Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners Essay Assignment Instructions

Overview

Classrooms are filled with students from diverse backgrounds with various ability levels. Educators need to embrace the diversity among their students through the examination of instructional strategies. This assignment will allow you to investigate strategies for teaching students with specific academic and emotional needs. You will have an opportunity to consider how all these strategies can be used at the same time to meet the needs of all students. 

Instructions

For this assignment, you will write a 1,200-word research-based essay that describes a plan for teaching a diverse class on how to view, interpret, analyze, or represent information from a learning standard selected from your endorsement area and grade band. 

·  If you are pursuing the MAT in elementary education, you may select a standard from any one of the four core subject areas (English, Math, Science, Social Studies) in grades K-5.

·  If you are pursuing the MAT in middle grades education, you may select a standard from your endorsement area in grades 6-8.

·  If you are pursuing the MAT in secondary education, you may select a standard from your endorsement area in grades 9-12. 

For example, a student in the MAT Elementary Education program might select Virginia Math Standard 3.7b – The student will estimate and use U.S customary and metric units to measure liquid volume in cups, pints, quarts, gallons, and liters, and then explain how representation will be used to help students understand the relationship between each unit of measurement. 

You must select a standard from the Virginia Standards of Learning for this assignment. You may not use standards from any other state. Use the provided link to access the Virginia Standards of Learning.

You will present research-based strategies for teaching your chosen standard to students from the following groups; gifted learners, struggling learners, English language learners (ELL), and students who have been impacted by trauma. 

Your essay should be organized into the following sections: 

1.  Instructional Overview – In this part of the essay, you will describe your class (grade level, number of students, school characteristics, etc.), the standard you have chosen to teach (copy the entire standard into the essay), and how you plan to integrate viewing, interpreting, analyzing, or representing information from the standard into your instruction. This part of the essay is an overview that will provide the background necessary to prepare readers for the detailed instructional strategies presented in subsequent sections of the essay. 

2.  Gifted Learners – In this part of the essay, you will describe at least two research-based strategies for teaching gifted learners. The description of these strategies must be aligned with your chosen standard and the integration of viewing, interpreting, analyzing, or representing information. This part of the essay should also include a brief description of gifted learners and some of the characteristics of gifted learners.

3.  Struggling Learners – In this part of the essay, you will describe at least two research-based strategies for teaching learners who struggle with academic content. The description of these strategies must be aligned with your chosen standard and the integration of viewing, interpreting, analyzing, or representing information. This part of the essay should also include a brief description of struggling learners and some of the characteristics of struggling learners.

4.  English Language Learners – In this part of the essay, you will describe at least two research-based strategies for teaching English language learners. The description of these strategies must be aligned with your chosen standard and the integration of viewing, interpreting, analyzing, or representing information. This part of the essay should also include a brief description of English language learners and some of the characteristics of English language learners.

5.  Students Impacted by Trauma – In this part of the essay, you will describe at least two research-based strategies for teaching students impacted by trauma. The description of these strategies must be aligned with your chosen standard and the integration of viewing, interpreting, analyzing, or representing information. This part of the essay should also include a brief description of the impact of trauma on students and some of the characteristics of students who have been impacted by trauma.

6.  Conclusion – In this part of the essay, you will summarize the strategies shared throughout the essay and discuss how a teacher might incorporate several of these strategies into one lesson through differentiation. Consider small groups, learning stations/centers, differentiated assignments, and other strategies. Use research to support your differentiation strategies. 

This essay should include at least four scholarly resources published within the past five years. An APA formatted resource list should be included with the essay.