Differentiation
High Level Readers
What is the difference between a "Good Activity" and a "Good Differentiated Activity"?
A GOOD ACTIVITY is something students will...
- Use an essential skill(s) and essential information to do or make something.
- Make or do something in order to understand an essential idea/principle or answer an essential question
A GOOD DIFFERENTIATED ACTIVITY is something students will make or do
- in a range of modes at varying degrees of challenge and time spans.
- with different levels of teacher or peer support
- still using an essential skill(s) and essential information
- and in order to understand an essential skill(s) and information
Differentiation should be done according to a students...
Interest: Give students choices about certain facets of a topic or helping them connect a personal interest to a specific topic.
Learning Style: Know how a student learns best. Communicate with them to determine this learning style and provide opportunities for them to use that style to learn the same skill as others.
Interest
We can help them become better readers by allowing them to choose a specific area of a topic or their own book but still require them to learn the same skill as everyone else.
I have had extremely high-level identified students tell me they don't like Battle of the Books because they are being told what to read...Hummm?
**Students will be successful in reading assessments if they feel they are successful readers. They will be more successful readers if they are reading something they enjoy.
Book Series
Edutopia article about a school in Nevada who uses book series' to increase a love of reading and assessment scores.
12 Ways to Nurture a Love for Reading
Interest Survey
WHY?
We already have the materials, we know the story, it's easy for us. I am not trying to offend anyone. I am stepping on my toes also. We need to be willing to get outside of our box and let the students help give us direction in our lesson plans and what we have them read.
We need to learn what our students like to read and want to read. The best way of doing that is to have them complete an Interest survey.
Typically I would do this at the beginning of the year but, it can definitely be effective now!!
Here are a couple you can use or you can create your own based on what you already know about your students.
Gifted Readers Like...
- Nuanced Language
- Multidimensional Characters
- Visually Inventive Picture Books
- Playful Thinking
- Unusual Connections; finding Patterns and parallels within and among books
- Abstractions and analogies
- A blend of fantasy and non-fiction
- Extraordinary quantities of information about a favorite topic
- Books about gifted children
Taken from http://www.bertiekingore.com/readinginstruction.htm
Bibliotherapy
Examples:
Matilda
Freak the Mighty
The Phantom Tollbooth
Encyclopedia Brown
When practicing reading Informational text/biographies/autobiographies your gifted students could choose from people who are or were gifted.
Such as...
Einstein
Walt Disney
Ben Carson
Thomas Edison
Links to learn more about Bibliotherapy.
http://giftedreadinglist.wikispaces.com/Resources+for+Bibliotherapy
http://giftedbibliotherapy.blogspot.com/p/dealing-with-perfectionism.html