Differentiating Instruction

The ways in which a teacher differentiates instruction has a serious impact on how students learn in the classroom in terms of methods, procedures, and materials As we have discussed, students with special needs often need accommodations; however, the better the methods, procedures, and materials are in the classroom as a whole, fewer individual accommodations need to be made for students with special needs. On the contrary, there will probably still be students that need individual accommodations depending on their needs. All students deserve the means to access important skills and content knowledge. 

In order to provide accommodations on a daily basis, four aspects of basic skills instruction are: preskills; the selection and sequencing of examples; rate of introduction; and direct instruction, practice, and review. 

1. Preskills are the basic skills necessary to learn more complex skills. Example, word identification Prior to moving forward with complex skills, the teacher should always assess the preskills relevant to the lesson at hand. If students do not know the necessary preskills, they should be taught before moving forward. 

2. Selecting and sequencing examples refer to preparing and scaffolding the lesson. Help students identify the already learned, current problems from less complex to more difficult.  Sequencing can be applied to almost any lesson taught. Example sequencing directly refers to the order of presentation of examples during instruction. As students progress, the student should move from introductory examples to more difficult problems. 

3. Rate of introduction should occur at an appropriate pace. Students will have difficulty learning and understanding skills if the content is presented too rapidly. Skills should then be introduced in small steps in order to build upon previously learned knowledge. "A common accommodation is to slow down the rate of skill introduction and provide more practice" (Friend & Bursuck, 322). As you reduce rate of introduction, always hold the same high expectations for students with special needs. 

4. Providing direct instruction, practice, and review is important if students with special needs are meant to acquire basic academic skills. Problems often include retention. The same approaches do not work for all students. In order for students with special needs to grasp knowledge, they often need different approaches and introductions to content. Practice should always follow, not substitute for direct instruction. Review should occur in order to assess student understanding and aid in retention. 

Accommodations in Subject-Area Content: For students to understand content area material, they must relate new subject matter to information they already know. One way of activating background knowledge is to examine the words that make up a passage. Be sure that the students can identify and understand words before introducing the passage. If they have difficulty understanding the words, they will not be able to understand the passage. 

Student Activities for organizing learning:

PReP strategy	1. Preview the text or lesson, and choose two or three important concepts. 2. Conduct a brainstorming session with students.                    3. Evaluate student responses to determine the depth of their prior knowledge of the topic.
Planning Think Sheets: Writing preparation	What is my topic?  Why do I want to write on this topic?  What are two things I already know that will make it easy to write this paper?  Who will read my paper?  Why will the reader be interested?
Know cue words: They may tell you what is important or unimportant	Sequence words: First, Second, Third...  Comparison & Contrast: Similar, Different, On the one hand, on the other hand Cause & Effect: Causes, Effects, Because, So that Problem/Solution: Problem, Solution, Resolve

Teacher Activities for organizing learning:

Anticipation guides	Activate prior student knowledge and construct bridges to new information by making a list of statements (whether true or false), present the statements to the class and have them either challenge or support their thoughts. This will grasp student interest.
Advance Organizers: Make a general framework about information present to students.	Identify major topics and activities  Present an outline of content  Providing background information  State concepts and ideas to be learned in the lesson  Motivate students to learn by showing relevance  State the objectives of the lesson. What will they be able to do at the end of the lesson?
STUDY GUIDES: outlines and emphasizes important information in texts. Helpful in improving comprehension.	1. Go through the entire book and mark the chapters you want to cover.  2. Indicate the sequence in which you will assign the chapters. 3. Read the material carefully. Mark important vocabulary, facts, and concepts that you expect students to learn. 4. Divide the chapter into logical sections. 5. Write brief sentences that explain the main ideas or emphasize vocabulary, facts, or concepts.
Graphic Organizers	1.    Determine critical content. 2.    Organize concepts into a concept map as a visual representation. 3.    Design a completed concept map. 4.    Create a partially completed concept map to be completed by the students. 5.    Create a blank concept map for students to use as a postreading or review exercise.

Oral communication is key for students with special needs: Directions should be clear. Questions should be used as a means of assessing students. If questions are presented effectively, students will leard to ask themselves the same questions. When presenting subject matter, be clear, define what is being presented, and use a visual display.