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Children will be able to distinguish between different types of common texts.

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This website provides examples for differentiating instruction to accommodate ELL's.

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It is possible to help a beginning English-language learner (ELL) improve so much in a matter of months that he or she can pass the sixth through eighth grade state standardized tests. This student can go from five to 50 percent on a school curriculum test. It's happening in my middle school classroom, and it can happen in your classrooms, too. With the right support and differentiation, ELLs will be successful in your general education or language arts classroom.

As you read the following, keep in mind that these ELL strategies are good for engaging all students. That's because they're interactive and focus on the four domains of language -- reading, writing, speaking, and listening -- which all students need support in developing. Often with general education students, reading and writing get the most attention, while speaking and listening development are neglected.

1. Students should read a book of choice every day.

Research shows that reading daily improves a student's fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, analytical skills, and memory. Work with your librarian to give your students access to books at all levels. Encourage them to read books from different genres at their level. If you have students still struggling with English, computer programs such as i-Ready, Kurzweil, or Starfall can give them a foundation. Transition them to children's books or graphic novels after a month or two.

Once the students are finished reading, creatively tie their silent reading time into your curriculum and lessons. If you're introducing or reviewing "conflict," ask the students to explain and define the conflicts in their books. Relate back to their books with any of the other reading concepts, too. If you're working on a writing conventions mini lesson, have the students refer back to their books to see how their author uses these conventions. The students need to know that their silent reading relates to the big picture.

2. Your lessons should be multimodal.

Teachers need to present material in various ways to reach all types of learners. You can easily prepare ahead of time by adding visuals that will help the students gain access to the content.

Before each lesson, pull up different internet tabs (or apps like the Oxford Picture Dictionary) that include images, videos, and other multimedia to help ELLs understand parts of the vocabulary lesson. A folktale lesson about the "The Crane Maiden," for example, should include vocabulary like crane, marsh, loom, and quilt. These vocabulary words will add to a general idea of what the story is about. Pull up pictures on Google Images and click through them during the lesson as you explain and pre-teach the vocabulary. The story also talks about a maiden using a loom. Along with the images, present a YouTube video of someone using a loom to make a beautiful quilt. These activities will bring about authentic learning and draw from background knowledge.

3. Shorten your lecture.

When students are engaged daily in structured conversations, they are learning. The teacher should facilitate that learning. Structure your class so that you're giving five- to seven-minute lectures and then allowing the students to discuss the subject with guided questions and prompts that use academic vocabulary.

As the rest of the class reads from L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz, ELLs might read from a children's version and watch a few video clips from the classic MGM film that go with the chapter. Show them the tornado scene, the Munchkin scene, and the Yellow Brick Road introduction, giving them visuals to help them during the structured conversations. After reading, the groups will have meaningful, authentic conversations about what they just read. While the teacher facilitates the process, instead of standing in front explaining, the beginners can start piecing together vocabulary that they see and hear.

4. The students must be writing.

The only way students are going to improve at writing ideas and conventions is to actually write. They should practice writing what they are passionate about -- and that doesn't come from worksheets and drills. After writing sentences and essays, they should learn how to edit and revise their own errors. We should not be correcting their essays for them.

Allow the students to choose topics of their choice. Give them a guide to follow, but don't confine them to certain topics, number of paragraphs, or sentences. They should decide what they want to write about and how they want to write. As they finish their first draft, guide them through ratiocination techniques. In terms of language, this means focusing on word usage, "to be" verbs, run-on sentences, repeated words, and more, rather than the content. Don't correct students' errors for them. This helps them recognize their own errors now and for the future. ELLs can use these techniques, too. When you use mentor texts to explain writing conventions in mini lessons, students will learn how to write as they see these models and look for their own errors. They will jump from beginners to intermediate or advanced writers in a matter of months using these skills.

With these four strategies, I guarantee that you will see incredible improvements in your middle school students. My students were engaged in the lessons and learned new vocabulary words and content each day. I didn't have discipline problems with them because they weren't bored or confused. They improved on curriculum and district tests at an average rate of 15-30 percent when we followed these four strategies.

ELLs and other students can all benefit from these strategies in general education classrooms. Let's not shelter them from this authentic and enriching learning environment.

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4 Strategies to Help ELLs in the Mainstream Classroom

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It is possible to help a beginning English-language learner (ELL) improve so much in a matter of months that he or she can pass the sixth through eighth grade state standardized tests. This student can go from five to 50 percent on a school curriculum test.

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This website provides different assessment types that can be implemented to ensure academic proficiency differentiating texts.

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In this article:

Most of the assessments here should be given one-on-one. It is important that you have a non-distracting, comfortable testing environment for students, and that the rest of the class is engaged in a task or assignment and working quietly. It's even better if you can arrange for another teacher to be present while you are performing assessments.

This list of informal assessments is not all-inclusive; there are components of reading that these tools do not assess. This information is also available in chart form.

Letter/sound recognition

About this assessment

Familiarity with the letters of the alphabet is essential to the development of reading skills. Instruction should be geared towards unknown letters and their sounds. Students should be able to recognize the letters in both uppercase and lowercase forms.

What it measures

Ability to recognize letters and sounds.

Examples of assessment questions

Show student one letter at a time and ask:

Can you tell me what letter this is? (Record the student's response)

Can you tell me what sound it makes? (Record the student's response)

Age or grade typically mastered

Many students enter kindergarten with the ability to recognize letters. Fewer students recognize the letter sounds. Both are taught in kindergarten.

When should it be assessed?

Assess letter/sound recognition three times during kindergarten, at the start of school, at mid-year, and at the end of the year.

Concepts of print awareness

About this assessment

Concepts of print are usually learned incidentally as children are exposed to books and story readings at home and at school. Concepts of print include an understanding that: print carries meaning, that books contain letters, words, sentences, and spaces. It also includes understanding what books are used for, and that books have parts such as a front cover, back cover and a spine. Eventually, students learn more sophisticated ideas such as understanding that we begin reading on the left and read across the page to the last word on the right, and then we got to the next line, begin reading on the left, and so on.

What it measures

If a student understands:

That print has meaning

That print can be used for different purposes

The relationship between print and speech

There is a difference between letters and words

That words are separated by spaces

There is a difference between words and sentences

That there are (punctuation) marks that signal the end of a sentence

That books have parts such as a front and back cover, title page, and spine

That stories have a beginning, middle, and end

That text is read from left to right and from top to bottom

Examples of assessment questions

Give the student a book and ask the following questions. "Can you show me:"

a letter?

a word?

a sentence?

the end of a sentence (punctuation mark)?

the front of the book?

the back of the book?

where I should start reading the story?

a space?

how I should hold the book?

the title of the book?

how many words are in this sentence?

Age or grade typically mastered

Some students enter kindergarten with an understanding of print concepts, but other will master it as the school year goes on.

When should it be assessed?

Assess concepts of print twice during kindergarten, at the start of school and at mid-year. In addition, as you model story reading techniques to help guide instruction, identify students who need additional support, and determine if the pace of instruction should be increased, decreased, or remain the same.

Phonological awareness

About this assessment

Phonological awareness is a necessary part of reading instruction. Children can show you they have phonological awareness in several ways. It is necessary as the classroom teacher to determine strengths and weaknesses to plan instruction.

What it measures

Recognizing a word in a sentence shows the ability to segment a sentence

Recognizing a rhyme shows the ability to identify words that have the same ending sounds

Recognizing a syllable shows the ability to separate or blend words the way that they are pronounced

Understanding onset-rime shows the ability to blend the first sound in the word (onset) and the rest of the word (rime)

Examples of assessment questions

Word
How many words are in this sentence? "I am happy." (Correct response: 3)

Rhyme
Do these words rhyme? big, fig(Correct response: Yes)

What about key, tree? (Correct response: Yes)

Syllable blending
I am going to say a word in parts. Listen: o...pen What word did I say? (Correct response: open)

Syllable segmentation
Can you tell me the two word parts in open? (Correct response: o...pen)

Syllable deletion
Say open without the -pen. (Correct response: o)

Onset-rime
What word do these sounds make? /s/ - /ee/ (Correct response: see)

How about /h/ - /op/? (Correct response: hop)

Age or grade typically mastered

Word: Age 3

Rhyme: Age 4

Syllable blending: Age 4

Syllable segmentation: Kindergarten

Syllable deletion: Kindergarten

Onset-rime: The middle of kindergarten

When should it be assessed?

Typically, phonological awareness is assessed during kindergarten and throughout first grade. During the beginning of kindergarten, assessment should be limited to recognizing words, rhyme, syllable blending, and segmentation to help guide instruction.

Phonemic awareness

What it measures

Phoneme matching is the ability to identify words that begin with the same sound.

Phoneme isolation is the ability to isolate a single sound from within a word.

Phoneme blending is the ability to blend individual sounds into a word.

Phoneme segmentation is the ability to break a word into individual sounds.

Phoneme manipulation is the ability to modify, change, or move the individual sounds in a word.

Examples of assessment questions

Remember, when a letter appears between slash marks, you should say the letter sound, and not the letter name.

Phoneme matching
Which words sound alike? man, sat, sip (Correct response: sat, sip)

Phoneme isolation - initial (first) sound
What's the first sound in sat? (Correct response: /s/)

Phoneme isolation - final (last) sound
What's the last sound in sat? (Correct response: /t/)

Phoneme isolation - medial (middle) sound
What's the middle sound in sat? (Correct response: /a/)

Phoneme blending
What word do these sounds make? /h/ - /o/ - /t/ (Correct response: hot)

Phoneme segmentation
What sounds do you hear in hot? (Correct response: /h/ - /o/ - /t/)

Phoneme manipulation - initial (first) sound
Say mat without the /m/ sound. (Correct response: at)

Phoneme manipulation - final (last) sound
Say mat without the /t/ sound. (Correct response: ma)

Phoneme manipulation - substitution
Say pig. (Correct response: pig)

Now change the /p/ in pig to /f/. (Correct response: fig)

Age or grade typically mastered

Phoneme matching: The middle of kindergarten

Phoneme isolation - initial (first) sound: The middle of kindergarten

Phoneme isolation - final (last) sound: Late kindergarten or early first grade

Phoneme isolation - medial (middle) sound: Late kindergarten or early first grade

Phoneme blending: Late kindergarten or early first grade

Phoneme segmentation: First grade

Phoneme manipulation - initial (first) sound: First grade

Phoneme manipulation - final (last) sound: First grade

Phoneme manipulation - substitution: Middle to end of first grade or early second grade

When should it be assessed?

Phonemic awareness assessments should be done three times during the kindergarten and first grade years to help guide instruction.

Informal (qualitative) reading inventory

What it measures

Grade level reading

Fluency

Comprehension

Vocabulary

Oral reading accuracy

Examples of assessment questions

Choose a grade level passage for the student to read. As the student is reading complete the oral reading accuracy and reading fluency assessments. After the student finishes the passage, check for understanding through explicit and implicit questions. Also, ask open-ended questions about the vocabulary found in the passage.

Age or grade typically mastered

This assessment can be given to students in grades one through twelve. Students should be expected to master age-appropriate material.

When should it be assessed

The informal reading inventory is an on-going assessment, and should be completed several times throughout the child's schooling. In kindergarten, perform the informal reading inventory twice per year, at mid-year and at the end of school. In first and second grades, it should be done three times, at the beginning of the school year, at mid-year, and at the end of the year. If a child is struggling, the inventory should be done more often in order to have an accurate picture of the child's progress.

Reading comprehension

About this assessment

Reading comprehension assessments are the most common type of published reading test that is available. The typical type of reading comprehension assessment involves asking a child to read a passage of text that is leveled appropriately for the child's age or grade, and then asking explicit, detailed questions about the content of the text. An example of a common reading comprehension assessment is the Informal Reading Inventory (IRI), also known as the Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI).

There are variations on the basic reading comprehension assessments. For example, instead of questions about facts found directly in the text, the child could be asked to answer questions about information that is implied in the text, or the child might be asked to retell the story in the child's own words.

Oral reading accuracy

About this assessment

This assessment provides a measure of a student's oral reading accuracy by giving teachers insight into a student's individual reading level. It allows the teacher to listen and record reading behaviors such as the number of errors a student makes, if the student substitutes words, or if the student needs prompting from the teacher.

The information offered by this assessment is limited. For example, it does not measure phonological ability, vocabulary, or comprehension. This is why it is often given in conjunction with other assessments such as the informal reading inventory. It should never be used in isolation.

Note: When children read orally, they usually concentrate on reading accurately and do not pay as much attention to comprehension of the content. It is also important to remember that if this assessment is used with students who are new to learning English, it should be given both in English and the child's primary language.

What it measures

Oral reading accuracy. It also provides the teacher with insight into a student's ability to use strategies to decode unfamiliar words.

Examples of assessment questions

Choose a passage for the child to read aloud. As the child reads, take notes on words read correctly and incorrectly.

Age or grade typically mastered

First through third grade.

When should it be assessed?

Reading accuracy assessments can be given as part of an informal reading inventory or combined with a comprehension assessment to yield more information. Reading accuracy should be assessed several times throughout the year to help you plan on-going instruction. Are students reading on grade level? Do some students require additional support? Do your students have rich vocabularies? Are your students able to read age-appropriate material?

Steps in administering this assessment

1. Choose a book that is age appropriate, but unfamiliar to your student. (This gives a more accurate picture of a child's ability in handling texts.)

2. Ask the student to read the story aloud to you and then at the end tell you what the story was about.

3. You should familiarize yourself with the following scoring information prior to administering this assessment:

Reading behavior

How to score

Read correctly (no error)

Check mark over word

Omission (one error)

Long dash over word omitted

Insertion (one error)

^ at point of insertion with the inserted word written above it

Repetition of a word (no error)

Mark above word with a capital R

Repetition of a phrase (no error)

Capital R with a line and an arrow stretching across phrase repeated

Self correction (no error)

Capital SC above the word to indicate child has self-corrected

Unable to read word (one error)

T for Teacher prompt

Decodes a word in an obvious manner (no error)

Mark individual sounds read within the word followed by a check mark if eventually read correctly or a circle if read incorrectly

Read incorrectly (one error)

Circle word

What should you count as an error when giving this assessment?

Substituting a word

Passage reads: The tall fir tree.

Student reads: The tall far tree.

Omitting a word

Passage reads: The tall fir tree.

Student reads: The tall tree.

Inserting a word

Passage reads: A dark and stormy night.

Student reads: A dark and stormy winter night.

Needs prompting (if the student has to be told a word by the person administering the assessment)

Passage reads: I wish that people...

Student reads: I wish that... (pauses) that... (teacher prompts "people")...

4. As the student reads, mark each word on the form by using the symbols above. Place a check mark above the words read correctly.

5. If the student reads a word incorrectly or substitutes a word, record what is said above the actual word.

6. As the student reads, pay attention to his or her behavior. Is the student using context clues (from the sentence or pictures), structure (language sounds correct) and visual cues (using beginning sounds, familiar word chunks, etc.) to read words and gather meaning?

7. Intervene as little as possible when a student is reading.

8. If the student is stuck on a word, wait 5-10 seconds before you tell him or her the word.

9. After the reading, ask the student to tell you about what he or she has just read. Make notes on the following:

Can the student tell you what happened in the story in his or her own words?

Does the student include the different parts of a story (the characters, setting, events, problem and resolution)?

Can the student identify the main idea and supporting details?

Does the student use some of the vocabulary found in the text?

Is the student's retelling minimal, adequate or very complete?

What do I do with the information obtained from this assessment?

The information gathered while completing an oral reading accuracy assessment can be used to determine error, accuracy, and self-correction rates. To calculate a student's reading accuracy rate, divide the total words read correctly by the total words read. For example, if a student read a passage containing 100 words and made 5 errors:

95 (total words read correctly) / 100 (total words read) = 95% word accuracy

Use the accuracy rate along with the information gained in the student's story retelling to determine whether the text the student read was too easy, just right, or too difficult for the reader. Below is a general breakdown to use to help guide you when choosing texts for students:

Oral reading accuracy

What this says about the text

95-100%

Too easy; the text does not present a challenge

90-94%

Just right; the text is challenging but manageable

89% and below

Too difficult; the text is frustrating for the reader

If a student can read a book with 100% word accuracy but can only give a minimal retelling of the story, do not choose a higher leveled book. We read to get meaning; if a child is not getting meaning from a text they must be instructed on comprehension strategies. Word accuracy without comprehension is not acceptable.

What should I be looking for when I give an oral reading accuracy assessment?

Giving an oral reading accuracy assessment and asking a child to retell reveals many things about a child's reading ability. There are other things to be on the look out for and can be taught in the moments following this assessment:

Has the student mastered directionality, letter-sound correspondence, return sweep, etc?

Did the student make "good errors" when phonetically reading a word (i.e., reading island as "is land" instead of "eye land")?

Was there an attempt to self-correct errors?

Did the student attempt to decode an unknown word?

Was the student's reading slow and labored, or fluent?

Did the student use expression while reading?

Reading fluency

What it measures

How many words a child reads correctly in one minute.

Examples of assessment questions

Choose an appropriate passage for the student to read aloud. As the student reads, complete a record for one minute.

Age or grade typically mastered

Students should be expected to master age-appropriate material.

When should it be assessed?

Fluency assessments should be completed throughout the year to help guide instruction.

Word recognition

What it measures

Sight word vocabulary at a given grade level.

Examples of assessment questions

Ask a child to read from a list of words.

Age or grade typically mastered

Students should be expected to master age-appropriate material.

When should it be assessed?

Word recognition should be assessed three times during the year for students in kindergarten through second grade to help guide instruction.

Phonic elements

What it measures

Phonic elements at a given grade level.

Examples of assessment questions

What sound do the letters 's' 'h' make? (Correct response: /sh/)

How can I turn cap into cape? (Correct response: Add an 'e' to the end of the word.

Age or grade typically mastered

Students should be expected to master age-appropriate material.

When should it be assessed?

Phonic elements should be assessed several times throughout the year in grades one through three to help guide instruction.

Portfolios

About this assessment

Portfolios can be used to document students' achievement and progress. Portfolios give an accurate picture of an individual's strengths and weaknesses. Instruction on how to pick a piece of work to place in a portfolio (does it show a concept that was struggled with then understood, does it demonstrate an understanding of a concept? Is it something you are proud of?) is beneficial for students. This type of instruction engages the student to reflect on his or her own work. Portfolios encourage students to take an active role in learning information they feel they have not yet mastered.

Portfolios can help guide instruction. Through looking at a piece of child's work, a teacher can quickly see what lessons are further needed. For example, by looking at a student's writing a teacher may determine lessons in using commas correctly need to be revisited.

Types of portfolios

Collection
The collection may consist of a folder that holds samples of a student's work. The collection should include representative examples of the various types of student work, such as tests, writing samples, and homework assignments.

Display portfolio
A container or box containing a selection of work documenting a student's progress may hold work in this type of portfolio. This type of portfolio may be used to share with parents at conferences. Pieces of work are carefully selected by both teachers and students to show and share with parents/guardians during conferences.

Teacher/student assessment portfolio
A collection of documentation including copies of work in the student's display portfolio, tests, anecdotal notes, conference summaries, contacts made with parents, etc. This portfolio is used by the teacher to aid in discussions with administrators, other teachers, parents, etc about a particular child.

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Types of Informal Classroom-Based Assessment

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Most of the assessments here should be given one-on-one. It is important that you have a non-distracting, comfortable testing environment for students, and that the rest of the class is engaged in a task or assignment and working quietly. It's even better if you can arrange for another teacher to be present while you are performing assessments.

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This PDF provides teachers with strategies to implement when reteaching content to students.

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Accommodations for Instructional Approaches in Special Education Populations 

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Accommodations for Instructional Approaches in Special Education Populations 

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This website provides educators varying approaches to teaching special education populations.

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Everything is still possible in kindergarten, even for students with significant disabilities. Inclusion should come naturally, because all the students enter kindergarten at different levels. With the use of accommodations that changes "how" students with disabilities learn, many students with intellectual disabilities can meet the same kindergarten standards.

Still, expectations have changed a lot since I was in kindergarten 30 years ago. Writing journals, addition math problems, and mandatory reading levels are an actual thing now. I'm blown away by the standards kindergarteners must meet.

Thinking about how my son with Down syndrome would meet these new, rigorous standards made me nervous. I knew accommodations could help him access the kindergarten curriculum, but would he also need modifications to change what he's taught and is expected to learn? Using modifications should never legally lead to a more segregated setting, but I knew from other family's stories across the nation that often it does.

Ultimately, understanding my son's potential, setting high expectations, and presuming competence helped guide his kindergarten year.

With three years of preschool under his belt, we decided to start the school year with only accommodations to allow our son to meet the same grade-level expectations as all the other kindergarteners. With so many students at different levels in his general education classroom, he often knew just as much as the majority of students in the first half of this school year. Every family has to make their own choice about changing the grade-level content to meet their child's needs. I'm an advocate of giving the student a chance to perform to grade-level standards with accommodations first, then moving on to modifications if needed.

My twin boys, who are in the same general education class do the same work, but their different ability levels are obvious. I admit that I compare the work that they bring home, and have been proud of how much individual progress both of them have made. Below you can compare a typical assignment they do each day.

Although my twin boys learn the same content, accommodations do change how my son with Down syndrome accesses that content. Here are his kindergarten accommodations:

paraprofessional

slant board

short writing utensils

foot rest

large font

less content on each page

more time to work on assignments and tests

Accept approximations for expressive assessments

Accept pointing to an answer rather than expressively saying an answer

visual cues and prompts

number line

sit near the instruction

visual timer

tablet with touch screen

small, one-click mouse

If the first semester of kindergarten was smooth sailing, the second half has tip the boat a bit. The few students who were behind my son have caught up in most areas. Some concepts, like "more or less" in math have been difficult for my son to pick up without a lot of concrete examples. Still, I'm glad I started with just accommodations. It gave me time to feel out the IEP team and kindergarten curriculum to see what was possible.

I learned that my son's IEP team members would not use modified IEP goals as an excuse to pull him out of general education. They've agreed to push all resources into general education so far. That gives me more confidence to define how the content may change to meet his level. For example, because my son had difficulty counting to 100 expressively, the team created an IEP goal to start by counting to 30 by ones and 100 by tens. He can also point to numbers that he has a hard time saying expressively.

As my son goes into first grade, I know modifications to the curriculum will be an important way for my son to continue accessing the grade-level content at his level. Modifications allow students who are far behind their classmates to access the grade-level curriculum at their own level, or can change the grade-level curriculum completely.

Some great resources to help create appropriate modifications include's Nicole Eredic's new book " Inclusion In Action " with over 40 modifications for students with the most significant needs. Paula Kluth's book "Universal Design Daily: 365 Ways to Teach, Support, and Challenge All Learners" is also a great gift to give your child's general education teacher and will help all the students in the class.

On social media, join the " Educational Strategies for Students with Down Syndrome" page. Parents often share modified content that works. You can also follow Nicole Eredic's Live Binder page that has specific modified assignments being added all the time. Click here to find it.

What accommodations or modifications does your student use that helps them access the grade-level content? Share any resources that you have in the comments section.

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Accommodations vs. Modifications in Kindergarten - Inclusion Evolution

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Everything is still possible in kindergarten, even for students with significant disabilities. Inclusion should come naturally, because all the students enter kindergarten at different levels. With the use of accommodations that changes "how" students with disabilities learn, many students with intellectual disabilities can meet the same kindergarten standards.

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This website provides activities that compare and contrast pictures to help children understand texts.

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IXL brings kindergarten language arts to life! Set students up for success with thousands of skills that challenge learners at just the right level.

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This website provides examples for reteaching activities for students.

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It's never too late to revisit or reteach any classroom routine. In fact, here's a story from the Responsive Classroom newsletter by a teacher who started her whole year over in November!

While hopefully you don't need to take such drastic action, you probably have some everyday routines that could use tightening up around this time of year. Is it taking longer for your students to respond to the signal for quiet? Has lunchroom behavior taken a turn for the worse? Are you feeling frustrated because children aren't cleaning up as thoroughly now as they did in September? Try using a condensed version of Interactive Modeling to reteach:

Begin by offering a quick, positive, engaging reason for students to care about the reteaching.

You could try to pique students' interest: "I've been collecting some data about how long it takes us to get quiet when I give our signal. Yesterday it took about 30 seconds each time. That means that over the course of the day, we are using about 10 minutes to get quiet. In a week, that is 50 minutes! If we shortened our time to 10 seconds, we would have 30 extra minutes a week for doing more interesting things. Let's aim for 10 seconds every time today. We're going to practice now so we can see what ten seconds feels like."

Or, start from a place of empathy and belief -"I know it is hard to keep from chatting with friends during transitions. When I'm at meetings, I often want to talk to my friends when I'm supposed to be doing other things, so I know how you feel. But, even though it's hard, I know you can avoid chatting and come straight to the meeting rug when you need to."

Either of these techniques will be more motivating than venting your frustration-"I'm noticing that it is taking you longer and longer to get to the rug, and it's so unfair to make your classmates wait on you!"-even though you may feel tempted to complain.

Then, ask for a volunteer to demonstrate the routine as you practiced it at the beginning of the year.

Next, let students share what they noticed. Be sure especially that they pay attention to the "tricky" parts-voices off during lining up, quick and neat clean-up of materials during a transition from desks to the circle, or a quick response to the signal for quiet.

Have the whole class demonstrate the behavior. Pay special attention to the challenging aspects, and use reinforcing language to let students know what they did well: "You responded to the signal in about eight seconds. I saw people helping each other remember what to do, finishing what they were doing quickly, and really focusing on me quickly. I'm going to give the signal again in about 10 minutes. Let's see if we can do it just as well and quickly then."
Practice again shortly afterwards.
It's important to make re-teaching positive and to convey your firm belief that students can improve. While belief alone will not change student behavior, consistently demonstrating your faith that students can and will meet your expectations really does make a difference.

Tags: Quiet and Other Signals, Revisiting Rules

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It's never too late to revisit or reteach any classroom routine. In fact, here's a story from the Responsive Classroom newsletter by a teacher who started her whole year over in November!

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Recognize common types of texts (e.g., storybooks, poems) CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.5

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Recognize common types of texts (e.g., storybooks, poems) CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.5

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This website provides a list of apps that can be utilized to teach differentiating texts.

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Key Ideas and Details . With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details.

RL.K.1 . With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text. RL.K.2 RL.K.3 . With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

1. Johnnie's Story Page
-Stories for beginning to advanced readers

2. Speakaboos Stories
Songs,Games, Worksheets & Fun Stuff

Craft and Structure . Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.. Recognize common types of texts (e.g., storybooks, poems).

RL.K.4 RL.K.5

RL.K.6.

With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.

1. Between the Lions by PBS Folktales and Fables
-Links to short video clips.

2. Shel Silverstein's Poetry Site
-Poetry, puzzles, games, and more

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas RL.K.7 . With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).RL.K.8 . (Not applicable to literature)

RL.K.9

. With prompting and support, compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in familiar stories.

Enchanted Learning
-Venn diagrams and lessons teaching K compare & contrast
--enchantedlearning membership is supported by ccsd

1. Going Places
-Several stories on separate app for each story or set of stories. Library A = set of 12 stories

2. Speech with Milo: Sequencing

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity RL.K.10 . Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding .

1. Game Goo
-Genre, poetry, letter recognition, leveled for beginners-intermediate-advanced.

2. Online Talking Stories
-British Council Stories with interactive page turning/clicking

Reading: Informational Text

Key Ideas and Details

RI.K.1. With prompting and support,
ask and answer questions about key
details in a text.

RI.K.2. With prompting and support,
identify the main topic and retell key
details of a text.

RI.K.3. With prompting and support,
describe the connection between two
individuals, events,ideas, or pieces
of information in a text.

1. Read Write Think
-Standards based lesson with assessment rubrics and strategies for K-2, with links to other websites that host informational text for primary students.

2. Scholastic Character Scrapbook
-Interactive site to help analyze the characters in any book

1. iLearn With the Mighty Jungle (Life Science App)
-Informational text and games on animal habitats, their features, behaviors, etc.

2. iLearn With Poko: Seasons and Weather
-Informational text and games about the seasons and the weather that accompany them.

3. A Life Cycle App
-Narrations, text, and illustrations are used to teach the life cycle of frogs, plants, water, rocks, the moon, and more.

Craft and Structure

RI.K.4. With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

RI.K.5. Identify the front cover, back cover, and title page of a book.

RI.K.6. Name the author and illustrator of a text and define the role of each in presenting the ideas or information in a text.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

RI.K.7. With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts).

RI.K.8. With prompting and support, identify the reasons an author gives to support points in a text.

RI.K.9. With prompting and support, identify basic similarities in and differences between two texts on the same topic (e.g., in illustrations, descriptions, or procedures).

Kidspiration: -Comparing -Literary Elements

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

RI.K.10. Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.

Roxie's Doors
-Helps students find hidden objects to help their pre-reading/discrimination skills.

Reading: Foundational Skills

Print Concepts

RF.K.1. Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print.

Follow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page.

Recognize that spoken words are represented in written language by specific sequences of letters.

Understand that words are separated by spaces in print.
Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet..

1. Learning Planet
-Great for learning the alphabet...have to fill in the missing letter.

2. Lickety Letter Bingo
-Students have to recognize the letter that is spoken to them. -1st level is uppercase, 2nd level is lowercase and 3rd level is mixed.

3. Play and Learn
-Choose to practice lower case, upper case, or both

4. Ziggity Zoom Stories
-Simple narrated storybooks with interactive page turning.

1. ABCBuddy
-Uppercase and lowercase letter recognition and finding the letter in onscreen keyboard.

2. ABC Interactive Flash Cards
-Learn letters of the alphabet with animations and music. Winner of many app awards.

Phonological Awareness

RF.K.2. Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).

Recognize and produce rhyming words.

Count, pronounce, blend, and segment syllables in spoken words.

Blend and segment onsets and rimes of single-syllable spoken words.

Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words.1 (This does not include CVCs ending with /l/, /r/, or /x/.)

Add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to make new words.

1. Building Language for Literacy
- Choose "Reggie" to help children categorize objects by dragging and dropping them into a box.

2. KOL Jr. Musical Worms Spelling
-Work on letters and spelling with this musical worm game

3. Roy the Zebra
-Interactive guided reading stories, rhyming words, full-stops (periods) and more.
- Free registration.

4. Words and Pictures
-CVC words, high frequency words, and consonant cluster games.

1. Build a Word
-Dolch Words, also short-vowel words and long-vowel words, or create your own word list.

2. Dora's Rhyming Word Adventure
-Help Dora with rhyming words or with segmenting words by isolating their beginning, middle, or ending sounds.

3. Phonics Made Easy Flash Action
-Rhymes, beginning/middle/ending sounds, blends and digraphs, vowel sounds.

Phonics and Word Recognition

RF.K.3. Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.

1. KOL Jr.
- Click on "Learn Your Letters" to match words that have the same beginning letter, and then use mouse control to drag the cow over the words.

2. TES iboard
-Choose from Narrative, Non-fiction, sentence structure/punctuation, and word work.

1. Learn Sight Words by BrightTrail
-Dolch wordlist

2. Montessori Crosswords Teach and Spell With Phonics Enabled Alphabet.
- This app has learners "push" letters into sound boxes to create words. Teacher and parent recommended.

3. Spell and Listen Talking Flashcards
-550 everyday words, 1100 pictures and 550 sounds to strengthen vocabulary--

Fluency

RF.K.4 . Read emergent-reader texts with purpose and understanding.

KidPix
-Students can record their voices/reading into KidPix and listen to it.

Text Types and Purposes

W.K.1. Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic or the name of the book they are writing about and state an opinion or preference about the topic or book (e.g., My favorite book is...).

W.K.2. Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.

W.K.3. Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened.

1. Little Bird Tales
-Web 2.0 (Must create free account)

2. TES iboard
-Click on ict tab...use pictures to create a story.

AudioNote - Notepad and Voice Recorder NoteTaker
-Have students practice writing their letters, name, words, or even short sentences.

Production and Distribution of Writing

W.K.4. (Begins in grade 3)

W.K.5. With guidance and support from adults, respond to questions and suggestions from peers and add details to strengthen writing as needed.

W.K.6. With guidance and support from adults, explore a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.

1. Little Bird Tales
-Web 2.0 (Must create free account)

2. Storybird
-Create stories using pictures from the Storybird collection.
- Free account required.

Research to Build and Present Knowledge

W.K.7. Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of books by a favorite author and express opinions about them).
W.K.8. With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question. (Begins in grade 4)

KidPix
-Create a slideshow for a group project or a project with an older peer "study buddy."

Comprehension and Collaboration

SL.K.1. Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups

Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others and taking turns speaking about the topics and texts under discussion).

Continue a conversation through multiple exchanges.

. Confirm understanding of a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media by asking and answering questions about key details and requesting clarification if something is not understood.
SL.K.2

SL.K.3. Ask and answer questions in order to seek help, get information, or clarify something that is not understood

1. Kids Audio Books
- A variety of free primary audio stories. Site contains holiday stories, fairytales, fables, and more in a MP3 (NO VIDEO) format for students to listen to. Stories can be downloaded or played from the link.

2. Storynory
- Audio only website with a variety of stories--you choose your genre at the top of the screen.

3. Utah Education Network
-Several listening games for grades K-2.

What is it? Auditory Flashcards
-Listen to the sounds and try to guess what it is.
- Categories are animals, foods, in the city, around the house,
musical instruments, and more.

1. KidPix
Give students a vivid oral description of an object and have them draw it in KidPix. Have them describe their pictures using the same descriptive vocabulary using the voice recorder. Put into a slideshow.

2. Kidspiration
Choose a set of pictures (e.g. animals). Using descriptive words, have students find the corresponding picture in the group. Have students describe pictures for other students to find.

Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas Describe familiar people, places, things, and events and, with prompting and support, provide additional detail. Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail.

SL.K.4. SL.K.5.

SL.K.6

. Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.

Conventions of Standard English

L.K.1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

L.K.2 . Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

TES iboard
-Choose from Narrative, Non-fiction, sentence structure/punctuation, and word work.

1. Alphabytes
-Practice tracing capital and lowercase letters, spelling, and letter sounds all with a bowl of letters that looks like cereal.

2. FunDog ~ Reading & Thinking Word Analogies by iReadingTeacher
-Analogy game to practice common sight words and high frequency words along with critical thinking skills.

3. Martha Speaks Dog Party
-Join Martha the dog (from PBS) and learn some new vocabulary words.

4. Preschool Pattern Recognition
-A pattern recognition game
- Looks a great deal like questions on the MAP test for primary.

5. Sentence Builder
-Help students learn how to build grammatically correct sentences. 3 levels of play.

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

L.K.4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on kindergarten reading and content.

L.K.5. With guidance and support from adults, explore word relationships and nuances in word meanings.

L.K.6. Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts.

1. Building Language for Literacy
- Scholastic IWB site.
- Choose "Nina or Leo" to help children categorize objects by dragging and dropping those that belong together into a box.

2. Sorting With Hampshire
-Help Hampshire the Pig sort objects from his room.

Kidspiration
-Templates in Kidspiration can be made into sorting activities.

CCSS General Resources

1. Common Core Standards App View the Common Core State Standards in one convenient FREE app!

2. Common Core State Standards Initiative Home page
-Reading Language Arts

3. Reading A-Z has correlated their materials to the Common Core Standards to help you find resources.

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Key Ideas and Details . With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details. RL.K.1 . With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text. RL.K.2 RL.K.3 . With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

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Differentiating Instruction for All Populations 

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Differentiating Instruction for All Populations 

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This website provides activities and examples that allow all learner types to be successful.

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Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life. New York: Basic Books.

Danielson, C. (1996). Enhancing Professional Practice: A Framework for Teaching. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. ED 403 245.

Sternberg, R. J., Torff, B., & Grigorenko, E. L. (1998). Teaching triarchically improves student achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(3), 374-384. EJ 576 492.

Tomlinson, C. (1995). How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-ability Classrooms. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. ED 386 301.

Tomlinson, C. (1999). The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of all Learners. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. ED 429 944.

Vygotsky, L. (1986). Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Winebrenner, S. (1992). Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit.

Winebrenner, S. (1996). Teaching kids with Learning Difficulties in the Regular Classroom. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit. ED 396 502.

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Differentiation means tailoring instruction to meet individual needs. Whether teachers differentiate content, process, products, or the learning environment, the use of ongoing assessment and flexible grouping makes this a successful approach to instruction.

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Initial Assessments for Teaching Differentiating Texts 

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Initial Assessments for Teaching Differentiating Texts 

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This resource provides educators with pre assessments to be utilized for reading proficiency.

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This practical guide to teaching literacy in kindergarten is based on the premise that "students can manage higher and more specific goals than those of the traditional kindergarten program." A spirit of play is essential for kindergartners, and this program combines that philosophy with the nitty-gritty of successful instruction. Shared, guided, and independent reading, integrated with interactive, shared, and independent writing?and a constant infusion of word-study skills?provide a playful, confidence-building curriculum. For use with Grades PreK-K.

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This practical guide to teaching literacy in kindergarten is based on the premise that "students can manage higher and more specific goals than those of the traditional kindergarten program." A spirit of play is essential for kindergartners, and this program combines that philosophy with the nitty-gritty of successful instruction.