Beginning Differentiation - Assignment 2B

For this assignment, I have identified 5 means by which you can differentiate a content presentation and a subsequent learning activity for each of the following groups of students: English Language Learners, Special Needs Students, and Advanced or Gifted Learners.

For all three groups of students, Quick Writes are a great strategy that teachers can use to differentiate student content knowledge prior to beginning instruction. This activity can let the teacher know the level of language proficiency of English Language Learners, how to modify the assignment for special needs students, and how to provide a challenge for advanced or gifted students who already exhibit sufficient content knowledge. 

English Language Learners: 
1. Questions should be adjusted based on the student's level of English proficiency - pre-production, early production, intermediate fluency, and advanced. 
2. "Chunking," in which information is provided to the student in smaller amounts at a time
3. "Wordsmithing," which focuses on parts of speech
4. "Copycatting," in which students copy sentences to first learn patterns of English
5. "Peer Pairing," in which students practice English proficiency skills by interacting with English speaking students. 

Special Needs Students:
1. Adjusting levels of questions according to students' level of readiness. Types of questions that can be used to help students extend or refine their knowledge include comparison, classification, induction, deduction, error analysis, constructing support, abstraction, and analyzing perspectives.
2. "Advance Organizers" help student organize content and information for comparing and contrasting. 
3. Using narratives allows students to focus on a topic prior to reading by telling a related story.
4. "Skimming" engages students by providing an overview of the text and posing questions, improving the comprehension of the text.
5. "Pacing" is decelerated for students who need more time to comprehend the information.

Advanced or Gifted Learners
1. "Compacting" compresses information and learning for higher level students.
2. Using varied research topics allows more advanced students to explore a topic more independently at an appropriate level of complexity. 
3. "Pacing" is accelerated for advanced learners.
4. Advanced levels of explanations are provided.
5. Providing practice activities at higher reading levels.