Differentiated Instruction-2

Resource Guide
Differentiated Instruction

Developmental Delays

Children that demonstrate fairly significant developmental delays with visual-perceptual-fine motor development (i.e.: only able to imitate or copy vertical and horizontal lines, and difficulty tracing neatly).

• Can students with these delays be included in teacher-led handwriting instruction?
  • YES! Since all students in the classroom should be taught formal handwriting instruction according to the recommended sequence in the Zaner-Bloser Pacing guide, the first letter to be taught in the beginning of the school year is Ll. This letter is developmentally appropriate for students with developmental delays to learn. However, students with developmental delays will likely need to be provided with more opportunities and various multi-sensory learning strategies to master letters. Refer to Suggested Activities for multiple strategies to learn the letter. Students with developmental delays may need these ideas for small group instruction on the letter, during morning work, during work on writing, etc.
    • Proceeding with the next letter, Ii, at the same pace as the class, is optional. If students are not demonstrating confusion with learning a new letter, then it may be fine to move on, but be sure to provide multiple opportunities to practice both letters.
    • Moving on to the next letter, Tt, can also be considered appropriate in the beginning of the school year because it also involves straight-line letters.
  • Students with developmental delays may not be ready for the curved lined letters at the same pace as the rest of the class. Continue to provide multiple opportunities to practice straight-line letters at the time of handwriting instruction for other students. Frequently use multi-sensory strategies such as those found in Suggested Activities.
• Should students with these delays be expected to work on writing his/her name?
  • PROBABLY, but consider the letters in the student’s name. If they have any straight lined letters such as Ll, Ii, or Tt, once they are taught these letters, have them write the letter in their name and trace the others. For example, a student named Liam, might be able to write Li after instruction and practice and trace am. A student named Jin, might be able to write i after instruction and practice and trace the other letters. The next letter she likely will master is o according to the recommended sequence in the Zaner-Bloser pacing guide in Developmentally Appropriate Instruction. If a student’s name is Mateo or Anika, it might be best to have the student trace their name until they are developmentally ready to form the circle needed for the a in Mateo or the A or n in Anika.

Grasp

Children demonstrating immature/secure grasp on writing utensils.

• Can students with immature grasps be included in teacher-led handwriting instruction?
  • YES. Use ideas from the Problem Solving Chart to help with developing grasp in addition to the activity ideas in Suggested Activities.

Students that switch hands when using writing utensils.

• Should I let him continue to do this?
  • NO. First, observe the student for approximately 2 weeks to see which hand he uses more frequently. Make sure the student’s posture is appropriate, paper placed centered and in front of the student, and with the writing tool directly in the middle of the paper. Observe which hand the student initially uses each time the writing tool is picked up. When switching is observed, place the writing tool back in the center and observe again the hand used first. Overall, a pattern of hand preference should be evident and encourage the students to use the most frequently used hand.
  • Students that switch hands may be having difficulty crossing the midline of the body. There are a variety of activities that could be incorporated to help with this. Using a chalkboard, have the student plant her feet on the floor in one spot (or place small, laminated feet on the floor). Ask her to draw horizontal lines across the midline of her body. Start at an extreme left with the right hand, and at the extreme right with the left hand. Brain gym games such as Lazy 8 and Cross Crawling are good activities, as well as different yoga activities, particularly those involving twisting. Other activities can include body hugs (arms crossing the midline) as well as hand clapping games.
  • Hand dominance is an inherited trait. Talk to the student’s family to determine the hand dominance of the parents. Children who have one parent with left hand dominance and the other parent who is right hand dominance often take longer to establish hand dominance, so switching hands at age 4 or 5 might be expected.
  • Ask the family what they observe at home with regard to brushing teeth and eating with utensils. The hand that a child uses with utensils is often the dominant hand.

Learning Preferences

Providing instruction that accommodates student learning preferences can have a significant impact on their success in learning to form letters correctly and write legibly. Once you get to know your students, you will probably have a good idea of which students prefer Kinesthetic, Auditory, and/or Visual instructional techniques.

Kinesthetic Learners

Kinesthetic learners are students who benefit from movement to learn. Strategies involving movement are typically helpful for students who have some degree of difficulty attending to primarily auditory and/or visual instruction. If you have several students who need movement to learn, consider using the following strategies during whole group, small group and pullout instruction:

• walk out the letter formation on the floor;
• form letters in the air using full arm movement (skywriting);
• make the letters with play dough, clay and/or Wikki Stixs,® or form them using gel bags; and/or,
• use iPad apps such as Writing Wizard.

Auditory Learners

Auditory learners are students who benefit from listening. Strategies involving verbal cues are very helpful for students that seem to remember best when they hear directions. If you have several students who use verbal cues to learn, consider using the following strategies during whole group, small group and pullout instruction:

• verbalize each stroke in the letter as that part of the letter is being presented;
• encourage the student to repeat verbal cues;
• be consistent with the language used such as “slide down”;
  • the Zaner-Bloser teacher edition guide includes specific verbal cues on pages 148-150.
• encourage the students to say the verbal cues as they write the letter until it becomes automatic for them;
• teacher modeling of sky-writing with auditory cues;
• sing or play songs that help with overall letter formation such as, “where do you start the letters?,” from Handwriting Without Tears; and/or,
• play games such as Simon Says, but use words that relate to writing such as “Simon says slide right” or “Simon says circle forward”.

Visual Learners

Visual learners are students who learn best while observing a demonstration and being provided with a visual model. Strategies involving visual cues are very helpful for students that seem to remember best what they see. If you have several students who use visual cues to learn, consider using the following strategies during whole group, small group and pullout instruction:

• encourage the students to first look at the letter as a whole and to ask themselves if the letter is tall, short, fat or skinny;
• encourage the students to look to see if the letter rests on the “ground” or “goes into the basement”;
• have alphabet strips available on desk, on the wall, and any time the students are asked to perform writing. Zaner-Bloser has letter strips available in index card size and these can be laminated;
• use activities such as painting along letters or use do-a-dot paints;
• the Zaner-Bloser teacher edition guide includes specific cues for Corrective Strategies (largely visual cues) on pages 151-154;
• use iPad apps such as Writing Wizard.

Adapted from Zaner-Bloser Teacher Edition Guide for Kindergarten © 2012, pages 13, 20.