Differentiation+Station-Week+5


 * Week 5: Analysis of DI Technology Resources Located**

**ReadWriteThink** []

**Summary: This is a great link to differentiate reading instruction. It can be used based on student readiness for students who perform low in this content area or ESOL students to help them develop and practice language. The site includes several interactives based on reading skills as well as resources that teachers can use such as graphic organizer tools which can be printable or online based.** **-Latoya Adams :-)** Latoya, Great minds must think alike, I found this site as well. There are some terrific tools and strategies for all aspects of differentiation here. I specifically liked how some of the tools can be printed and used as needed for different styles of learning for the students, they can be adapted very easily. Great find, Mike

Latoya, I really liked this site, as well! I narrowed in to one of the Language Arts lesson plans for student interest. I was amazed at how many ideas were on this website. This will definitely be a site that I will utilize in the future for ideas for all of my units. -Mollie

**ReadWriteThink** - [|http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategy-guides/assessing-student-interests-strengths-30100.html#strategy-practice]

Summary: This is a really neat way to determine student interest. The students will write a short, written response to a teacher created letter on a given topic/unit. The teacher letter will inform the students of what it is they need to know, what they should be able to do and understand. The student letter will provide great insight into how a student perceives the topic, and also allows them a medium to express any current understandings (or misunderstandings) about the topic.

-Mike

Mike- I really like the letter idea. I, too, found great sources on ReadWriteThink. I never thougth about writing a letter to my students. I can see this helping the class to become more personal for them, which might foster more participation and responsibility on the part of the student. I would be curious to see what type of letters the students would generate back! Great resource! -Mollie

__Tricia's Resources__ **Readiness :** Differentiating Instruction: Rethinking Traditional Practices; an article by Dr. Bertie Kigore [] This resource is very informative and not only explains the importance of matching students’ readiness levels and the complexity of instruction provided for the students, but it provides wonderful insight to the elements of differentiation and the correct implementation of DI within classrooms. **Interest :**

Differentiated Instruction: Some ideas for the classroom.

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This presentation that I found on YouTube is extremely informative and offers a few ideas on how to differentiate your classroom while playing into your students’ interests and abilities. The author provided the viewers with three different DI strategies that she employs with her class: Think-Tac-Toe, Raft assignments, and Anchor activities. It is a little hard to follow because the audio doesn't always match the text, but very informative nonetheless. **Learning Profile** :

Renzulli Learning

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This resource offers differentiation tools and services designed to engage students, identify students’ learning styles, offer help to teachers to group their students by their shared strengths and interests, as well as enabling teachers to create a learning environment that empowers students to achieve more in the classroom. This resource comes with a fee, but based on their success stories and what I have heard from those that have used it, it is worth it.

Tricia- I really liked the idea of the Tic-Tac-Toe formula/method to create assignments that was presented in the YouTube video. This was a different way of thinking about differentiating assignments; it was nice to see the visual! -Mollie Hi Tricia, I also went to your youtube video and I think the anchor activities would be something that I would implement more of in my classroom. I have done something similar to what is being described in the video and my students really do enjoy the practice while at the same time, I can monitor their products and see where students need more assistance. I also viewd the Renzulli Learning website as well and that looks very interesting with all the resources and tools that come with the membership. That may be something I will have to show my principal as she is always asking teachers near the end of the year what sites we think could benefit students the next school year. You have found some great resources! -Latoya

__**Mollie's 3 Resources **__
=Student Readiness- Online Grammar Quizzes= Link: [] //Exercises at Grammar Bytes// is a website that provides online quizzes for the following grammar rules: comma splices and fused sentences, fragments, irregular verbs, parallel structure, misplaced and dangling modifiers, pronouns, agreement, and word choice. This website would be a great source to use to establish student’s readiness. Based on the online quiz results, teachers will know with what rules their students are familiar and for what rules the students lack knowledge and instruction is needed. This is also a great website for any teacher who wants to refresh his/her grammar knowledge or for students to do the same. This resource is free, and the handouts may be used for students without permission. =Learning Profile- Online Story Cube= Link: [] “Cube Creator,” located on //Read Write Think//, is an excellent tool for students to create their own online story cubes. An organizational template sheet is available for students to print off and organize their ideas prior to filling in the online cube. There are four different cubes a student can create: Bio Cube, Mystery Cube, Story Cube, and Create-Your-Own Cube. The Create-Your-Own Cube would be a tool that would work well to discover student profiles because the teacher could have the students fill in information about specific topics to provide the teacher with needed profile info, such as culture and learning styles and preferences. This could be used in lieu of a survey at the beginning of the school year.

=Student Interest- Lesson Implementing Social Networking= Link- [|http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/there-small-parts-minor-1154.html] This link provides a lesson plan that utilizes social networking, which would capture the interest of students while reading a novel. Students choose a minor character in a novel and create a background story for their chosen character. This story is then told on a social networking page that is designed specifically for the character. Teachers could apply this to an independent reading project and have students choose their own book, or it could be done collaboratively in groups using a novel that is being taught in class.

Mollie, I really like Grammar bytes. I use it quite often in my sophomore English and Junior English classes. It provides many different resources for English. Great website. -Brandon

Hi Mollie, I also found that the Cube Creator on ReadWriteThink would be very useful in my classroom as well. With this cube and the others, I could turn that into a game where students would have to roll the cube and then answer what appears on top. This would definitely keep my students engaged and appeal to my kinesthetic learners. There are so many great things on this website and I wish I would have found it earlier. -Latoya

Mollie, I also really liked the Cube creator that you found. I like how the prompts can help lead students down the right path but that the options presented for the student can still help them make it their own creation. Mike ==

=‍** Web English Teacher **=

‍** Link- **[]
==‍This link is very useful for as an English teacher. It provides many ideas for lessons with critcial thinking questions, ideas to help improve reading comprehension, and ideas to help students with writing. I have found this website helpful when my classes are reading novels in class and it provides different methods to check for understanding. Also it helps with grammar, ESL assistance, and a link for media ideas. It gives the teachers different ideas to help with the different learning styes of each student.==