When the bell rings at Beye School in Oak Park, 4th-grade teacher Randy Freedman begins work--not in a traditional classroom, but in a "pod."
"We call it that because the classrooms are like peas in a pod," Freedman said.
The classrooms, built in the 1970s when open-classroom teaching was fashionable, have movable walls so that several "peas" can create a larger pod. Now the pods are used to group students into multi-age classes where they mix, learn and work together on common projects.
"The kids start to identify with the pod," Freedman said. "It creates a sense of community, one of the goals of multi-age education."
Multi-age classes, where pupils in two or three grade levels work together, are used in only a few schools in the Chicago area. Those involved are firm advocates who note that children gain valuable leadership skills and teachers can guide the same students through continuous learning a second or even third year.
"Children develop at different levels cognitively," said Cynthia S. Mee, middle-level education program coordinator at National-Louis University in Evanston. "The brain peaks and plateaus in its growth and knowledge. Children can learn from each other. It's very child-centered learning.
"It can also be good preparation for high school and the workforce later on. It really serves kids best. They're not intimidated when they get to high school and ages are mixed."
The group of four teachers and 75 4th and 5th graders at Beye focuses on teamwork and community involvement by participating in projects such as "run a wheel," where the children work on common activities, meet in small groups and circle around a hypothetical wheel in 15-minute increments.
"Our central focus right now is producing a magazine," Freedman said.
Small groups of children focus on tasks including advertising, magazine content, cover art and puzzles, plus there's a contest for the name. "All of their writing assignments are potential content for the magazine," Freedman said. "It's a constantly evolving project."
The multi-age classroom setup enhances creativity and teamwork and gives the pupils an opportunity for social growth, Freedman said.
"It's realistic," he said. "In the workforce, you're going to be working with people of different age groups. This fosters teamwork as part of the learning process."
Linda Burkhart, principal of Stitt School in Arlington Heights, said children in multi-age classrooms "benefit from relationships with same-age peers, older children and younger children."
"Leadership opportunities are fostered in many ways, occurring naturally within their age groups."
Mary Jansson, a 1st-, 2nd- and 3rd-grade teacher at Stitt, has seen children develop these skills during 12 years as a multi-age instructor.
Jansson pairs 1st graders with older, experienced buddies. "A normal leadership role occurs at 2nd and 3rd grade," she said. "The older student becomes the `go to' person for the new person. We provide an opportunity for all of them to have that responsibility. This also establishes a climate of helping and cooperation that prevails throughout the year."
Fifth grader Raffi Mantilla has been in multi-age classrooms since 1st grade. "When I was younger, it was nice to see the older kids and think, `This won't be so bad,' " he said. "Now that I'm older, it's nice to see the younger kids come in all nervous and know you can help them."
Instruction is based on integrated thematic instruction units, Jansson said.
"Oceanography, for example, will cover other curriculum areas as well," she said. Pupils may study land formation, endangered species and the effects of weather and use several skill areas, including reading and writing, to demonstrate their learning.
"It allows me to teach information in a logical way."
Pupils in multi-age classes can reinforce their learning by helping younger children with assignments. Jansson cited a time when her pupils were studying leaves and, in math class, learning to determine areas.
"The assignment was to figure the area of a leaf," she said. "It was a review for 3rd graders and an opportunity for them to reinforce their learning by helping younger students if they needed it."
Fifth-grader Holly Webster recently worked with a 4th grader to make a poster about a famous explorer. "We split up," Holly said. "We both found out some facts, I did the writing and she did the drawing. It turned out really well."
Some parents are concerned their older children won't benefit from a multi-age classroom, Stitt's Burkhart said. "They understand the benefits for younger children, but not necessarily older. Their concern is that their child may spend too much time teaching other children. The truth is each student knows what that teacher is expecting and they model that, sometimes providing direct assistance. Every child is a role model just by showing up."
Robin Paul has two children in multi-age classes at Stitt.