Original Contribution 1

Original Contribution

CI5091 Capstone Experience for Curriculum and Instruction

Nicole MacFarlane

American College of Education

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Original Contribution

The purpose of this contribution is to create a useful, meaningful tool to incorporate

differentiated instruction in guided reading groups for first grade students. The district

this was created for is a high achieving district. The majority of students are performing

above grade level. Currently, many first grade teachers are using guided reading and

center time to reinforce phonics and reading skills that are taught each week. These

students need a more comprehensive plan to target specific needs and ensure academic

improvement. According to Twymon (2017), The five critical areas of reading instruction

are phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary development, and comprehension.

In order to improve guided reading instruction this website was created and is

shared with teachers from the district. After collecting reading data on the students from

multiple sources, the teachers will be able to group the students by ability. They will use

the first set of guided reading plans for the last week of September. Materials have been

collected, printed and provided for these teachers. Then we will work together to create

plan based on our students needs and the standards and objectives for the month of

October. Teachers will share the password to this website and it will eventually be used as

a common page to store our plans and ideas for differentiation.

The differentiated guided reading tab is the main tab that will be used by the

teachers over the next several months. When creating the lesson plans for this tab, I had to

consider the needs of our student population. We try to divide our students into four

groups. That allows us fifteen minutes to meet with each group. The four groups typically

consist of one low, two average, and one high group. Some years this is not the case and

adjustments are made. The low group enters first grade performing at grade level. The
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average groups tend to be performing slightly above grade level. The high group typically

performs one to two grade levels above first grade expectations. The low group needs

explicit instruction and practice in the areas of phonics, sight words, fluency, and decoding.

They also need vocabulary and comprehension instruction. The average groups need to

build on their fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The high group is reading well

above grade level. Phonics and fluency are not an issue, but they still receive this

instruction through whole class mini-lessons. These students need to be exposed to new

vocabulary and increasing their comprehension while reading.

I am hoping that the creation of this website will not only increase student

achievement, but also make teachers more comfortable using differentiation during guided

reading. Although the differentiated guided reading tab is the one that will be used most

often, the other tabs also provide many resources for the teachers to learn more about

differentiation. The links to videos and articles will be helpful when planning and thinking

of ideas. This website is meant to be a starting point. As teachers become more

comfortable, we can continue to look at student data and discuss flexible grouping and

grouping students by specific skill needs. We can discuss differentiation of content,

process, and product. Working together towards a common goal will positively impact our

profession and our students.

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References

Disneys Frozen Clip. (2013, October 03). Retrieved September 09, 2017, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylZgK42Lovw

Easy Differentiation for Classroom Teachers. (n.d.). Retrieved June 13, 2017, from

http://www.teachhub.com/easy-differentiation-classroom-teachers

HW Johnson, consultant at Rutgers State University, various clients Follow. (2008, August 26).

Differentiated Instruction. Retrieved June 13, 2017, from

https://www.slideshare.net/hwjohnson/differentiated-instruction-presentation-570904

McCarthy, J. (2014, July 23). 3 Ways to Plan for Diverse Learners: What Teachers Do.

Retrieved June 13, 2017, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/differentiated-instruction-

ways-to-plan-john-mccarthy

Tomlinson, C. A. (2017, June 01). Reading Rockets. Retrieved June 5, 2017, from

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/what-differentiated-instruction

2 Tiering to avoid tears: Developing assignments that address all learners' needs. (n.d.).

Retrieved June 13, 2017, from http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/every-learner/6680

Twymon, Pam (Course lecturer). (2017) Strengthening Literacy Module 1: The Impact of

Foundational Literacies Part 4: Research and Reading[Transcript]. American College of

Education. Retrieved from: http://ace.edu (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

What is Differentiated Instruction? Examples of How to Differentiate Instruction in the

Classroom. (n.d.). Retrieved June 13, 2017, from http://education.cu-

portland.edu/blog/teaching-strategies/examples-of-differentiated-instruction/

YouTube Video. (2011, October 05). Carol Tomlinson on Differentiation: Responsive Teaching.

Retrieved June 13, 2017, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01798frimeQ&feature=related
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YouTube Video. (2011, October 06). Carol Tomlinson on Differentiation: Connecting Kids and

Content. Retrieved June 13, 2017, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OyfG6L67oA&feature=related