Differentiated instruction is a recognition that students vary in their needs, interests, abilities, and prior knowledge. It is a springboard from which students work toward the same ends, but they use different content, processes, and products to get there. The aim of differentiated instruction is to successfully teach each student.

In this excerpt from Differentiated Instruction in the English Classroom, Barbara King-Shaver and Alyce Hunter help teachers of both middle and high school English language arts understand and apply the principles and practices of differentiated instruction, while addressing the unique challenges and needs of students. This excerpt provides resources that allow teachers to assess their student's prior knowledge and interests. Ideas for creating a more rich learning environment for the students are integrated throughout the text. This practice also supports Praxis III, Domain A1 for best practice teaching instruction.(author/mcg/ncl)

This professional development resource is viable for both career-technical students planning to enter the teaching profession and for career-technical teachers looking for ways to provide differentiated instruction in their classrooms. This book chapter, in pdf form, focuses on the importance of the teacher getting to know students in order to make the most significant difference in teaching reading, writing, and vocabulary. The chapter is broken into sub-sections that offer quick and easily understood classroom applications. Handouts for students are often included within each of the sections—(1) Getting to know me; (2) Getting-to-know-you vocabulary sheet; (3) Interest surveys; (4) Visuals: collages, show and tell; (5) Journal writing; (6) Interviews; (7) Timed and untimed writing samples; (8) Standardized test scores; (9) Self-reported reading survey; (10) K-W-L; (11) Pre-reading list; and (12) Learning style inventories. (sec)