Differentiated Instruction

Adapt teaching style to reach every student

Your goal is to teach so that every student in your class learns. Sometimes that means having to modify your lessons or the way you present them to accommodate students with special needs. It doesn’t have to be a difficult task.

Here are a few suggestions:

If a student has difficulty listening:

• Provide a written outline of your lesson.
• Give short, simple explanations.
• Use flash cards.
• Have the student repeat your instructions aloud.

If a student has trouble reading:

• Allow the student extra time for reading.
• Hand out typed information using large fonts.
• Use visual aids as much as possible.

If a student has difficulty writing legibly:

• Plan writing lessons that include tracing letters on paper.
• Allow the student to type or record assignments.
• Show how to use graph paper to space letters and numbers evenly.
• Encourage shared note-taking.

If a student has trouble spelling:

• Teach mnemonic devices.
• Avoid penalizing the student too severely for spelling errors.
• Provide tactile aids—a box with sand to write in or magnetic letters.

Reprinted with permission from the March 2007 issue of Better Teaching® (Elementary Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2007 The Teacher Institute®, a division of NIS, Inc. Source: Kathleen Bulloch, “How to Adapt Your Teaching Strategies to Student Needs,” Reading Rockets, www.readingrockets.org/article/370.