Instructional Ideas
Contents |
Writing
Build a sentence together.
Writing prompts are good because different students can answer to their depth of ability (i.e. different lengths, complexity, number of sentences)
Editing workshops - hits standards at all writing levels.
Free-write activity. Have each student start writing a fictional story. Give them a short period of time to write, then make them pass their papers around and someone else gets to work on that story for another short period of time. By the end, you can have a bunch of stories that each student worked on. They are usually pretty good and it works really well in differentiated levels.
Reading
Novels: rotate days (teacher reads, student reads solo, groups read aloud)
Modify novel-ties for each level
Novel study groups
All students read the same story but have different level and/or number of reading responses per page.
A couple times a week, read to your students; books they wouldn't read on their own because of difficulty. There are many of the classics that work well because they are short. Students at all levels can comprehend it and they really get to enjoy some good stories they wouldn't get to otherwise. You can still do comprehension and discussion exercises too.
I wanted to share a great resource with all of you. I was looking for activities to help a teacher out during reading time and checked on one of my favorite reading sites and came across this recourse that I have used in the past but may not have shared with you.
The site is the Florida Center for Reading Research. Below are the instructions to get to Student Center Activities which are independent activities that are for students in grades K-5. If you have older students that a below level readers some of the activities will also work for them. Take the time to check this site out you may find a wealth of materials that you do not have to create yourself.
Go to http://www.fcrr.org/index.htm Then click on Curriculum and Instruction in the far right column. If you go to the student center activities there are four different categories choose which one you would like. The activities take quite awhile to download but I have checked out the majority of them and they are well worth your time.
Spelling
Tactile - write words in braille with glue dots
Tactile - Glue yarn into shape of cursive words/letters and trace with finger
Kinesthetic - hand sign
Kinesthetic - make each letter with body
Kinesthetic - Do a jumping jack as you say each letter
Assess spelling levels with Fry list. If spelled correctly, that word is checked off. Incorrect words become part of weekly spelling words to practice. Tested end of week. If correct, it is checked off. This way kids are all working at their own spelling.
Each student has his or her own spelling list based on writing sample. When practicing student spelling with partners each day, students have the option to finger spell, spell aloud, write down on boards, or build the word.
Social Studies
Each student picks a project to show that they have learned about the topic (i.e. one writes a report about Egypt, another gives a presentation/speech, and another makes a mummy)
Science
Ask students to ask a question with a yes/no or number answer about current topic.
Have students use clay in class to make models of pictures/diagrams in the book.
Have them do their own unique drawings of pictures in the book with short paragraph descriptions in their own words.
Math
Write Math P.E.P.s to brush up on gaps.
Link standards across math levels that allows for small group instruction.
K-4: Get my kindergarteners started on a math activity while others do math boxes, then work with the older students in small groups.
Timed math or one simple geometry problem for the whole group to get started for the day.
Weekly math schedules for each level.
Have slower students do odd or even numbers on worksheets.
Math Journals - excel spreadsheet that students fill out the last 30 seconds of class. Includes date, topic, lesson number, pages, and problem numbers. Students turn in on fridays and teachers put in folder at the end of the month. Helps track and assess student progress and work.
Have math problem(s) written on the board at the beginning of class. Each student's name is written above/below the appropriate problem for their level. Use as a warm-up/indicator for the rest of the math block.
Here is a great resource for all math levels from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Online math lessons, interactive java applets, etc. NCTM Resources
General
Thematic Units / Projects - Spell out process, resources, steps, assessment(s), rubrics, schedule clearly and hand out copy to students. It makes them responsible for content, time, etc.
Teach lessons that touch on multiple standards.
Small Groups - Students at different levels work together so that they can review and teach each other
Structure - all students know what they should be doing when teacher is working with another group.
"Must Do Can Do" List per individual or group. Must Do is all of the assignments that students have to do before the Can Do, which may be activities that are perceived by students as non-learning activities (math, vocabulary games). List could be posted or put in subject folder or taped to desk. Students check off items as they are completed and put completed work in designated place. BUILDS INDEPENDENCE!
Don’t forget the fun stuff
Remember that our standards are the basic skills that we expect children to learn at each level. You need to make sure you are still addressing the other things that make school exciting for our students. Have students do creative projects to show they have met their standards such as putting on a play, creating a commercial to sell a book for others to read, write a song to explain a science concept, create a large mural to show what life would look like in the time period they are studying, and the list goes on and on.
It is important to have art, music and other creative outlets as a part of your curriculum. There is no where that is says you can only address the standards that are written down. It is important that the children have an exposure to many different things and they have a way to express learning in many ways.
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Ways to Motivate Student Learning
• Cooperative learning techniques
• Hold individual students accountable for performance
• Scaffolding student learning
• Make connections across the curriculum
• Encourage student autonomy and choice
• Interact positively with student on-to-one
• Make home-school connections
• Provide many opportunistic mini-lessons
• Make deep and personal connections to students
• Support appropriate risk-taking by students
• Make the classroom fun
• Encourage student creativity
• Set a positive tone in the classroom
• Make content interesting, appropriately challenging, and game like
• Depth is favored over breadth of coverage
• Use good literature with readings and content in general connecting to student interests
• Communicate in motivating ways
• Make abstract content more concrete and personal
• Encourage curiosity and suspense
• Provide clear learning objectives
• Give effective praise and feedback
• Model interest, enthusiasm, and reflective thinking
• Communicate that academic tasks deserve attention
• Provide clear directions
• Make learning in school relevant to larger life
• Encourage stick-with-it-ness
• Stimulate appropriate cognitive conflict
• Tell students about a wide range of strategies for accomplishing academic tasks
• Express confidence in students
• Let students know that they could improve their performance by trying hard
• Manage the classroom efficiently
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Kay Smith gave me this idea for test reviews! She called it "looping" and essentially it is making a group of questions put on cards. The students will divide up the cards evenly and the first person will read the question on the card. The person with the answer card will respond and read the question at the bottom of their card. Each card will have an answer and a question on it. The first card will begin with the answer to the last question. The student who begins with only read the question on his card. For example, a card may read "The Alaska State gem is jade." "When did Alaska become a state?" The student with the answer to the question will respond "Alaska became a state in 1959," and then will read the question on the bottom of the same card, "Who was the first state governor?". The game continues until all the cards have been read and the last question loops around to the answer on the first card. These cards can be put together for any subject and/or any test review.
