DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION: CONTENT LITERACY CENTERS

Katie McKnight, Ph.D.Katie@KatherineMcKnight.com

What do you see?

Tenets of Differentiated Instruction

• Students differ in their learning profiles.

• Classrooms in which students are active learners, decision makers, and problem solvers are more natural and effectivethan those in which students are served a "one-size-fits-all“ curriculum and treated as passive recipients of information.

• "Covering information" takes a backseat to making meaning out of important ideas.

What we will do in this session….

• Introduce learning centers as an instructional tool for mathematics, social science, and science.

• Examine a wide variety of content literacy focused learning centers for mathematics, social science, and science.

• Discuss assessment strategies for learning centers.

Some Reminders about Content Literacy

Assumptions Underlying Content Literacy

• Subject Matter• Role of the Textbook• Active Readers• Independent Readers

What is Content Literacy?

–Generally defined as “the ability to use reading and writing for the acquisition of new content in a given discipline” (McKenna & Robinson, 1990, p. 184)

The Impact of Schema on Content Literacy

Source: Alvermann, D. and Phelps, S. (2002). Content Reading and Literacy: Succeeding in Today’s Diverse Classrooms. (5th Ed.).Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

More on Schema

The notes were sour because the seam split.

Source: Alvermann, D. and Phelps, S. (2002). Content Reading and Literacy: Succeeding in Today’s Diverse Classrooms. (5th Ed.).Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

More on Schema

The batsmen were merciless against the bowlers. The bowlers placed their men in slips and covers. But to no avail. The batsmen hit one in four after another along with an occasional six. Not once did a ball look like it would hit their stumps or be caught.

Source: Alvermann, D. and Phelps, S. (2002). Content Reading and Literacy: Succeeding in Today’s Diverse Classrooms. (5th Ed.).Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

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What do we know about our students’ reading?

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What do we know about readers?

Grigg, W.S., Daane, M.C., Jin, Y., & Campbell, J.R. (2003). The nation’s report card: Reading 2002. Jessup, MD: Education Publications Center.

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Students Most At Risk

Grigg, W.S., Daane, M.C., Jin, Y., & Campbell, J.R. (2003). The nation’s report card: Reading 2002. Jessup, MD: Education Publications Center.

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Components of Reading

Alphabetics: understanding and using the sounds thatmake up words (phonemic awareness) and the letters thatcorrespond to those sounds (decoding) and being able torelate the letters and sounds to the particular words theyrepresent (word recognition)

Fluency: identifying words accurately in an effortlessmanner and being able to read them in text with appropriateintonation, stress and phrasing

Vocabulary: knowing and understanding the meanings ofwords and using them with flexibility and precision

Comprehension: the process and product of constructingmeaning from what is read, involving an interaction betweena reader and a text, for a purpose and within a context

What are Learning Centers?

• Synonymous with Learning Stations.• Learning Stations are locations that a teacher

designs for students to work in small groups or individually.

• Each center has a clearly articulated learning activity.

Getting Started: A Checklist

1. Write out all directions for the students for each station.

2. Explain procedures and have them written out and posted in your classroom.

3. Create a “make up station” at the end of the rotation so that students can complete any unfinished work. Review and revision are key in the development of literacy skills sets.

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Getting Started: A Checklist (cont’d)

4. The teacher should circulate among the groups to facilitate answers and questions about the work.

5. Formal assessment occurs when the students have finished the novel.

6. When possible, give students a choice at each station.

I like to make a poster for each station.

Let’s look at a model for learning centers.

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A Classroom PictureSample Stations for First Rotation

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Content Study

Vocabulary Activity

Practice with Content

Reading Strategy

Listening or Viewing Center

Make Up Center

Sample Learning Centers

Directions: Circulate around the room to the different learning stations. Consider the following questions:1. How can you use this learning center activity for your

content area and classroom?2. As you consider your content area and a specific

learning center, what adaptations and suggestions do you have for the activity?

Note: These learning centers focus on vocabulary. When you create center activities for your students, you will have a variety of activities, not just vocabulary.

VOCABULARY AND TERMINILOGY CENTERS

Learning Center StationVocabulary

21Samples are from: McKnight, K. (2010). The Teacher's Big Book of Graphic Organizers: 100 Reproducible Organizers that Help Kids with Reading, Writing, and the Content Areas. Jossey-Bass.

Learning Center StationVocabulary

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Samples are from: McKnight, K. (2010). The Teacher's Big Book of Graphic Organizers: 100 Reproducible Organizers that Help Kids with Reading, Writing, and the Content Areas. Jossey-Bass.

Concept Sorts

• What is it?• Introduces students to the vocabulary of a new topic or book. • Students are provided with a list of terms or concepts from

reading material. • Students place words into different categories based on each

word's meaning. • Categories can be defined by the teacher or by the students.• When used before reading, concept sorts provide an

opportunity for a teacher to see what his or her students already know about the given content. When used after reading, teachers can assess their students' understanding of the concepts presented.

Concept MapYou or the student selects a word or concept for the center box of the organizer. In the box directly above, students should write the dictionary definition of the word or concept. Students should record key elements of the word or concept in each of the boxes on the upper left side. In each of the boxes on the upper right side, the students should record information that is incorrectly assigned to the word or concept.Examples of the word or concept are recorded in the boxes along the bottom of the page.The ‘‘What is it like?’’ and ‘‘What is it NOT like?’’ boxes can be particularly challenging.Be sure to model responses to these or allow students to work in pairs so that they will have greater success in completing this activity.

Word Detective

• The importance of encouraging students to study words cannot be emphasized enough.

• In this center, students are prompted to research the etymology of words (and content area terms) and connect visual images to the words that they encounter.

Creating Slide Shows

• www.photopeach.com

• Sample from an Algebra teacher

http://photopeach.com/album/tculv0?invitecode=b684ea3b5c

Vocabulary Demonstration Lesson

• http://www.adlit.org/media/mediatopics/vocab/

• http://www.adlit.org/media/mediatopics/vocab/

SAMPLE READING ACTIVITIES

KWL

K= What the reader already knows

L= What I learned

L= What the reader wants to learn or know.

DRTA

DRTA

Daniels, H. and Zimmerman, S. (2004). Subjects Matter: Every Teachers’ Guide to Content –Area Reading. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, p 121.

Sketch Through Text

Stop and Write

Inquiry Chart

The Inquiry Chart (I-Chart) is a strategy that enables students to generate meaningful questions about a topic and organize their writing. Students integrate prior knowledge or thoughts about the topic with additional information found in several sources. The I-Chart procedure is organized into three phases: (1) Planning, (2) Interacting, and (3) Integrating/Evaluating. Each phase consists of activities designed to engage students in evaluating a topic. http://www.adlit.org/strategies/21826/

I Do, We Do, You Do

• http://www.adlit.org/media/mediatopics/comprehension/

• Comprehension Demonstration

Visuals

• Graphic Organizers and other visuals support student comprehension and understanding of text.

• Here is an example from a Social Studies teacher

• http://www.adlit.org/media/mediatopics/contentarea/

More Resources

www.readingquest.orgwww.adlit.orgwww.readwritethink.org

Feedback

• I need feedback from you about next steps.• What do you need in order to experiment with

content based centers?