TAILORED TEXTS: A GUIDE TO USING DIFFERENTIATED TEXTS AND QUESTIONS IN THE CLASSROOM

This post was originally intended to be a guide for using my Differentiated Article Sets (available on TPT ^_~), but it can apply to using any texts you have at multiple reading/lexile levels.

JUMP RIGHT TO IMPLEMENTATION SUMMARY

For those who don't know (Hey there, welcome! Hope you enjoy your time here.), I teach high school direct instruction English and Intensive Reading to students with high-incidence disabilities - primarily learning disabilities, language impairments, ADHD, and Autism. The reading skills of my students vary widely (from kindergarten-level to nearly grade-level), so I am constantly differentiating my instruction to meet their needs (or at least trying to).

One easy way to differentiate is to use texts that have been adapted to different levels of complexity. Differentiating texts allows students to engage with the material at a difficulty level they can be successful with, ensuring that all learners can develop their skills effectively.

While you could probably categorize your students into 10 different levels of reading ability (I know I can, lol), I typically group students into three levels. I think this is a manageable number for the teacher, and it typically works for creating small groups that are large enough to generate discussion, but small enough to provide students with practice opportunities and individualized support and feedback.

FINDING TEXTS

While teachers have been told for decades that we need to differentiate our instruction, there's surprisingly few resources for differentiated materials at the secondary level. Most of the differentiated text sets I've found online or on TPT are designed for elementary, or they include texts at different levels that discuss a similar topic, but don't cover the same information. This is fine if you're doing all of your instruction in small groups, but that's not realistic, nor is it ideal. While students can do some deep learning in leveled groups, they also benefit from mixed-ability groups and whole group instruction.

In order to differentiate in those settings, you need texts about the same topic at different instructional levels. The best-known source for this in secondary (at least in my experience) is Newsela. Newsela provides a variety of texts including (relatively) recent events. You can find some really interesting topics on there, and the texts are offered at up to five reading levels. They also include comprehension questions and writing prompts. If you're never tried it, I suggest you check it out. They have a paid version (I'm lucky enough that my district provides this) and a "Freemium" version.

While I do use Newsela, I typically only use it in small groups. Reason being that when they lower the levels of their articles, they tend to remove information and even entire sections. They also completely change the questions. This is fine in small group but makes any whole group discussion difficult and cumbersome (which kind of defeats the point of everyone reading about the same topic). I also find students get frustrated by the length of these articles and avoid completing them independently.

ReadWorks also provides some of their texts in differentiated levels in their StepReads category. I haven't spent a lot of time looking through these, mainly because most of the texts I checked only offered one lowered level of the text that was still pretty high in text complexity, so it doesn't work for my needs. I do like that they try to keep the same text structure, vocabulary, and content, but I think that hinders their ability to differentiate widely.

In researching for this article, I came across the website For the Teachers which offers texts at three different reading levels. They also list related skills for each text which I like since I often structure my curriculum around targeting specific reading skills (although I couldn't find anywhere that they provide any actual questions for the texts). It looks like there could be some good materials here, but I am concerned about their statement "These articles are fiction, but they are written to be read and used as non-fiction." Given the prevalence of false information these days, I don't understand why they would go this route. I also ran into issues of broken or incorrect links which would be very frustrating to deal with if I was trying to get resources together for a unit.

If you want to check out more resources, including some for elementary and some targeted to ELLs, Larry Ferlazzo offers a comprehensive list here.

Now I would be remiss if I didn't mention the differentiated article sets I've made. I created these because I couldn't find the resources I needed for my students. I was looking for articles that:

• Were available at multiple reading levels
• Were about interesting topics
• Covered the same key content in each article
• Included questions that could be applied across all levels of texts
  

My goal was to be able to provide my students with texts that were targeted to their instructional level, without making the difference obvious to other students in the class. Even when everyone is in the class because they struggle with reading, they still get embarrassed when they are given "easier" work than their peers.

My articles include three versions of the text (approximately 3rd, 6th, and 9th grade levels), four levels of text-dependent questions (including multiple choice and open response), and personal response questions. They're pretty cheap at only $3 too. If you think you might be interested, you can check them out here.

IMPLEMENTATION

Alright so you've found your articles. Now, how do you use them? There are a number of different ways, but I'll outline the four I use most often here. But first a quick aside about learner profiles

The Importance of Learner Profiles

When implementing differentiated reading strategies, it is crucial to consider each student's unique learner profile. This means taking into account their abilities with all components of the reading process. With my students I focus mainly on decoding and comprehension. I kind of view it like a Punnett Square (remember those from high school?).

Based on this we end up with four learner profiles. If you stop here, you can essentially make three levels of groups: students who are weak in both areas, students who are weak in one area, and students who are strong in both areas. In this case you can simply provide each of the three levels with three tiers of articles and questions.

In my article sets, you can use the quick print guide to do just that!

Method 1: Independent Reading with Targeted Texts and Questions

Assign texts according to each student's reading level, allowing them to work independently. This approach gives students the opportunity to practice their decoding and comprehension skills at a comfortable level of difficulty, fostering growth and confidence in their abilities. 

Your goal is for each student to feel challenged and supported. You can assign specific texts to students, or you can allow students to choose which one best suits their needs, promoting self-determination.

While differentiated articles work great for independent skill practice, they can also be excellent resources for working with students in small groups. In fact, it was working with my small groups that first inspired me to find leveled texts with similar content and skill practice.

Method 2: Small Group Reading for Targeted Support

For classrooms with diverse reading levels, small group instruction is crucial. This method allows for targeted instruction and support, ensuring that struggling students receive the necessary scaffolding to develop their skills. This method not only caters to the individual needs of each student, but also fosters a sense of community as students work together towards shared learning goals.

You can meet with all three leveled groups, but it's okay to sometimes let your higher-level readers work independently, while you work with lower-level readers. Struggling students need more direct instruction to build foundational skills and to ensure they are not practicing and reinforcing errors.

But Tracy, you say, I want to review the comprehension questions with all of my students, but I don't have enough time to meet with them all in small groups. How can I give them differentiated texts to read, but still review the questions together?

Method 3: Whole Group Discussion with Targeted Texts and Unified Questions

Our third strategy is to provide students with differentiated texts but assign the same set of questions. This approach allows learners at different reading levels to engage with the material in a meaningful way while still promoting critical thinking and comprehension skills. By using the same question set, students can participate in discussions and collaborate with their peers, regardless of their individual reading abilities.

If you use this method I would suggest using Level 2 multiple choice questions. Use whatever will best serve the needs of your students. If you worry that some students will struggle with the level of questions you chose to use, you can try having students work in pairs, rather than individually. If a student has strong decoding skills but struggles with comprehension, try pairing them with a peer who has strong comprehension skills and a weakness in decoding. They can work together to make sense of the text, discuss their ideas, and learn from one another.

But what if you have a greater variety of learners in your class and still want them to be able to work independently? Perhaps you have a student with strong decoding skills but very weak comprehension. If you give them a Level 2 set, they won't be challenged by reading the text, and the questions may be too difficult for them to answer.

This is where mixing and matching comes in.

Let's take our Punnet Square and further differentiate it by adding a third level for each.

Just by considering three levels of two components of reading, we have nine different profiles. To accommodate for those differences you need a mix of differentiated texts and differentiated questions. (If you're guessing my article sets contain both, you're right!).

Method 4: Mixing and Matching

There is no rule that says you have to use Level 2 questions with a Level 2 text. Mix and match articles and question sets to your hearts content. For example I have a student with decent comprehension skills but very weak writing skills (plus large handwriting!). I give him standard multiple choice text-dependent questions, but give him wide lined personal response questions.

You have to gauge your students to know which material is best for which student. Simple guidelines would be to base the text level on their decoding skills and the question level on their comprehension skills. From there you can fine tune as necessary.

Whew, that is a wall of text, isn't it. I didn't mean to ramble on so much but I hope you found this useful. Here is a brief recap:

• Using Differentiated Texts and Questions
• Four Main Methods
• Independent Reading with Targeted Texts and Questions
• Small Group Reading for Targeted Support
• Whole Group Discussion with Targeted Texts and Unified Questions
• Mixing and Matching
• Using Disorderly Teaching Differentiated Article Sets
• Articles can be used for any of the methods above
• The sets were originally designed to allow for whole group discussion
• You can further differentiate by having higher level students read independently while you read the article together with lower level students in a small group.
• Each article contains the same key information so that the content can be discussed in a whole group lesson.
• Levels are marked with a small code on the corner of the page. These codes are used to mask the level information so it's not as obvious to students.
  
• The codes are listed in the Table of Contents (p. 3). 
  
• The last letter of the code indicates the level.
  
• Level 1 = a
• Level 2 = b
• Level 3 = c
  
• The question sets are all worded the same way and cover the same skills and content, but are differentiated in response type.
• Questions can be reviewed in whole group, but it would then become obvious that some students have questions presented differently from others. There is nothing wrong with this, but you know your students and how they would handle this best.
• If you think this may be an issue, you can give students differentiated articles but give them all the same question set. In this case I would suggest using either the multiple choice questions with 4 choices, or open response with lines. Use whatever will best serve the needs of your students.
  

Weekend Project – DIY Cute Fire Drill Teacher Clipboard

Apologies for any typos etc in this post. My ADD has been really bad the last few days (just ask Janice how our planning session went yesterday, or count how many time in the past two hours I've said "Damn it, what did I just think to do?").

On Tuesday I posted about how we handle fire drills in our classroom. A key component of student check in is an easy to find clipboard. The clipboard we use in our classroom is super simple, just a regular board with a paper owl (from the dollar store) taped on. I covered the entire owl with packing tape to protect it.

With my sister getting her own classes this year (go Momo! So proud of you for becoming a teacher), I decided to make a stand out clipboard for her to use during drills as well. It’s cheap, easy, and perfect for a Weekend Project : )

Note: This clipboard is great for any time you need students to follow or meet up with you. Be creative!

Project Completion Time: Half Hour (not counting buying supplies)

Supplies:

• Clipboard
• Decorative item(s)
• Strong tape or glue

Since this is her first year teaching, we went a bit fancier with her clipboard. First, we found this MAKEMarket chalk style clipboard at Michaels on clearance, which matches her chalkboard classroom theme.

 

Then we found these adorable painted wooden decorations (does anyone know what these are actually called?). You can find a wide variety of these in their woodwork section so choose one that matches your style and make it something that stands out. Momo originally picked out the bee because she loves bees, but it didn’t pop quite enough to stand out in a large crowd, so we added in the crown heart to make it the queen bee for her students to flock to : )

If you want to keep your clipboard flush, go with a paper based decoration. You can find teacher cut outs in the dollar store, large embellishments in scrapbook stores, or cut something out yourself. Just make sure you stick to a clear, bold design so that it stands out. A collage of magazine cut outs may truly represent you, but it’s not a great sign post.

Now, just attach your decorations to the back of your clip board. Position them as close to the top as you can for when you hold the board up in the air (especially if you’re short like us).

For the wooden decorations, I attached them with my handy e6000 (one of the best crafting adhesives to have in your arsenal. I use it for everything!).

If you’re using paper, tape will do fine. I like to cover the entire thing with packing tape to protect the paper from tearing or water damage. That way it will last for years.

The last thing to do (assuming you use this for fire drills) is to clip in your attendance roster for each of your classes. Now you’re all set!

If you decide the make one of these clipboard, PLEASE share pics with me. I'd love to see what you come up with and how you use it!!!

Weekend Project: How to Organize Teacher Computer Files in 5 Easy Steps

Time for my first ever Weekend Project: How to Organize Teacher Computer Files in 5 Easy Steps

Maybe you’ve never given a single thought to where you save your computer files. Perhaps you started the year off organized but by the end of the year had given up and have a massive cluster of files shoved in My Documents. With any luck you at least know what My Documents is : )


Regardless of your computer experience or how diligent you are, we all end up with a mess of digital files on our teacher computer at some point. If it’s gone on for a while, you may have hundreds, nay thousands, of files to sort through. It can be overwhelming, but rest assured, I’m here with the answer, because it’s time to finally organize your teacher computer files, and I’m going to show you how to do it.



Project Completion Time: 1 – 12 hours (depending on how organized you were to begin with and how computer savvy you are)


First things first, make sure you have enough time to get this all done before you need to use your teacher computer again. The process involves taking EVERYTHING off of your computer, and the last thing you need is to go crazy trying to find a file you need, or to undo the process out of necessity to get back to work. This can be done on a weekend, but I like to do it during the summer; mainly because IT tells us to back up our computer before we leave anyway, and it ensures that I'll have plenty of time to get it done..

Step 1: Take all of the files off of your teacher computer

The first thing you need to do is get your files off of your teacher computer. Yes, you could potentially do all of your sorting from within your teaching computer, but I guarantee you’ll be far more likely to stop in the middle of it (and either abandon it or forget where you were and have to start over), or will be far more reluctant to get rid of files you don’t need. You want a clean start here, so the best thing to do is to get your files to neutral territory so that you can look at it through a critical lens.


So, go through your work computer and move all of your files to a portable USB drive (aka flash drive aka pen drive). Don’t have one? I love the Lexar TwistTurn drives, since they swing closed to protect the USB end when you’re not using it.

Because there is such a wide variety of computers in use in schools, I am not providing detailed instructions for this step. The basic process is to drag all of your computer files into a single folder on your USB drive. I name my folder Work Computer and then the date I moved all of the files.

Make sure to check My Documents, Pictures, Videos, Downloads, and your Desktop! You don’t want to miss anything.


If you need more detailed directions, Sandisk has guides for Windows XP, Vista, 7 and Mac OS here.

If you’re still lost, contact your school’s tech support person, or find a tech savvy teacher who can help you out ^_~

Step 2: Copy your work computer files to your home computer

Now it’s time to copy all of your files to your home computer. The reason I copy the files to my personal computer instead of moving them, is so that I still have a backup saved on my USB drive. We all make mistakes and I like to know that if I accidentally delete something I need, I can get it back.

Note: all of the following images and directions are based on Windows 7 but the basic concepts are the same.


The first thing you need to do is plug in and open your USB drive. Chances are as soon as you plug the drive in, a window will pop up and let you open it. If that doesn’t happen, or you accidentally closed it, here’s what you do.

Click the Windows start orb, then click Computer. This will open a window that shows your computers drives.

Double click on your USB drive. It will most likely be towards the bottom of the window.

Now that the files in your USB drive are visible, drag them onto your desktop to copy them over. (You don’t necessarily have to use your desktop, but I find that to be a good place to work on sorting files, since it doesn’t require extra folders to be open.)

Step 3: Consider your folder organization system



At the heart of any computer filing system are folders. Just like the filing cabinet folders teacher use to sort out student files, unit documents, etc., computer folders are designed to sort and separate computer files. Folders on your computer have the added benefit of what’s called a folder tree or folder hierarchy. Simply, you can have sub-folders inside of folders. This allows you to create folders for larger categories, and then more specific folders within those.


As you can see in this image, I have a folder called Lesson Plans. Inside that folder is a folder titled Archive (for old plans), and one called PGP (for Professional Growth Plans).

Below that is a more complex set up, with a Lessons folder, which is full of folders for each subject I teach. Inside many of those folders are sub folders to break things down even more specifically.



Now that you understand how the folder system works, it’s time to decide HOW you want your folders organized. As you can see in my folder tree, I have main folders based on key times of the year (beginning, end, and holidays), a separate folder (Classroom Setup) for printables for around my room, a folder for all of my ESE work, one for final exams, and the aforementioned Lessons folder.

The list goes on and on. If you click here you can see my entire folder tree. This was pre-reorganizing so it may change a bit, but you can see how much I love using folders! By contrast, my co-teacher uses much fewer sub-folders because she doesn’t like have to click into multiple folders to find something. I can’t stand scrolling through long lists of files, so her system doesn’t work for me. You really just need to find what’s right for you.

That being said, I do have some recommendations.

On my computer, the Lessons folder is the heart of my teaching. I know that all of my teaching materials are in that folder and its subfolders; nowhere else. Nothing but actual teaching materials go in here.

I’d recommend a Personal folder. No, we’re not supposed to handle personal business at work, but we’ve all had to fax a letter to a doctor, submit insurance information online, or something else that we find takes up our lunch break ; ) So have a spot to keep anything that has to do with your personal life to keep it separate.

Create a To Sort folder. I use this as a safety net for when I get overwhelmed with fifteen million things and I stop keeping up with organizing my files. At the end of this school year I had 165 files sitting in that folder to sort through! Can you imagine if they were scattered throughout my computer instead?

I also have a folder called School Documents. This is where I save the various passes, schedules, testing calendars, etc. that administration sends out. I like keeping them separate because 1) it makes it easy to find them, and 2) I can usually delete them at the end of the year since admin sends out updated documents each August.

Everything else is really up to you. You know what you have and need, so you can best organize.

Step 4: Create folders for your newly organized files

Here’s the key step. We’re going to create ALL new folders to move your files into. First create a master folder to put all of your files in. This will keep everything in one place and make transferring it back to your work computer easier.

To create a new folder, right click on the Desktop. Put your mouse over New to open another menu, then click on Folder. Your New folder will appear with the text highlighted in blue so you can change the folder’s name. I named mine Work Computer – Organized but you can name it whatever you want.

If you’re super organized and know exactly where your files will end up, you can create all of your folders at once. Since I tend to mix things up a bit and organize things a little differently each year, I like to create folders as I go along. I start by creating some of my master folders, then add others as I need them.

DO NOT just copy over full folders from your existing files! The idea is to actually look at everything as you go.

Step 5: Move your files and delete the junk

Ah, the final step. Time to move your files over. As I said in Step 4, the idea here is for you to actually LOOK at your files. I’m willing to bet there are some you haven’t opened up in years. Do you really need those sitting around taking up room and gumming up the works? If you haven’t used something in years, and aren’t suddenly inspired now that you’re looking at it, go ahead and delete it. Anything you want to keep, move it into the appropriate folder.

What will happen is that gradually you’ll be emptying out your old archive folder, and filling up the new folder. By doing it this way you ensure that you went through every single file and you’ll know you’re truly done when the older folder is empty.



So there it is: 5 Steps to Organize Your Teacher Computer Files. Hopefully I’ve explained everything clearly enough. If you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know in the comments below and I do another post to add anything I missed, clarify, or throw out some advanced tips.

I’d love to know how this system works out for you, and feel free to tell me how you organize your files. I'm always looking for new ideas!