Why

“Teachers assess individual student needs and adapt curriculum materials and tasks so that students can meet instructional goals. Teachers select materials and tasks based on student needs; use relevant technology; and make modifications by highlighting relevant information, changing task directions, and decreasing amounts of material. Teachers make strategic decisions on content coverage (i.e., essential curriculum elements), meaningfulness of tasks to meet stated goals, and criteria for student success.”

Source

More: What and How

Adapting Curriculum and Materials: What it is, What it looks like, How to use it

Learning Targets and Checking for Understanding: This collection of resources from EL Education (formerly Expeditionary Learning) explains the purpose of Learning Targets and Checking for Understanding to adapt and meet the needs of diverse learners as well as offers ways to implement them effectively.

Adapting Curriculum to Learners’ Needs - EL Education Video

This video demonstrates and describes a teacher’s process, supported by research-based practices, for adapting curriculum to meet the various needs of students in her classroom. Although this example is an elementary school one, the process and approach can and has been adapted to many grades and content-areas.

Create Small Learning Communities with the Station Rotation Model - Reading

The Station Rotation strategy is an excellent way to balance meeting the needs of various learners in the classroom while also moving groups of students forward. In this article, blended learning expert Dr. Catlin Tucker describes the strategy’s importance, how to use it, and ways to adapt it. In her linked site, her blog also offers other ways of thinking about and using the Station Rotation strategy. Although she was a high school English teacher, she has evolved her practice to include instructional strategies that support blended learning in all classrooms and grade-levels.

Differentiating Instruction to Reach All Students

This video shows the Station Rotation model in action.

CAST Universal Design for Learning Guidelines

The CAST Universal Design for Learning Guidelines offer an evidence-based, law-supported way of thinking about and practically applying adaptations for curriculum tasks and materials for specific learning goals. A helpful approach is to select one aspect of the guidelines to work on at a time, identifying strategies and supports that are already used as well as new ones, and add in others over time.

Ensuring That Instruction is Inclusive for Diverse Learners - Edutopia Reading

This article offers 3 easy to implement but powerful ways to adapt curriculum in the classroom for specific learning goals. It follows the philosophy of Universal Design for Learning and gives a few examples. Although the author focuses on students with special needs, these practices support all learners.

What Matters Most When You’re Evaluating EdTech Tools Edutopia Reading

There are thousands of EdTech tools that can be used with students, but not all are created equal or serve desired goals. This reading offers criteria to use when evaluating what edtech tools to use with students to support learning.

How HyperDocs Can Make School Work More Student Friendly Edutopia Reading

HyperDocs created in Google Workspace are a powerful tool to adapt curriculum and instruction for groups or individual students. In this article, the author describes ways that HyperDocs were used - in conjunction with the philosophy of Universal Design for Learning - to meet the varied needs of students and create a positive classroom climate. Although this example is related to high school, the philosophy and approach can and has been adapted to many other grades and content areas.

Easy to Use Supports in Google Workspace - Edutopia Reading

This article highlights easy-to-use features embedded in Google Workspace to support individual students in meeting curricular assignments and assessments.