Many teachers will agree that differentiation is a key element in the implementation of a successful education strategy for English language learners.
But does this mean already busy teachers should be spending hours at a desk every night developing individual lesson plans? Well, not necessarily.
Instructional expert and renowned blogger Larry Ferlazzo released an interesting series of videos earlier this year about differentiation for English language learners, to show how the implementation of such a strategy isn’t as onerous as you may think.
In the videos below Ferlazzo, with a little help from experienced teacher Katie Hull Sypnieski, share their thoughts on differentiation and some of the strategies they’ve found success with in the classroom.
“Not everybody will get the same exact text or use the same strategy,” Hull Sypnieski explains in the ELL video.
“But it’s fair because you’re meeting every student where they are.”
We’re not suggesting Ferlazzo and Sypnieski have all the answers, they do provide some interesting talking points about differentiation as a strategy.
We here at LiteracyPlanet believe that differentiation is a great way to engage with students and can be key to driving positive learning outcomes.
Differentiation, at its most basic, is the tailoring of learning content, processes and activities to match each child’s ability level as it differs from the ability levels of other children in the same class or age bracket. After assessing a child’s knowledge and ability, a teacher can provide the child with content and instruction to fit their learning needs.
LiteracyPlanet is designed to support differentiated instruction, allowing teachers and parents to easily direct children to the areas of work that are most appropriate for them. It also allows children to explore content for themselves and work at their pace.
For more information on the ways LiteracyPlanet can help provide differentiation for English language learners, you can contact the team here.
