Literacy Differentiation Strategies

Classroom Differentiation Strategies to support comprehension

Target comprehension of language:

• use an approach that teaches vocabulary, thinking skills, and
comprehension first in spoken language and then in reading and written
language.

Teach vocabulary:
• teach the meanings of new words through the use of multisensory strategies
such as graphic organisers, pictures, and mnemonics. Improving their overall
language skills increases the likelihood that they will understand the words
they encounter in written text.

• teach different types of context clues and how to use them to determine the
meaning of unknown words.

Teach thinking strategies:

• Once students have the vocabulary to be able to make it through a text, they
often struggle with the complex thinking or sustained attention required to
keep up with all of the important details and to access information that is
implied but not directly stated.

• instruct students on cognitive strategies - such as annotation, and the KWL

chart—make use of these thinking strategies, including:

• Discussing or activating prior knowledge,

• Developing questions while reading
• Connecting what they are reading to another text, something they have seen,
or something they have experienced
• Visualising or picturing what they are reading
• Making predictions about what will come next in the text
• Looking back for keywords and rereading in order to clarify or answer
questions
• Thinking aloud to model the strategies and thought processes needed for
comprehension.

Reciprocal teaching:

• reciprocal teaching encourages students to take a leadership role in their

learning and begin to think about their thought process while listening or
reading.

Directly teach comprehension skills:

• Explicitly teach comprehension skills such as sequencing, story structure using
the plot mountain, how to make an inference and draw a conclusion, and the
different types of figurative language.

• Help students select reading material with vocabulary that matches their
current ability levels so that within a classroom so that students are reading
text and working on vocabulary at levels that are accessible for each of them.