Instructional+Strategies

Instructional Strategies
 * 1) Reading Process - Before, During and After Reading Strategies - orally, modelled, with teacher assistance, in pairs/small groups, independently
 * 2) Reading Strategies - Question, Clarify, Predict, Summarize, Visualize, Connect, Tap into Prior Knowledge, Infer
 * 3) Writing Process
 * 4) Teacher Modelling and Think Aloud
 * 5) Scaffolding - That which I do with assistance today, I can do independently tomorrow (see zone of proximal development or Vygotsky, 1978).
 * 6) Daily writing - strategy to increase the comfort of reluctant writers with writing
 * 7) Readers' Workshop (Nancie Atwell) - student choice in type of reading material and response
 * 8) Writers' Workshop (Nancie Atwell)- student choice in type of writing; determine RAFTS
 * 9) Graphic Organizers - tapping into prior knowledge, prewriting or brainstorming before writing, demonstrating reading strategies (with or without sentence starters)
 * 10) Think - Pair - Share - Students think about a topic independently so that they have ideas to share in small groups before debriefing as a class. Students will often share ideas that they learned from others when debriefing as a whole class.
 * 11) Acronyms - RAFTS (Role, Audience, Format, Topic, Strong Verb), COPS (Capitals, Organization, Punctuation, Spelling) or CUPS (Usage)
 * 12) Jigsaw - pairs become experts then join into two large groups and share their expertise
 * 13) Tap into student areas of interest
 * 14) Guest speakers, author/playwright/illustrator/storyteller visits increase student passions/interets/engagement for those areas
 * 15) Booktalks
 * 16) Use of Audio and/or Video
 * 17) Technology - SmartBoard, Wordprocessing, Internet, ARS (Automated Response System eg. Senteos)
 * 18) Revised Blooms Taxonomy - Publishing for the world - Blog, Wiki, Slideshare
 * 19) Copies of text for students to write on, demonstrate their thinking, identify words to clarify, etc.
 * 20) Use of highlighters to identify words to clarify, main ideas, key terms, etc.
 * 21) Real world reading and writing opportunities eg. Young Readers Choice Award or writing contests such as Young Poets
 * 22) Students establish the criteria for a task eg. student created rubric
 * 23) Every student talks every period.
 * 24) Student led discussions - students select who will contribute to the discussion next by selecting students who have not spoken yet. Students must add to the discussion to move the discussion forward rather than simply restating what has already been said.