Differentiated Writing Instruction
Storyboard Text
- Hi! I'm Usman, and I'm in Grade 11! I'm here to tell you about an experience I had in my English lesson recently, and how it made me actually enjoy writing!
- Whenever I'm in school, the only thing I can think about is football; I am obsessed with it! I love playing with my friends during break, and you will always find me on the football field rather than in the library.
- I find it very hard to concentrate in lesson. I was tested last year for dyslexia, and it makes me embarrassed every time I have to read or write. To avoid looking less clever, I often make jokes or disengage in lessons. It's not that I don't want to do well... It's just that I don't seem able to actually do anything. The only thing I feel like I'm good at it football.
- Hi, I'm Mr. Bell! I'm Usman's Grade 11 English teacher. I've been watching Usman struggle with the subject, and did my best to find out more about his learning history. I was recently made aware of his dyslexia, which must have contributed to his disengagement with learning. Coupling that and his desire to be a pro-athlete, I designed some lessons that would help him become a more fluent reader and writer.
- For our Non-Fiction unit, students were required to write a biography. To engage Unman in the project, I allowed them to choose one person they;'d like to write a biography on. Since Unman likes football, I gave him the suggestion on researching and writing about the life and accomplishments of his favourite footballer!
- I used graphic organizers to help Usman organize his ideas so that he had a solid plan for writing. In addition to that, I allowed students to type up their autobiographies, and let them use editing tools such as dictionaries, translators, thesauri, spell-check, and grammar-check, to help them with their writing. I also introduced him to a tool called Speech-to-Text to help him even more! He thoroughly enjoyed the assignment as it gave him the chance to research into a person whom he is interested in, and a topic which is relevant to him. The choice in using technology also made him less conscientious about his dyslexia too!
- Thanks to Mr. B's assignment, I discovered a writing task I actually liked! I worked really hard on it, because I wanted to showcase to my friends and peers how awesome my favourite footballer is! I used all the tools that Sir suggested, and it really made the writing that much easier! I think I might use those tools again next time, especially now that I'm more familiar with how to use them. Thanks, Mr. B!
- No problem, Usman! I'm always here to help make learning easier and interesting for you and your classmates!
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