Differentiation

In preparation for the annual NYS ELA test, students in 4th Grade write 5-paragraph literary essays. Since writing literary essays can be challenging in terms of structure, content, and organization, it is essential that students learn how to plan their writing pieces thoroughly and effectively.

One student, who had difficulty remembering all the necessary parts to include in an essay, benefited from the use of a graphic organizer.

Another student, who struggled to break essays up into paragraph form, found the visual reinforcement of color coding to be helpful.

Interactive Word Wall

To improve upon a traditional word wall, which functions as a visual reference tool, each word is secured in place with Velcro, allowing students to physically take words off the board and use them as needed.