How Teachers Made The Curriculum Accessible And Engaging For Students

Most students also have access to the Internet at home and the media center is open before or after school for those who need extra time or assistance. Academically, there is quite a range of diversity among learners. There are three students in the classroom that are identified as exceptional leaners in need of extra reading support. Two are identified regarding written expression. Five are identified as having attention deficit disorder. To make the lesson comparable for all I made sure to use a variety of tools from print sources, to digital tools and I allowed for small group and whole group instruction. Students were encouraged to communicate via print methods on day one, but not required to sign their names. This took away a level of intimidation that may have prevented students from sharing. This makes the content of the lesson equitable for each

How can content area teachers plan and design instruction so that students will actively engage in literacy- and subject-related activities?

As a teacher, I want my classroom to be a progressive classroom. I want all my students, including ELLs, to learn by doing and learn by experiences. I want to build my curriculum based on my student’s experiences, interests, and encourage my students to work together cooperatively. My

First, an article from 1995 proves how much technology has changed when it comes to accessibility. In his Nation article “Virtual Students, Digital Classroom,” Neil Postman points out, “It would be quite astonishing if computer technology equalized all learning opportunities, irrespective of economic differences.” (381). Modern technology is a part of every classroom unlike it was back years ago. Equipment has become accessible to everyone attending classes, not just the wealthy. Fat pencils have been replaced

During my field experience class this past Fall semester, as I observed a class of 4th graders at George Washington Carver Elementary, I had the opportunity to sit in as the students spent some time in the library with the school librarian, Mrs. Williams. Although I was technically there to observe the regular classroom teacher, the brief amount of time I spent in the library was inspiring to say the least. I watched as the students excitedly told Mrs. Williams and their peers about the books they were reading and how much they were enjoying them. They were so excited about reading, in fact, that they were appalled when I regrettably admitted that I wasn’t currently reading a book. For these students, reading was something that everybody should be doing, and they weren’t accepting any excuses (Believe me, I tried in vain to explain why I wasn’t reading a book). In no time at all, it

Using nonfiction text requires appropriate implementation strategies. Children need explicit instruction in identifying unique features to nonfiction text, such as print features, table of contents, index, and graphic aides (Moehlman, 2013). Close reading of nonfiction text is an approach to help students critically read increasingly complex texts across the curriculum by exploring deep structures of the text. The Tools Approach is a strategy in which the teacher provides scaffolding to help students advance to the next learning stage and students develop new knowledge about nonfiction texts through interactions with peers and adults (Hall, 2016). Literature circles are excellent for students to explore nonfiction texts. Literature circles are small groups in which students all read the same story and contribute unique information about the story through an assigned responsibility (Barone & Barone, 2016). Teachers can assign students jobs within the group that will be appropriate for each individual student. Even struggling students can contribute to the group and learn from their peers at the same time. The use of graphic

Our cataloging system is Follett/ Destiny. Recent advances in the program includes a way for students to check out books in a digital format and gives them options for commenting and favoring books they enjoy. I spend a great deal of times teaching our students how to manage and create reading profiles. I also teach them how to use One Search through Destiny to create individualized reading lists. I also encouraged literacy through digital access with the use of Wiseowl, a database of digitized print resources. I worked with all English classes in all grades teaching Wiseowl research basics, therefore impacting the instructions of all

Some instructional material might be troublesome for students with specific disabilities. For instance, when showing a video in class you have to consider the audience. Students with visual inabilities may have difficult seeing non-verbalized activities; while those with disorder like photosensitive epilepsy may encounter seizures with flashing lights or images; and those students with hearing loss will be unable to hear the sound. Utilizing closed-captioning, giving electronic transcripts, portraying on-screen activity, enabling students to look at the video on their own, and laying out the part the video plays in the day’s lesson diminishes the access barrier for students with disabilities and permits them the ability to be an active member

In the journal article, “Changing Instruction to Increase Achievement for Students with Moderate to Severe Intellectual Disabilities”, the author describes the strategies and skills that teachers can employ to make an instructional change in the classroom. As the author describes in the article, recognizing that an instructional change needs to be made, is different than having the skills to change the instruction. Educators are making great strides to cover the content demanded by the Common Core Standards, but often need support in adjusting the classroom instruction.

The hardest-to-reach students are also the ones we have the most to learn from because if we can reach them, we can reach everyone. Support means that anyone who needs the support have access to them. It is about not forcing separation by group nor by individual. The format of general student assessments must be altered from the standardized “normative majority” design and consider the needs of marginalized groups. Using a collaborative approach is not viewing students with disablities as inherentily deficient, but to recognize their positive abilities when they are supplied with the proper modifications and accomodations. According to The Universal Design for Learning (udl), “The design of products, environments, programmes and services [are] usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design” (Towle & desLibris, 2015, p. 26). An example is information taught in class through digital materials or text so that information can be accessible to all learners (e.g. closed-captioning texts on YouTube videos) (Towle & desLibris, 2015). Education is not a competition—it isn’t about doing it alone or the fastest. It is about ensuring that everyone can cross the finish line. School should be a place where kids know that it is okay to have supports and that they will not be left behind (Moore,

In addition, teacher’s learning resources (including ICT) are opening new learning opportunities to diverse abilities that enrich the quality of teaching. The rapid increase in available technologies (both assistive and instructive) has provided teachers with

One way to increase Kamil’s desire to reach for a wide variety of books is implementing activity titled Three-piece Kits (Edmunds & Bauserman, 2006). The teacher creates a three-piece kit containing three different types and/or genres of books in a bag. The kit should contain a narrative text, a poem and an expository book on a topic Kamil finds interesting. For example, Kamil’s teacher can collect an autobiography/narrative book titled Knucklehead, a collection of war poems and an informational book about World War I/II. Kamil may find these books interesting

The curriculum is considered rich when the materials, core, and class are challenging and exploratory. “The inclusion of “substantive issues and skills,” prior knowledge challenges, and the ability to enable students to take responsibility for their learning “ are all ways to make curriculum rich or challenging.(Powell, Sara D.; pg. 145) Along with challenging, exploratory curriculum allows students to make discoveries and choices. As discussed in class, giving students a choice will open the door to successful and self-motivational learning. The word, REAL, would be compared to the statement’s word “integrative”. The textbook and class discussions helped me to understand the importance of connecting curriculum to students lives and the real-world. I learned that a student will be more eager to participate, learn, and care about curriculum that has purpose outside of the learning environment. By simply including real-world scenarios in word problems, the students will feel the connections and grasp the content easier and faster. The phrases “making sense of content and experiences” is used in the textbook to show the importance of integrative curriculum. Lastly, the curriculum must show relevance. In class discussion, my classmates and I all agreed that we all despise coursework that has no purpose. Busy-work is the term used in class to describe irrelevant curriculum. Relevant curriculum allows students to expand their knowledge by

Guthrie (2004) delved further into his research to analyze the specific texts chosen for instruction. He found that students recognize teachers as credible educators when they use authentic, interesting texts rather than basal readers or texts that mirror high stakes tests (Guthrie, 2004). Using authentic texts not only conveys a teacher’s own enthusiasm and love of reading, but also promotes engagement, especially when teachers share those texts aloud. While there are many cognitive benefits of reading aloud, there are also motivational and engagement advantages (Jang et al., 2015; Morrison & Wlodarczyk, 2009). When teachers strategically choose books they enjoy, many times students will likewise develop an interest in the chosen text too, as well as in

Curriculum can be modified and adapted to provide effective learning experiences and teaching strategies that are inclusive to all students. Making learning accessible, classroom environment and engaging learning are some of the strategies that educators can implement to ensure accessible learning to all students. Although there may be some of the advantages and difficulties that may arise as a result of implementing these teaching and learning strategies educators must have a variety of strategies that can be used in all classrooms.