Instructional Strategy 2

I'm popping this up on my blog because it's helpful in my classes. This is my Instructional Plan for Diverse Learners:

Name of Strategy
The “M” Chart (This is one I designed myself to help one of my students organize his essays.)

Description of Diverse Learner(s) (2 pt.)
Describe the diverse learner(s) and explain why you would chose to use this strategy with them.
The student I designed this for- let's call him David- has trouble with writing and organizing writing. He's dyslexic in his reading because his words get jumbled, and his writing gets muddled because of it. He can put things into paragraph form, but the sentences inside the paragraph get out of order.


Explain it! (2 pts.)
Explanation of Strategy and how it applies to Content Area
The “M” Chart is a variation on the “T” chart. Instead of using two lines of information it uses three, and the purpose is different. The “M” chart is used to organize 3-pt essays by breaking down the information in them. (Since I'm an English teacher, paragraph organization is a must.) There's an example of a “M” chart drawn at the bottom of the text.

Model it! (2 pts.)
Model using the strategy (Think-aloud)—actually show your students how to do the strategy before they try it. This should almost be written as a script.

“I know that some of you have trouble with knowing what to put into essays and where to put what, so I'm going to teach you how to use an “M” chart. The first thing you do is draw a line straight across your paper about two inches from the top. Got it? Next, you draw two more lines going down your paper, dividing it into thirds like this. Everyone done?
Don't write down anything on your papers just yet. I want to show you on the board first. When you're writing an essay, what do you need to put in first? (Student Response) Right! I'm going to put the word 'introduction' at the very top of my paper... or whiteboard as the case may be. What goes at the end of a paper? (student response) Exactly! So I'm going to put the word 'conclusion' at the bottom of my chart. Then, I'm going to get into the good stuff. My essay is going to be about foods from different countries. So in the top part of the chart, I'm going to put down three countries that I think have good food. I'll list France in the top left, Mexico in the middle, and China in the top right.
Underneath each country, I'm going to list two kinds of food that I like and one that I don't, so underneath France, I'm going to put down croissants, crème brulee, and escargot. For those of you that don't know, croissants are tasty curved breads, crème brulee is custard covered in caramel, and escargot are snails. Guess which one I don't like. Under Mexico, I'm going to list tacos, burritoes, and jalapeno peppers on anything. And under China, I'll put Moo Goo Gai Pan (chicken stir-fried with vegetables), wontons (sort of like a hot pocket filled with cream cheese), and dragon soup (which is really really hot).
Now I have all the points that I need to make a tasty essay, so when I start writing, all I'll have to do is put them into complete sentences. See how easy that was?”

Guided Practice (2 pts.)
Students use the strategy as a group with your assistance.
“Alright, lets try another one together on the board. Any suggestions for a topic? (student response) Sports players it is. So we put in our introduction at the top and conclusion at the bottom. Now, which sport are we going to talk about first? (student response) And who are some of the players in football? (student response) And what's our next sport? (Student response) And who are some basketball players? (student response) Now who likes wrestling? (student response) And who are some really great wrestlers? (student response) Yes, I know it's fake, but it's really funny to watch. I like Batista, so let's add him in, too.

Independent Practice (1 pts.)
Students use the strategy independently without your close assistance. (This step is to see if they understand how to use the strategy. If they do not, re-teach!)
“Now you're going to use those lovely little lines you drew on your own paper to organize your own essay. You can talk about types of music, your three favorite TV shows, or different types of pets. Have at it!”

Evaluation (1 pt.)
This should be your evaluation of how the instructional plan worked –not an assessment of students’ knowledge.


When I did this last year with my ninth graders, it worked pretty well. And all of them were happy when I showed them how to plug an “M” chart into an outline. David's writing also inproved quite a bit because he could just move down the list, and he wasn't intimidated by outlines anymore.