Managing+a+Successful+Differentiated+Reading+Classroom


 * By: Katharine Jacques and Eric Dextradeur**

Differentiation: the word on the street in education. Even though teachers have been differentiating within their classrooms throughout history, it seems that this new buzzword has currently become a hot topic. With its recent popularity, many teachers are exploring ways of implementing differentiation into their classrooms. Even though this has become a logical solution to the issue of meeting the needs of diverse learners, implementing differentiation can be daunting. Teachers dream of ideas and their perfect classroom, but roadblocks can arise when they begin to plan. If you are interested in creating a differentiated reading classroom but not sure where to start, here are some ideas to get you going in the right direction.

Differentiated instruction is not an instructional strategy or a teaching model. It’s a way of thinking about teaching and learning that advocates beginning where individuals are. It is a way of thinking that challenges how educators typically create assessment, their teachings, learning styles, classroom roles, curriculum, and time management. Differentiation changes the teacher’s role from classroom commander to facilitator of time and space and assessor of students. The teacher’s main role changes. The teacher, now rather than imparting knowledge that only he or she has access to, the teacher becomes a facilitator students engage in and be responsible for their own learning. Differentiated Instruction is not a one-size-fits-all teaching technique. To put it yet another way, it means that “teachers proactively plan varied approaches to what students need to learn, how they will learn it, and/or how they will show what they have learned in order to increase the likelihood that each student will learn as much as he or she can, as efficiently as possible” (Tomlinson, 2003). Through differentiating instruction, teachers create different levels of expectations for task completion, and environments where all learners can be successful. “The educator in a differentiated classroom, be it the teacher or counselor, respects the readiness level of each student. Students' readiness to learn is influenced by a number of factors, including their previous exposure to and experiences with a topic, their physical and emotional health and current stage of development, and their general and specific academic aptitude” (Tomlinson, 2003)
 * I. What is differentiated reading instruction?**

There are three main areas of instruction where differentiation occurs. They are: //Content:// what the students need to learn. Generally, content is determined by local, state, and national curriculum standards. //Process:// The way students arrive at the content is referred to as process. The term process is often used in exchange for activities and refers to the activities the students take part in to gain an understanding of, or make sense of, the content. //Product:// means in which the student expresses a culminating understanding of the content. “Understanding of the same content can be demonstrated in a variety of forms including performances, reports, diagrams, or computer-based presentations” (Tomlinson, 2003).



A successful, differentiated reading classroom WILL take time and effort. As a teacher you face the reality of crowded classrooms, limited time, few materials, endless paperwork, and little assistance. It takes creativity and flexibility to find what works best for both you and your students. As Thomas Edison once said, "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." As you get going your inspirations will be endless, but you will find that it is going to take some work to make those inspirations reality.
 * II. Where to begin?**

__Get to Know Your Students__ According to Tomlinson (1999), "In differentiated classrooms, teachers begin where students are, not the front of a curriculum guide." You begin each year with a mixed group of children who possess a variety of capabilities as well as interests. It is your job to work with those capabilities and interests so students make achievements. Yes, you are expected to follow the curriculum but you need to find out the best way to get the curriculum to reach each student. To find out what works best you could give students an inventory, expose students to various learning styles and observe their behaviors, or if possible talk to their past teachers.
 * Here is a list of example questions to gather information about student interests and learning preferences:
 * What are your favorite things to do outside of school and why? When have you felt really proud of yourself and tell why? What are you good at in school and how do you know? What's hard for you at school and what makes it hard? What are some ways of learning that work for you? What are some ways of learning that don't work for you and why? Name your favorite_(book, movie, TV show, music, sport, etc.) What are some things you really care about getting better in and why? What else should I know about you as a person and a student that could help me teach you better? Describe how you see yourself as an adult (what will you be doing? enjoying? working toward?) (Tomlinson, 2003)
 * Conducting a reading interview can help you understand who your students are as readers. Questions to ask could include:
 * How many books did you read last year or so far this year? What are different kinds of books you have read? What are your favorite genres? What are the best books you read last year of so far this year and what made them good books? What are your two favorite authors and why do you like them? What is your favorite poem and why do you like it? What do you know how to do well as a reader and what could you do better? What have you learned as a reader that makes you proud? What have you learned about reading fiction books? What have you learned about reading nonfiction books? (Fountas & Pinnell, 2001)
 * Here is a useful cite to help pinpoint student preferences:
 * Multiple Intelligences Inventory
 * Below is an example activity you could also use to get students thinking about their learning preferences (Tomlinson 2003):

__Grouping Options__ Reading differentiation can be done in a variety ways and you should to start by deciding on how groups will be determined. Ability grouping works well and can be easiest to implement. Create ability groups based on a combination of formal assessment data and student performance. A typical classroom consists of students performing below, at, and above grade level. In this situation three groups would be best, however this could change based on the make up and size of a class. For example, you may find it best to split a group into low-average or high-average, depending on the students' capabilities.

If you prefer, you can base your groups on methods outside of ability level. An example is to group students based on interets or learning preferences. Using the above interest inventories can help you get a feel for your students' preferences. Or you can create your own based on your particular topic.

Once groups are in place, you should develop a schedule of when you will meet with each group. It is highly recommended that the at-risk group recieves the majority of the time with the teacher directed instruction. The average group should be the second focus for the teacher and the high group should recieve check ins with the teacher as they should be more independent and comfortable with the assignments.

__Planning__ Now that you have a feeling for your students' learning preferences you can begin to plan lessons and activities. However, you need to determine your starting point by defining your goals for your students. Do this by asking yourself the following questions:
 * What is the main idea/concept?
 * What essential questions should students be able to answer?
 * What do I want students to take away from this lesson/unit?
 * What are my goals for my students as readers?

The chart below is a helpful guide for the steps in creating of tiered activities. (Tomlinson 1999)


 * III. Classroom Organization**

Physical Environment A good educator will make the most out of the space they are given. Granted some classrooms have many issues, such as light bulbs out, bad white boards, broken door knobs, peeling paint, and more. But teachers are expected to make these environments into places were learning can take place successfully. Some ideas that make help a teacher create a positive physical space could be:
 * Do not use rows, but use other groupings for socialization
 * Make good use of your bulletin boards and keep them updated
 * Do not leave a lot of empty space, use it for different activities
 * The classroom should not have lots of clutter; there should be some type of organization that is easily detectable, such as labeled buckets and drawers
 * Keep it neat, and have students be responsible for upkeep

Here is an example of an organized classroom:

Social Environment In order to achieve success a learning environment, there are certain social criteria that need to be implemented. Whether teacher fully agree or not, teacher these days have to teacher many social skills to their students. Some education theorists believe that all teachers should know and do while working with students could be:
 * Each kid is like all others and different from all others
 * Kid need unconditional acceptance as human beings
 * Kids need to believe they can become something better than they are
 * Kids need help in living up to their dreams
 * Kids have to make their own sense of things more effectively and coherently when adults collaborate with them
 * Kids need action, joy and peace
 * Kids need power over their lives and learning
 * Kids need help to develop that power and use it wisely
 * Kids need to be secure in a larger world

A good objective to have for all students is to help them be whole, happy and independent. Students need to have time spent with them. Make the classroom a lot like home. Students need to have significant relationships in order for learning to occur. Because of that students need proper encouragement and nurturing.

Behavior Management

Behavior management can be the make or break part of the classroom organization. The physical aspects of the classroom could be immaculate, and the teacher could establish a nurturing social environment, but if behaviors are not managed, those environments will be in jeopardy and other problems will arise. Teachers need to create a management plan that is consistent and fair. There need to be clear consequences and the teachers, and the administration need to follow through on a consistent basis. One example of a behavior management technique could be a color code system. At certain schools, teachers have a pocket chart with each student’s name. Each student could start on a certain color, such as green. If they break a rule, their color could be changed to yellow, which is a warning. A second issue, the card could be changed to orange, meaning loss of a privilege or time out. A third infraction, the color is changed to red, which means either call or note home, or office referral. This system can be used successfully. Teachers can review the colors every morning as part of their routine and list their colors and consequences. Once reason this system can be successful is because it gives clear consequences and helps students see their change in their behavior because their color is changed to a different color from those who are behaving. This may help them to gain some self-awareness. Another example could be a token economy. Teachers can give students different types of tokens, such as tickets. These tickets can be traded in for rewards, prizes, and extra privileges. Students keep them like a bank and trade them in at various times. They can either accumulate them and save up for bigger rewards, or trade them in often for more frequent rewards. This system can work because it is consistently rewarding positive behavior. Those students who are not behaving may see the others being rewarded and want to get the rewards. But all students can be rewarded. Those students that are especially good can save up their tickets to gain big rewards as they accumulate more tickets easily. Other students can still get rewards with their tickets as well. But the key is to stay consistent and reward frequently. If students are not rewarded often, they will become disinterested and the tickets will have less effect. The consistency is necessary because students will find the flaws in the system and either abuse them, or point them out. One last example of a behavior management system is assertive discipline. Assertive discipline helps establish a plan for teachers and students when a student misbehaves. Most people associate this technique with writing names on the board. There is more to this technique that just that. “The key to Assertive Discipline is catching students being good: recognizing and supporting them when they behave appropriately and letting them know you like it, day in and day out.” (Canter 2010) An effective behavior management pro­gram must be built on choice. Students must know beforehand what is expected of them in the classroom, what will hap­pen if they choose to behave, and what will happen if they choose not to be­have. Students learn self‑discipline and responsible behavior by being given clear, consistent choices. They learn that their actions have an impact and that they themselves control the consequences. "It is vital for classroom teachers to have a systematic plan that explains what happen when students choose to misbehave. By telling the students at the beginning of the school year what the consequences will be, teachers insure that all students know what to expect in the classroom" (Canter 2010)


 * IV. Strategies for success in reading instruction**

Here a few examples of how you can implement differentiation in your classroom.

__Themed Book Study__ One way to differentiate literature is to choose texts based on a common concept or theme. This way all your students will be studying the same topic, but the infomation is presented at their appropriate level. Choose texts based on reading levels so all students will have the opportunity comprehend and share during whole class discussions.
 * For example, if you are covering World War II in an intermediate classroom you could assign stuggling readers with //Number the Stars// by Lois Lowry, average readers should be able to handle //Black Radishes// by Susan Meyer, and more advanced readers could read //The Diary of Anne Frank.// These books address the era of WW II at various readability levels. This way you can differentiate among the texts as well as the activitie//s while reading.// However, all students will exposed to the major events of WW II through the experiences of a variety of characters.

__Author Study__ With an author study, you can assign books by the same author at various readbility levels. Students can compare common themes and discuss writing styles of the author.
 * For example, Patricia Polacco is an author that works well for differentiating author studies. Her books are written at a variety of levels and most are based on stories from her childhood. Students could be assigned to compare and discuss the family themes in her books or answer the same essential questions through the use of texts written at their level.

__Same Text__ You can also assign all students the same text through the use of differentiation. Here is how it could work among the different levels within your classroom.
 * Low
 * If the text is written at a higher level, you could read the text aloud to the students in a small group, frequently stopping to discuss major concepts pertinent to understanding.
 * Another strategy is to provide students with an audio version of the text along with an outline of major concepts. However, if the text is challenging for students you should plan on spending the majority of your time guiding this group through the text.
 * Average
 * Depending on the level of the text and students, you can offer assistance for students similar to the low group. Providing an outline, or frequently checking in with students can assist with the comprehension of more difficult passages or concepts. It can even be helpful to assign partners to read, this way they can offer assistance to each other.
 * High
 * These students should be able to read and comprehend the text independently with limited teacher interaction. Setting up literature circles would work well for capable students. This type of learning experience involves members of a group to be for a job while reading a particular section of a book then members get together for a text discussion. Job assignments could range from discussion director, predictor, connector, passage master, vocabulary enricher, setting detective, etc. Once students understand what is expected of them during this time, literature circles can basically run themselves.

Here are two more examples of differentiating within a text (Tomlinson, 2003):

"It can be overwhelming to decide how to begin, start small." (grade 4 teacher) "Spend time practicing routines and model appropriate behaviors, it will help the classroom run smoothly." (grade 1 teacher) "Be sure to chose texts based on interests and readability levels." (grade 5 teacher) "Preview texts for vocabulary children may be unfamiliar with." (grade 2 teacher)
 * V. Advice**


 * VI. References**

Canter, L. (2010). //Assertive discipline: More than just names on the board and marbles in a jar//. Retrieved from http://campus.dyc.edu/~drwaltz/FoundLearnTheory/FLT_readings/Canter.htm Fountas, I.C., & Pinnell, G.S. (2001). //Guiding Readers and Writers.// Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Tomlinson, C. & Eidson, C.C. (2003). //Differentiation in Practice: A resource guide for differentiating curriculum grades 5-9.// Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Tomlinson, C. (2003). //Fulfilling The Promise of the Differentiated Classroom: Strategies and tools for responsive teaching.// Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Tomlinson, C. (1999//). The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners//. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.