Differentiated Instruction for the Middle School Language Arts Teacher

An essential resource for teachers in inclusive classrooms This valuable sourcebook offers teachers key strategies on how to design and deliver effective instruction, measure success, and get students to work together. Covering topics such as decoding, vocabulary, blocking, using graphic organizers, mnemonics, literary elements, writing as a process, and doing research, it features dozens of ready-to-use language arts activities that are tied to core curriculum standards, and each activity has adaptations for students with different learning needs.

About This Book vii About the Authors ix Acknowledgments xi Foreword xiii Part One: Being Successful in the Inclusive Classroom Chapter 1: Collaborating Effectively 3 Collaborating for Intervention 3 Collaborating with the Child Study Team 4 Collaborating with Parents and Families 13 Tips for Talking with Parents 16 Chapter 2: Preparing for Differentiated Learning 17 Working with Core Curriculum Standards 17 Assessing Learning Styles 18 Multiple Intelligences and Learning Strengths 20 Planning for Students with Special Needs 21 Chapter 3: Effective Teaching Strategies for Differentiating Instruction 25 The Effective Inclusive Classroom 26 Measuring Success 28 Part Two: Language Arts Activities for the Inclusive Middle School Classroom Chapter 4: Written Language Conventions 33 Activity 1: Identifying Nouns 34 Activity 2: Identifying Action Verbs 39 Activity 3: Auxiliary and Being Verbs 42 Activity 4: Identifying and Using Modifiers 47 Activity 5: Sentence Mechanics 52 Chapter 5: Writing as a Process 57 Activity 1: Steps to Effective Writing 58 Activity 2: Writing a Personal Narrative 63 Activity 3: Writing Clear Instructions 68 Activity 4: Writing an Essay Comparing and Contrasting Events 74 Activity 5: Writing a Descriptive Essay 80 Activity 6: Writing an Argumentative Essay 84 Activity 7: Writing in the First, Second, and Third Person 89 Activity 8: Writing a Research Paper 94 Chapter 6: Reading Skills 101 Activity 1: Vocabulary Building 102 Activity 2: Spelling 106 Activity 3: Oral Reading Fluency 111 Chapter 7: Reading Comprehension 117 Activity 1: Interpreting Textbooks 118 Activity 2: Interpreting Context Clues 123 Activity 3: Sequencing and Finding the Main Idea 128 Activity 4: Comparing and Contrasting 132 Activity 5: Predicting Outcomes 136 Activity 6: Cause-and-Effect Relationships 140 Activity 7: Reading and Writing Poetry 145 Activity 8: Literary Elements 149 Activity 9: Reading for Meaning 155 Chapter 8: Oral Language 161 Activity 1: Listening Skills 162 Activity 2: Oral Presentations 165 How This Book Maps to Education Standards 171 Glossary 177 Bibliography 179 Index 181