Literacy Now

We stand firm in our belief that differentiated instruction can provide equitable and effective instruction and learning opportunities for all students—gifted students, preschoolers, English learners, and struggling readers. We also believe differentiated instruction provides opportunities for building teachers’ caring relationships with their students and promotes responsiveness to students’ interests and learning trajectories.

Differentiated instruction is particularly powerful when embedded in rich learning contexts that address persistent gaps in literacy achievement between racial groups, and more-and less-advantaged students. Such contexts offer differentiated pathways for achieving learning goals for all students.

Differentiated instruction is not a skill-and-drill approach that attempts to “fill in the gaps” that, on the surface, seem to be contributing to learning difficulties. Instead, differentiated instruction teaches explicitly a wide array of skills, concepts, and strategies, often simultaneously, while leveraging students’ prior knowledge, learning and cultural histories, and linguistic differences.

Leveraging students’ prior knowledge and histories provides a conceptual foundation for acquiring new knowledge and accessing academic knowledge.

Differentiation gives students access to the same curriculum and learning assignments as their peers. At the root of differentiated instruction, then, is the recognition of students’ strengths and differences and teaching to both. Such instruction counters attempts to close potential gaps between students’ abilities and school performance by reducing the curriculum to a basic set of skills (often taught in isolation or without sufficient application) that can delay access to rich sources of information as needed for concept development and academic learning.

To be effective, differentiated instruction is situated in and designed to be responsive to the curricular and instructional goals, students’ capabilities and needs, and community and parent input.

Guided by continuous and multiple student assessments, instruction engages learning in mixed-ability grouping assignments, guided reading and writing opportunities, use of multiple texts (including digital texts) to scaffold other texts to afford access to new knowledge, and explicit instruction focusing on concept development, strategic word learning and text comprehension, and generative writing, among other literacy skills and knowledge areas.

Teachers who have differentiated the content, process, or products for the diversity of students in their classroom have seen improvements in students’ spelling development, letter-word reading, vocabulary development, comprehension, fluency, and reading engagement through instruction planned in coordination with literacy specialists, supported by administrators, and aligned with literacy instruction provided within the classroom.

Excellent reading instruction includes creating classrooms that optimize learning opportunities for every child. Every day teachers strive to optimize learning opportunities and provide equitable instruction based upon the cultural backgrounds of their students.

Supporting their efforts and documenting their successes places students front and center—where they belong.

Doris Walker-Dalhouse is a past member of the ILA Boardof Directors and current member of the Specialized Literacy Professionals SIG. She is a literacy professor at Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI. Victoria J. Risko is a past president of ILA and current president of the Specialized Literacy Professionals SIG. She is a professor emerita of language, literacy, and culture at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN.

Thousands of people across the United States gathered last month in cities such as Chicago, San Francisco, and Seattle to celebrate the Lunar New Year. The zodiac animal symbolizing this year is yang in Mandarin, which can mean sheep, goat, or ram. There has been a lot of discussion about the English translation. The English translation varies, scholars say, depending on the context and the lifestyle in different areas of the world, illustrating the richness and complexity of this holiday and how it is celebrated differently by people of diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

National Center for Education Statistics projects that by 2023 the percentage of White students in public school enrollment will decrease to less than half, whereas Hispanics are projected to constitute 30% and Asian/Pacific Islanders 5% of the enrollment. That means more than half of our students in public schools will come from a family where two or more languages are spoken and holidays from two or more cultures are celebrated. In response to this trend of shifting student demographics, teachers need to adjust their teaching to be culturally relevant. Still, we seem to add just a few “multicultural” books to our libraries and overlook the richness in English learners’ diverse life experiences and continue to view these students from a deficit perspective.

A few years ago, I met “Johnny,” a new student in a public school. Johnny’s family came from Southeast China and had just moved to a Midwest town. Johnny’s parents worked in a local Chinese restaurant and did not speak much English. New to the class, Johnny was considered “behind” on the basis of a reading test and needed extra English language learning. On the basis of my observation of the class, Johnny appeared very shy and lacked confidence. A wonderful opportunity to engage him presented itself when the class was about to have a cultural lesson on the Lunar New Year; however, Johnny and his parents were not invited to be involved in the lesson preparation or implementation.

This experience brought to mind the concept of “funds of knowledge,” created by Luis C. Moll and other scholars: knowledge and skills that are developed historically, socially, and culturally in individuals and households. Johnny’s family possessed rich experiences and knowledge about Lunar New Year, which would have made the lesson on the festival more relevant and authentic for his classmates. However, their funds of knowledge went unnoticed and were obscured by the predominant, deficit view that Johnny was behind and his parents did not speak much English.

In that same class, there were two students of Korean background, for whom Lunar New Year is also a major festival. I cannot help wondering what it might have been like if Johnny, his Korean peers, and all of their parents were given the opportunity to share how the festival was celebrated at their homes. They could have shared their New Year traditions by showing artifacts, preparing traditional food, and telling stories of past celebrations. Perhaps Johnny would be willing to show his hong bao (lucky money in red envelope) and tell the class its meaning and significance. To celebrate linguistic diversity, they could have taught the class New Year greetings in Korean and Mandarin. The other students in Johnny’s class could have experienced a Lunar New Year cultural lesson far more memorable in addition to reading multicultural picture books, such as Sam and the Lucky Money by Karen Chinn or New Clothes for New Year's Day by Hyun-Joo Bae.

Moreover, these children could have come to appreciate the funds of knowledge inherent in their classmates from different backgrounds, thereby building a more inclusive, stronger classroom community. In this way, student diversity may become as strength for teaching and learning.

In addition to “meeting the needs” of English learners, it is also time to purposefully invite students of diversity and their families to the classroom stage. We may be surprised by the content and the spark they will bring to our teaching and learning environment.

Hsiao-Chin Kuo is an assistant professor in Literacy Studies at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI. She has a Master’s degree in TESOL and a PhD in Literacy, Culture, and Language Education. Her research interests include multimodality and multiple literacies, literacy and language education for linguistic and cultural diversities, and partnership between school, home and communities.

In this era of accountability, fiscal challenges, and demands for highly qualified teachers, school communities need to be creative, innovative, and resourceful. Every child deserves a high-quality education, and every teacher deserves resources to accomplish that goal—no argument there! But that’s not the challenge. The challenge is establishing and sustaining an environment that provides opportunities to improve student learning and build teacher capacity.

One way teachers receive ongoing support is through instructional coaching. With instructional coaches helping teachers implement effective instructional practices, teachers are more likely to collaborate and try new things that are not in their repertoire of instructional delivery.

Instructional coaching is intended to reinforce teachers’ and administrators’ practices in ways that support schools, so instruction is rigorous, delivery is effective, and assessment is appropriate for student learning to improve. Instructional coaching influences what students learn, increases student engagement, builds teacher capacity, and helps students and teachers become more successful learners.

One of the ways for coaches to support effective instructional practice and the ongoing collective problem solving and collaboration that promotes quality instruction is to adopt a three-pronged approach. We call it the Before, During, and After (BDA) cycle of consultation. This sounds like it takes considerable time to implement a cycle; however, a coach and a teacher must consider how these conversations help identify areas of strength and areas of need as an overall teacher professional development model. Where else could a teacher and a coach work together, plan together, rehearse the content delivery structures, and then debrief about what worked well in the classroom? That’s a win–win situation for the students, teachers, and coaches!

So what does that look like?

In the planning, or “before” session, the coach and the teacher co-construct what the goals are and on which elements the teacher would like the coach to focus. They also schedule a time for debriefing, which should occur after they both have a chance to reflect on the visit. The “during” is where the coach and the teacher see the elements discussed in the first session. It is the content for the debriefing session. In the “after” session, the coach and the teacher reflect on the goals they co-constructed. Were the goals met? If not, what practices need to be strengthened to accomplish those goals? What could the teacher have done differently in order to achieve those goals?

Following the BDA cycle of coaching and consultation on a regular basis provides ample opportunities for coaches and teachers to work together to unpack a variety of statewide initiatives that require teachers to redefine what they teach and rethink how they do it. The cycle enhances the opportunity for teachers to coplan, rehearse, coteach, and then debrief with their coaches so that they can accomplish their goals.

The single most important quality of a coach is the ability to build strong, collaborative relationships. No one knows everything about content even in one’s own area of certification. No one knows every strategy or instructional technique that promises to improve student outcomes. No one knows all there is to know about his or her students or schoolwide community. What a coach knows, however, is the power of collaboration and the tremendous influence collective problem solving has to improve the ongoing teaching and learning that must be present in order for students, teachers, administrators, and schools to be successful and help prepare our students for society. Coaches following a pattern for supporting teachers through the BDA cycle of consultation provide a framework that helps define purpose, practice, and persistence.

Ellen Eisenberg is the executive director of the PA Institute for Instructional Coaching in Narberth, PA, and a former head of English for Philadelphia Schools.

Bell, Cece. (2014). El Deafo. New York, NY: Amulet.

Ages: 9–14

Summary

El Deafo is the 2015 Newbery Honor–winning graphic memoir of author and illustrator Cece Bell. As a result of a case of meningitis at the age of 4, Bell lost most of her hearing. She describes herself as “severely to profoundly deaf.” Although Bell is true to her memories of her childhood in El Deafo, she presents herself and all of the other characters as rabbits. This artistic choice works perfectly in El Deafo.

As a result of her hearing loss, Bell must wear hearing aids at home and a device called the Phonic Ear at school. Much of El Deafo focuses on how Bell feels like she sticks out. But she discovers that her Phonic Ear gives her “superpowers” in that she is able to hear her teacher not only in the classroom, but also when the teacher is anywhere else in the school. This brings sometimes hilarious results, as Bell can her hear teacher in the teachers’ lounge and even in the bathroom! Bell quickly embraces this ability and christens herself El Deafo, the superhero.

In addition to the challenges of growing up while feeling different, El Deafo explores other common challenges of growing up. The book follows El Deafo through fifth grade. We experience, with Bell, the struggle to make friends, the loss of friends, trying to find the right friend, and the work it takes to keep that friend. We watch her blush as she develops her first crush, Mike Miller, and stammers to put together coherent sentences in his presence. We feel Bell’s frustration with the people who treat her differently—the ones who talk too slow or too loud and even those who treat her like a baby.

Cross-Curricular Connections: English, social studies/history, art, health/character education

Ideas for Classroom Use

“Our differences are our superpowers.”

In her author’s note, Bell states, “Our differences are our superpowers.” What does she mean by this? How do differences equate to superpowers? If this statement is true, what are some of the superpowers in your classroom? What is something that makes you different? How is this your superpower?

The Connection to Animals

It is not uncommon for characters in books to be animals, nor is it uncommon for people to be represented by animals. Have students explore this connection to animals in an essay or a poster. Why do people feel so connected to animals? Why use animals to represent people? To make this activity more focused on El Deafo, why do you think that Bell selected rabbits? Is there a symbolism in Bell’s use of rabbits?

Animal Counterpart

If you had to represent yourself as an animal, which animal would it be and why? Draw a picture of yourself as this animal. If you had to represent the entire human race as an animal, which animal would you select and why?

Superpower

If you could pick any superpower, what would you pick and why? How would you use this superpower? Bell calls herself “El Deafo” and has designed a costume for herself. What would be your superhero name? Design a costume for yourself.

Additional Resources and Activities

Author Cece Bell Talks About Her New Book, El Deafo: In this 3-minute video, Bell provides an introduction to El Deafo. She also shows the Phonic Ear, which is what gave her the “superpower” of hearing her teacher everywhere she was in the school.

El Deafo: How a Girl Turned Her Disability Into a Superpower: This NPR article and interview goes into further detail about El Deafo and Bell’s experiences as a child.

El Deafo Extras: What Did El Deafo First Look Like?: This is a blog post from Bell’s website. In the post, Bell discusses that she didn’t have any experience writing a graphic novel prior to writing and illustrating El Deafo. She includes some of her initial pages from Chapter 4. An interesting activity would be to compare these initial versions of Chapter 4 to the final versions in the published El Deafo. Students could discuss the changes, identify those they found most effective, and talk about which version they prefer.

The rest of Bell’s blog is worth checking out as well, especially El Deafo Extras: From Outline to Finished Product: This is another blog post in which Bell takes readers through the process of developing Chapter 15 from her first outlines to her sketches to the final product.

Aimee Rogers is an assistant professor at the University of North Dakota. She is a member of the reading faculty and teaches children’s literature courses. Her research interests include how readers make meaning with graphic novels as well as representation in children’s and young adult literature. She can be reached at aimee.rogers@UND.edu.

Being a teacher means embracing constant change. Yet all too often, teachers are told when, how, and why to change. In this monthly column, Mrs. Mimi takes on creating change for herself by rethinking old practices and redefining teaching on her own terms. 

I feel like I am slogging through my day both literally and metaphorically. Do you? Yes, the weather is getting better (because in a strange, strange way 40 degrees is now the new 70 degrees in my life), but with warmer temperatures comes melting snow and with melting snow comes muddy yards, dirty shoes, and grimy floors. Hence the slogging.

I realized that other parts of my day feel like slogging through the mud as well. I can't decide what to make for dinner because everything sounds so ho-hum. I have no more creative ideas for crafts with my kids because we have been inside for the last jillion days. I am uninspired in my teaching right now because it all feels like the same old same old.

Maybe that's just how March feels and I should go with it, but that's not my personality. I am teaching students important skills and strategies and—because I am unafraid to toot my own horn—I am teaching them pretty darn well. But if my level of engagement and excitement is low, can we guess how those friends sitting around me are feeling? I never want my students to feel like school is the same old same old or that learning to read is a mechanical process free from excitement or passion.

So what's this girl to do? I mean reasonably do in the midst of the 10,000 things teachers are responsible for doing each and every day, slog or no slog. Please note: All slog-busting ideas have been proven effective by some very super colleagues. Also, most of these ideas work best when combined with caffeine.

Go to your local bookstore or library of choice and find a new author, series, or title that you can't wait to share with your friends. Finding a new read is powerful. Children pick up on the authenticity of your enthusiasm. It is catchy. It is motivating. It is slog busting.

Poll your class. What do they want to do as readers? Is there a project they would like to take on? An author they are curious about? Something new they would like to try as readers? Their enthusiasm is authentic. It is also catchy. It is also slog busting.

Make more time for the pieces of your teaching that inspire you the most. Love reading aloud? Me, too. Take a week and make more time for it. Luxuriate in it. No one died from altering their schedule slightly to meet students' (and teachers') needs for just one week. Slog busting.

Whatever you do, resist the temptation to give in to the slog. Reading is dynamic. It is community building and idea triggering. It is not a slog. But be kind to yourself. Forgive yourself for letting the slog momentarily take hold on you. It gets to the best of us.

Mrs. Mimi, aka Jennifer Scoggin, is a teacher who taught both first and second grades at a public elementary school in New York City. She's the author of “Be Fabulous: The Reading Teacher's Guide to Reclaiming Your Happiness in the Classroom” and “It's Not All Flowers and Sausages: My Adventures in Second Grade”, which sprung from her popular blog of the same name. Mimi also has her doctorate in education from Teachers College, Columbia University.