Taking "Different" out of Differentiated Instruction to Help ALL Students

Reading comprehension is difficult for many children, thus affecting all content areas throughout their school day. Utilizing technology can be a way to engage students in reading activities, while incorporating interactive assessment to increase comprehension. In addition to these exciting technological advances, teachers have found that utilizing instructional strategies from the field of special education can greatly increase reading mastery in elementary and secondary students (Hughes & Murawski, 2091; Roe, 2010). From differentiating instruction and scaffolding assessments questions, to creating individualized learning centers and partner activities; teachers can maximize learning time by increasing student engagement and time-on-task (Isherwood & Barger-Anderson, 2008; McDuffie, Mastropieri, Scruggs, 2009).

Objectives of workshop/Instructional Goals:

Target audience

Early Childhood Teachers (Birth – K)
Primary Grade Teachers (K – 2)
Intermediate Grade Teachers (3 – 5)
Middle School Teachers (6 – 8)
High School Teachers (9 – 12)

Planned Workshop Activities

Participants will move through differentiated learning centers throughout the workshop to increase individualized learning. The intent of this interactive workshop is to provide ALL educators with tools to increase student engagement, and reading comprehension for ALL students by putting a new spin on old tricks that have proven to increase student mastery in the field of special education for years.

Instructional Staff

Colleen Freyvogel, Creative Minds International Public Charter School