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I often will differentiate student output in my classes. For example, if we are finding textual evidence to describe a character's personality I may have some students find three pieces of evidence while other students may be expected to find one piece of evidence. In other words, for one student to earn an A they may need to find three pieces of evidence, another may only need to find one or two. This helps ensure that some students don't finish too soon and others are given the time they need. I also do this with analysis essays. I expect all students to write an introduction and a conclusion. Yet, some may write one body paragraph, some may write two and some may write three body paragraphs. I want to add that Google Classroom has helped immensely with this because it is harder for students to see that they are being assessed on different outputs. I also may change my mind midlesson. For example, if we are identifying similes and a level 1 student is flying through what I expected him to do, I may require he find a few more.

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Different Genres with Different Perspectives 

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Different Genres with Different Perspectives 

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I try to introduce my students to different genres, perspectives and cultures through the texts we read. Texts like I am Malala, When Stars are Scattered, and The House on Mango Street are great starting points to introduce genres like autobiographies, graphic novels and vignettes. I try to find novels were the protagonists speak languages other than English and those words are woven into the text. I am conscious that I do not pick only male or only female protagonists. I also only read excerpts of most novels to allow the students the choice of finishing the novel or not. We usually use the novel excerpt as a tool for a skill they need to practice (for example, I am Malala we analyze the themes of perseverance and the importance of education) but I do not read the entire book with the class. Rather, we read excerpts from several chapters. Exposing students to different genres, characters, languages and cultures opens their eyes to a multitude of stories.

I also ask student's their opinions when we finish each excerpt:
"Did you enjoy this text?"
"Was it a mirror or a window?" (in other words, does it remind them of themselves in someway or does it show them a different point of view)

Ever since I started teaching English skills through carefully selected excerpts of different genres I have seen a drastic increase in engagement. I have also seen a drastic increase in the understanding of different genres.

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I do sometimes allow my students to choose their partner or group. However, other times I strategically group or pair students depending on the task at hand. When we are reading a 6th grade level text, I usually create groups of three or four students. I will make sure at least one student is at or near grade level in each group. I will also make sure the personalities work within each group. Other times I might pair students who are the same proficiency level. For example, if we are reading a text and answering questions using evidence, I may provide one group with more scaffolds like sentence starters while the other group will be expected to write without extra support. Sometimes their may be a group I know I will need to sit and work with more while I know another group is capable of running itself smoothly. Furthermore, sometimes grouping is not planned and is more on the fly. Maybe you know a student had an issue with a group member at lunch so you decide to switch groups for that reason. Or maybe many students are absent so you need to quickly reconfigure. Differentiation with partner and groups can be premeditated or done in the moment.

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This year I designed a group research project in order to provide my students with background knowledge to understand the novel The Watsons go to Birmingham-1963. Groups were assigned different topics such as Emmett Till, The 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing, Claudette Colvin, Jim Crow Laws, The March on Washington, etc. The Claudette Colvin readings were very engaging so I made sure I gave those readings to a group of girls that had trouble focusing at times. They were immediately interested in a young girl who was arrested at only 16. The March on Washington readings were organized with clear headings for each paragraph, included a glossary for vocabulary words, and included pictures, so I gave my level 2 MLLs those texts. I knew one young man was passionate about The Black Lives Matter Movement, so I made sure to give his group Emmett Till. The objective of the lesson was for students to research a topic, create a presentation and present it to the class. All of the groups met the objective even though the read texts at different levels and about different topics.

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I make sure I provide my students with choices. They have choice regarding what book they read independently. They also have choices regarding how they present what they read to their classmates. Maybe they make slides, maybe they write a summary or maybe they draw a sequence of events cartoon. I allow students to choose different types of graphic organizers to brainstorm their writing. I provide students with a list of topics to choose from when we are writing argument essays, analysis essays or research papers. Sometimes I allow students to choose how they want to sit to complete assignments. Sometimes students choose to work along, sometimes students choose to work with a partner or a group of three. Everyone is different. Some students need alone time to work best and others need to bounce ideas off of eachother.