Kids access their leveled text through an interactive learning portal designed to keep them motivated and engaged. Every eBook is available in online and mobile formats, and allows students to listen to, read at their own pace, and record themselves reading. Students then take a corresponding eQuiz complete with an extended answer response to test comprehension and determine future instruction needs. Once a child has read ten or more of the leveled eBooks and passed each of the corresponding eQuizzes, they advance on to the next reading level where they have access to lengthier and more difficult text.”
https://www.raz-kids.com/ 

This is an amazing resource for helping meet students where they are. This is an excellent example of student centered learning. It meets all four principles: personalized, competency based, anytime/anywhere (all you need is your tablet/electronic device), and Ss take ownership by selecting what books they want to read to complete their level. It is a subscription service, but there is a free trial available. 

EPIC is similar to Razkids in the sense that it provides instant and unlimited access to thousands of e-books, videos, and quizzes from leading publishers to help kids everywhere read, learn, and grow. It is only available as a subscription (free trial available) so, it is only accessible to those who are financially able to pay, just like Razkids. It has features where teachers can assign books and track student’s progress. 

NewsELA is a “platform that provides common core reading content. It not only engages students with relevant topics they care about, it also helps build a background knowledge in vocabulary they need to become active, engaged readers.” 

“Every text comes with a quiz that's aligned to ELA standards for informational reading or literature, so teachers can focus on each student's individual skill development.” Furthermore, it has multiple levels. This means that students approach rigorous texts confidently. Real-time differentiation means teachers can include all students in every lesson, and no one ever feels left out of a discussion.” Content is updated daily so teachers can engage their students with relevant information. 

ClassDojo “connects teachers with students and parents to build amazing classroom communities”. “Teachers can encourage students for any skill or value — whether it's working hard, being kind, helping others or something else.” to build a positive classroom environment. Classdojo also provides a platform where students “can showcase and share their learning by adding photos and videos to their own portfolios.” It is also a way for parents to engage with their children and teachers by sharing photos, documents, videos, and fun classroom moments.  

It is also user-friendly and visually appealing and has a number of features to help make the classroom environment run smoothly; group maker, noise control, point trackers, and video content to develop social skills and mindfulness. It is a great digital tool to help build a stronger connection with teachers, students, and guardians. 

Reciprocal Teaching could look like this: (I copy and pasted this transcript directly from the source)

“Predictor: I think this section of the chapter will talk about how the people in the towns worked in different jobs. The picture on this page shows one person baking and one person making shoes.

 

Questioner: I wonder how much they got paid in those days.

Summarizer: Let’s read and see what it says and if we’re correct.

 

 (Students read the section on Medieval Europe and the towns.)

 

Questioner: I was right. It does say that people worked as bakers and made shoes. The shoes were made out of leather.

Summarizer: Yes, this section was about how people in the Middle Ages worked in many jobs. One other job was farming, and the methods they used for farming weren’t efficient.

 

Questioner: What’s that mean? Efficient?

 

Clarifier: Doesn’t it mean that the ways they used to farm weren’t that good?

 

Summarizer and Predictor: YES!

Summarizer: So many people worked as farmers until the farming methods became efficient. Then they didn’t need so many farmers, so, some of the people became bakers, shoemakers, and weavers.

 

Clarifier: So, the townspeople weren’t farmers for a very long time . . .just until the land got better. Then many more jobs were available for these people.

 

Predictor: I bet the next section of this chapter will tell about how people traded the things they made. “

 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321336458_If_You_Want_Students_to_Read_Widely_and_Well-Eliminate_Round-Robin_Reading/link/5a1d92a3aca2726120b307dc/download 

Further Differentiation: You could provide sentence stems to help students organize their thoughts and take notes while reading. Take the "clarifier" by example. They could be given sentence stems such as:

- Oh I get it.......
-Now that makes sense.......
- This part is really saying......

https://sites.google.com/a/esu4.net/esu4strategies/all-strategies/say-something

Alternatives: If you want to give students time to work independently (and/or practice writing skills), you could give students lets say 6 minutes to read as much of a text or chunk they can, and then have them write a response using the sentence stems.

Collaborative learning theory involves peer-to-peer learning that fosters deeper thinking in the classroom. Collaborative learning theory suggests that group learning helps students develop their higher-level thinking, oral communication, self-management and leadership skills. Students also have the opportunity to build upon their leadership and organizational skills."

(https://tophat.com/glossary/c/collaborative-learning-theory/#:~:text=Collaborative%20learning%20theory%20involves%20peer,self%2Dmanagement%20and%20leadership%20skills.)

The fishbowl technique provides for a collaborative project where each student can be graded individually. As they watch other groups, students will also learn more about the novel they are studying. Source: https://www.how-to-study.com/teaching-tips/teaching-tip.asp?tid=217

https://www.moe.edu.kw/teacher/Documents/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D8%BA%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AC%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%A9/learner%20centered%20teaching/5-Assessment%20in%20LCT%20.pdf

Students are highly engaged due to the multisensory nature of the learning environment.  Lessons are adjusted constantly based on student assets and needs. Learning experiences are scaffolded.

Students can go through their own lessons and develop their independent skills. The training that teachers receive allows them to prepare and implement lesson plans to introduce skills in whole group settings, and/or reinforce skills in small group rotational models. Students work at their own pace, constantly being challenged at their own levels.

Initial diagnostic assessments provide a good overview of the knowledge and skills students possess and what they need to work on. Students are tested through formative and summative assessments, to determine if they are ready to move on and to inform instruction.

Student feedback is tailored to inspire student opportunities for growth. Whether feedback is received through conferencing, written notes or questions, or through a rubric, feedback is provided to all students frequently.

Teachers use student data to make informed decisions. Teachers refine strategies based on observed results and plan improvements whenever data suggests the need for change.

Family engagement is prioritized so that learning extends beyond the classroom into homes and communities where rich, culturally-responsive learning opportunities abound.

To ensure student-centered learning is successful in a school, we need to focus on equity, engage educators as learners and leaders, and develop goals for our students that align both with academic standards and community needs. With this shared vision in mind, the staff, parents and community will have built a school that is centered around students and their passions, assets and goals.

Reference:

https://studentsatthecenterhub.org/resource/implemented-6-student-centered-learning-goals-advance-equity/

 

‘Teaching at a level that’s too easily accessible to each student can harm your differentiated instruction efforts, according to Tomlinson. Instead, she recommends “teaching up.” This eliminates the pitfall of being stuck on low-level ideas, seldom reaching advanced concepts:

 

We do much better if we start with what we consider to be high-end curriculum and expectations -- and then differentiate to provide scaffolding, to lift the kids up.

 

The usual tendency is to start with what we perceive to be grade-level material and then dumb it down for some and raise it up for others. But we don’t usually raise it up very much from that starting point, and dumbing down just sets lower expectations for some kids.

 

Keeping this concept in mind should focus your differentiated teaching strategy, helping you bring each student up to “high-end curriculum and expectations.”

 

As Elizabeth S. LeBlanc, Co-Founder of the Institute for Teaching and Learning, writes for EdSurge: "Accelerated learning approaches give a lower priority to repetition or 'skill-and-drill' uses of instructional technology. In other words, it’s not about memorizing everything you should have learned, it’s about moving you forward so you pick things up along the way."

 

 

Asking questions about learning and studying styles can help you pinpoint the kinds of content that will meet your class’s needs.

While running learning stations or a large-group activity, pull each student aside for a few minutes. Ask about:

 

-Their favourite types of lessons

-Their favourite in-class activities

-Which projects they’re most proud of

-Which kinds of exercises help them remember key lesson points

-Track your results to identify themes and students with uncommon preferences, helping you determine which methods of instruction suit their abilities.

 

 

A lesson should resonate with more students if it targets visual, tactile, auditory and kinesthetic senses, instead of only one.

 

When applicable, appeal to a range of learning styles by:

 

-Playing videos

-Using infographics

-Providing audiobooks

-Getting students to act out a scene

-Incorporating charts and illustrations within texts

-Giving both spoken and written directions to tasks

 

Not only will these tactics help more students grasp the core concepts of lessons, but make class more engaging.

 

 

Provide different types of content by setting up learning stations — divided sections of your classroom through which groups of students rotate. You can facilitate this with a flexible seating plan. Each station should use a unique method of teaching a skill or concept related to your lesson

Reference:

https://www.prodigygame.com/main-en/blog/differentiated-instruction-strategies-examples-download/

I teach 3rd grade elementary students and they love to move a lot. Their developmental age have less self-control; and therefore, they need to be refocused in various ways throughout the school day. An easy way of doing that is to incorporate movement and fun activities into their daily routine (Davies, 2017).

A physical movement activity I implemented into my class for student centered learning is the "Shark Game". I will name a stroke, kick or skill and student will demonstrate the movement from the pool deck. If any student is displaying the wrong technique I (Shark) would assist student. 



Reference
https://travelinginasia.company/2018/03/03/how-can-i-incorporate-physical-activity-into-student-centered-learning-module-3-unit-2-activity/