Strategies for Providing Differentiated Reading
Activities in Multilevel Adult ESOL Classes
Robin Lovrien Schwarz, M Sp Ed: LD; Ph D
Consultant in Adult ESOL and Learning Difficulties
THREE TYPES OF MULTILEVEL CLASSES
1. One class, one program
Must encompass • All ages• All levels of
– Education– English– Reading
• All needs for English
THREE TYPES OF MULTILEVEL CLASSES2. The so-called “leveled” class
• Students place in by moving up or by testing in---supposedly all one level, BUT – Because of placement criterion-- usually
speaking-- class will have mixture of • Education backgrounds/literacy skills• English skills • Reading skills
THREE TYPES OF MULTILEVEL CLASSES
3. ABE classes having ELLs/non-native English speakers
ELLs may place in because they “topped out” of BEST test or other testing;
ELLs always at a terrible disadvantage because of the BICS/CALP discrepancy
(Oral skills far surpass reading skills-- a normal language acquisition pattern)
A SINGLE LESSON, NO MATTER HOW WELL DESIGNED, LED BY
ONE TEACHER IN FRONT OF SUCH A MIXTURE CANNOT
POSSIBLY MEET THE NEEDS OF ALL STUDENTS.
DIFFERENTIATE
DIFFERENTIATE
DIFFFERENTIATE
READING NEEDS
• VOCABULARY
• PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS
• FLUENCY (VISUAL FLUENCY)
• GRAMMAR
Three Approaches to Differentiation
1. Divide and conquer-- breaking the class up into groups of similar proficiency levels
2. Individual learning folders --students work on individual learning plans
3. Learning centers-students choose among
a variety of activities to focus on reading skills
For ALL approaches…• Shift thinking to
– Multi-level planning instead of single plan– More student-directed learning, less direct
teaching from you
• Abandon the view:“It’ll be good for the advanced ones to review and the very low ones will pick up something.” It is justification for not differentiating….
• Constantly build in ways for students to self-check, work independently of you.
For ALL approaches…
• Avoid using more proficient students as tutors
• Focus on goal of moving reading skills ahead, not just keeping students busy
• Be ready to tweak and adjust as you and students learn how to learn differently
APPROACH 1: DIVIDE AND CONQUER
– SUBDIVIDE YOUR CLASS INTO GROUPS OF SIMILAR READING ABILITY/LITERACY LEVEL.
– HOW MANY WILL THAT BE?
• AT LEAST LOW, INTERMEDIATE, HIGH (RELATIVE TO YOUR GROUP)
• POSSIBLY AN ARCH-BEGINNER GROUP--THOSE WE ADDRESSED IN THE FIRST WEBINAR WHO HAVE NO PRIOR LITERACY
WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO DO
THEN, CONSIDER YOUR SPACE, MATERIALS
– How/where can you group students?
• Add surfaces with large sheets of foam board
• Use walls (wall pockets) for some activities
• Separate groups as much as possible
– What materials have you got at your disposal? (I.e materials that are already differentiated or a variety of things to use, or only one basic text book?)
Leveled Reading Groups:
• Can do more or less the same topic at different
levels of difficulty – Good for classes with clear, mandated curriculum– Reduces the planning – Should have different skill goals, similar content goals:
understanding the topic/reading
• Each group can have its own routine --good for
ABE or higher ESL--work on most-needed skills-- e.g. extensive reading, vocabulary building, learning to read sentences with more complex grammar
Leveled Reading Groups:
• Students within a group can – Work all together, pairs or alone on a reading or
activity--maximizes English use, too!– Self-check if you have made sure they can AND they
know how and why
• If you have only one student at a level, make sure s/he gets to interact with others in games, or pair dictations, etc. once in a while.
• You can do direct teaching with each group--especially low-skilled learners--because others are self-directed.
Approach 2: Individual Learning Folders
• Good for small class--up to 10 or 12 at most
• When fully implemented, each student has a folder with individualized work.
• You may need to start out with some activities that are the same for all to introduce the idea of finding work in the folder.
Learning Folders
• Folders can include– Work for students to do individually (higher
level students can be encouraged to find reading activities they want to have in their folders)
– Directions for doing something with a pair or group: play Go Fish to practice long and short vowels, work with a partner to complete a strip story, do specific exercises on a computer reading program
Learning Folders
• Folders can be highly responsive to individual student needs– A student who needs to work on job-
related vocabulary– Another who expresses a preference
for doing grammar – One who is very challenged in decoding
and needs lots of very basic practice.
Learning Folders
• Very low literate students will find folders difficult at first. – Be sure to give lots of guidance– Include familiar activities and content at first– Have another student or students demonstrate
and explain if necessary and possible– Use time you will have because others are usefully
engaged to work with these lowest students individually and in groups. Help them learn activities they can continue on their own.
• Keep up with students’ needs and desires by placing new work in the folders
• Develop a system for correction--have as many self-correcting activities as possible
• Keep folders in a handy crate or drawer where students can access them
Learning Folders
Approach 3: Learning Centers
• Centers can be any activity that focuses or extends any aspect of reading that students can do in pairs or small groups or alone.
• Widely used in K-8, very effective in adult ESL• Extremely well-suited to truly multilevel class
(Type 1, where students of all levels must be in the same class)– Another truth: specific skills vary in
students: high oral, low literate; weak oral, high literate, etc.
Learning Centers
• Centers allow the broadest range of differentiation:– Skill, focus, content, type of learning
• Centers are the most student focused: students mostly choose for themselves which center and content to interact with
• Centers promote a high level of independence in learning:– Activities are ALWAYS self-checking so students can move
at their own pace and intensity. – Students should choose for themselves which
centers they will use.
Learning Centers
Differentiating with a center with one skill focus and many levels of difficulty Center focus:
RHYMING:V. Low-- match rhyming picturesLow--match easy words that rhyme in concentration gameIntermediate-- Go Fish with Rhyming words
that are spelled differentlyAdvanced---find pairs of oddly spelled rhymes:
comb/home; laughed/raft; was/does
Learning Centers
• Differentiating in a center with one type of activity: Go Fish– V. low: pictures (photos) of objects (to learn to
recognize pictures and associate words with pictures); pictures that start with same sound
– Intermediate: Any topic: food Go Fish, Jobs, or phonics (e.g. long vowels with different spellings)
– Advanced: Cause and effect Go Fish; advanced grammar; synonyms or antonyms: word families (suggest, suggestion, suggestive, suggestible)
• To differentiate levels, color code or indicate with a symbol: = easy
= medium (intermediate)= hard
• Levels will be relative to your group or class • NOTE!! A student can choose an activity at
ANY level-- again, more student focused than the other two approaches, where choice of level is more difficult or less obvious.
Learning Centers
• Students MUST be familiar with the activities or games (to be able to focus on content or skill being targeted) – Content and level of difficulty can then change without
distressing students
Example: Bingo (everyone knows it)-- easy bingo= pictures, words, numbers;
intermediate= answers to questions; two parts of verbs
hard bingo= forms of words (hear verb, find noun form), or complex grammar (object pronouns), inferences in picture
TEACH each type of activity or game before using in center
Learning Centers
• Focusing on a topic: Reading about a season: WINTER
– Easy: matching words to pictures;sorting pictures by first sound (snow, sled, scarf)
– Intermediate: Strip story about winter; spelling words about winter, putting words into correct sentence order
– Hard: Reading about winter and answering questions; Go Fish about Winter (4 sports, 4 kinds of clothing, 4 kinds of work, 4 ways scenery looks different, lots of reading!)
Learning Centers
• If you use centers:– Be sure to use them most of the time for the learning
to be effective– BUT move into them gradually-- students are
suspicious unless they see they are learning
– Be sure the activities are fully self-checking
– Have enough centers so no more than four students are at each one
– Rotate centers to prevent boredom, and keep increasing challenges at them
– Help students learn to keep track of reading progress
Using Learning Centers
Other Advantages of Folders and Centers
• Students have something to do when they arrive-- no waiting for class to start
• Easy to absorb new students-- centers are easy to be part of; folders can have generic work to start and for you to begin informal evaluation
• Students can work at their own pace-- no waiting for you to check.
• YOU can use centers to measure learning-- use the activity as a test when the student indicates he or she is ready to be tested.
For ALL of these Approaches: Remember…
• To have a group or activities that include
ALL levels of students in the class• To introduce the idea of the new class
slowly and carefully to students
• To help students see the advantages of a
differentiated class--some will want you
to run the class as a unit no matter what.
Remember…
• To include technology whenever you can:– Use computers for
• reading programs as centers for practice and learning• more advanced students to answer questions about
readings, or to write about readings• for students to find information about a topic they like or
need to know about, or to learn about using online dictionaries.
– Use tablets if you have them for: phonics practice, spelling practice (instead of erasable boards)
– Use Smart Boards if you can--put lessons on that are interactive
For best results….
• Use a wide variety of activities and materials for students to master reading skills– Manipulatives & realia (games, sorting, wall pocket
activities;)– Listening (computer, tablets, CD players, Ipods/MP3
players)– Variety of text and activity books, materials--raid yard
sales, thrift stores, you neighbors’ kids’ outgrown materials, craft stores, the drug store!!
A VERY Quick overview of these three approaches
•Differentiation is the goal – To assure that students are working at the most
appropriate level on their reading– To honor those who are at high levels and should
be able to move more quickly in their learning– To support those who are at very low levels and
need lots of time and practice to master skills. – To allow those with mixed level skills to strengthen
ALL skills in different ways without embarrassment or frustration
