Liberating Structures for inquiry, agency, and deep learning

• Workshop framework foundation from the start, MATHS stations/explorations, vertical writing spaces and rituals

  
  

Stronger, proactive team collaboration - Team Padlet has been a big help with this

Communication skills - Visible thinking routines, vocabulary cards, phrases and sentence stems, math language showing their thinking

Increase the share/debrief/consolidation time

Translanguaging

Having a backbone/foundation from IM in order to have cohesion as a grade level and to ensure we protect time for what matters most

One self-measurement tool to consider: study children who don't get help outside of school...How do they grow?

Ensure we make enough time for mathematics—perhaps an hour each session...and be sure to include the share/consolidation at the end.

Get materials ready for explorations/stations, etc.—keep choices for high ceilings and wide walls when possible.

Ensure we have intentionally thought through how much time we spend on each unit.

Providing students with options/choices of challenge within stations/explorations

Children WANT exit tickets...they WANT to show their thinking and learning

Children can self-regulate, so teachers can work with other children as/when needed

Use rich tasks as initial assessment and assessment for learning, and adapt them to ensure they are culturally relevant to children

Protect time for share/debrief time (consolidation)

Look proactively at upcoming units, so we have things ahead of time (rather than in the moment).

Work as a team to design and plan ("You take the MA, I'll take T and a rich task, you take HS...")

Ensure new teachers on the team have the support they need to continue the journey with us in KG.

Collaborate as a team to plan/design authentic and layered assessment.

Providing students with options/choices of challenge within stations/explorations and using random grouping—rather than only grouping by "level" always

Low floor, high ceiling and wide walls for all

Opening up space for reflection/feedback after each station.

Opening up space for students to think, and as teachers, asking focus questions and providing time to think/do/learn.

Liberating Structures/rituals and routines to help learners thrive, self-regulate, harness agency, etc.

• Embrace the open-endedness of tasks, explorations, etc.

• Asking focus questions, rather than funnel questions

Gather more resources as a team (perhaps having a common place to share them)

Co-create/adapt a scope and sequence and/or progression as a school.

Sample activity:

• Students analyze base port (carry), build transport/export/import using affix tiles.

• Quick decoding + vocabulary + etymology in each lesson.

  
  

Pros:
✅ Research-aligned, structured sequence
✅ Strong for transfer to vocabulary and spelling
✅ Clear teacher guide; minimal prep after setup

Cons:
⚠️ Requires purchase/licensing (https://imse.com/programs/morph/)
⚠️ May feel scripted—best used flexibly
⚠️ Heavier on structure, lighter on inquiry

Research-informed lens:

IMSE Morphology Plus is research-aligned and reputable. It builds from the same research base that underpins UFLI — structured, explicit instruction in the building blocks of words. It’s a good fit for schools already using UFLI with lower groups and wanting coherence across the grade.

Sample activity:

• Word ladders using root spect: students generate inspect, respect, spectator, introspection, then sort by meaning pattern.

  
  

Pros:
✅ Comprehensive year-long sequence (units + assessments)
✅ Highly visual, student-friendly slides
✅ Minimal teacher prep (ready-to-teach slidedecks)

Cons:
⚠️ Paid program
⚠️ Can be U.S.-centric in examples—may require minor adaptation
⚠️ Works best when used flexibly alongside other texts

Research-informed lens:

Reading Rev is research-informed and practitioner-designed (not formally studied). Its approach is consistent with what research tells us about how morphology supports reading and vocabulary growth, and it’s teacher-friendly and fully prepped. Overall, it’s an easy-to-implement vehicle for practices we know work.

Sample activity:

• Students explore geo roots in short informational texts about geography and geology, then create “root webs” connecting new words.

  
  

Pros:
✅ Integrates morphology with reading comprehension
✅ Ready-made passages suitable for discussion and writing
✅ Strong fit for inquiry-rich classrooms

Cons:
⚠️ Slightly less structured sequence — teachers choose roots/themes
⚠️ Requires purchase from Crafting Minds Group
⚠️ Some prep in selecting which roots to align to content units

Research-informed lens:

Morphology Anthology is conceptually sound and inquiry-based, but lightly formalized. It aligns well with research on morphological awareness and with our inquiry ethos as it helps students see words as systems of meaning, not just spelling units.