Assignment: Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners
Student Readiness
Although it would be easier if all students walked into our classrooms at the same readiness level, this simply will never happen. You will have students who are below, at or above grade level and you have to somehow effectively teach them.
This is why differentiation is so important to our classroom instruction. After reading Chapter 5, answer the following questions:
• Explain the difference between student readiness and ability and how readiness is related to Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).Provide an example to support your explanation.
• Pages 94- 98 of our text provide specific guidelines when differentiating for student readiness. Based on these guidelines, develop at least three different ways you will determine the readiness levels of your students. How will these guidelines help you understand the level of readiness to plan differently for content, process, and product?
Use the text to support your opinions.
Book: Sousa, D. A. & Tomlinson, C. A. (2011). Differentiation and the brain: How neuroscience supports the learner-friendly classroom. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.