table of contents - teacher created materials · · 2011-04-06heterogeneous groups of five or six...

IntroductionUnderstanding Differentiation . . . . . . . 4

Differentiation Strategies in This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5What Differentiation Strategies

Can I Use? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Tiered Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Tiered Graphic Organizers . . . . . . . . . . . 7Leveled Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Multiple Intelligences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Menu of Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Choices Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Grouping Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12What Grouping Strategies

Can I Use? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Flexible Grouping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Homogeneous Grouping . . . . . . . . . . 13Heterogeneous Grouping . . . . . . . . . 13Flexogeneous Grouping . . . . . . . . . . 14

Working with English Language Learners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Strategies for Working with English

Language Learners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15How Can I Support

English Language Learners? . . . . . . 16Proficiency Levels for

English Language Learners . . . . . . . 16

How to Use This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Teacher Lesson Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Lesson Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Teacher Resource CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Correlations to Standards . . . . . . . . . . 19

Language Arts LessonsSelf-Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Writing Dialogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Summarizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Main Idea and Supporting Details . . . . . 40Story Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Haiku Poetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Mathematics LessonsNumber Sense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58Decimals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Measuring and Graphing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Fractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76Perimeter and Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Geometric Transformations . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Science LessonsThe Water Cycle and Weather . . . . . . . . 94The Moon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100States of Matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106Life Cycles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112How Animals Adapt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118Erosion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Social Studies LessonsMap Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130American Indians

and the Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . 136The Age of Exploration . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142History’s Heroes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148Supply and Demand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154State Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

AppendicesAppendix A: References . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166Appendix B: Additional Resources . . . . 167Appendix C: Contents of the

Teacher Resource CD . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Table of Contents

© Shell Education #50736—Activities for a Differentiated Classroom, Level 4 3

Language Arts

ProceduresPreparation Note: Before class begins, place students in heterogeneous groups of five or six . Arrange students’ desks in vertical rows, with one row for each group . Group members should sit behind one another in any order .

English Language Support—Place English language learners in each of the groups . If necessary, partner each English language learner with a language-proficient student in the group . Take time to explain to the language-proficient students the best ways to work with English language learners . Ask them to speak clearly and slowly, to point to the text as they read aloud, and to ask for and listen patiently to their ideas .

1Explain to students that they will be working together to write 25 (or however many students are in the class) stories in one day! They will do this by passing their stories from person to person within their groups . Each person will add on to every other person’s story .

2Review the story elements of setting, characters, conflict, and resolution with students . Post the following definitions for students on chart paper or the board:

setting: the location of the story in time and place

characters: the people, animals, or other creatures in the story

conflict: the struggle between two people or things in the story

resolution: the solution to the conflict

3Have students put their names at the top of a piece of lined paper . Explain that in this activity, there will be several writing periods of about three minutes each . After each writing period, students will pass their papers to the person seated behind them . The person in the back will walk his or her paper to the person at the front of the row .

Story Elements

Differentiation Strategy

Choices Board

Standards•Studentswillunderstand

thebasicconceptofplot.

•TESOL:Studentswilluseappropriatelearningstrategiestoconstructandapplyacademicknowledge.

Materials•lessonresources

(pages48–51)

•chartpaperandmarkers

•timer

•booksoffairytales(See page 167.)

•slideshowsoftware

•Internet

•indexcards

•artsupplies

•sentencestrips

•artbooks(optional)

46 #50736—Activities for a Differentiated Classroom, Level 4 © Shell Education

Language Arts

Activity Levels

▲Above Grade Level

■On Grade Level

●Below Grade Level

4Tell students that they will begin by introducing the setting of the story . Encourage them to be creative . Set the timer for three minutes and have students write .

5After three minutes, have students pass their papers . Instruct them to read the story on the new paper . Explain that they will be adding on to this story . This time, they will introduce one to three main characters . The characters should fit the setting they were given . Set the timer and allow students to write .

6After three minutes, have students pass their papers again . Instruct them to read the story on the new paper . This time, they will introduce a problem for the main character or characters . Set the timer and allow students to write .

7Continue to have students pass their papers after three minutes and read the story again . Instruct them to write about either the characters trying to solve the problem but failing to do so, or the characters successfully solving the conflict (the resolution) . Have students wrap up the story with a lesson or a funny line that ties it all together .

8Have students return the papers to the original authors .

9Students will work with story elements in a variety of different ways . Distribute the Story Elements Choices Board activity sheet (page 48) to students and assign them a shape according to their readiness levels . Or, distribute the leveled Story Elements Choices Cards activity sheets (pages 49–51) to students based on their readiness levels . Review the activity options with students and explain that they will need to complete two activities that correspond to their assigned shapes .

0If students finish early, they may complete the Anchor Activity .

AssessmentAssess student understanding of story elements by evaluating the work they completed from their choices boards . Prepare to work with small groups to reinforce or reteach any confusing concepts .

Story Elements

Anchor ActivityHavestudentswriteastorythatbringsthestoryelementstogetherinacleverway.Aheadoftime,writeseveralsettings,charactertypes,andconflictideasonthreedifferentcoloredslipsofpaper.Eachtypeofstoryelementshouldbeonadifferentcolorofpaper.Puteachtypeofstoryelementinaseparatebag.Allowstudentstodrawaslipfromeachbagandusethoseelementsintheirstory.


Name_____________________________________________

Readtwoversionsofthesamefairytale.Whichonedoyoulikebest?Writeaparagraphtellingwhyyoulikeitbetter.

Pickafairytalethatyouenjoy.Changethesettingtoamodern-dayplaceandrewriteit.Makeadjustmentstothefairytale,asneeded.

Pickafairytalethatyouenjoy.Pretendthattheendingdidnotworkoutcorrectlyandtherewasnoresolution.Retellthefairytaleandexplainhowthisaffectsthestory.

Createaslideshowpresentationthatexplainseachstoryelementandgivesanexampleofeach.Thepresentationshouldbeatleastfourslideslong.

Pickafavoritebookcharacter.Imagineyouareinterviewingthecharacterfromthestory.Writethequestionsthatyouwouldaskandtheanswersthatyouimaginethecharacterwouldgive.

Pickachapterbookyouhaverecentlyread.Onanindexcard,explainthesetting,maincharacters,conflict,andresolutionforthisbook.

Researchaninsect.Thinkaboutitshabitatandpredators.Then,writeastoryaboutadayinthelifeofyourbug.Includeallofthestoryelements.Makesurethatyourstoryisbasedon facts.

Writeacomicstrip.Useallofthestoryelements.Illustrateandcoloryourfinalproduct.Itshouldhavefiveorsixframes.

Writeashortskitusingallofthestoryelements.Includeadescriptionofthesetting,andmakesurethatthedialogueincludesaconflictandresolution.Invitesomefriendstoperformtheskitwithyoufortheclass.

Writeastoryonsentencestrips.Useallofthestoryelements.Mixuptheorderofthestoryandchallengeafriendtoputthestoryinorder.

Chooseapicturebookthatyouenjoy.Writeasequeltothatbook.Besuretothinkofanewconflictandresolutionforthe characters.

Findapaintingthatyoureallylike.Studythesettingandcharacters.Imagineaconflictandaresolutioninthepainting.Writeastoryaboutitusingallofthestory elements.

Story Elements Choices BoardDirections:Circletwoactivitiestocompletefromthechoicesboardbelow.Besuretomatchtheshape(s)assignedtoyoubyyourteacher.


Name_____________________________________________

Findapaintingthatyoureallylike.Studythesettingandcharacters.Imagineaconflictandaresolutioninthepainting.Writeastoryaboutitusingallofthestoryelements.

Createaslideshowpresentationthatexplainseachstoryelementandgivesanexampleofeach.Thepresentationshouldbeatleastfourslideslong.

Writeashortskitusingallofthestoryelements.Includeadescriptionofthesetting,andmakesurethatthedialogueincludesaconflictandresolution.Invitesomefriendstoperformtheskitwithyouforthe class.

Pickafairytalethatyouenjoy.Pretendthattheendingdidnotworkoutcorrectlyandtherewasnoresolution.Retellthefairytaleandexplainhowthisaffectsthestory.

Story Elements Choices CardsDirections:Chooseactivitiesfromthecardsbelow.


Name_____________________________________________

Pickafairytaleyouenjoy.Changethesettingtoamodern-dayplaceandrewriteit.Makeadjustmentstothefairytale,asneeded.

Pickafavoritebookcharacter.Imagineyouareinterviewingthecharacterfromthestory.Writethequestionsthatyouwouldaskandtheanswersthatyouimaginethecharacterwouldgive.

Chooseapicturebookthatyouenjoy.Writeasequeltothatbook.Besuretothinkofanewconflictandresolutionforthecharacters.

Researchaninsect.Thinkaboutitshabitatandpredators.Then,writeastoryaboutadayinthelifeofyourbug.Includeallofthestoryelements.Makesurethatyourstoryisbasedonfacts.



Name_____________________________________________

Writeastoryonsentencestrips.Useallofthestoryelements.Mixuptheorderofthestoryandchallengeafriendtoputthestoryinorder.

Writeacomicstrip.Useallofthestoryelements.Illustrateandcoloryourfinalproduct.Itshouldhavefiveorsix frames.

Pickachapterbookyouhaverecentlyread.Onanindexcard,explainthesetting,maincharacters,conflict,andresolutionforthisbook.

Readtwoversionsofthesamefairytale.Whichonedoyoulikebest?Writeaparagraphtellingwhyyoulikeit better.



table of contents - teacher created materials · · 2011-04-06heterogeneous groups of five or six...

Documents