Being an intermediate teacher it is important to consider how these SEF strands will look like in your classroom as well as how it might differ from junior level classrooms. This particular blog will focus specifically on 4.5 (Differentiated Instruction) and how it is incorporated into my classroom.
Each day in the classroom is an opportunity to build on the great relationships we as teachers build with our students. Working 1 on 1 or in small groups allows you as a teacher to really target different individuals in regards to their needs/wants.
Our latest TLCP had a curriculum expectation focus on (Making Inferences). Through 1 on 1 conferencing I discovered a handfull of students commented and said "this text evidence doesnt remind me of anything" or " I dont know anything about that". This is where I had the chance to open our discussion by asking specific students about their likes. After discussing certain topics such as "movies" these students were able to say " oh well in this movie something similar happend" and they were able to activate their prior knowledge, in turn allowing them to see text evidence, use their prior knowledge (specific to them/thinking of their likes and interests) to recall various information on that topic to make a proper inference.
Differientiating with our students during daily learning is only one aspect of DI. Taking it one step further can be incorporating the aspect of DI into student ASSESSMENT! When making a proper inference in our class it was taught through proper paragraph form, corresponding to an intermediate level rubric. During our summative task of inferring to THEIR CHOICE of world mystery/phenomenon already gave them an increase in motivation and engagement because they got to choose what interested them the most, however....Their summative task/reading mark was assessed using the SAME reading rubric in which they were all familiar with, yet they had the opportunity to use a CHOICE BOARD to further enhance the differientiated approach. Simply considering their MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES in which they know from completing the survey at the beginning of the year they can now use the best way they learn and apply that to their summative inference presentation by use of the choice board.
These are just 2 ways in which knowing our students and using THEIR likes/interest help THEM to succeed in their LEARNING! Students understood the 3 aspects of a good inference by use of the rubric however they had the unique opportunity to present it in a way they UNDERSTAND the most, a very fun an memorable language unit/task for all.
Here are a few pictures of the CHOICE BOARD we used, enjoy!
