InTASC Standard #2: Learning Differences. The Teacher uses understanding of individual differences and diverse cultures and communities to ensure inclusive learning environments that enable each learner to meet high standards
The google classroom worksheet to the left is a chart that students completed while looking at recent news articles that compared President Jackson and President Trump. Students watched a crash course on Jackson to bring all students up to speed on the background of Jackson’s presidency. They then put their notes from the video in the gray box under Andrew Jackson. Afterwards, the class was split into 3 different groups that would then read one article each; an Atlantic article, a Fox article, or a CNN article all comparing Trump and Jackson in different ways. In these groups students would determine the bias of their media source and then take notes in the chart on ways the article described Jackson and Trump as similar or different. After they had finished as a group and shared their ideas with one another, the groups were then scrambled into three new groups. These three new groups would now have at least two students from every article group. Students would then share their findings with one another, completing the chart as well as discussing their own ideas of the articles’ bias. By splitting the students into article groups, each student gets a chance to contribute and become an “expert”. By giving students groups to discuss articles in, they can support one another and come to a group consensus on the article’s bias and how these articles compare the two presidents. Then, by sharing, their findings, students build a completed chart together, helping one another to achieve. Since the students are working in groups to research the information in these articles, I have the time to circulate the room and check in with my students that have 504s and IEPs. This ensures that I can answer their questions and clarify ideas in the article that may be confusing, building up each student to succeed in their research, and the class to succeed as a whole.
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