For the past several years, my principal has required our PLCs to discuss these 4 questions when planning:
1. What do we want the students to learn?
2. How will we know if the students "got it"?
3. What will we do for those who didn't "get it"?
4. What will do for those who did "get it"?
What he didn't tell us is that these 4 questions are rooted in the very best research on differentiation. Bottom line: This pattern of teach - reteach - enrich promotes learning gains.
The first two questions are pretty easily answered with "the standard" and "an assessment". I typically teach the standard with notes that break down the process of analyzing text for such things as theme/central idea or point of view.
Then I make sure "the standard" is followed by an opportunity to actively process that information. After all, for learning to take place, students need to DO something. And actually, we can use the same exact strategy to process, reteach and enrich and that strategy is...
MENUS!
Now I'm not talking about full-on tic-tac-toe boards that can take up a full week (not that there's anything wrong with that). I'm talking about a little sidewalk lunch cafe menu with two or maybe three options. Think of them as "Specials of the Day" because students will think these menus are indeed special.
1. Menus to process information
Many times, I play games with the whole class. These could be very similar to various Kagan strategies you've read or heard about. But students also need some personal time to interact with the content. So...
I give a menu with 2 choices and a rubric. Things like:
-making anchor charts
-using task cards (online task cards are great too!)
-using Quizlet
-working with interactive notebook foldables
-working with graphic organizers
After processing time is complete, I usually give students a quiz to make sure that they truly do "get" the content. Students who score less than 80% obviously need re-teaching and those that scored 80% or better are ready for enrichment. So that brings me to the next 2 menus.
2. A menu to Reteach (I call these 'enhancement' menus in my classroom)
It includes options like watching a re-teaching video or working with the quiz to analyze examples.
3. A menu for Enrichment
It includes activities for creating something new - a new video, poster, and/or some other artistic example of the content.
I have actually used the teach- reteach - enrich method with my middle school classes - 2 of which were full ELL classes - and the majority showed gains so I know this works!
Want to take a closer look at menus that are ready to use, standards-based and include the full lesson components?
I hope that you will give the teach - reteach - enrich process a try and let me know how it works for you!
Thanks for stopping by!