Supporting diversity in the classroom
- In order to understand the diverse learning needs of students within any class, it is important to first conduct assessment.
- From this assessment, a suitable learning program can be devised in order to suit that individual.
- If necessary, students can be placed into programs that offer specialised support such as 'reading recovery' style programs.
- Once a foundational understanding of the students in any class is established, differentiation can then take place.
- In catering for diversity, ensure that you select a wide variety of texts that represent a vast array of cultures.
- This questionnaire can be used to ensure that you are selecting diverse texts (Teaching Tolerance, 2016).
- Questionnaire link
DIfferentiation in the classroom
- Independent reading
- students have choice over what they read
- Independent writing tasks
- students have choice over what they write
- Giving students enough time to work independently gives the teacher an opportunity to take running records and engage in writing conferences which can be used to plan appropriately for that student in the future.
What might differentiation in the classroom look like:
- giving students individual comprehension strategies to work on based on assessment and observations
- breaking students into reading groups to discuss a task or assignment
- having reading materials at varying levels
- presenting ideas in both visual and audio formats
- using tiered activities that vary in complexity
- giving students freedom of choice to pursue areas of interest within certain topics
- varying the time spent on a task
- giving students the freedom to choose how they present their work, so long as it meets the criteria
- offering quiet working spaces in the room and also spaces designed for student collaboration and conversation
(Reading Rockets, 2015; Winch et al., 2014)