A+Project+-+Different+Reading+Levels

Jessica Falkowski

Every school has a different way of arranging their students into classrooms. In some schools, students will be separated based on their learning levels. You will have certain students in “fast-paced” classes and others in a “slower-paced” class. Some schools, however, do not separate their students at all. You might find yourself teaching an English class with students who can read at a higher level than they should and students who can read only at an elementary school level. So, how does a teacher teach a class when the students are all on very different levels of reading?

This idea actually has a name to it in the teaching community. Differentiated Instruction is a tool used by teachers in situations like this. It “ requires teachers to be flexible in their approach to teaching and adjust the curriculum and presentation of information to learners rather than expecting students to modify themselves for the curriculum” (Hall et al). For teachers, differentiation is a response to their students based on their readiness, interests, and even their learning profile ("Differentiated Instruction for Reading”). There are many different resources available to teachers to help them use Differentiated Instruction.

The first step in using this instruction is to test your students. In order to know what your students are going to be like, you need to know what reading levels they are currently at. There are many tools that can be used for this, such as reading assessment software or a reading specialist. Even if a teacher does not have access to any of this, they can still assess their students. An easy way to do this is to administer a released state reading assessment to their students ( "Differentiating Reading Instruction…”). Once you know your students, you can start planning your lesson plans according to your students. It is important to clarify any key concepts you wish to make. Also, when using assessment, you should not focus on measuring instruction but on using it as a teaching tool. When assigning work, make sure there is a balance in your classroom. You can assign work to your students, but make sure to give your students some choice in their tasks (Hall et al). These points are all important when designing your lesson plans.

One strategy is reading aloud to the class. By reading aloud to your students, you are not only demonstrating the strategies used for reading but you are also “developing students’ listening skills.” For many struggling readers, when they are asked what is going through their minds when they read, they will say “nothing.” If they are not using their imaginations and questioning what they read, they are not really reading. The best way to help them comprehend something is by incorporating as many of the senses as you can (Robb). When you read aloud and they have the text in front of them, they can not only see the text but hear it as well.

Another strategy is called Tiered assignments. This is when the assignments are designed to specific student levels of readiness. The objectives of the assignment are the same for all students, but the way get to that objective might be different. An example of that is having some students draw a concept map while other students re-tell the story from another point of view ( "Differentiated Instruction for Reading”). This allows them to work at a pace that is right for them.

One other strategy I wish to address would be interest groups. These allow student to have more freedom in what they can do and work in groups with others who have the same interest. For example, give options for books the students can read for an assignment. All of the students who pick the one book work in a group (“Differentiated Instruction for Reading”). This can allow the students to have more control in what they read, hopefully making the struggling readers more interested in reading while not holding back the more advanced readers.

There are many other different strategies for how to differentiate the classroom. In my work cited are all of the websites I used and I added a few others I did not mention. I hope they are useful to you in your future classrooms.

Work Cited "Differentiated Instruction for Reading." // Access Center: Improving Outcomes for All Students K-8 //. U.S Department of Education. Web. 7 Dec. 2011. .

"Differentiating Reading Instruction in the Language Arts Classroom." // Teaching Today //. Glencoe/McGraw-Hill. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. .

Hall, Tracey, Nicole Strangman, and Anne Meyer. "Differentiated Instruction with UDL." // National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials //. National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. .

Robb, Laura. "Model Reading Strategies To Improve Comprehension For All Students." // TeachHUB //. K-12 Teachers Alliance. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. .

Other sources:

Preparing Teachers for Differentiated Instruction [] Differentiating instruction for advanced learners in the mixed-ability middle school classroom. [] Differentiated Reading and Writing Instruction []

There are also many books on the subject at Amazon.com