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Techniques and methods in Language Teaching > Differentiated Instruction
Differentiated Instruction
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zoemorosini
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Differentiated Instruction
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Hi there all!
I was wondering if anyone works in a school or program that teaches English Language Learners using differentiated instruction and heterogenous grouping with a project-based curriculum. Any suggestions, ideas, resources or websites you could provide would be most welcome.
I �ve been on a committee for almost a year now that is totally redesigning how we teach ELLs in our public high school. We don �t have much to go on--it �s a newer design that is rare here, and we �re looking for inspiration wherever it may be. Since ESL Printables is such a wonderful community and resource, I thought I �d ask.
Thanks for any pointers you can give!
Zoe Morosini |
14 Jun 2011
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Zora
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After looking up the terms, which sounded strangely similar to the method Sylvan Learning Centres use abroad for language acquisition and which I had the dubious honour of being a part of... I can safely say that yes, I �ve had a bit of experience with those methods...
It is a system that focuses almost exclusively on the student - and that is why the groups that use this method tend to be small. You work towards acquisition of ideas and knowledge at the students own rhythm and without rushing them... It can be slow at times since each child is different. We were told that you needed to praise and motivate constantly... each small step forward is always to be applauded.
Now, at Sylvan, the groups are 3-4 students per teacher and grouped by ages regardless of skill. Each student had his own book (which could easily be a different level than his classmates) and we did so many minutes of book work (if a child didn �t finish a lesson that was OK, he could continue the next day...). While each student did his work, you would take each child and revise vocabulary for five minutes or so... then, the last 20 minutes or so were dedicated to a group activity that everybody could enjoy.
Personally, I don �t know what resources are out there since Sylvan is pretty hush-hush about their methods and resources BUT I will say that on here, you can find pretty much what you need since you are basically going to cover a topic but at different skill levels...
I honestly do not know how this system works on a bigger scale since it is pretty focused towards the students own abilities and if the group is rather large, the teacher will go nuts trying to attend to each student... but oh well, experiments need to be done to see if they will work or not.
I hope that this has helped somewhat. If you need some more info, I can try to help answer any questions, I can.
Cheers,
L.
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15 Jun 2011
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