Five close reading strategies to support the Common Core I walked in to my first college class, Political Science 101, eager to learn. For my inaugural college assignment, my professor asked the class to read the first three chapters of the textbook for the next class period. That night, I returned to my dorm room, determined to learn everything I could in those three chapters. However, when I opened my textbook it was unlike anything I had read in high school. I shrugged, pulled out my highlighter and started highlighting. I quickly realized that I had no real game plan for reading this complicated textbook. Flash forward to my first few years of teaching. While this method may have been slightly more effective than what I used that first day of college, it was still too vague and ambiguous for my students. Last fall, I attended an AVID workshop about critical reading strategies. 1. The Common Core asks students to be able to cite and refer to the text. 2. 3. Telling students to simply underline “the important stuff” is too vague. 4. 5.
Understanding Differentiation in Order to Lead: Aiming for Fidelity to a Model by Carol Ann Tomlinson and Marcia B. Imbeau "I'm glad you found it useful," I responded. She paused as she searched for her next comment. She was puzzled. Misunderstanding: Differentiation is a set of instructional strategies.Reality: Differentiation is a philosophy—a way of thinking about teaching and learning. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a brief summary of what we call differentiated instruction; a full explanation of the elements of this approach is available in other resources (e.g., Tomlinson, 1999, 2001, 2004; Tomlinson, Brimijoin, & Narvaez, 2008; Tomlinson & McTighe, 2006). Key Elements of Differentiated Instruction Differentiation can be accurately described as classroom practice with a balanced emphasis on individual students and course content. Content The knowledge, understanding, and skills we want students to learn. Process How students come to understand or make sense of the content. Product Affect How students' emotions and feelings impact their learning. Readiness