Making a Difference

Part 2—Making a Difference
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Meeting diverse learning needs with differentiated instruction
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Guided practice can include different levels of support. For example:
The students and the teacher work together 
1. 
on a particular learning task. 
Students can contribute to the task (for instance, solve a particular step of 
a math problem or complete a section of the graphic organizer), but they 
are not required to perform the entire task by themselves. As the teacher 
guides the practice she offers verbal directions as well as demonstrating 
the task. The teacher also may provide written and/or pictorial directions 
that students can use independently for reference.
Students work in small groups or with a partner
2. 
. When students have 
the preliminary skills and con
fi
dence to begin to practise the task more 
independently they work on the task collaboratively with a partner or 
small group. The teacher continues to provide supportive feedback. 
Students practise independently
3. 
. Practising new skills and concepts on 
their own, and in various contexts, promote mastery and automaticity. 
The teacher continues to provide supportive feedback and helps students 
develop strategies to begin to self-evaluate and generate their own 
feedback.
Memory prompts and supports
Memory dif
fi
culties often go hand-in-hand with learning dif
fi
culties. Common 
dif
fi
culties related to short-term or working memory include problems:
recalling information despite repeated instruction and review
• 
keeping track of their belongings
• 
remembering daily routines despite regular exposure
• 
recalling facts and procedures, such as new vocabulary words, speci
fi
c 
• 
content information or mathematical procedures.
Most students with learning dif
fi
culties will bene
fi
t from instructional practices 
such as the following, which prompt and support memory.