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Posted by Katie, Malkie and Bonnie. This article addresses the debate between teaching systematic phonics and teaching phonics as part of a whole language approach. It mainly deals with the flaws in the research on this debate and not so much with ultimate conclusions on the matter, however, it is stated that a whole language approach to reading instruction is always beneficial.

This blog site talks about what type of "Blended Learning" setting would be the best fit for a math classroom. The benefit in this is that it helps teachers find ideas for what to use in a blended classroom specifically when it comes to math instruction.

This article provides the basics of blended learning which addresses the 4 key elements of effective math instruction as identified by The National Dissemination Center For Children with Disabilities.

This article studies the "Detect, Practice and Repair" strategy used in a fourth grade classroom with mathematical facts of subtraction, multiplication and division. The DPR method allows teachers to identify students that are having problems with certain concepts. The teacher can then differentiation individual assignments for those students to practice, thereby repairing a deficit of learning that might exist. This form of differentiation shows a marked improvement in student performance.

This article talks about Bloom's belief that differentiated instructional approaches blended with varied amounts of time for completion for each student individually will lead to higher achievement among students. Bloom referred to this instructional variation and differentiation as mastery learning. Mastery learning can lead to higher academic achievement, increase in student confidence and increased engagement in classroom settings.

This article summarizes how one school used a blended differentiated curriculum to reduce the achievemnt gap between poor and wealthy students. What I found interesting about this approach is that the authors said, "That engagement in learning is enhanced when students' interests and choices are considered." This is a different approach to how some schools use differentiation and the change didn't happened over night. The school made a lot of adjustments, including re-writing the curriculum and setting specific learning objectives. However, they were successful because they saw an improvement in student achievement.

To correspond with a typical reading lesson, comprehension strategy instruction can be organized into a three-part framework, with specific activities used before, during, and after reading. Providing instruction such as the following example allows students to see, learn, and use a variety of comprehension strategies as they read.

This is a website that gives strategies on how to strengthen students' reading comprehension.