Carmen Vanegas' Multilevel Classroom Model

I usually start the lesson with a hands-on or visual introduction to the topic for the day and a connection to students' prior knowledge. I translate key words into students' home languages (Somali, Hmong, and Spanish) and also ask advanced students to help explain what's happening in the demo or visual using the home language.

After the introduction, I split students into two groups. My students with emerging literacy practiced vocabulary words for the day (day, night, Earth, sun) using cut-up index cards with the letters from each word. They shuffled the cards and practiced orienting the letters and putting them in order, as well as saying and spelling the words out loud. I continued to reinforce the meanings of the words throughout this process with pictures and translations.

My students with more literacy skills completed a simple reading about why we have day and night. They practiced spelling, saying, and using their vocabulary for the day (rotation, axis, Earth, day, night, sun). They answered some simple comprehension questions based on the reading.

Activity ideas for students with emerging literacy: making PowerPoints or Microsoft Word documents with the vocabulary words and pictures (I have taught them how to search for pictures and copy and paste from Google), dictating simple sentences with the words (I write down what they say and they copy and read it --sometimes I help them translate), practicing simple dialogues with the words, writing the words when someone else dictates the spelling, making posters of the vocabulary with pictures and words in English and the home language, filling in graphic organizers with the words, and making books with the vocabulary and pictures.

Activity ideas for students with more literacy skills: making PowerPoints or Word documents with pictures and sentences using the
vocabulary, writing and performing simple dialogues with the vocabulary (I give them models to follow), writing simple sentences with the vocabulary from dictation, writing short letters or essays reflecting on their learning (I give sentence starters), making books about their learning with pictures and sentences, completing more advanced graphic organizers (e.g., describing characteristics of the vocabulary words or classifying the vocabulary words), and making simple wikis about their learning.

Sometimes I pair students from different levels to work together on a project (like a PowerPoint), and give different tasks to each student (the student with emerging literacy might find the pictures and label them, while the student with stronger literacy skills might write sentences to go with the pictures based on discussion with his/her partner).

Vanegas, C. (2009, January 28). Re: differentiation. Message posted to http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/englishlanguage/2009/003765.html.