Charlotte's Web: Differentiation unit of work

Abstract

This unit was designed to differentiate the curriculum for students working towards Stages One and Two in the New South Wales English K-6 syllabus. The unit was based on the text 'Charlotte's Web' and was part of a themed unit on 'relationships'. Planning for the unit incorporated aspects of Bloom's Taxonomy, Gardner's Multiple Intelligences, and Maker's model of differentiating the curriculum., using a variety of resources. The 'First Steps' Spelling approach was also used to individualise word study, spelling and vocabulary. Some students had individualised contracts and all students had a learning centre contract. The focus was on student choice, cooperative learning, self-assessment and provision of variety in learning opportunities. All students were challenged to work independently and/or in a variety of grouping arrangements. There was a strong link with prior learning and provision of real-world experiences. Some learning opportunities included: Cooperative learning, flexible grouping, Readers' Theatre, Barrier games, story mapping, role playing, puppetry, character webs, literary sociograms, diary writing, spelling journals, trivia quizzes, find-a-words, information reports and storyboarding.