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Competency, The, And The Diversity Of The Student Population And Provides Instruction That Is Appropriate For All

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Competency 2:
The teacher is aware of the diversity of the student population and provides instruction that is appropriate for all students. In Chapter 3, “Focusing the Reader” of Deeper Reading, Kelly Gallagher provides pre-service teachers with a greater understanding of the importance of frontloading students with background knowledge of readings. She explains through an anecdote that prior knowledge leads students to be “better prepared to read more, to comprehend more, and to learn more” (26). Without prior knowledge, students are unable to understand and retain information as well because, as Gallagher explains, it “helps you attach meaning when reading the passage” (27). Teachers should gauge students’ prior knowledge to the text before beginning with a unit to understand how to teach their students in a more meaningful manner. There are two key elements that Gallagher points out, through the reading of David Sousa, in how to frame information for students: “…be certain that today’s curriculum contains connections to their past experiences, not just [the teacher’s]… [And] how a person feels about a learning situation determines the amount of attention devoted to it” (28-29). These two points mean that: a teacher must connect students to personal experiences in order to bring to light universal issues in a text that they may not necessarily connect with on their own, and a teacher must be able to show purpose in the text that is “valid and worthwhile” (29) for the

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