Shifting Class Instruction Toward Differentiation

The research is compelling: When teachers differentiate reading instruction, students learn more. But teachers are too often given the expectation of differentiation without the details on how to make it work. In No More Reading Instruction Without Differentiation, Lynn Bigelman and Debra Peterson offer a framework that adapts instruction based on individual students' needs and interests.

In the following video, Lynn Bigelman and Debra Peterson explain how to incorporate differentiation into daily classroom instruction. They suggest workshops with a mini-lesson at the beginning and then independent work where students work on texts that are differentiated at their level.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Lynn Bigelman has been a classroom teacher, reading specialist, and, for the past 14 years, an elementary school principal. She has served as the president of the Michigan Reading Association and Oakland County Reading Council.

Debra Peterson is a consultant for the Minnesota Center for Reading Research at the University of Minnesota. She was the recipient of the International Literacy Association's Albert J. Harris Award for Reading Research.