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Asset-Based Teaching Approach
Focus on students’ strengths, abilities, and potential rather than deficits. This builds confidence and communicates high expectations while honoring each student’s unique background and experiences.

Flexible Communication Supports
Use visuals, AAC devices, gestures, modeling, and simplified language to support students with diverse communication needs. This ensures all students can access instruction and express themselves.

Differentiated Instruction
Adjust pacing, grouping, materials, and teaching strategies to meet diverse learning styles and cultural backgrounds. Small groups, hands-on activities, and movement-based learning are effective ways to support varied needs.

Culturally Relevant Examples
Connect lessons to students’ lives, traditions, and experiences. Using familiar foods, routines, and community experiences helps students feel valued and increases engagement.

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1. Multicultural Literature Across Subjects
Use books that reflect diverse cultures, languages, and family structures in ELA, social studies, and even math story problems.
Example: Read Last Stop on Market Street to discuss community, empathy, and different life experiences.

2. Diverse Historical Perspectives
Teach history and social studies using multiple viewpoints, not just dominant narratives.
Example: When learning about westward expansion, include Native American perspectives and experiences.

3. Real-World Case Studies
Use culturally diverse scenarios in problem-solving activities.
Example: Math word problems based on different family businesses, cultural events, or global settings.

4. Representation in Visuals and Materials
Ensure posters, slides, and examples show people of different races, abilities, religions, and family types.
Application: Audit your classroom materials and replace or add visuals that reflect your students.

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Fostering a Multicultural Classroom Environment

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Fostering a Multicultural Classroom Environment

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Inclusive Classroom Decor
Create a classroom environment that reflects diverse cultures, languages, abilities, and family structures. Displays, artwork, and visuals should help students see themselves represented in the space.

Community Norms Rooted in Respect and Dignity
Establish simple, clear expectations that emphasize kindness, respect, and belonging. Reinforce that everyone matters and deserves to be treated with care and dignity.

Identity-Affirming Language Practices
Use students’ preferred names, pronounce names correctly, and model respectful language. Encourage curiosity and acceptance rather than assumptions or stereotypes.

Celebration of Differences
Acknowledge and respect cultural traditions, holidays, and family practices in meaningful ways. This can be done through discussions, read-alouds, or classroom activities without singling students out.

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Family Voice in Goal Setting and Planning
Invite families to share their priorities, values, and hopes for their child. This builds trust and ensures educational decisions align with the family’s culture and beliefs.

Cultural Sharing Opportunities
Provide optional opportunities for families to share traditions, stories, music, or experiences. This promotes understanding and strengthens school–home connections.

Community-Based Learning
Connect learning to the local community through field trips, guest speakers, or virtual visits. This helps students see the relevance of their learning and builds community awareness.

Parent Workshops and Resources
Offer family workshops and share resources that support learning at home. Provide information in accessible formats and, when possible, in families’ home languages.

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A simple Google Slides template for classroom newsletters to keep families updated weekly.

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800+ Free and customizable professional newsletter templates | Canva

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Dazzle your readers with free, printable newsletter templates that you can customize quickly for any business or organization.

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Copy of Full Executive Functioning Deficits

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A resource explaining engaging, low-prep Kagan cooperative structures that promote student discussion and collaboration.

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1. RallyRobin
2. Timed Pair Share
3. RoundRobin
4. RallyCoach
5. Stand Up, Hand Up Pair Up

The idea, which became the Essential 5, came from a great friend and fellow National Kagan Trainer, Rob Jutras, and of course from Dr. Spencer Kagan whose visionary ideas have done so much to develop education, and in particular, the field of Cooperative Learning over the last three decades.

In my role as a trainer and mentor, I have the privilege to work alongside and support all kinds of teachers, trainers, lecturers and professors. Some of those colleagues are incredibly experienced, 30 years plus in education, some complete "newbies" newly-qualified or not yet entered the teaching profession, i.e. teaching students, graduate teachers, etc. In my training and workshops, I hope I clearly demonstrate the power of Kagan Structures and my belief in these wonderful tools and just how they make a difference in the lives of students. My evaluations regularly tell me I do. However, from time to time, I still encounter questions like these:

"Which Kagan Structures should I learn and use first?", and "Where do I begin?"

In response to these questions and, "Necessity", as the saying goes, "being the mother of invention" Rob and I got to talking about how best to serve these colleagues. The result is our Essential 5, a personal list of fabulous Kagan Structures to be used very much as a starting point to understanding Kagan Structures. I hope you find the list useful, and of course it goes without saying, I rely on you using this list as a springboard to accessing and learning much, much more about Kagan Structures in the future.

The Structure Function table here illustrates that Kagan Structures fit into multiple categories. For example, we can use RoundRobin for Teambuilding, the process by which students get to know, respect, value and like their teammates. RoundRobin is also extremely useful for Knowledgebuilding, students interact with each other to review or memorize stuff to know. As you look across the other functions, you can see that RoundRobin is also great for practicing procedures, processing or presenting information, and for developing and engaging a range of thinking skills. In traditional classrooms, teachers have students work alone. They don't have the chance to learn to work well with others and to manage their own emotions while in interaction with others. At the very same time that students are, for example, reviewing content; Cooperative Learning Structures, i.e. RoundRobin, have the students interact with each other in ways that help them to acquire social skills, character virtues, and emotional intelligence.

The list of structures is long, there are many "tools." The skill of the teacher is selecting the right tool for the right job. If we continue the tool analogy we wouldn't use a hammer for sawing. With Kagan Structures we don't want to use a high-consensus structure for developing divergent thinking.

To learn more about Kagan Structures read Kagan Cooperative Learning by Dr Spencer Kagan, in particular Chapter 6 on Structures and Functions.

Of the 250+ fabulous Kagan Cooperative Learning Structures, what then is the least number of Structures one could learn and still be able to cover all possible types of questions, functions and situations in the classroom? (*With the exception of Decision Making.) Below is our Essential 5. Rob and I can't think of a better 5. Once you are familiar with Kagan Structures, you may decide on a different set of structures. That is the beauty of these "tools"- they allow you, the teacher, to be creative and develop your own lesson designs!

The Essential 2!

Teachers that use just RallyRobin and Timed Pair Share can make a huge difference in achievement and engagement and can take their students a very long way simply instead of "calling-on-one." Along with higher academic achievement you will also see a reduction of the gap between high and low achieving students, improved social skills and cooperativeness, improved self-esteem, increased liking for school and learning, improved classroom climate, decreased discipline problems, increased leadership and employability skills, improved conflict resolution skills and increased empathy and concern for others!

The Essential 5!

In pairs, students alternate generating brief oral responses.

Examples:
* List adjectives to describe the character.
* List inert elements.
* Share steps of the experiment.
* Describe an event from the story.

In pairs, students share with a partner for a predetermined time while the partner listens. Then partners switch roles.

Examples:
* What is the key thing that you learned?
* What is one literary technique you plan to use in your writing and how will you use it?

In teams, students take turns responding orally.

Examples:
* What makes a good listener?
* List objects that float?
* What clubs or societies are you a member of?
* What is one of your favorite movies?

Partners take turns, one solving a problem while the other coaches. Then partners switch roles.

* Useful for any process or procedure with a definite right/wrong.
* Solve multi-step word problems in math.
* Change each decimal into a simplified fraction.

Students stand up, put their hand up and quickly find a partner with whom to share or discuss.

This structure is perfect for classbuilding, processing and reviewing information, energizing the class, forming random pairs or teams, lesson starts or wraps.

Of course it goes without saying, this Essential 5 is in no way a substitute for completing a multi-day Institute on Kagan Cooperative Learning. Participating in a multi-day course will show you how to build powerful learning teams in your classroom. You'll learn Kagan methods for teambuilding, classbuilding, classroom management, dozens more Kagan Structures for mastery, higher-level thinking, and social skills. Kagan Institutes are extremely practical, hands-on classes packed with great ideas all grounded in sound research and theory!

About the Author

Gavin Clowes heads up Kagan UK, an organization dedicated to bringing Kagan Structures and methods to United Kingdom teachers and schools.

For details on Kagan Institutes, workshops and conferences go to www.T2TUK.co.uk and www.Kaganonline.com

End Notes
Thank you to Rob Jutras for inspiring me with the initial idea for this article.

I came across Ron Clark's story, and book, The Essential 55 an approach that saw Ron create a visible and lasting improvement in students' behavior and manners. After hearing about Ron's passion and his students' gratitude for what he had taught them I wanted to do the same for Kagan Cooperative Learning Structures, hence my reworking of his title.

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kagan publishing teaching catalog teacher resources school supplies music games cooperative learning differentiated instruction educational products esl ell foreign language posters multiple intelligences textbooks math books science literature social studies

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Kagan specializes in staff development and educational resources for teachers. Visit our online store, magazine and message board the leading authority on cooperative learning, classroom discipline and multiple intelligences.

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A simple, editable exit ticket I can use to check student understanding at the end of any lesson.

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Free printable exit ticket templates you can customize | Canva

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Get your students’ thoughts about the day’s lesson using free, editable exit ticket templates that can be customized online.

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A low-prep activity board that gives students different options for showing their understanding of a story. Supports engagement and independence.

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Browse ela choice boards resources on Teachers Pay Teachers, a marketplace trusted by millions of teachers for original educational resources.

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A short list of podcast recommendations for ongoing inspiration and PD.

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Discover podcasts for teachers that will help with useful tips, inspiring stories, good laughs, and the hottest topics in education.

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Concepts of print are the understandings that print carries meaning and

follows consistent rules. This includes book handling (front/back, title),

directionality (left-to-right, top-to-bottom), word awareness (spaces separate

words), and basic print conventions (punctuation, return sweep).

Milestones (mastery looks

like)

• Holds a book right-side up; identifies front/back and title

• Tracks print left-to-right and top-to-bottom with a finger; returns sweep

• Understands that print (not pictures) carries the exact words read aloud

• Points to one word for each spoken word during shared reading (concept of

word)

• Identifies basic punctuation (period, question mark) and knows it changes

how we read

Typical age/grade range PreK (ages 4-5) through Grade 1 (ages 6-7); gaps can persist into upper

grades for some students with limited print exposure.

Evidence-based

assessment (2-3)

• Concepts About Print (CAP) / Observation Survey tasks: 1:1 book-based

checklist. Use baseline score, then reassess every 6-8 weeks to see growth in

specific conventions (directionality, concept of word, punctuation).

• Teacher observation during shared reading: Use a simple rubric: tracks

print, points to words, uses return sweep, identifies title/author. Collect quick

notes weekly to document progress and plan next mini-lessons.

• Running record notes (print behaviors): While taking a running record,

note print behaviors (skips words, loses place, reverses direction). Track

patterns across texts to confirm if errors are print-concept based versus

decoding.

Evidence-based instruction

(teach one part)

Focus concept: directionality and concept of word.

Use a daily 5-minute shared reading routine with a short predictable text.

Model tracking with a pointer, then do “my turn/your turn”: teacher tracks and

reads one line, students track the next. Add a quick “word hunt” where

students tap each word as you read it aloud, then match 2-3 printed words to

spoken words (e.g., 'find the'). Keep language explicit: 'We start here. We

move this way. One spoken word matches one printed word.'

Differentiation (support

ELs and/or dyslexia)

• ELs: Pre-teach key book words (title, author, page) with visuals; allow

responses by pointing/gestures; pair oral rehearsal in the home language

when possible, then map to English print.

• Dyslexia: Use a larger font, increased spacing, and a tracking tool (index

card window or ruler) to reduce visual crowding; keep text short and repeated

across days.

• Motivation: Let students choose from 2-3 high-interest predictable books;

include quick movement cues (sweep arms left-to-right) before reading

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Phonological awareness is the ability to hear and work with the sound structures of spoken language (words, syllables, onset-rime, and phonemes). It is auditory and does not require letters. Foundational Literacy Skills Resource (Science of Reading / Scarborough's Reading Rope)

(mastery looks like) • Identifies and produces rhymes (cat/hat) • Claps or counts syllables in words; blends syllables (pan-cake) • Identifies first/last sounds in simple words • Blends and segments onset-rime (c-at -> cat) • Blends and segments phonemes in 2-4 sound words with increasing accuracy Typical age/grade range Ages 3-6 (PreK-K) for rhyme/syllables; K-Grade 1 for phoneme blending/segmenting; older students may need intensive phonological intervention. Evidence-based assessment (2-3) • CTOPP-2 (phonological awareness subtests): Norm-referenced tasks (e.g., blending, elision). Use standard scores to identify weakness and retest per manual timing (often 6-12 months) to document growth alongside classroom progress monitoring. • Heggerty-style brief probes (teacher-made, scripted): Weekly 1-2 minute probes (e.g., 10 items: syllable segmenting, phoneme blending). Graph % correct to monitor response to instruction and adjust the skill level. • DIBELS 8: Phonemic Segmentation Fluency (PSF) / First Sound Fluency (FSF): Timed progress monitoring (K-1). Use scores over time (trend line) to decide if the student is on track or needs intensified, more explicit instruction. Evidence-based instruction (teach one part) Focus concept: phoneme segmentation (3-phoneme CVC words). Teach with an Elkonin box routine. Say a word (e.g., map), stretch it, and have students push 1 counter into each box as they say each sound: /m/ /a/ /p/. Then sweep a finger under the boxes and blend back to the whole word. Start with continuous sounds (m, s, f) for easier stretching, and provide immediate corrective feedback: 'Let’s say it slowly. What’s the first sound?' Differentiation (support ELs and/or dyslexia) • ELs: Teach the word meaning first with a picture/gesture, then do the sound work; highlight sounds that do not exist in the student’s home language with extra modeling and mouth visuals. • Dyslexia: Increase practice frequency and keep the sequence explicit (I do, we do, you do). Use multisensory supports (tap arm for each sound, counters) and cumulative review. • Engagement: Turn segmentation into a quick game (sound boxes with mini erasers) and keep sessions short (3-5 minutes) multiple times per day.

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Phonemic awareness is the most advanced level of phonological awareness:

the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual phonemes in spoken

words. It directly supports decoding and spelling.

Milestones (mastery looks

like)

• Isolates beginning, medial vowel, and ending phonemes in spoken words

• Blends phonemes to make a word (/s/ /u/ /n/ -> sun)

• Segments words into phonemes and counts them accurately

• Manipulates phonemes (add, delete, substitute) to make new words (cat ->

cap; smile -> mile)

• Uses phoneme awareness to support spelling of simple words

Typical age/grade range Typically develops strongly in Kindergarten through Grade 1 with explicit

instruction; older struggling readers may need targeted, intensive practice.

Evidence-based

assessment (2-3)

• PAST (Phonological Awareness Screening Test) or similar

scope-and-sequence screener: Pinpoints the highest level of phoneme

manipulation a student can do. Use as a diagnostic starting point and to set

short-term goals; recheck every 4-6 weeks.

• DIBELS 8: PSF (K-1) and/or NWF (links PA to decoding): Use PSF to

monitor segmentation; use NWF to see if phoneme skills are transferring to

decoding. Growth in both indicates instruction is working.

• CTOPP-2 (advanced manipulation like elision): Use to confirm significant

phonemic awareness deficits when students do not respond to Tier 2

supports; helps justify more intensive intervention.

Evidence-based instruction

(teach one part)

Focus concept: phoneme manipulation (phoneme substitution).

Teach with a 'say it, change it' routine. Start with a word, segment it orally,

then prompt a single change: 'Say cat. Now change /k/ to /h/. What word?'

Use continuous sounds first and keep the manipulation to one step. If

students struggle, return to segmentation with counters, then try the change

again. Connect to print after mastery: map the sounds to letters in a simple

word chain.

Differentiation (support

ELs and/or dyslexia)

• ELs: Use high-frequency, picture-supported words to reduce vocabulary

load; allow extra processing time and oral rehearsal; contrast minimal pairs

only after meaning is clear.

• Dyslexia: Provide many repetitions and cumulative review; avoid adding

print too early. When adding print, keep grapheme-phoneme

correspondences consistent and explicitly taught.

• Behavior/attention: Use quick turn-taking (teacher, partner, individual) and

high success rates (start easy) to keep students engaged.

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Letter-naming knowledge is the ability to recognize and name uppercase and lowercase letters quickly and accurately. It supports letter-sound learning, decoding, and fluent word recognition. For many students, automaticity matters as much as accuracy. Milestones (mastery looks

like)

• Recognizes and names many uppercase letters, then lowercase letters

• Distinguishes visually similar letters (b/d, p/q) and common confusions

• Names letters in and out of order (not just ABC song order)

• Links letters to their most common sounds (transition to alphabetic principle)

• Names letters automatically within a timed task (fluency/automaticity)

Typical age/grade range Most students develop strong letter naming in PreK-K and solidify by mid-K to

Grade 1; some students require continued support through Grade 2+.

Evidence-based

assessment (2-3)

• DIBELS 8: Letter Naming Fluency (LNF): 1-minute timed measure (K-fall

to Grade 1). Progress monitor every 2-4 weeks to see if automaticity is

improving with instruction.

• PALS (alphabet knowledge tasks) / similar screening: Identifies

letter-name and letter-sound gaps. Use subtest scores to target specific

letters/sounds and reassess per district window or every 6-8 weeks for

growth.

• Quick letter ID inventory (teacher-made): Show a randomized grid of

letters and record known/unknown and confusions. Use weekly to track

mastery of the current set and to guide review sets.

Evidence-based instruction

(teach one part)

Focus concept: rapid recognition of confusing letter pairs (b/d, p/q).

Teach 2-3 letters at a time using a consistent routine: name, formation cue,

key picture, and quick discrimination practice. Example for b/d: 'b has the bat

first' (vertical line then belly). Have students sky-write, trace, then do a

60-second 'find and circle' on a mixed-letter page. End with a short retrieval

practice: flash 10 mixed cards and students say the letter name. Keep

practice brisk and accurate.

Differentiation (support

ELs and/or dyslexia)

• ELs: Teach letter names with visuals and mouth cues for the paired letter

sounds; connect to students’ names and classroom labels; allow choral

response before individual turns.

• Dyslexia: Explicitly teach common confusions with multi-sensory cues,

consistent handwriting strokes, and extra spaced practice; use a reduced set

and cumulative review (new 2-3, review 6-8).

• Motivation: Use quick games (letter bingo, scavenger hunt, magnetic letters)

and frequent success checks; celebrate growth in accuracy and speed.

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Ehri, L. C. (2005). Learning to read words: Theory, findings, and issues. Scientific Studies of Reading, 9(2),

167-188.

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel:

Teaching children to read (NIH Publication No. 00-4769). U.S. Government Printing Office.

Scarborough, H. S. (2001). Connecting early language and literacy to later reading (dis)abilities: Evidence,

theory, and practice. In S. B. Neuman & D. K. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook of early literacy research (pp. 97-110).

Guilford Press.

Wagner, R. K., Torgesen, J. K., Rashotte, C. A., & Pearson, N. A. (2013). Comprehensive Test of Phonological

Processing (2nd ed.). PRO-ED.

University of Oregon. (2020). DIBELS 8th Edition technical manual. Center on Teaching and Learning, University

of Oregon.