Differentiating Instruction

with Anne Beninghof

By Gerry Robillard Assistant Director of Educational Services

How do we address the needs of all learners in our classrooms? This is the burning question that I get most often from teachers when I ask them what sup-port Educational Services can provide to assist them in their everyday classroom practice.

Our featured speaker for the October board-wide pedagogical day was Anne Beninghof who gave a ses-sion entitled Practical Strategies for Differenti-ated Instruction. Over 150 teachers benefitted from the practical strategies that Anne modeled to en-hance school success for gifted, remedial, and “regular students”.

Anne's workshop ad-dressed the main theme of

the Québec Education Pro-gram - Success for All. The concept of Success for All applies to all students whether they are consid-ered regular students, tal-ented and gifted students, or students who experi-ence learning difficulties. To respond to the needs of all learners, classroom in-struction needs to be dif-ferentiated.

During her workshop, Anne explained that teaching strategies can be differen-tiated based on student readiness, interest, or learning profile. She pro-vided examples of lesson plans that showed how gen-eral learning objectives can be differentiated to pro-vide highly complex as well as less complex activities to meet the learning needs of all students. A sample lesson plan from her latest book can be found at this l i n k : h t t p : / /crystalspringsbooks.com/SamplePageImage.php?stocknumber=8790&page=4

Anne also focused on the learning styles of students. Generally speaking about

60% of the population are visual learners, 30% are auditory learners and 10% are kinesthetic learners. As teachers, we tend to teach the way we learn best, but many of our stu-dents don't learn the same way that we do. Anne stressed the importance of addressing the various learning styles of our stu-dents when teaching con-cepts and skills and pro-vided many practical strategies that teachers can use right away in their classrooms.

One such strategy is called Stretch'ems which gives students' a concrete me-dium to allow them to bet-ter recognize and manipu-late the individual sounds in a word. A sample of this teaching strategy can be exam ined at :http : //crystalspringsbooks.com/SamplePageImage.php?stocknumber=8790&page=5

Anne Beninghof is the au-thor of numerous books that demonstrate practical classroom strategies for differentiating instruction.

Welcome to another edition of the Educational Services Department Newsletter “Voices”. This edition is devoted to differentiated instructional best practices and strategies. Please take some time to read the articles our consultants have written here. There is a plethora of resource materials that will be useful in classroom instruction. Happy Reading!

Heather Halman, Director of Educational Services

Differentiation: Teaching Approaches and Technology That Make a Difference

Anne Beninghof Cont’d on page 2

Cover

At the Heart of the Daily 5

2-3

Assistive Technology 4

New Members of our team

5

What is Occupational Therapy

6

Winter, 2008 Volume 3, Issue 1

Inside this issue:

Educational & Complementary

Services Sir Wilfrid Laurier

School Board

Voices

Visit her website at http://ideasforeducators.com/index.html where you will find a range of information and ideas to help you with your teaching. Her latest book, Engage ALL Students Through Differentiation, introduces the lesson-planning model, which she provided to our workshop participants, that can be used across the curriculum with all readiness levels and learning styles. The book contains 50 innovative, teacher-tested strategies that are easily adaptable to a wide range of lesson objectives, with reproducibles included. A link to all her books is contained on her website.

Carol Ann Tomlinson, an internationally recognized authority on differentiated instruction, states that: "At its most basic level, differentiation consists of the efforts of teachers to respond to variance among learners in the classroom. When-ever a teacher reaches out to an individual, or small group, to vary his or her teaching in order to create the best learning experience possible, that teacher is differentiating instruc-tion".

Success for All is dependent on meeting the learning needs of all our students. Try out some of Anne's strategies; you'll be amazed at how her practical ideas can enhance your teaching.

Tomlinson, Carol Ann (2000) Differentiation of Instruction in the Elementary Grades. ERIC Digest. ERIC_NO: ED443572.

Page 2 Differentiation: Teaching Approaches and Technology That Make a Difference

Differentiated Instruction with Anne Beninghof cont’d

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/con-tent_storage_01/0000019b/80/16/57/74.pdf

Gerry Robillard and Anne Beninghof at the last Boardwide Pedagogical Day, October 10, 2008.

But how can I work with a small group of students on reading or writing

AND keep the rest of the class on task?

By Geoffrey Hipps

Elementary ELA Consultant

Many teachers have asked this question – facing the sometimes overwhelming feeling that our students cannot be in-dependent – especially at 6 or 7 years of age! Yet throughout our school board teachers in all cycles have been experi-menting with the Daily 5 and have come to sing its praises. They all report that Gail Boushey and Joan Moser, real life sisters and the authors of the Daily 5, have packaged an approach to organizing classrooms so that students have the stamina and the independence required to develop strong literacy skills. Ultimately – using this framework permits teachers to focus on individual conferencing, assessment and small group instruction.

But how did the Daily 5 come about? First, the sisters, as they are known throughout the world, questioned their own literacy centres, especially the amount of work that went into creating them! They went to the research to see what it said about meaningful literacy activities. Reading research from Allington, Trelease, Allen, Pressley, and many oth-ers, five tasks kept surfacing: cont’d on page 3

At the Heart of the Daily 5

Volume 3, Issue 1 Page 3

1.Reading to self

2.Reading to someone

3.Listening to reading

4.Working on writing

5.Working with words

Ultimately the sisters changed what they knew as literacy centres – to these 5 tasks.

But it didn’t end there. What they also found were three important factors in building literacy: allowing the students choice, modeling correct behaviour, and staying out of the way.

Best Practices in Literacy Instruction (Gambrell, Morrow, & Pressley, 2007) suggests that student choice be a part of reading and writing lessons – allowing students to become truly self-regulated learners. Although there is structure and routine in the Daily 5, children are given the choice of how they want to proceed through the various stations, as well as choice of reading, writing and word work material. Teachers who are using the Daily 5 in their classrooms will tell you that the level of engagement during these literacy blocks is a vast improvement over other centre work they have tried.

Modeling is also a major part in developing students’ behaviours during the Daily 5 sessions. As we are so pressed for time to cover curriculum – we often move on before effective classroom behaviours are firmly developed. The Daily 5 promotes a very transparent modeling and practice plan – showing students what it looks like when we read to ourselves or work on writing. During this development period, praise for success and talk of a sense of urgency and building stam-ina are present. This provides motivation for the students, and it also places the responsibility for these behaviours on their shoulders. Once again, Daily 5 teachers will tell you that students want to, and therefore do, live up to this chal-lenge.

As students are motivated by choosing their own direction for reading and writing, and they come to understand their tasks through modeling and practice – the authors discovered it is most important to stay out of their way and let them do it! This is perhaps the hardest for all teachers, as a false sense of control wins over every time. Yet again – Daily 5 teachers will tell you that their students have built their stamina and are able to stay focused and engaged for a mini-mum of 20 minutes. In Miriam Trehearne’s Language Arts – Grades 1-2 Teacher’s Resource Book, she remarks that trusting your students means believing that they can be successful literacy learners.

The Daily 5 framework has been an enormous success in our school board and throughout the province. Teachers have found they are able to attend to the curriculum, differentiate instruction, and motivate students to become independ-ent learners. When asked: What makes this classroom management framework better than others, one must get to the heart of the matter – choice, modeling and practice of behaviours, and trust!

The Daily 5 affords teachers the opportunity to focus on small group instruction and answer the question: How can I instruct a small group of students on reading or writing AND keep the rest of the class gainfully on task? For more information on the Daily 5 – please contact Geoffrey Hipps at Educational Services.

450.621.5600 x1441 ghipps@swlauriersb.qc.ca

At the Heart of the Daily 5 cont’d

By Andrea Prupas & Silvia Patella Special Education Consultants-Pedagogy

Students with learning disabilities are successful when they are allowed to use their abilities or strengths to circum-vent their disability. The use of assistive technology (AT) in schools can provide students with this opportunity.

AT is "any item, piece of equipment, or product system whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified or cus-tomized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities." (http://www.nsnet.org/atc/tools/atech.html) Research demonstrates that AT reinforces classroom instruction and promotes skill development, increases independence, improves speed and accuracy, helps students “fit in” and motivates students to persevere (Stanberry & Raskind, 2006).

AT can encompass a broad range of materials, from "low tech" (e.g., pencil grips, highlighting tape, specialty paper, slantboards, etc.) to "high tech" (e.g., laptop computers, scanners, word prediction software, Smartboards, assistive communication devices, talking calculators, PDA’s etc.). It is not always necessary to choose the most expensive options. Free software does exist and can be an effective option for our students.

AT can support students in many areas; some of these include communication, reading, writing, math, organizational skills, mobility and fine motor skills. However, it is important to understand the interaction of a student’s disability, the environment, and the technology itself when choosing appropriate technology for individual students (see www.ldonline.org/article/8088 for more information on this matching process).

This year, we have focused on software that facilitates the reading and writing process, as well as software that can provide visual supports for the classroom. The following is a brief description of the software that we are implementing this year. (C=commercial, F=free)

Text to speech, word prediction and voice recognition software is useful for students whose oral language skills ex-ceed their written language skills. These students have good listening comprehension skills, but might need auditory “backup” to what they are seeing in print. Students can speak directly into a microphone, and their words will be trans-ferred into text. This software can also predict words that the student is most likely to enter based on the first few letters typed, useful for students who have difficulty spelling. WordQ/SpeakQ (C) Natural Reader (F)

Graphic organizer/Concept Mapping software allows the student to make visual representations of their ideas so that they can see the connections between ideas. The concept map can then be transformed into outline or draft mode. This software is helpful for visual learners as well as students that can’t seem to “get going” with the writing process. Kidspiration/Inspiration (C) Draftbuilder (C) CMap (F)

Visual Writing Software provides students the option to write with pictures. Students can create text with a picture attached directly above the text to enhance comprehension. The teacher can create visuals to enhance communication skills, receptive and expressive language skills and organizational skills. This software is helpful for students who need visual to support the reading and writing process or use a whole language or iconic approach to reading. Clicker 5 (C) Boardmaker (C) PictureSet (F)

Electronic Math Software allows students to work through math problems without copying from the board. Numbers can be read aloud for auditory feedback. This software is helpful for students who make frequent errors when copying problems or with computation, as well as students who have difficulty with organizational skills in math. Intellitools Math Pad and Math Pad Plus (C) Resources/Websites

For a comprehensive list of free software, visit Dawson College’s Adaptech website at http://adaptech.dawsoncollege.qc.ca. Other excellent websites for information on AT, as well as software reviews and guides are www.setbc.org and www.greatschools.net. Please see our Comple-mentary Services December newsletter online (SWLSB website) for more information on assistive technology and the software that we have introduced to our teachers and students this year.

Stanberry, K. and Raskind, M. (2006). Assistive technology for kids with disabilities-An overview. Retrieved from: http://www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/showarticle/2286

Assistive Technology in the Classroom

Page 4 Differentiation: Teaching Approaches and Technology That Make a Difference

Volume 3, Issue 1 Page 5

Introducing...

Patricia Panfili:

Special Education Consultant (Behaviour) ppanfili@swlauriersb.qc.ca Ext.: 1454

Lina Ianni:

Occupational Therapist Maternity replacement for Melissa Di Fruscia lianni@swlauriersb.qc.ca Ext.: 1472

Crystal Walters:

Mathematics Consultant Currently replacing

Frank DeLuca cwalters@swlauriersb.qc.ca Ext.: 1346

Michael Quinn:

Science and Technology Consultant Currently replacing Barry Hannah

mquinn@swlauriersb.qc.ca Ext.: 1372 Hélène Daigle: Literacy Consultant Currently replacing Marie Bricault hdaigle@swlauriersb.qc.ca Ext:1384 Véronique Daoust: French as a Second Language Consultant MELS measure vdaoust@swlauriersb.qc.ca Ext.: 1444

Please feel free to contact any member of the Educational & Complementary Services Team. Please don’t forget to visit our website for teaching tools & resources www.swlauriersb.qc.ca/english/edservices or www.swlauriersb.qc.ca/vo

Page 6 Differentiation: Teaching Approaches and Technology That Make a Difference

This issue of Voices was produced by: Geoffrey Hipps, Ingrid Hove, and Despina Mardas

What is Occupational Therapy?

By Melissa Di Fruscia Occupational Therapist

In daily living, one encounters many occupations which may include going to work, raising children, taking care of a household, etc…Sometimes a person’s ability to participate effectively in an occupation is hindered by a disability. Oc-cupational Therapy is the art and science of directing a person’s participation in tasks to help develop and maintain functions and skills necessary for daily living.

In the school setting, children participate in the occupations of play and school related tasks (reading, writing, cutting, physical movement). At times there are difficulties and/or disabilities a child may have that interfere with their being successful in school. Sometimes these difficulties are related to a delay in development, learning disabili-ties, physical disabilities, or sensory processing dysfunction. The school Occupational Therapist (OT) works with stu-dents who have an impaired ability to perform tasks required in the school environment.

The goal of Occupational Therapy in the school environment is to improve a student’s performance of tasks and activities important for school functioning. This may involve observations, assessment of the student’s motor, percep-tual and sensory skills, consultation and the education of adults in the student’s home and school environment to ensure an understanding of and match between the student’s skills and abilities, and the expectations placed on them in the school setting. Recommendations of task adaptation, task modifications and assistive devices (e.g. writing aids) may be necessary to optimize the student’s performance in the school setting.

Examples of Occupational Therapy recommendations:

• Adapted pencil grip to improve writing

• Pre-writing exercises to improve shoulder stability to increase writing fluidity

• Sitting on a moveable pillow (sit n’ move) to decrease fidgetiness

• Pressure vest to help calm a child who is oversensitive to his/her environment

Balance exercises to improve gross motor skills

If you would like to refer a child to Occupational Therapy, please complete the “Complementary Services Referral Form” (3.6) and have parents sign the consent form.

Melissa Di Fruscia

Tel: (450) 621-5600 ext.1455

mdifruscia@swlauriersb.qc.ca