Years ago if a teacher had a student that needed extra help with reading, keeping organized, or might need to see the instructions in a different format it was a real struggle to open up all of these options. Today though, technology is here here to help and alleviate a lot of this extra work, and bring the tools to students to help them achieve success.
Google Forms and Google Slides - Go to page option
Google has always been about collaboration and creativity, so it is no wonder that they have ways to support student learning. By using either the “Go to question based on answer choice” in Google Forms or hyperlinking slides in Google Slides, teachers can create lessons that the student guides their learning. Google Slides can be linked within the presentation to make a “Choose Your Own Adventure” learning setup. When a student comes to a slide that he/she needs more support on a help link could be available to take a student to another slide that can assist them with the content. This assistance could be a reading passage highlighted, a video, a graphic, or any other number of options. This concept is also done in YouTube based on annotations. Here is an example of how that would look.
With Google Forms, the same can be done but with the “Go to question based on answer choice” option on any question that is Multiple Choice, Choose from a List, or Checkboxes. This is again a way to support student learning with graphics, video, and annotated reading selection. Here is a video I made to explain how to do this.
Student Choice - Allow students to show understanding in multiple ways
Just like giving small children the option between multiple vegetables to eat, giving students a choice will make more success in them wanting to show their learning.
Wheel Decide is new tool I just stumbled upon. This site allows you to create your own spin wheel for students to choose tools, topics, or questions. It can be set up to eliminate choices once it is landed on, which would be useful when assigning topics. It is also embeddable, to be able to put to you class site as a staple to encourage a starting off point when trying to start a writing assignment. Here is an example of that.
Have students show learning by completing a Bingo card or Learning Menu. Kasey Bell of shakeuplearning.com brought me to this option of differentiation. Here is here post about Bingo Cards. Basically, create a series of tasks that a student must complete to show understanding of the topic. On the Bingo board the student must complete a BINGO to finalize the assignment. When using a learning menu the student will choose from a series of tasks. Each task is worth a certain amount of points. The students can then complete the task, and gain the grade based on the task completed. Here is an example of this.
Separate Groups in your Learning Management System - distribute work based on student grouping
Most Learning Management System (eBackpack, Google Classroom, Schoology, etc.) gives teachers a way to set up different groups within an already setup group. The assignments or notes can then be distributed to multiple different groups, but not singling out a specific group. Create these group based on previous limits like ESL, Dyslexia, etc. or by a previous or pre-assessment done in class. This could be a way to do small group instructions all at one time.
Record and Share Classes - students access this content later for learning at own pace
Recording you lessons are good way to get your students additional support. If a student learns at a different pace, or is absent that day in class can access these recordings later. These students can then pause, rewind, and slow down the instruction for deeper learning. A couple tools to try out with this are:
Google Hangouts on Air - Create a Google Hangout and link on your learning management system. Then start the hangout during the lesson time. This hangout will then be recorded and saved on YouTube. Add this and any of the handouts to your website.
Doceri on iPad - Using the free app and Doceri desktop to record annotation and desktop. This can then be uploaded and movie to a sharing site. I would do this for every class, then upload to YouTube at the end of the period. By the end of the day, the video, assignments and handouts were posted to the Google Classroom.
Swivl - Handy little robot will follow you around and record your class. This can then be housed on the Swivl servers, or can be downloaded. Don’t have money for the robot, many times they will be happy to let you try it out for free first!
Lexile Level of Reading - change the reading level of what you student is reading
Making the reading attainable by all students, allows for all students to access the learning. A few examples of where to help you with this.
Lexile Analyzer - use this site to determine what the reading level is that you are assigning. Knowing the lexile level helps know if the material is accessible.
Newsela - The site curates news articles, aligns them to learning standards, and even can set-up quizzes and assignments. My English teachers shared this great resources with me, and it just amazing. It will also take a reading level and adjusted as needed by the student’s reading level.
TLDR - Too Long Didn’t Read is a Chrome extension. It doesn’t lower the reading level, but it does summarize and shorten the reading. If you want your students to gain the content, and they refuse to read long passage this just might help.
Learning Ally - Students with visual and reading difficulties will enjoy this app and website. Text is available in audio format, and easily accessible. As an added bonus, and Texas student with these disabilities can access Learning Ally for free.
Rewordify - Lower a reading level of any text or webpage with this web tool. After pasting in the text or website, Rewordify will rewrite the article. Article will then be highlighted and accessible with extra support built in. Words are clickable for definitions, synonyms and audio components. Also vocabulary list, quizzes, and other assessment tools can be accessed based on these sites. Here is a short screencast about this site.
Differentiation is make content accessible to all students. By using technology and address your student’s needs, all students can learn. I hope some of these are useful to you. Are there any that I did not mention that you favor? Put them in the comments below.
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