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Teacher Tools: Instruction
Easy to use instructional tools created to assist teachers in the implementation of
research-based best practices in the classroom. Teachers are able to create
products for use in the classroom and have the ability to store them in a
personal portfolio.
Instructional Planning
- Universal Design for Learning
Developed by
Suzanne M. Robinson, Ph.D., Diana Haynes, M.S., Laila Richman, M.S., and Tiffany Bode,
University of Kansas
- Input/Representation
- Speech Synthesis
Speech synthesis, or text-to-speech, is a category of software or hardware that converts text to artificial speech. A text-to-speech system is one that reads text aloud through the computer's sound card or other speech synthesis device.
- Audio-Taped Text
Some students who have difficulty reading traditional print textbooks and related instructional materials may benefit from using audio-taped text to supplement the printed materials. Ideally, students should follow along in the text as the text is read aloud through the tape player.
- Effective Presentations
Presentations are designed to inform, educate, inspire, persuade, or entertain. When the presenter considers guidelines regarding the use of text, color, diagrams, ideas, and content, the material will be more accessible to all learners.
- Graphic Organizers
A graphic organizer is a visual representation of knowledge that structures information into a pattern. They are effective tools for thinking and learning.
- Process/Engagement
- Cooperative Learning
Cooperative learning is a teaching arrangement that refers to small, heterogeneous groups of students working together to achieve a common goal. Students work together to learn and are responsible for their teammates' learning as well as their own.
- WebQuest
A WebQuest is "an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the Internet." A WebQuest can be utilized in almost any subject area, for all age groups, and for almost any ability level.
- Guided Notes
Guided notes are a skeleton outline that lists the main points of a presentation. Students are required to actively respond during the lecture, improving the accuracy and efficiency of note taking and aiding in retention of the subject matter.
- Expression/Output
- Tiered Assignments
Tiered assignments are parallel tasks at varied levels. Tiered assignments meet the diverse needs of learners within the class while ensuring that all students develop the same essential understanding of ideas.
- Portfolio Assessment
A portfolio is a collection of student work that displays the student’s effort, progress, and achievement. The collection must include student participation in selecting contents, the criteria for selection, the criteria for judging merit, and evidence of student reflection.
- Rubrics
Rubrics are rating scales which consist of categories and descriptions of criteria in order to sort student-produced responses into levels of achievement. The purpose of a rubric is to give students informative feedback about their works in progress and to give detailed evaluations of their final products.
Literacy
- Reading Acquisition
Developed by Sharon E. Green, Ph.D, Emporia State University
- Phonemic Awareness
Phonemic awareness is the ability to notice, think about, and work with the individual sounds in spoken language. Instruction in phonemic awareness is most beneficial for the young child in preschool, kindergarten and first grade and is important because it is one of the main predictors of reading success. Five activities to support this instruction are included in the module.
- Phonics
Phonics is the understanding that there is a predictable relationship between phonemes, the sound of spoken language, and graphemes, the letters and spelling that represent those sounds in written language. Phonics instruction is important because a student needs to be able to identify the letters or letter combinations in a written word, match them to their sounds, and use those sounds to make sense of the word. Approaches to phonics instruction can vary widely, but research suggests that phonics learning should be one part of a much larger reading program. Four activities to support this instruction are included in the module.
- Fluency
Fluency is the ability to read smoothly, accurately, quickly, and expressively. When a reader is able to read faster, he is usually able to better comprehend what he is reading. Five activities to support this instruction are included in the module.
- Vocabulary
Vocabulary refers to the words that one understands and uses to communicate. Vocabulary directly impacts reading comprehension, because in order to understand what is being read, the reader must understand what most of the words mean. Most vocabulary is learned incidentally, but some will need to be taught explicitly. Four activities to support this instruction are included in the module.
- Comprehension
Reading comprehension is the ability to understand text. A good reader has a purpose for reading and is an active participant in the thinking process that makes understanding text possible. Students can be taught to use comprehension strategies effectively and automatically. Three activities to support this instruction are included in the module.
- Reading Comprehension
Developed by Keith Lenz, Ph.D., University of Kansas
- Teaching Before Reading Self-Questioning Strategies
Self-Questioning is the ongoing process of asking questions based on clues that are found in the text in order to spark curiosity and focus the reader's attention on investigating, understanding, and connecting to the text. The Before Reading Self-Questioning Strategy focuses on teaching students to use the self-questioning process as a way of previewing text before reading begins and creating a set of guiding questions to check comprehension during reading.
- Teaching During Reading Self-Questioning Strategies
Self-Questioning is the ongoing process of asking questions based on clues that are found in the text in order to spark curiosity and focus the reader's attention on investigating, understanding, and connecting to the text. This strategy focuses on teaching the students to use a self-questioning process as they read paragraphs and sections of text.
- Teaching After Reading Self-Questioning Strategies
Self-Questioning is the ongoing process of asking questions based on clues that are found in the text in order to spark curiosity and focus the reader's attention on investigating, understanding, and connecting to the text. This strategy focuses on teaching students to generate questions and answer questions after they have read the text. This strategy is usually used for studying and self-testing information that should have been gained from the text.
- Teaching Muli-Section Summarization Strategies
A summary is a brief statement or set of statements used to show how a reader has condensed information to get to the central message of a larger chunk of information. In the Paragraph Summarization Strategy, students read one paragraph at a time, stopping at the end of each paragraph to find the main idea and supporting details.
- Teaching Paragraph Summarization Strategies
A summary is a brief statement or set of statements used to show how a reader has condensed information to get to the central message of a larger chunk of information. This strategy focuses on students reading a multi-paragraph section that covers a topic. The emphasis is on the integration of multiple main ideas to identify the significance of the set of ideas as a whole.
- How should comprehension strategies be implemented in a school?
A summary is a brief statement or set of statements used to show how a reader has condensed information to get to the central message of a larger chunk of information. This strategy focuses on the type of summarization that is required for report writing. The students create a summary of the entire reading. The summarization includes a topic sentence, at least three supporting sentences, and a closing sentence.
- Teaching Section Summarization Strategies
Instruction should be provided through a continuum of literacy services that place content area learning front and center, enlisting the help of all teachers. This is called the Content Literacy Continuum. The Content Literacy Continuum has five levels of literacy services: content mastery, embedded strategy instruction, intensive strategy instruction, intensive skill instruction, and language intervention.
- Writing
- Adaptations for Struggling Writers
Adaptations include accommodations in the learning environment, instructional materials, and teaching strategies as well as modifications to task demands and actual tasks. Most students who struggle with writing, including those typically in general education classrooms, will only require accommodations. A small number of students with writing disabilities will require significant changes to expectations for their writing processes and performance, the content of their writing assignments, and how or if they will write. Here you will find a list of adaptations specifically for writing.
- Spelling Instruction Procedures
Because so many students with writing problems experience difficulty with spelling, teachers need evidence-based instructional procedures for explicitly teaching developmentally appropriate spelling skills and strategies. Here you will find ideas for organizing weekly spelling instruction, curriculum considerations, spelling activities, and spelling study strategies.
- Genre-Focused Planning Strategies
A planning strategy is a series of steps designed to achieve the related goals of generating, organizing, and sifting ideas for a paper. Planning takes place before and during writing and written plans should be checked after writing has occurred to ensure the plan was followed. Planning strategies typically use acronyms to encapsulate the multiple steps involved and some sort of graphic organizer to record ideas. Here you will find a planning strategy for writing stories and one for writing persuasive papers.
- Revising Strategies
A revising strategy is a series of steps designed to achieve the related goals of identifying mismatches between intended and actual text, adding meaningful content to clarify, support, and elaborate upon what has been written already, and produce a document that communicates with precision the author’s ideas in a way that is engaging for the reader. Revising strategies typically use acronyms to encapsulate the multiple steps involved. Here you will find two revision strategies—a collaborative checklist and an iterative procedure for revising text at multiple levels.
- Content Area Integration
Even in the elementary grades, teachers must address content area knowledge and learning, which is difficult to do when so much of the school day is devoted to literacy instruction, unless an integrated approach is taken. Here you will find two means of promoting writing competence as well as disciplinary expertise, both of which capitalize on cooperative and collaborative learning techniques.
- Mathematics
Developed by David Allsopp, Ph.D., University of South Florida
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Building Initial Mathematical Understanding
- Concrete-to-Representational-to-Abstract Instruction
C-R-A instruction insures that students first develop a concrete level of understanding for a new mathematics concept or skill. Later, they can use this foundation to link their conceptual understanding to abstract mathematical learning activities.
- Explicitly Model Mathematics Concepts/Skills & Problem Solving Strategies
The purpose of explicitly modeling mathematics concepts/skills and problem solving strategies is twofold. First, explicit modeling of a target mathematics concept/skill provides students a clear and accessible format for initially acquiring an understanding of the mathematics concept/skill. Second, by explicitly modeling effective strategies for approaching particular problem solving situations, you provide students a process for becoming independent learners and problem solvers.
- Creating Authentic Mathematics Learning Contexts
By creating authentic mathematics learning contexts when teaching mathematics, the teacher explicitly connects the target math concept/skill/strategy to a relevant and meaningful context, therefore promoting a deeper level of understanding for students. Creating authentic mathematics contexts can be a wonderful way to make mathematics meaningful to all students.
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Extending Mathematical Understanding
- Provide Structured Language Experiences
Providing structured language experiences involves creating a well-structured learning activity where students have abundant opportunities to use language to describe their mathematical understanding. It is also an excellent way to help students move from a concrete or representational level of understanding to an abstract level of understanding.
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Building Mathematical Proficiency
- Instructional Games
Mathematics instructional games are learning activities that encourage students to perform target mathematics concepts, skills, or strategies in a game format. By engaging students in practice using instructional games, teachers provide a motivational way for students to respond multiple times to prompts requiring them to apply their newly acquired mathematical understanding.
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Evaluating Student Needs & Making Effective Mathematics Instructional Decisions
- Dynamic Mathematics Assessment
Dynamic Mathematics Assessment combines principles of CRA Assessment, Error Pattern Analysis, and the Flexible Mathematics Interview to provide teachers with an in-depth, instructionally relevant picture of a student's mathematical understanding.
- Continuous Monitoring of Student Mathematics Understandings & Skills
Continuous Monitoring of Student Mathematics Understandings and Skills is a simple yet powerful way to evaluate students’ learning on a day-to-day basis. It involves creating short learning probes that ask students to respond to target mathematics concepts, skills, and strategies. Students should be able to complete any probe in 5 minutes or less, and students may chart their progress.
- Mathematics Instructional Decision-Making Inventory
The Mathematics Instructional Decision-making Inventory (MIDMI) provides a structured, practical way to plan mathematics instruction for a class, for small groups of students, or for individual students. By using the MIDMI, the teacher is able to create a general picture of the type of mathematics instruction that would be the most beneficial for the students.
Providing Access to the General Education Curriculum
Powerful Approaches
- Classwide Peer Tutoring
Developed by
Barbara Terry, Ph.D., University of Kansas
- Classwide Peer Tutoring: The "Standard" Program
ClassWide Peer Tutoring is a comprehensive procedure that is based on reciprocal peer tutoring and group reinforcement to accelerate the process of learning and practicing basic academic skills.
- Classwide Peer Tutoring: Learning Management System
The ClassWide Peer Tutoring – Learning Management System combines the standard ClassWide Peer Tutoring Program with a computerized teacher support program that provides a formative evaluation system, a teacher mentor, and the capability for creating data and performance graphics.
- Classwide Peer Tutoring: Beginning Reading
The ClassWide Peer Tutoring: Beginning Reading program was developed from the standard program in order to provide the effectiveness of the peer tutoring experience to very young children as they acquire basic learning skills for becoming readers.
- Materials Needed To Implement The Classwide Peer Tutoring Beginning Reading Program
Beginning Reading Program can be used with any primary level curriculum for teaching pre-reading skills in any given classroom. The teacher's manual provides a stand-alone set of implementation instructions for a number of beginning reading skills. There are also other resources available, including software.
- Implementing The Classwide Peer Tutoring Beginning Reading Program
The ClassWide Peer Tutoring Beginning Reading Program is taught and implemented in a series of steps resulting in the facilitating of students' achievement, acquisition, and mastery of the basic skills needed to learn to read. The program incorporates a stimulus-response, error correction, tutoring technique and game format that benefits both the tutor and the tutee.
- Direct Instruction
Developed by: Nancy Marchand-Martella, Ph.D., Eastern Washington University
- Direct Instruction: Language
There are three main DI language programs: Language for Learning, Language for Thinking, and Language for Writing. These were originally called DISTAR Language I, II, and III. There are several format features that make DI programs unique. These include clear teacher scripts, placement tests and within program assessments, choral responding and signals, individual turns, and error correction and verification techniques.
- Direct Instruction: Math
There are three major DI mathematics programs: Connecting Math Concepts, DISTAR Arithmetic, and Corrective Mathematics. DI math programs include explicit and systematic instruction organized around a strand-based design. There are several format features that make DI unique. These include clear teacher scripts, placement tests and within program assessments, choral responding and signals, individual turns, and error correction and verification techniques.
- Direct Instruction: Reading
There are three major DI reading programs: Reading Mastery, Horizons, and Corrective Reading. DI reading programs include the key elements of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary building, and comprehension. There are several format features that make DI unique. These include clear teacher scripts, placement tests and within program assessments, choral responding and signals, individual turns, and error correction and verification techniques.
- Direct Instruction: Writing and Spelling
There are four main DI writing programs: Cursive Writing, Basic Writing Skills, Expressive Writing, and Reasoning and Writing. There are two main DI spelling programs. These include Spelling Mastery and Spelling Through Morphographs. DI writing and spelling programs include explicit and systematic instruction to improve the writing, editing, and spelling skills of students. There are several format features that make DI unique. These include clear teacher scripts, placement tests and within program assessments, choral responding and signals, individual turns, and error correction and verification techniques.
- Cognitive Strategies
Developed by
LuAnn Jordan, Ph.D., University of North Carolina, Charlotte
- Orienting Strategies
An orienting strategy directs a student’s learning to a task. The student's attention is drawn to a task through teacher input such as a cue, material that is highlighted, and/or student self-regulation.
- Specific Attentional Aids
A specific attentional aid directs a student’s learning to a task by connecting that information to something highly accessible, such as an object, language, or part of the body. Because the aid is accessible, the student can use specific attentional aids often and easily.
- Specific Aids for Problem-Solving or Memorization
A student enhances his/her problem solving or memorization using a specific problem-solving aid by connecting a concrete object or other cue to the task. Counters and other concrete objects used in mathematics are examples of specific aids.
- Rehearsal Strategies
A rehearsal strategy uses repeated practice of information to learn it. When a student is presented with specific information to be learned, such as a list, often he will attempt to memorize the information by repeating it over and over. The repeated practice increases the student's familiarity with the information.
- Elaboration Strategies
An elaboration strategy occurs when the student uses elements of what is to be learned and expands them. The student expands the target information by relating other information to it, for example, making an analogy.
- Transformation Strategies
When a learner begins with another person's information, and transforms that information into something else without losing the concept of the original, a transformational strategy is being used. Paraphrasing is an example of a transformational strategy.
- Imagery Strategies
Imagery strategies involve activating the memory by taking what is to be learned and creating meaningful visual, auditory, or kinesthetic images of the information.
- Mnemonics Strategies
A mnemonic strategy is one type of transformational strategy. The student converts difficult or unfamiliar information into more manageable information by connecting the information to be learned with key words or letters.
- Organization Strategies
An organizational strategy allows the learner to manipulate, integrate, and/or otherwise interact with the information so that it is more easily learned and remembered. There are various approaches to organizing information: prioritizing, clustering, and categorization. Memory is enhanced by the links created by connecting the information.
Accommodations
- Instructional Accommodations
Developed by
Sandra J. Thompson, Ph.D., Research Associate, National Center on
Educational Outcomes, University of Minnesota
- Presentation Instructional Accommodations
Presentation accommodations allow students to access instruction in ways that do not require them to visually read standard print. These alternate modes of access include visual, tactile, auditory, and a combination of visual and auditory.
- Response Instructional Accommodations
Response accommodations allow students to complete assignments, tests, and activities in different ways or to solve or organize problems using some type of assistive device or organizer.
- Timing and Scheduling Instructional Accommodations
Timing and scheduling accommodations change the allowable length of time to complete assignments, tests, and activities, and may also change the way the time is organized.
- Setting Instructional Accommodations
Setting instructional accommodations change the location in which a student receives instruction or the conditions of an instructional setting in order to reduce distractions, receive distracting accommodations, or increase physical access.
Ideas to Assist Teachers, Parents, and Students with Instructional Accommodations
- Accommodations Considerations for Assessment and Instruction
Accommodations considerations for assessment and instruction include a checklist of accommodations for the following student characteristics: blind/low vision/partial sight, deaf/hard of hearing, weak manual dexterity, reading disability, writing disability, math disability, physical disability, attention difficulties, and communication disorders.
- Format to Remind Teachers about a Student's Accommodation Needs
This format puts the student in charge (building self advocacy skills) and sets the expectation that, with these accommodations, the student can meet the academic standards set for the class.
- Teacher Evaluation of Classroom Accommodations
This form allows the teacher to rate the effectiveness of the accommodations that a student is using.
- Student Evaluation of Classroom Accommodations
This form allows the student to rate the effectiveness of the accommodations that he or she is using.
- Accommodations Journal: Keeping Track of What Works
One way to keep track of what accommodations work for a student is to support the student in keeping an accommodations journal. The journal lets the student be in charge and could be kept up-to-date through regular consultation with a special education teacher or other staff member.
- Questions to Ask When Considering Going Beyond Accommodations to Modifying a Student's Learning Expectations
This is a list of six important questions to consider when looking at modifying a student’s instruction.
- Example of Increasingly Independent Presentation Accommodations
This is a flowchart listing options ranging from the independent use of a digital text reader to having another person read the text directly to the person who needs it.
- Choosing and Using Accommodations: IEP Team Considerations
When choosing and using accommodations, the IEP team should start with the standards. The team needs to be aware of what all students at a grade level are expected to know and be able to do and examine the student's learning strengths and challenges in light of each standard.
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