7/24/2019 Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners

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Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners

The growing diversity in today's classrooms demands that teachers be knowledgeable,

responsive, and well-prepared to work with a multicultural, multilingual student population. To

meet the needs of students from all backgrounds, teachers must use a broad array of research-

based strategies that support diverse modes of learning and build on what they already know and

do. These are some specific strategies that have been found to be effective in accommodating the

needs and learning styles of our diverse learners. These effective instructional strategies and

practices include !"# visuals$ !%# hands-on learning e&periences$ !# cooperative learning$ !(#

peer tutoring$ and !)# alternative assessments. These strategies are especially beneficial for

students who are culturally and linguistically diverse, but they also represent e&cellent

educational practices for *all* learners, whether formal or informal education programs.

These strategies support active student participation in math lessons and allow teachers to

assess the developing proficiency levels of all students in the class by walking around to monitor

student responses. These strategies are especially effective during the +ental +ath part of an

veryday +athematics lesson.

Use white boards ach student will recieve a white board, dry erase marker and an

eraser. s the teacher ask uestions, each student writes his/her answer on the

whiteboard and hold it up for your review. This is an especially effective routine to use

at the beginning or end of lessons as it allows the teacher to uickly assess students'

independent performance levels. This information will give the teacher the opportunity

to plan future instruction and/or to form fle&ible small group instruction for reteaching or

enrichment.

Thumbs up/Thumbs Down Students in math classes must learn to evaluate the solutions

and arguments of their classmates. 0euiring students to signal agreement or

7/24/2019 Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners

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Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners

disagreement sets the e&pectation that students are actively listening to their classmates'

e&planations. 1airing this strategy with asking students to repeat what another student

said and students must stay actively tuned in to what's happening in the classroom at all

times.

Show me the answer Look for opportunities to incorporate visual components into

student responses. 2or e&ample

o 3ive students small response cards even/odd, prime/composite, yes/no,

area/perimeter and ask students to hold up the correct card to respond to

uestions.

Think-Pair-Share 4sing this simple routine to increase student math talk in your

classroom. &plain to students that you will do a Think-1air-Share on the ne&t uestion

o sk the uestion and encourage students to think uietly about how they would

respond to the uestion. 5ne variation asks students to uietly write a response

to the uestion in their math 6ournals 7Think-8rite-1air-Share9. fter one or two

minutes, ask students to share their response with their partner, taking turns so

that each partner e&plains his/her thinking. 8alk around the room to monitor

student responses. fter a few minutes, call on random students to e&plain how

their partnership responded to the uestion and whether or not they agreed. This

strategy is especially effective for students who are reluctant participants as they

get to rehearse their response in front of one classmate. Students may also

choose to use a partner's words or phrases in addition to their own, if called upon

to talk before the whole class. Let go and let students... This practice incorporates multiple effective strategies to

support student learning

o 3ive students the chalk or marker and ask them to come to the board or overhead

to e&plain their thinking. sking students to write as they e&plain allows them to

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Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners

organi:e their thinking and provides insight to teachers about what strategies and

organi:ational methods students use effectively and independently. This strategy

also provides practice for the e&pected independent test performance.

o

sk students to read directions or problems aloud rather than reading them

yourself. This practice encourages students to develop effective reading skills.

o sk students to define math vocabulary terms in their own words and draw a

picture that describes the term. 1ost the best definitions around the room, word

wall.

o ;uickly spin off students who are capable of independent work. 1rovide

enrichment activities that go beyond current grade-level e&pectations and reuire

higher-order thinking skills for solutions. ncourage these students to play

harder versions of math games !i.e. more cards, larger numbers, etc.#o Differentiating and scaffolding instruction is an effective way to meet the varied

needs of learners in class. 1roviding enrichment activities for talented students

while you work with small groups who need additional instruction or scaffold

support/encouragement during independent practice. 4se fle&ible grouping

based on informal assessment of student responses during instruction.