Ideas for meeting the needs of all learners through differentiated instruction. Here are 13 ideas for differentiated reading instruction in elementary...
There are different ways to differentiate instruction. Which is the best one for math teachers? Which will have the best impact on your students?
In a self-paced classroom, each student is given an appropriate level of challenge and grows at a steady pace throughout the school year. Here's how it works.
Looking for a way to get students to have fun learning new words AND remember them longer? Try these brain-based vocabulary activities.
With schools looking at the hybrid model for the fall, the flipped classroom is going to be pivotal for student learning. Learn more about it here.
Some newcomers arrive with no English at all and need to focus on basic classroom English first. This pack will help.
Check these practical and research-based classroom motivation strategies!
4 activities that I bring into the classroom. They help speaking and learning to relate to a topic, categorizing words, spelling and remembering words. - ESL worksheets
Make a game out of your classroom with gamification! This new trend is taking the education world by storm. Learn about it here.
Differentiation and scaffolding can help students better understand and learn. Here are teaching ideas and tips to use in class.
When trying to differentiate instruction for our students, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. Here are 6 Easy Ways to Differentiate Instruction
Farley is hosting her monthly Linky Party! Check out Currently February: As many of you know, I'm preggers (due in April). Therefore, my hubby and I are staying in a lot more than we usually do and watching lots of TV! We've watched Breaking Bad (all five seasons) and Homeland (just starting season two). We also watch lots of documentaries on Netflix. We found a great one the other night that I'd like to recommend. It's called "American Teacher" (2011), and it follows the lives and experiences of four teachers. It's only about 80 minutes long, so check it out if you have some free time! Matt Damon narrates the documentary so enjoy that! =) Photo courtesy of IMDb. On another note, did you hear about the Sunday Super Sale over at TpT!?! Everything in my store will be on sale for 28% off! Yippee!! I know I'll be shopping for lots of activities for the month of February, spring time writing activities, more clip art, and some center activities! Last but not least, I just added a great resource to my store called Sweet Sentences Mega Pack! It's only $4.00 and contains 56 pages of grammar and writing activities to help young writers grasp the concepts of complete vs. incomplete sentences. There are posters, activities for literacy stations and small groups, printables for independent practice, and whole group lessons. Check out a few examples below: {CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.1.1j and CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.1f} Leave a comment below about writing instruction in your classroom (also include your e-mail), and I'll choose a few lucky winners to receive the Sweet Sentences Mega Pack for FREE! :)
Last summer I attended a GT training and was introduced to choice boards! I LOVE THIS IDEA!!! I think that students are more engaged and even challenge themselves more when they are given choices. The great thing is....they aren't just for GT students. Choice boards work similar to tic-tac-toe; the student completes 3 activities in a row {up, down, diagonal} They can be adapted for ALL students and actually lend themselves well to differentiated instruction. On Tuesday, I will be attending another GT training specifically on choice boards and differentiated instruction {I'm super pumped about it!} I can't wait to learn more about these learning tools! {I promise to share what I learn!} Choice boards can be set up in many different ways. You can base them off of abilities, learning styles, intelligences, and even levels of questioning. I have found it easier, if I focus on just one of these types. When creating the board, you want to plan out what type of activity each square will focus on. {You don't want to have 2 of the same type of activities in a row} The goal of the CBs are to have equally acceptable activities that you want the students to complete that are similar end products, but have varying ways to accomplish the final product. {For example, you are studying the Alamo. Students could choose activities from writing a diary from the viewpoint of being in the battle, recreating a model of the Alamo, creating a movie, etc.}The wonderful thing about CBs though...students can choose an activity they are willing to complete {taking into consideration their own likes/learning style/intelligence}, but they will have 2 other activities they will need to complete that will focus on other skills that they possibly may need to strengthen {but at the very least they're practicing other skills}! It's a win-win situation! I recently put the choice boards I created for my homework reader's responses in my shop. My students are required to read 20 min nightly, however I found that many of them weren't really reading every night! These choice boards give student's different options to respond to their books, while focusing on varying skills. I've also included 4 blank {editable} choice boards so that you can create your own boards! .....And I used the adorable sneakers clipart to jazz them up from KPM Doodles {love her stuff!} Here is an example template of how to begin creating a choice board based on Multiple Intelligences: Source: Dare to Differentiate Here are some great resources: Dare to Differentiate (AWESOME site for resources!) PVUSD Choices based on intelligence
If you're a new instructional coach, and you're reading this in real time, it's November. Even if you're not a new coach, but you're re...
How do you individualize instruction in your classroom and allow students to pursue their interests? Middle school and high school English Language Arts teachers discussed the types of individualized learning they use in their classroom: project based learning, Genius Hour, and 20% time, and how they got started and introduced it to students. Teachers also shared past PBL units, final products, successes and obstacles. Read through the chat for ideas to implement in your own classroom.
Too often, we're expecting students to learn material without asking them to do much of anything with it. Why is this a problem? Where did it come from? And how can we fix it?
Vocabulary instruction is so critical in today’s classroom! A vast vocabulary will help students to become better readers and writers. Vocabulary is also essential to their performance on standardized tests. Helping kids to develop their vocabulary is time that is well spent in a busy classroom. I have developed a routine to teach new vocabulary
Executed well, student-centered instructional methods can disarm some of the more intimidating parts of academia.
Corkboard Connections is a blog written by Laura Candler who enjoys connecting terrific teachers with amazing resources!
Every English language arts teacher needs a variety of successful, student led discussion strategies that will provide opportunities for student learning.
Instructional methods are used by teachers to create learning environments and to specify the nature of the activity in which the teacher and learner will be involved during the lesson. While particular methods are often associated with certain strategies, some methods may by found within a variety of strategies. Instructional strategies determine the approach a […]
To get your free copy of instructions for using the Jigsaw Strategy, sign up for my mailing list. You'll get once-a-week tips and resources (stuff like this!) delivered right to your inbox. After completing the form below, you'll be directed straight to the download page. If you are already a subscriber, you can
Cognitively guided instruction, or CGI, is a method of instruction that can be used to find different strategies for solving problems. Read more here.
Let's face it, when planning weekly lessons, having a few "go-to" activities on deck can make the task of planning much easier. These are not just "fillers," but tried and true activities that are meaningful, fun and effective at building language. Here are three weekly language building activities that do NOT require planning time. 1- Weekend Update/Weekend Plans This is an awesome activity for beginning and intermediate English learners to build speaking and writing skills. Weekend Update (WU) is usually a Monday activity, and Weekend Plans (WP), a Friday activity. For my beginners, who I see everyday, I do both. For some of my groups, who I meet with only a few times a week, I'll pick one or the other. Weekend Update - I want to know what my students did over the weekend, and I want them to practice oral language using past tense verbs. Once I ask the question, "What did you do this past weekend?" or "What did you do over the weekend?" students take turns answering the question. I provide a sentence starter for my beginners. Then, I repeat their sentence back to them using correct grammar, and help with any basic vocabulary, as needed. Next, I write their sentence on the board. Lastly, they copy their sentence into their notebook. I like to write each student's response in a different color marker so that they can easily distinguish between the sentences on the board. Depending on a student's level of language proficiency, I might ask clarifying questions in order to get a few more details from him or her. I want to push them to use more language, if they are able. Weekend Plans - It's the same concept as Weekend Update, but with this activity I want to know what plans they have for the weekend, or what is something they would like to do over the weekend. I also want them to practice oral language using future tense. So the process is the same as WU, just done towards the end of the week, usually on Thursday or Friday. My students really love this activity; and I'd better not forget to put it in my plans, otherwise they WILL let me know! So as a warm up activity or a closing activity, simply write WU or WP in your plan book and know that 7-10 minutes is going to be this fun and engaging weekly activity. *As my students' language skills progress, I like to find ways to challenge them. For example, after everyone has shared their update or plans, I'll ask students to tell me what one of their classmates did over the weekend, or what one of their classmates plan is for the weekend. NOW we are practicing listening and reading skills PLUS using appropriate pronouns! There are lots of ways to modify this activity to either simplify or to challenge students! As a bonus, this activity is a great way to build relationships. You get to know your students better, and as you share things about your weekends, they get to know you too:) 2- Restate the Question Students need to be able to restate a question, or a prompt, when responding either orally or in writing. This is especially important for their annual language assessments (WIDA ACCESS). For this activity, the objective is put the question in the answer. This will require some modeling at first. Once a week, I incorporate a 10 minute Restate the Question (RQ) activity into my weekly plans. I change it up from time to time, so that students stay engaged. (For groups that I see less often, it may be a quick 5 minute activity.) Here are a few examples of how I incorporate it. Oral Activity- I use activity cards. I place the cards in the middle of the table, and either I'll pick up and read the question, or I'll have them do it. Then, they take turns responding to their card, being sure to restate the question or prompt in their responses. My students love this activity too! When it's time to put away the cards, they often ask to "play" a little longer. Writing Activity - Give students a question or prompt, either printed out or written on the board. If printed out, I have my students glue it into their notebooks. Then have them respond in writing. Afterwards, I ask students to share their responses. This is a designated weekly activity when we purposefully focus on building this skill, however, this skill is informally practiced throughout the week. Click HERE for "Restate the Question" cards. What if students don't yet have enough language? Start with very basic questions. What's your name? My name is _______. Do you like pizza? Yes, I like pizza. Or... No, I do not like pizza. How old are you? I am ____ years old. Where are you from? I am from _____. Using sentence frames is another great way to give beginners the practice they need. For example: Question: What is the problem in the story? Sentence Frame: The problem in the story is _________________. Question: What did the story remind you of? Sentence Frame: The story reminded me of __________________. Restating the question is an important skill. This past year I made time for it in my weekly plans and I saw great progress with my students. 3- Daily Language Review I use this resource a lot with my beginners and intermediate level students. It's a daily activity, most days, so I know that 5 minutes will include this "warm-up" style activity. Although there is no planning involved, there is some printing. But that's OK. I spend 15 minutes a week printing out what I need, then I cut and staple. That's it! I'm ready for the week! The student pages are a half page booklet with 5 days worth of activities, usually only about 4 or 5 short questions per day. Since my students are learning the basic concepts of English grammar, writing mechanics and spelling, we do this activity together. We walk through it as a group and we talk about it. I often use it as a jumping off point for skills that need more attention. I can either go more in depth right then, or take note that I need a lesson on a particular skill for a future lesson. It has a little bit of everything, and it helps to expose my students to many of the skills they'll need as their English progresses. As the year goes on, I may have them do parts of it by themselves, like "Fix the Sentence" before going over it whole group, but for the most part this activity is heavily supported by the teacher. Full disclosure, I don't get to this everyday. If we have a lot to do in other areas, this might get pushed to the side, but students will often ask me if they can try to do it on their own in their general education classroom. Of course I say YES!!! I love it when they ask me that question! *********************************************** My students enjoy all three of these activities, they really do. I can honestly say that each one has proven to be fun, engaging and effective in building my students' language skills. These are my go-to weekly activities that I do not need to plan for; and you can bet that they will be in my lesson plan book. I simply write WU, WP, RQ and DLR on the days, and for the groups, that I want them, and that's it! It makes planning out my whole week, for all of my groups, much easier. (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)
Applying Nancy Motley's Talk Read Talk Write (TRTW) strategy in the ELL classroom. Differentiating TRTW for Beginning to Bridging ELs.
3-Act Math Tasks are some of the most powerful learning experiences I've used in my middle school classroom. Learn about the research behind these effective teaching practices, and grab some incredible ready-to-go lessons for every grade level, primary to high school! #math #mathteacher #mathclass #3actmath #teaching
Inside: How to develop an effective classroom management plan in your Spanish classroom, from Angie Torre. Help! I Need a better classroom management plan! How can I teach when students won’t stop talking? How can I use the target language 90-100% of the time? I can’t even use it 50% of the time because students
Learn to plan sheltered instruction lessons by following the SIOP framework for lesson planning for ELs. SIOP lesson plans teach both content and language.
Check out these 5 No-Prep Reviews Games for any classroom or any subject! Click to see what no-prep review games you can add to your teacher toolbox!
Welcome to Art Room 104! Well, I no longer teach in room 104...it's now room 309, but the heart is still there! I have now transitioned into teaching 7th-12th grades, and my focus is now moving towards Choice Based Learning in the art room. Join me on my journey as I enter new territory, experiment, and share how I fit it all into the realm of Common Core!
When students get bored their minds drift. And while some settle on daydreaming, tile-counting, and general inattentiveness, other students are drawn to more…ahem…destructive pursuits. For where there is boredom, there is misbehavior percolating just under the surface, ready to pounce. Although there is a ... Read more
Cooperative learning. Find out what it's all about and get some great resources to help you use this strategy well in your classroom.
This is a fun speaking activity for your pre-intermediate to advanced students. It is a detective story that engages students in conversation and will practice mainly questions and answers in simple present and simple past. **** You were invited to Mr Erringworth’s dinner party in his mansion. You will meet 9 people there, all of whom have some kind of relation with Mr Erringworth. Shortly after midnight, the host is found dead. It will be your task to interview all nine suspects and find the murderer. As the evening progresses you will get more information about the people and more details will be revealed. You will have to find the murderer’s name – his relation to Mr. Erringsworth – his motive – the used weapon – the room where the murder was committed and any additional information that are necessary to solve the case. **** 7 PAGES INCLUDING TEACHER´S NOTES *** Hope you like it. Please contact me with problems of any kind. - ESL worksheets
This blog post contains an affiliate link for your convenience. I have many students on my caseload this year working on vocabulary. I recently purchased Linguisystems' Word Feast Middle School (I plan to do a blog post on why I love it, so if you're curious stay tuned!), and I needed a way to organize all those new vocabulary words my students are learning! I couldn't find exactly what I wanted, so I decided to create my own. My graphic organizer includes space for the vocabulary word, definition, part of speech, synonyms, antonyms, and a space to write a sentence using that vocabulary word. Check it out below, and head over to my Teachers pay Teachers store to get this FREEBIE for yourself!
Help the learning process with these simple strategies for making studennt thinking visible. Perfect for middle and high school English classes.
This year was our first year implementing the Common Core Standards and a reoccurring word that is used when describing the standards is they are more rigorous than the previous state standards. In Louisiana there has been growing opposition to the standards by both parents and politicians. One common statement that has been made is […]
I received a handout at a workshop I recently attended on different factors coaches can look for in classroom observations. Collecting quality evidence during observations and presenting it in a clear manner to teachers is such an important piece of improving teacher practice and student achievement…so this handout really got me thinking about what I look […]
Love podcasts? Check out this post in the form of a podcast episode on The Classroom Commute
