Claim: Allowing students personal choice for an activity enables greater differentiated learning.
Support: The individual success of the students' finished product.
In a special education classroom one of the most important components is to implement opportunities for individualized learning that target the needs of every student. Differentiated instruction supports the concept of independent learning preferences, especially, in a small group setting. Allowing the students to choose their own topic for an activity offers the opportunity to express “personalized” interests in the topic being learned as suggested by (Tomlinson & Imbeau, 2010, p. 4). In order to support individual interest I often implement lessons that allow the students to choose a topic or subject matter of their choice. For this particular activity (see figure ? below), I gave the students a list of countries and asked them to choose a country to research and write a paragraph about. The purpose of the assignment was to learn the elements required in writing a complete paragraph. By allowing them to choose the country that they were interested in, the students were more motivated about completing the assignment. Also, keep in mind that these students could not write a paragraph that followed a sequence of thoughts or details prior to these types of projects.
Support: The individual success of the students' finished product.
In a special education classroom one of the most important components is to implement opportunities for individualized learning that target the needs of every student. Differentiated instruction supports the concept of independent learning preferences, especially, in a small group setting. Allowing the students to choose their own topic for an activity offers the opportunity to express “personalized” interests in the topic being learned as suggested by (Tomlinson & Imbeau, 2010, p. 4). In order to support individual interest I often implement lessons that allow the students to choose a topic or subject matter of their choice. For this particular activity (see figure ? below), I gave the students a list of countries and asked them to choose a country to research and write a paragraph about. The purpose of the assignment was to learn the elements required in writing a complete paragraph. By allowing them to choose the country that they were interested in, the students were more motivated about completing the assignment. Also, keep in mind that these students could not write a paragraph that followed a sequence of thoughts or details prior to these types of projects.
References
Tomlinson C., Imbeau M. B. (2010). Leading and Managing A Differentiated Classroom. Alexandria VA: ASCD.
Tomlinson C., Imbeau M. B. (2010). Leading and Managing A Differentiated Classroom. Alexandria VA: ASCD.