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Supporting Differentiation in Curriculum: Newsela(Technology Based) 

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Supporting Differentiation in Curriculum: Newsela(Technology Based) 

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Newsela supports differentiation by providing authentic, real-world content at five different reading levels. This allows teachers to pick activities and content to meet individual student needs. In regards to curriculum, it allows students to access content at their individual level. They have student choice in their learning. Allowing them to choose articles and select their preferred methods to demonstrate their comprehension. The platform's vast library of non-fiction articles are aligned with academic standards, and can be used to teach a wide range of subjects. Curriculum can also be supplemented by connecting current events and topics to classroom content. Teachers can track comprehension through built-in quizzes, giving immediate feedback on student progress. By integrating Newsela into daily instruction, teachers create inclusive classrooms where every student can grow and engage with meaningful, relevant content.

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Supporting Differentiation in Curriculum: Reading Rockets (Non-tech, professional resource)

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Supporting Differentiation in Curriculum: Reading Rockets (Non-tech, professional resource)

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Reading Rockets emphasizes differentiated instruction involves adapting reading lessons to varied needs, abilities, and interests of students. This research-based website offers strategies, lesson plans, and interventions for literacy instruction. Teachers can differentiate by adjusting the following: Content, Process, and Products. Teachers can use differentiation strategies on Reading Rockets to scaffold vocabulary and comprehension. Benefiting students performing below grade level, while providing enrichment tasks for advanced learners. Among the resources include evidence based methods for teaching phonological awareness, decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. There is a strong emphasis on building student's background knowledge and vocabulary, which is crucial for future reading comprehension.The site also highlights strategies for English language learners, helping teachers adapt instruction for multilingual students.

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CommonLit is a free digital platform that has a vast library for educators to differentiate instruction. They have leveled non-fiction, fiction and pair texts. Because the library includes a wide range of genres and topics, teachers can use it to spark inquiry projects and discussions. Some scaffolds include, read-aloud, translation features and reading support. There is even a data tracking tool to monitor student performance, set goals, and make informed decisions. Helping teachers to adjust their instructional approach for diverse learners. Students can explore themed texts that will foster their critical thinking, and inquiry. Texts provide higher order questions that align to the SOL 2.R.2 (comprehension). Studies show by using this platform there was a significant increase in student reading growth and performance. A consistent, scaffolded learning experience is provided for all students. Especially English Language Learners and students with disabilities. There is spotlighted vocabulary , and footnotes to help students expand their work knowledge, also improving their understanding of text. This shared curriculum ensures all students receive consistent, rigorous instruction.

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Enrichment / Extension:Junior Great Books (Non-tech)

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Enrichment / Extension:Junior Great Books (Non-tech)

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Junior Great Books is a print based enrichment rooted in socratic seminar practices and inquiry. There are enrichment benefits such as, developing close reading, fostering engagement, and improving academic achievement through inquiry-based learning. Its use for curriculum is rigorous, high quality literature text for advanced learners. Students get to engage in deep analysis, and collaborative discussions. Extending beyond grade level expectations in reading and writing. The shared inquiry method fosters critical thinking, comprehension, and collaborative dialogue. Sequenced activities from the Junior Great Books prepares students for deeper discussion that will extend their learning. Teachers can facilitate discussions through an interactive process. Students and teachers should both collaboratively explore texts, generate idea, and use textual evidence to support their thinking. This resource also supports writing skills by asking students to explain and defend their ideas in writing. To extend learning, provide opportunities for students to respond to texts through written work using graphic organizers or response journals. This helps to synthesize their ideas developed through discussions.

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"I think Junior Great Books is an important component of a balanced literacy program because it really incorporates the reading, writing, speaking, and listening components that are at the heart of balanced literacy. Kids are really driving the process. They're driving the discussions. . . . Their thinking is at the heart of it."

Angela Brito
Blaine Elementary School
Chicago, IL

For more than 50 years, schools that integrate Great Books materials and our inquiry-based approach to learning into their curriculum have been helping their students become independent readers and thinkers while enhancing the instructional skills of their teachers.

Balancing literary and informational texts

Building knowledge in the disciplines

Providing a staircase of text complexity

Requiring text-based answers

Focusing on evidence in writing

Expanding vocabulary

The Shared Inquiry Method of Learning

Foster a vibrant classroom environment in which students develop the habits of effective learners while meeting key standards. The Shared Inquiry method of learning lets students' curiosity and insights drive exploration of rich texts.

Teachers who learn Shared Inquiry:

Meet key learning standards through inquiry-based, collaborative approach

Engage all students in higher-level reading, thinking, and discussion

Integrate critical thinking and social and emotional learning into the curriculum

Differentiate instruction to address a wide range of students' learning needs and strengths

"As a fifth- and sixth-grade literacy teacher, I brought Great Books to a group of students, and I found it to be very powerful. I made the decision that I was going to use Great Books with my lower-performing students, and those students just ate up Great Books. The discussion, the writing that came out of it, the camaraderie that was built within the students-the very things that you thought students were going to struggle with-they come to life."

Mitchell Brookins
Assistant Principal
Marquette School of Excellence
Chicago, IL

"I like it when I get to share my thoughts with the whole class. It makes me feel kind of happy because everyone is paying attention. It's great because you actually get to share your thoughts and it makes you feel good. You're being respected and everyone's listening to you . . . and you should do the same thing to other people."

Spiros, First Grader
Blaine Elementary School
Chicago, IL

Students who learn Shared Inquiry:

Use reading comprehension strategies purposefully

Develop their own opinions and claims about a text

Support ideas with textual evidence, and weigh evidence for divergent ideas

Go beyond initial responses to think deeper about issues

Develop social and emotional intelligence through respectful dialogue and collaboration

Junior Great Books Program Features

In Great Books programs, students' critical thinking develops through careful reading, attentive listening, thoughtful speaking, and purposeful writing.

Critical Thinking

Students explore problems of meaning by:

Generating ideas
Giving evidence
Responding to each other

Read aloud fluently

Annotate a text

Interpret word meaning

Recall facts and cite details

Generate ideas about meaning

Infer, evaluate, and revise ideas

Find evidence to support ideas

Routinely write notes and questions

Organize, develop, and support ideas

Edit and revise writing with peer review

Use different writing forms for different purposes

Speaking and Listening

Students:

Share questions

Express and clarify ideas

Explain and support ideas

Listen and respond to others' opinions

Recall ideas and evidence heard in discussion

Great Books has over 50 years of experience imparting key principles and practices of inquiry-based teaching. Our Shared Inquiry method has been used in thousands of classrooms across the country and around the world. Our programs are currently in use in countries worldwide, including Australia, Bermuda, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Guatemala, India, Japan, Kuwait, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam. No other organization or company has more history or expertise at making inquiry-based teaching and learning succeed than Great Books.

Great Books inquiry-based programs have been recognized as effective by the US Department of Education, and independent research has shown that regular, sustained use of Shared Inquiry improves reading comprehension, writing, and critical thinking for students from a wide range of demographic backgrounds and achievement levels.

The Junior Great Books program features outstanding literature by award-winning authors. Stories are selected for their vivid writing and for their ability to support multiple interpretations and thought-provoking discussions, as well as for their diversity of settings, genres, and writing styles.

Junior Great Books programs combine classroom materials and an inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning to provide the essential elements students need to meet and surpass the goals of Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.

Junior Great Books Nonfiction Inquiry program features alignment of disciplinary core ideas of NextGen Science Standards (NGSS) and grade level themes outlined by the National Council for Social Studies (NCSS)

Junior Great Books programs help teachers develop the competencies and skills outlined in the Danielson Framework for Teaching, adopted by school districts as a road map of professional practice designed to guide, support, and evaluate teachers. Great Books programs promote the most effective teaching practices outlined in the Danielson Framework.

Our training and follow-up consultation services focus on Shared Inquiry as a method-and
on the shift the teacher makes to become the model of an active learner who is leading, facilitating, and enhancing the learning of others through questioning and gradual release of responsibility to the students. This emphasis on teacher development and growth and on student-centered learning harmonizes with both Danielson's Framework for Teaching and Marzano's Teacher Evaluation Model, specifically in the areas of questioning and discussion strategies, the teacher's role in Shared Inquiry, and content and preparation in a student-driven learning environment.

Our materials help your students develop the critical thinking, close-reading, and analytical skills they need to be college and career ready. Our questioning and discussion techniques help teachers become better discussion leaders.

If your teachers and students are not sure how to integrate inquiry-based teaching and learning into their daily routines, we can help you identify the key problem areas for your students and teachers. No matter what curriculum, literacy program, or textbook you're using, we'll work with you to develop a customized approach that integrates our products and/or professional learning into your classroom routines. Please contact us to schedule a time when we can meet and start developing the approach that works best for you.

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Junior Great Books K-5 * The Great Books Foundation

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MENUMENUOverview FeaturesMaterialsResearchLexilesResources and Alignments K-5 SamplesShopChat with Us Junior Great Books K-5 The Junior Great Books program combines high-quality literature, student-centered discussion, and activities that support reading comprehension, critical thinking, speaking and listening, and writing. We provide outstanding classroom materials and inspiring professional development.

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Padlet is a collaborative online board used for posting questions, media, and reflections. Diverse methods are offered for content, delivery, and processing. Information can be accessed in various formates(text, audio, images) to demonstrate learning. Students can choose Padlet layouts that are suitable to their learning styles. During inquiry units, this platform can be utilized to collect lingering questions, record group findings, and respond to peers. Collaborative spaces are highly useful as they provide real-time idea sharing, and community building. Shared digital walls allow for teachers and students to post their ideas, and resources. Teachers can use digital walls to give students constructive feedback that fosters an engaging learning environment. Padlet boards can also be used for exit tickets, group research projects, or collective question walls that grow throughout a unit.

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Collaboration & Self-Directed Learning: Literature Circles (Non-tech)

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Collaboration & Self-Directed Learning: Literature Circles (Non-tech)

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Literature circles allow students to make choices about their learning(Aguilar, 2010). Using this method, a small group of students work in reading discussions with assigned roles. This is a beneficial resource to implement for curriculum as they foster collaboration, communication skills, student engagement and improved comprehension. When students participate in literature circles, they engage in comprehension strategies(questioning, inferencing, connecting ideas), which helps them develop stronger comprehension skills. Student autonomy is encouraged and peer-to-peer teaching as learners take ownership of their learning and monitoring of comprehension. This model can be adapted for different grade levels. Lit circles are a balanced part of literary curriculum, offering a structured approach to offer a love of reading. They can be adapted for diverse learners by modifying roles and using different levels of texts.

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Cultural Diversity: Learning for Justice (Digital)

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Cultural Diversity: Learning for Justice (Digital)

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Learning for Justice provides a framework and resources for curriculum best practices and fostering cultural diversity. There are free resources , texts, and lesson plans that address diversity, equity, and social justice. Multicultural texts are provided along with discussion guides that can be embedded into ELA units to highlight diverse perspectives. For example, students can work on biographies of underrepresented historical figures. This online K-12 literacy based curriculum, helps teachers deliver culturally responsive instruction answers still meet Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts. These digital resources help integrate diverse text while also building student's critical thinking skills. Creating an inclusive learning environment that support's social and emotional well being. By embedding these resources, teachers can connect standards to real-world issues and empower students to think critically about society. Learning for Justice also helps educators create classrooms where all students feel valued and represented.

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The internet is an amazing tool for teaching and learning. But, before we can teach students to harness its power and become good citizens of the web, we need to understand the intricacies of how it works and how it can be manipulated to mislead and even harm users.
Learning the Landscape of Digital Literacy

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Digital and Civic Literacy Skills The internet is an amazing tool for teaching and learning. But, before we can teach students to harness its power and become good citizens of the web, we need to understand the intricacies of how it works and how it can be manipulated to mislead and even harm users.

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Cultural Diversity:Epic! Books (Digital)

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Cultural Diversity:Epic! Books (Digital)

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Epic! is a digital library of children's books that empowers best practices in curriculum, by providing access to a vast collection of leveled books. Educators create and share collections of videos and books for a specific unit of study. Allowing for customized learning paths that align with curriculum goals. Books are according to reading levels. This makes it easy to assign, appropriate texts to students based on their individual needs. Students have access to diverse texts from different cultures and languages. Fostering inclusivity and cultural responsiveness. There are also features such as audiobooks that support English Language Learners, and emergent readers by modeling fluent reading, and developing comprehension skills. Students gain exposure to literature that reflects their identities and introduces them to new perspectives. Its accessibility and variety make it a powerful tool for equity and inclusion.

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This interactive technology based platform has quizzes, simulations, lessons and other useful resources. Nearpod supports cross-curricular connections and collaborative lesson development. Teachers can use the interactive tools to build lessons to combine different subject areas. The Virtual Reality (VR) feature allows teacher to take students on immersive, 3D field trips to diverse location. Fostering connections between subjects, and topics they are learning. The school and administrators can create a shared library of high-quality, pre-made Neared lessons that are aligned with curriculum goals. Ensuring instructional consistency across grade levels and allowing educators to share strategies collaboratively. Collaboration is encouraged among peers as they can share editable versions of their lessons together. Nearpod’s interactivity helps maintain student engagement while reinforcing literacy across subjects.

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This digital platform gives teachers access to millions of authentic resources from Smithsonian museums, research centers, museums, and libraries. One major practice that can be implemented using this source is inquiry-based learning. Inquiry-based learning is more than asking a student what he or she wants to know. It’s about triggering curiosity(Gawron,2016). Teachers can use the Learning Lab to pose questions that spark student curiosity, and engagement. Using high-quality resources such as artifacts, images, and recordings. An inquiry-based approach prompts students to strengthen their literacy across all subjects. Requiring them to read, write, and discuss and develop a deeper understanding of content. Smithsonian Learning Lab enriches cross-curricular integration by providing credible, engaging, and diverse resources.

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Classsdojo is a classroom community app that supports character education and social-emotional learning by enabling teachers to track behaviors, build SEL skills, and support family connections. To use ClassDojo to implement curriculum, teachers can align points with character education goals. Customizing the skills students earn points for. This reinforces a positive classroom culture, based on observable behaviors. "Big Ideas" are animated videos that teach students about social and emotional skills. Each video has discussion questions that help build upon student's speaking and listening skills. The digital student portfolio feature allows student to document their own work and achievements. Teachers should encourage students to use their portfolios to post reflections about their learning and growth. As students are working on their writing, and research projects, positive habits should be reinforced. Teachers can also highlight character traits that are tied to read-aloud texts in class.

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Character Education & SEL:Second Step (Non-tech/print or hybrid)

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Character Education & SEL:Second Step (Non-tech/print or hybrid)

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Second Step is a social emotional learning curriculum that focuses on empathy, problem-solving, and self regulation. Ultimately improving the academic environment by reducing classroom disruptions which allows the teacher more learning time. Dedicated training and resources are offered for teacher to guide implementation and teach core concepts. SEL can be embedded into existing lessons through modeled strategies, and providing additional practice through role-playing. Through training, teachers are coached through tasks and facilitate reflection about how the SEL skills were used. SEL goals can be set early in the year for teachers and students. Regular check-ins should be conducted to monitor the progress towards reaching the goals. Direct SEL units complement ELA units. After reading a story about conflict, students can practice SEL skills through role playing guided by Second step. Students learn how to navigate challenges in texts and in real life, building resilience.

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Aguilar, E. (2010). The Power of Literature Circles in the Classroom.

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/literature-circles-how-to-and-reasons-why-elena-aguilar

Gawron, H, W. (2016). What the Heck Is Inquiry-Based Learning?

https://www.edutopia.org/article/blog-what-heck-inquiry-based-learning-heather-wolpert-gawron/