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Looping
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What is Looping? Looping is the opportunity for students and a teacher to stay together for 2 years and share individual growth in areas of cognitive, academic, emotional, psychological and social development. Looping isn't a "program," but simply a way of grouping children and teachers together for a second year of learning. It provides a learning environment that parallells a close-knit family; one that produces and thrives on maintaining successful individual and group learning, cooperation and collaboration, positive social skill development and interaction, and individual and group responsibility and independence in learning. Our primary teachers feel this resembles the philosophy of the students, parents, and faculty at Rose Union. There are many benefits from a looping program, but one of the greatest is the additional learing time that occurs because significant time has been saved at the beginning of the second year of each subsequent loop. This is accomplished by not having to repeat routine procedures and practices, reestablish behavior expectations, and develop individual and group responsibility, accountability, and independence in the learning environment. Research shows the following benefits for children when looping with a teacher and peers for a second year: - a sense of stability
- an "extended" family
- reduced aprehension
- strong relationships and time to build/maintain them (students-teacher as well as parent--teacher and parent--parent)
- enthusiastic attitutudes
- a sense of community
- trusting and honest relationships
- individualized and customized instruction and curriculum since teacher knows the students and content previously taught
- greater confidence
- increased self-esteem
Within a looping environment, the child is given a quality education within a strong literacy and mathematic foundations and a core knowledge curriculum that has been tailored and implemented by authentic and performance assessments. See additional resources below. We've made the Edmond Sun Newspaper, Sunday, Sept. 9, 2007! Deer Creek Keeps Students in ‘Loop: New technique returns second-graders to same teacher, classroom Courtney Bryce
The Edmond Sun
EDMOND — Many of the second-graders at Rose Union Elementary returned to the same faces and classrooms they had last year.
At the end of last year, first-grade parents had the option to “loop” their children to second grade with the same teacher and classmates they had in first grade. The students will get new teachers when they advance to the third grade.
“You have a group of students that have established a community,” said Principal Ruthie Riggs. “You walk in the first day and it’s like returning after Christmas break.”
Riggs said she was part of a “looping” program when she worked at Norman Public Schools.
“It was something I saw that was successful and good for the students,” she said.
The principal said the early years of learning is more of a continuity of concepts than the rigid start and stop points practiced in fourth and fifth grades. She said most students experience a “reading slide,” which results in lower reading scores, when they return from summer break. Specialists will look at the reading scores of the children who looped to see how the “reading slide” affected them.
The students, teachers and parents who chose to “loop” are happy with their choices.
Lisa White said she “looped” her son to second grade.
“The environment that he was in in the first grade and work he was doing just picked right up,” she said.
White said she first noticed the social benefits for her son when the homeroom mom held a back-to-school swimming party for the class. She said instead of shyly hanging around the pool, the children ran to each other to get reacquainted.
“Small children are so relationship-based,” Riggs said. “I think any time you build on a positive relationship, you are going to have a better outcome.”
Second-grade teacher Julie Thornton, who worked in Norman with Riggs, said the first six weeks of school usually are spent discussing rules and classroom procedures.
“We already have our routines established,” she said. “We can get right down to business.”
Thornton said the first hours of the first school day were just like all the days they had last year.
“The kids were excited about seeing friends and less apprehensive about who their teacher was and where their classroom was going to be,” she said.
The children are more willing to take risks when they feel like they are part of an established community, Thornton said.
Second-grader Sara Schultheis said she wasn’t as scared the first day of second grade as she was the first day of first grade.
“I like having the same teachers and friends,” she said.
Schultheis said, however, it does feel weird to be in the same classroom and hallway.
Second-grade Carter Noble said third grade is going to be different and he’s going to miss his current classroom, the good teaching and the math lessons.
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