Content area
Full Text
Llesenia arrives to the classroom nearly an hour before the first bell rings. She has completed all of her homework perfectly, organized her desk in preparation for the day's lessons and helps herself to different learning center activities to occupy herself while she awaits the start of school.
José shows up ten minutes late to class every day. He never has a pencil, and he does not seem to have the ability to sit in his seat for periods beyond eight minutes.
Anthony completes math exercises well ahead of his classmates, but he struggles during reading time and usually acts up.
Welcome to Ms. Kwon's fourth grade classroom. It could be just about any classroom in America. One of the epiphanies teachers reach within their first week of teaching is how, no matter what, every classroom is filled with students of mixed abilities and interests. Every student is different. This is the challenge good teachers face: how to differentiate instruction to meet the needs of every student. Differentiating instruction is especially critical in enhancing students' reading aptitudes and attitudes.
What is differentiated instruction?
Teachers need to keep in mind that instruction begins where the students are, not at the front of the curriculum guide (Tomlinson, 1999). Differentiated instruction permits all students to access the same classroom curriculum by providing entry points, learning tasks and outcomes that are tailored to students' needs (Hall, Strangman, & Meyer, 2003). Differentiated instruction is an approach, not any single strategy.
In aiding students' progress in reading (particularly in their vocabulary and, ultimately, comprehension development), teachers can create classrooms that meet state and federal standards and maintain high student expectations by supporting all students' learning modalities and differentiating through content, activities (process) and product, based on students' readiness, interests, profiles of learning and environments. Brassell and Rasinski (2008) describe a simple mnemonic trick to help teachers always keep differentiation in mind: each student is RIPE for learning when the teacher uses his/her thinking CAP. "RIPE" stands for Readiness, Interests, Profiles of Learning and Environments; "CAP" stands for Content, Activities (process) and Product.
Why is vocabulary instruction important?
Who are the more successful vocabulary teachers: optimists or pessimists? The answer is "optimists," and the reason is that optimists keep in mind...