of his class?

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b. What could Mr. Ralph have done to make his lesson more effective?

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c. If you were Mr. Ralph’s principal, what advice would you have given him?

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2. Before you can implement a lesson, you need to have a plan. Below are three
points of view about lesson planning. Read the views below and comment on each
of them.

Good teachers develop different lesson plans for different groups in their class.
Different lesson plans are based on learner interest and ability. Sometimes we ask
different groups to perform similar tasks, so that they can learn from one another. For
example, group 1 describes the life cycle of a moth while group 2 describes its
reproductive system.

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Some teachers suggest preparing one lesson plan for an entire week. It is not
always necessary to have a different lesson plan for each day. Many lessons take more
than one day to complete.

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Not all teachers use lesson plans. Most teachers use them when they begin
teaching. When they have gained experience, they throw them away and use notebooks.
Experienced teachers keep a notebook about their lessons.

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Bravo! You did a great job! You may now take the assessment.
For clarifications or assistance, please send me a message to our
google class or in my FB messenger. You may also ask clarifications
through a text message or phone calls on the contact number included
in your course guide.
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Assessment
Echo! Reflect on the presentation advice provided in this unit. Practice the seven ways of
presenting an effective lesson in your demonstration teaching.

Do the following:
1. Make one (1) handwritten lesson plan of your chosen subject: (1) English, (2) Filipino,
(3) Science and Health, (4) Mathematics, (5) Araling Panlipunan, (6) Mother Tongue,
(7) Technology and Livelihood Education (TLE), and (8) Music, (9) Health, and (10)
Physical Education (MAPEH).
2. You may choose any grade level: Grade 1 – 2, Grade 3 – 4 or Grade 5 - 6.
3. Take photos of the LP and submit it to the google classroom.
4. Execute your planned lesson through a video-recorded demonstration teaching
employing approaches and strategies you have known in multigrade instruction. You
may or may not have pupils in the said demonstration. Your demonstration video shall
bear the filename: Your Surname_FinalDemoVideo_MG

Note: Always refer to the Curriculum Guide.

Congratulations for doing all the learning activities and

assessments!

For clarification, help or assistance, feel free to contact me

through SMS, phone calls or email indicated in the course guide. You may
also send me a message via FB messenger.

If you have poor connectivity or worst no internet connection and

resources like mobile phone, please notify me so I could help you, will
extend the deadline of the submission of your output or will give you
another activity.

You have just completed this unit. You are now ready to take Unit
3. Enjoy learning!
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Lesson Plan Rubric

CRITERIA Points
Organization and Presentation Complete package presented in well organized and professional fashion;
of the LP; Components of LP all components are accurate and of high quality throughout the lesson
(15 points) plan.
Instructional Materials Needed All materials necessary for student and teacher to complete lesson
clearly listed; application of technologies and other instructional
(15 points) materials are appropriate for learning environment and outcomes.
Instructional Instructional strategies appropriate for learning outcome(s). The lesson
strategies/Procedures is introduced in a logical and engaging manner so that students know
what to expect and what is expected of them.
(10 points)
Accommodation and All necessary accommodations for target learners are anticipated and
Adaptations for Diverse fully described; descriptions of lesson modifications such as extra
Learners(10 points) enrichment activities, skill work, tutoring or collaborative work are of
superior quality and clearly match content, objectives, and standards.
TOTAL POINTS

Rubric for Personal Blog

CRITERIA Points
Purpose The blog has a clear purpose to share and collect opinions
and information about the topic.
(10 points)
Ideas & Content The student has many original ideas and expresses them
(10 points) clearly. The great majority of ideas are related to the subject
matter.

Writing Quality Posts are well written, and are characterized by elements of
a strong writing style. The content demonstrates that the
(10 points) student is well read, synthesizes learned content and
constructs new meaning.
Use of Enhancements The student greatly enhanced their weblog space using
video, audio, images and others. Links maybe provided.
(10 points)
TOTAL POINTS
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Rubric for Vlog

Excellent Good Fair Poor

10 pts 8 pts 7 pts 5 pts

Communication Excellent Good Communication Communicati

communication communication skills and interaction on skills are
skills. Student skills. Student with camera are poor.
speaks clearly, speaks somewhat weak.
and is pleasant clearly.
to listen to and
watch.

Visual Content
Footage is Most footage is Some footage is of Recording is
consistently of above average in high quality of low quality
high quality. and some is not.
quality.

Outline
Outline is Outline is somewhat Outline is fair, with Outline is
organized and organized. Most of needed poor and in
easy to read. the improvement. Some need of great
Each of the ideas/reflections/eve of the improvement
ideas/reflection nts are included in ideas/reflections/eve .
s/events are the Vlog. nts are included in
included in the the Vlog.
Vlog.
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