Why Differentiate?

Differentiated Instruction  

Why differentiate?  

Every student in your class comes to school with different background knowledge, experiences, strengths, needs and challenges.  Your job as the teacher is to build on their 

positives while helping them to overcome challenges and turn their needs into strengths.  

Sounds easy enough right?

A one size fits all approach will not allow each and every student to flourish.  Remember, 

that no two students in the class are alike and they cannot be taught as though they are. 

So how do I do it? How do I make this happen in my class?

Whenever a teacher gives a student individual assistance, they are differentiating.  Differentiating can be done through Content, Process and Product.  

  

Find out what interests your students.  It doesn’t make much sense to give Johnny a story about ballet dancers when he lives eats and breathes dinosaurs, right? It would also seem silly to give Sally a simple repetitive book to read at school when she voraciously reads a Junie B. Jones book every day.  Varying the material given to the students, allowing students to read about what interest them and read books that are at their level is differentiating by content.

Although Sally and Johnny may have very different interests when it comes to reading, they may both be kinesthetic learners and need to move to connect to ideas.  Or perhaps they can really understand a concept when they can talk about it. Focusing on accommodating for how students learn called Differentiating by process.  This could mean having guided reading groups focusing on a particular concept, tailoring the amount of support and time you give to each student, developing learning goals with students so that they are aware of their own strengths and needs as well as teaching to students’ multiple intelligences.  

So now it’s time to assess Johnny and Sally.  Let them show us what they know, their application of reading strategies and level of comprehension.  Johnny is super creative, but has trouble getting his ideas out on paper.  He usually ends up feeling pretty frustrated and unhappy with himself.  Sally on the other hand loves to write.  Her work is well thought out and ideas and information just pour out of her.  Showing her creative side though feels like she is baring her soul to for all to see and ridicule.  She never fares well and hates the work she produces.  Would it be fair to assess these two students the same way? Of course not!  It would not give you an accurate demonstration of their skills.  Providing students with tasks which match their skills, allowing students to work either alone or in groups and giving students’ choice over how they demonstrate their knowledge and understanding are some ways we can differentiate the product.    

Differentiating one of the most important things we can do as teachers as we help our students on their journey as learners.

Some resources I find helpful…

www.readingrockets.org

This website offers a wealth of information and many helpful strategies relating to teaching reading. 

http://eworkshop.on.ca/edu/resources/guides/Reading_K_3_English.pdf

The Guide to Effective Instruction in Reading is a document produced by the ministry of education.  It provides practical strategies for teachers for differentiating reading instruction. 

http://ewokshop.on.ca

An online teaching resource with instruction created for Ontario teachers looking to expand their skills and knowledge as it relates to teaching reading, writing and numeracy.

Diverse Resources

Diverse Resources

“But my class isn’t diverse”  “I am not comfortable teaching about subjects I don’t know enough about” “the kids in my class can’t relate to that”  “I don’t know where to start!”

Whether you have heard these statements or have thought them, you are in the right place.  Even if you can’t ‘see’ the diversity in your class, it’s there, it’s all around you.  As a teacher, you have a responsibility not only to teach your students how to do things but also to teach them about the world around them.   Teaching them to embrace what the world has to offer, learning from other cultures and helping them to find commonalities between themselves and everything surrounding them; Teaching them compassion, empathy and understanding. 

Books are an amazing way to do this.  They can open the eyes of students to a world they never knew existed and bring them right into the story.  Books can spark rich discussions and elicit a passion for students.  Students should be taught not to see only the differences, but more importantly, all that they have in common with those in their class and others around the world.  

Using diverse resources is a great way to integrate your reading program with other subjects, for example social studies, and the arts.  Also, reluctant readers can become quite captivated with the topic and story of the book and find themselves engaged in a way they never did before.   With resources like the internet at their fingertips, the world is becoming a much smaller place and giving my students not only academic skills, but also life skills and is a wonderful part of your job as a teacher.   

Here are a few of my favourite stories to teach students about diversity:

I Lost My Tooth in Africa

By Penda Diakite, (Scholastic Press, 2006)

 

This book tells the story of a little girl named Amina who wants to lose her tooth while visiting her family in Mali, Africa.  If she loses her tooth in Africa, the African tooth fairy will give her chickens.  Students relate very well to this story, discussing their own traditions relating to losing their teeth.  Rich images and text showcase life in Africa and differences in housing and family structures.   Students are particularly impressed when they find out it is a true story!

My Princess Boy - A Mom’s Story About a Young Boy Who Loves to Dress Up

By Cheryl Kilodavis, (Alladin, 2010)

My Princess Boy is a story written from a mothers’ point of view about her four year old son who loves express himself by dressing up and enjoying things that are traditionally seen as girly things. She talks about good and bad experiences and how hurtful some comments can be.  The message is one that young children can relate to; accepting others for who they are, letting people be they are and embracing what makes us all unique.

Duck for Turkey Day

By Jacqueline Jules, (Albert Whitman, 2009)

 

Tuyet is a Vietnamese girl who is learning all about Thanksgiving and the traditions and foods surrounding it at school.  As the weekend arrives, she is wished a “Happy Turkey Day” by her teacher, but once she arrives at home, she finds out that they will not be having turkey, but instead, Tuyet’s family will be having duck at their family dinner.  Tuyet is so upset and wonders how she will ever be able to tell her classmates she ate duck instead of turkey.  Arriving at school, she finds that many of the students in her class did not have turkey either but had many traditional dishes from their own cultures. This book is great to help children understand that there are many different cultures with their own traditions and that people celebrate the holidays in many different ways. 

Love is a Family

By Roma Downey (HarperCollins Canada, 2001)

This book addresses some of the issues and insecurities kids can have about their families and being different from their peers.  When her school has family fun night, Lily, who lives with her single mother, wishes that she could have a “real” family.  What she learns is that every family is different and what makes a family is love.   With beautiful images, children can easily relate to Lily and her feeling of being “different” and how to find commonality in diversity.  

Teaching English Language Learners

Teaching English Language Learners

You just found out that you will be getting a new student in your class next week.  You wonder how it will change the balance in your class.  You wonder what kind of student they are.

Hopefully she will be a nice quiet, studious one.  Yeah, an independent learner, one who does great work, and always raises their hand before she gives a well thought out response.  Then Monday comes.  This is so not what you imagined.

She what? She doesn’t speak much English? Gulp…

So what are you supposed to do? How are you supposed to help her? How are you supposed to teach her? What are you supposed to teach her? You don’t even speak her language!

RELAX!!! Take a deep breath.  You can do this, this is what you do.  After all, you are a teacher.

There are many people and many wonderful resources available so you can help this student not only learn English, but also to feel welcome in the classroom and school community. You will be that person who guides them on this journey as they learn a new language and culture.

Some things to keep in mind:

Your new student is not only tackling a new language, but new curriculum along with it; they will be doing double the work as they learn in a new language.

They are likely feeling pretty isolated and intimidated each time they enter the classroom. 

Creating a supportive environment where the new student is welcomed and valued will go a long way to ensure they feel comfortable in their new school and community.

Tips and strategies:

After creating a welcoming environment for your new student, here are a few suggestions that you can put into practice right away. 

1. Find out all you can about your ELL student – their families, where they are from, their interests, likes and dislikes.  Find commonalities and start to build a relationship. 
2. Pair them up with a buddy who can help introduce them to the school, to the students and help to show them around and get them where they need to be.
3. Teach them a few simple phrases.  How to introduce themselves, how to ask for help etc. giving them a few simple phrases will give them a chance to interact in their new language.
4. Labels, labels, and more labels.  Label everything.  Label things in both English and the students’ native language.  Students will learn more quickly if they see the vocabulary repeated.  In addition, provide lots of visuals for the students so that they may make connections.
5. Picture dictionaries – As ELL students learn vocabulary, have them create their own dictionary to keep track of new information.

As students learn English and take part in regular classroom happenings, there are still many things to keep in mind when teaching ELLs.

  

1.  Even though the student may be able to have a conversation in English, they may still need lots of support with reading and writing.  Differentiating will be key to help this student succeed.
2. Show them that you value their native language.  Let them use their native language in the classroom.  Students are often better able think deeper and communicate their ideas in their native language.   Provide opportunities for students to brainstorm their ideas and complete their work initially in their first language so they can feel confident in their abilities.
3. Your assessment of the student may look different than those students who aren’t learning a second language.  The expectations may be modified, you may also need to assess this student differently, allowing them show their understanding in different ways.
4. Get them talking.  Give ELL students many opportunities to get talking and keep talking.  Learning from listening and speaking, how English is structured and spoken.
5. Don’t over-correct students.  Be aware of how much you are correcting your ELL student. Many errors will naturally occur.  Over correcting the student will likely be counter- productive and may limit their development. Students will need a lot of practice before they are able to master a second language.

Have fun; make this a learning experience for your ELL students, yourself and the other students in the class. 

But What About the Boys?

But What about the Boys?

Even with all of our best efforts to create a reading program that teaches the strategies needed to become a great reader, there is still evidence to suggest that the boys are being left behind.  Assessment data shows that girls are outperforming boys in reading and writing (http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/brochure/meread/meread.pdf).  They are learning the same strategies as the girls, but are showing lower results.  So what’s the problem?  

So how do we get them interested?  Why aren’t they motivated to read?

ASK THEM!   

Boys need a purpose.  Boys need to understand why they are reading what they are reading.  They respond best when their lessons are structured, explicit and have clear goals.  Boys need to feel connected to what they are reading. 

Sounds simple enough right…WRONG!

There is so much more we need to do to get our boys interested in reading!

Give them what they want!

If there isn’t anything in the classroom that you want to read, how likely is that you will? Having books with boys as the main character is a good start, but there is so much more.  Find out what interests them, what they enjoy doing, what they want to be when they grow up.  It may not appeal to your love of reading, but boys seem to love books where the main characters get themselves into trouble or books with mildly inappropriate humour.  It makes them laugh and imagine what would happen to them if they were the main character in the book.  They also like to read texts which haven’t traditionally been part of a school literacy program such as instruction manuals, baseball cards and comics.  Boys do not simply dislike reading; they dislike what they are being told to read. We need to give them more choice over what they are reading and showing them that we value what they are reading.  

Get them talking!

Believe it or not, boys like to talk about what they are reading.  Providing them with opportunities to share what they are learning and connect it can be very rewarding for boys.  Get creative – have a boys’ book club.  Let them decide what they want to read and talk about.  Give them the opportunity to use technology to talk about what they read – emailing other students to tell them about what they have just read.  Start a classroom twitter page with interesting book reads.  In the classroom or the library provide a space where students can recommend books to others.  Invite male role models into the class to host a book talk. 

We will get our boys to love reading.  It’s not about getting them to conform to our current reading program, rather, it’s about finding out what the boys want and works for them.

Helpful Links:

Guys Read  -  www.guysread.com

 

This is a great website geared towards getting boys reading.  It recognizes that there is a gap between and that boys can sometimes get left behind.  Guysread.com offers book suggestions, and strategies to get boys motivated. 

Boys Read – www.boysread.org

The website’s mission is to transform boys into lifelong readers.  Offering tips and suggestions to get boys reading as well as book suggestions, this website has a wealth of information.

Boys and Reading - www.scoop.it/t/boys-and-reading

This blog offers many interesting tips and ideas to inspire boys to read.  There are links to many new resources to inspire the boys you teach.