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The most effective ways to differentiate is through choice. Teachers can build choice into the curriculum to empower students. Use excerpts or smaller pieces in multiple genres of themed literature as anchor lessons. Help students navigate through any text with reading and writing strategies.

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63 views

Choicehandout

The most effective ways to differentiate is through choice. Teachers can build choice into the curriculum to empower students. Use excerpts or smaller pieces in multiple genres of themed literature as anchor lessons. Help students navigate through any text with reading and writing strategies.

Uploaded by

api-173959879
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Meeting the Needs of Diverse Readers and Writers

" Part of growing up is developing your own taste--in food, in clothes, in music; one's taste is important because it reveals something about who we are. (Claggett, 1996)

Choice Matters
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Appetizer

Trying to balance such an assortment of learners between independence and achievement can be challenging. How can we be sensitive to students differences while still holding them accountable for the standards? To better meet the needs of all students, the most effective ways to differentiate is through choice. What happens when students are given choices in reading and writing?

Gather information about your learners through surveys and questionnaires. Students like to learn in different waysinteractively, quietly, hands-on, and so onand many are tech savvy. They have different interests, varying levels of maturity and experience, and they read and write at all different levels. -Find out all you can about your students as readers, writers, and thinkers. -Share your interests and ask them about theirs.

Salad
Use universal themes or literary elements as the anchor for instruction . In order to meet the needs of a diverse classroom, teachers can build choice into the curriculum to empower students. Instead of one text or one writing assignment, acknowledge the wide range of levels and interests and consider a reading and writing workshop. Plan units organized around issues and essential questions. Use excerpts or smaller pieces in multiple genres of themed literature as anchor lessons. Help students navigate through any text with reading and writing strategies.

Palate Cleanser
Hold stu dents ac countable while su pporting their ch oices
Accountability means students are learning, not just doing. Continual monitoring through formative assessment and student reflection helps to assure that students are developing. Guide students toward high quality content and products through limited choice.

Main Entree
Create the Best learning experience possible in multiple ways. Choices can be provided to demonstrate the learning process, to acquire information or to apply what is learned. Negotiate with students about the texts they read and the pieces they write. Model thinking about texts and allow students to share their thinking. Help students set goals and monitor their strengths and weakness. Provide menus or choice boards for different interests and abilities. Develop common rubrics that show mastery of expectations. Allocate plenty of time to read and write in class. Conference with students and meet them where they are. Celebrate good reading and writing as a class. .

Dessert

Allow students to become agents of their own learning. The purpose of offering choice is to ensure students are spending time on reading and writing that is meaningful to them. It also reaches the higher levels of critical thinking and adds interest and rigor to the classroom. Choice is motivating and leads to achievement. Flexibility, resources, and planning are essential to providing guided choices for 21st century learners. No matter where they begin or where they end, the journey is of value to students when their voices are heard and teachers believe that choice matters.

A la Carte Because
Research :
Atwell, Nancy. The Reading Zone: How to Help Kids Become Skilled, Passionate, Habitual, Critical

Readers. New York: Scholastic, 2007. Gallagher, Kelly. Teaching Adolescent Writers. New York: Stenhouse, 2006. Kittle, Penny. Write Beside Them: risk, voice, and clarity in high school writing. Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2008. Miller, Donalyn. The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2009. Robb, Laura. Differentiating Reading Instruction: How to Teach Reading to Meet the Needs of Each Student. New York: Scholastic, 2008. Wormeli, Rick. Fair Isn't Always Equal: Assessing & Grading in the Differentiated Classroom. New York: Stenhouse, 2006.

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