EDU6945 Crafting
Historians in a Variety of Ways - Differentiation Ian Lewis
Social studies and history offer complex
subject matter for many students and even some adults*. Not just chronology is
at play, but a vast series of relationships and interactions, causes and
effects, patterns, and trends are also at work. Additionally, the subject
matter texts are linguistically complex. They are rife with content specific
vocabulary - cultural, political, geographical, etc. in nature – and often
incorporate compound sentences, concise yet artfully detailed with facts, and
complex sentence fluency strategies in order to portray history as a narrative.
Finally, historians read and write. Read and write. Read and write…And then do
it again. Thus, students in social studies and history classrooms are already
faced with course content that can be as ugly to slog through as the wars,
plagues, disasters and such it portrays, in addition to the necessity to have
developed and finely tuned literacy skills with which to comprehend, interpret,
and analyze said texts. And this is where much differentiation should be
inserted into instruction and learning activities, as the variety of students’
cultural, individual intellectual, and social development in any given
classroom is highly variable; while varied, such differences (individual,
group, and among the whole class) always should be considered in order to
provide all students an engaging learning experience, while also engaging in
culturally competent teaching, in the process of crafting students into
potential historians, proficient in reading and writing about history.
Differentiation comes in a variety of
forms, but all should be equally integrated throughout lesson plans for direct
instruction and associated practice. Teachers need to recognize the specific
skills their individual students and groups of students possess. Such specific
skills may include culturally relevant information (e.g. A Muslim student may
offer to bring his family Quran to share when studying the Islamic Empire of
the middle ages), practical skills (e.g. A student may know how to embroider
and could explain the process it would have required to detail an embroidered
scene on a medieval tapestry presented as a graphic aid in the textbook), and
scaffolded (theoretical) background knowledge provided during the course of the
year (e.g. Students should be able to explain how Native Americans used
different resources of different land regions because they previously learned
five regions of Washington and the useful resources associated with each), all
of which should be celebrated and utilized in general, not just in history
courses. Additionally, deficits such as gaps in knowledge, low literacy level,
and language development are often present and must be addressed.
Students with special education
services, IEPs, and 504s, as well as ELLs, often require extra attention and
specific differentiation, including many language supports that may be
particularly useful in tackling the complexities of historic content and texts
(Figure 1).
While some students may not qualify for the legal modifications provided by 504
and IEP plans, regarding differentiation, some students and/or groups of
students, such as students recently exited from special education or ELL services,
struggling readers, and students with gaps in background knowledge must also be
of utmost concern and the targets of differentiation approaches and strategies.
Furthermore, while employing various means of differentiation through planned
instruction and support activities, it is necessary to be able to adapt
smoothly and incorporate lesson adjustments as needed throughout the course of
delivery, especially taking into consideration differentiation strategies with
key focus students/groups of students that may or may not serve them well.
Based on the analysis and reflection of which strategies lead to success,
teachers may further provide assistance when differentiating for individuals
and groups of students by drawing on a multitude of strategies, some that may
fit better in certain situations, and others more applicable elsewhere.
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| Figure 1: Cloze notes key, the blank version of which would be an example of language support provided as part of differentiation to special education, ELL, and select students with low literacy/reading comprehension. |
