Differentiating for Diverse Students Chart

Student:
Carmen, Kindergarten
English Socioecono Ethnicity: Gender: IEP/504: Other: Reading Parental
Language mic Status: Performanc Involvemen
Learner: Native Female No None e Level: t:
Mid SES American/P
No acific At 1st grade Med
Islander level

Text Selection and Rationale "Ohana Means Family" by Illma Loomis

This story takes the reader on a journey with a family farming taro for poi in a traditional luau
celebration with family. I chose this story as this can build cultural knowledge for Carmen. This
story allows Carmen to see how her culture had traditions in preparing a grand family feast. I am
hoping that the selection will engage her in learning about her culture. I also wanted to give
Carmen a challenge as she is reading at a 1st grade level and needs a book that will challenge
and build upon her reading skills.

ELA Strategy or Activity and Rationale

This story is written as a poetic story. The ELA strategy that I would focus on is new vocabulary and
rhyming words. We would use the strategy of shared reading to work on specific reading skills. I would
have Carmen identify rhyming words as we read through the story. We would look for patterns together
to distinguish how words are developed with parts or syllables. I would have her practice phonemic
awareness by practicing rhyming and learning about syllables. It is important for students to develop
phonetic awareness as they learn to read. Rhyming can support students by having students work with
letter sounds within words (Anna, 2023).

References

Anna, (2023). Why is rhyming important? The Measured Mom.

https://www.themeasuredmom.com/why-is-rhyming-important/

Student:
Eduardo, 2nd grade
English Socioecono Ethnicity: Gender: IEP/504: Other: Reading Parental
Language mic Status: Performanc Involvemen
Learner: Hispanic Male No Tier 2 RTI e Level: t:

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 Yes Mid SES for Reading One year Low
below
student’s
2nd grade
level

Text Selection and Rationale “Animal Talk: Mexican Folk Art Animal Sounds in English and
Spanish” by Cynthia Weill
This story is an engaging and colorful story of how animals in other countries talk differently.
The story depicts how other countries have the same animals, but they talk differently. I chose
this story as it is bringing Eduardo’s home language and English together using pictures and
animals that he is familiar with. He can recognize the animals and be able to correlate the animal
with the sound in both English and Spanish. This story will help with visual representation of the
English word and the animal sound. I think this book is a great way to incorporate Eduardo’s
background knowledge with animals and his home language to the learning of English. This is a
book that is at a 1st grade level where Educardo is currently reading and will help him with the
language transition as well as phonemic awareness.

ELA Strategy or Activity and Rationale

The strategy that I would be using is phonemic awareness and letter recognition with this story.
In the story, it asks the reader if they can mimic the sound of the animal. This would be a great
way for Eduardo to practice letter recognition and sounds as we go through the story. We would
work at a slower pace to make sure that he is understanding the sound and letter name as he is
practicing the animal sounds.
We would have a reference chart out for him to stop and look at if needed as we read through the
story. I will also ask him how he feels about the story and get his feedback if it helps him
understand that the animals are the same, but sound and talk differently in different countries. He
could write his response in his home language or verbally talk with me. Having a visual of the
letter will help Eduardo have a visual representation as he is reading through the story of the
letter name and its sound. The first step to reading is letter recognition and sounds. By providing
this story, I will be ensuring that I am guiding Eduardo to understand the letter names in English
and the sounds. He also can see the correlation between the sounds in both Spanish and English.
They may look the same, but have different sounds.

References

Colorin Colorado! (n.d.). Bilingual books for young children.

https://www.colorincolorado.org/booklist/bilingual-books-young-children-spanish
Reading Rockets. (2023). Animal talk: Mexican folk art animal sounds in English and Spanish.
https://www.readingrockets.org/content/animal-talk-mexican-folk-art-animal-sounds-
english-and-spanish

Student:
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 Jade, 4th grade
English Socioecono Ethnicity: Gender: IEP/504: Other: Reading Parental
Language mic Status: Performanc Involvemen
Learner: African Female No None e Level: t:
High SES American
No At 4th High
grade level

Text Selection and Rationale “June Peters, You Will Change the World One Day” by Alika
R. Turner
I chose this story as it is a great story on how being helpful and giving can make a difference in
the world.
June Peter is a young African American that wants to help the less fortunate. She makes strides
in helping others to make a difference and gets her friends and family involved in her mission. I
think that Jade can relate to June being a young African American girl that wants to help others
and make a difference in the world. Being kind can go a long way, but you also learn not to let
others take your kindness for granted.

ELA Strategy or Activity and Rationale

The strategy that I would use with this story and Jade is having her relate this story to something
she has done or seen done that is kind for others. We will talk about her feelings and how giving
or seeing someone give made her feel and made the receiving person feel. I would have her also
make another real world connection by having her write about what she would do to help others
and create a better world in her perspective. I would have Jade complete a graphic organizer that
explains the theme of the story and giving specific details from the text that supports the theme.
By creating and using a graphic organizer, Jade would be able to organize her thoughts. This
would help with any writing activities that may follow this activity. She would also be able to
use her text to provide text evidence to help her support the theme that she identified reading the
book.
LAFS.4.RL.1.2 Determine the theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text;
summarize the text.
References

Florida Department of Education. ( 2014). Language arts Florida standards grade 4.

https://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/12087/urlt/G4_LanguageArts_Florida_Standards.
pdf

Student:
Ines, 7th grade
English Socioecono Ethnicity: Gender: IEP/504: Other: Reading Parental

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 Language mic Status: Hispanic Female Learning Tier 2 RTI Performanc Involvemen
Learner: Disabled for Math e Level: t:
Low SES
No One year Low
below
student’s
7th grade
level

Text Selection and Rationale “Stef Soto, Taco Queen” by Jennifer Tores
This book is a story about figuring out who you are as a person and taking pride in your culture.
This story is about a girl that is embarrassed by her dad’s taco truck. She gets very embarrassed
when her dad picks her up from school. Stef’s embarrassment changes when she learns that the
new regulations in the city may impact her dad’s taco truck. In this story there are some spanish
words, hispanic culture and typical middle school angst. I felt that this was a good selection for
Ines as it is about a girl who is finding herself and understanding her culture and learning to take
pride in it. This selection is a great selection for a middle school girl that has a hispanic
background and is navigating through the trials and tribulations of middle school life.

ELA Strategy or Activity and Rationale

FL LAFS.K12.R.1.3 Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact
over the course of a text.
I would work with Ines in creating a book project that would take how Stef feels in the beginning
of the book and the progression of her feelings through the book including significant events that
affect these feelings. She would be able to create a powerpoint presentation, poster board or even
a graphic organizer. We would work on finding and discussing what the theme is of the story.
This will help in our character development of Stef and how she changes throughout the text. In
providing different ways of representation, Ines would be able to show her understanding in a
variety of ways. This would give her a chance to be creative and show what she knows about
Stef and her progression through the text. I would also like Ines to explain to me how Stef may
be relatable to her and her life. This could just be a discussion between a small group or whole
group. Providing opportunities for Ines to analyze a characters development through the story
helps her understand how the author builds the story to include story elements.

References

Good Reads. (2023). Stef Soto, Taco Queen by Jennifer Tores.

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/25150366

Student:
Kent, 8th grade
English Socioecono Ethnicity: Gender: IEP/504: Other: Reading Parental
Language mic Status: Performanc Involvemen
Learner:

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 No High SES White Male Emotion- None e Level: t:
ally
Disabled At 8th Med
grade level

Text Selection and Rationale “Wonder” by R.J. Palacio

This book is about a young boy named August or Auggie who was born with facial distortions.
Auggie is entering school for the first time since being homeschooled most of his life, and has to
deal with bullies, conflicts with friends. He has to learn how to overcome these obstacles to show
himself and his parents that he can be independent. I chose this book as it is a good story of
overcoming fears, friendship woes and perceptions of others. I think that this is a great book for
Kent to learn strategies in overcoming tough emotions and is relatable to the world today’s peers
and conflicts.

ELA Strategy or Activity and Rationale

LAFS.8.RI.3.7 Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using different mediums (e.g. print
or digital text, video, multimedia) to present a particular topic or idea.
I will have Kent not only read the text, but also watch the movie adaptation. There will be a
recording sheet to fill out as he reads the book and watches the movie to compare and contrast
both ways of displaying the main idea of the story. There will be whole group discussions to
discuss findings of advantages and disadvantages in both forms. We will discuss how the
students perceived the characters reading the book prior to watching the movie. Did their
depictions hold true? Kent can show his understanding with a powerpoint presentation, poster
board or through a one pager. This project would help Kent understand the standard he is
working on and be able to discuss amongst his peers his thoughts. He would also be able to listen
to peers’ thoughts and elaborate on their thinking within the discussion. In the presentation or
summative, he would be able to show his understanding by creating a piece that displays the
disadvantages and advantages in presenting the main idea in the book as well as the movie.
These opportunities allow the student to show their understanding in multiple ways. I would be
able to guide the discussion with comprehension questions and DOK questions to have students
use critical thinking skills.

References

Florida Department of Education. (2014). Language arts Florida standards grade 8.

https://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/12087/urlt/G8_LanguageArts_Florida_Standards.pdf

© 2019. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved.