LITERACY
CENTERS
IN
THE
PRIMARY
CLASSROOM:
EFFECTIVE
MANAGEMENT
FOR
DIFFERENTIATED
INSTRUCTION
Julie
W.
Ankrum,
Ph.D.
Many
teachers
are
currently
faced
with
a
new
request
from
their
administrator
or
literacy
coach:
explain
the
manner
in
which
you
meet
the
needs
of
the
different
learners
in
the
classroom.
One
instructional
approach
that
is
designed
to
teach
readers
of
all
levels
in
the
classroom
is
differentiated
reading
instruction.
Simply
put,
differentiated
reading
instruction
is
providing
different
lessons
based
on
the
needs
and
strengths
of
the
learners.
One
common
question
that
teachers
ask
is
how
do
I
meet
the
needs
of
all
learners
in
a
classroom
of
twenty-‐five
or
more
students?
Small
Group
Differentiated
Reading
Instruction
Research
has
shown
that
the
best
way
to
teach
students
is
to
design
lessons
that
build
on
individual
strengths
and
address
weaknesses
(Allington,
1983;
McGill-‐Franzen,
Zmach,
Solic,
&
Zeig,
2006;
Taylor,
Pearson,
Peterson,
&
Rodriguez,
2005).
Further,
research
has
demonstrated
that
students
learn
best
when
the
text
is
matched
to
their
instructional
reading
level
(Allington,
2005;
Allington,
2006;
McGill-‐Franzen
et
al.,
2006;
Taylor
et
al.,
2006).
Still,
today’s
elementary
school
classrooms
are
filled
with
children
of
different
ability
levels.
Therefore,
small
group
instruction
is
essential
to
differentiated
reading
instruction.
Teaching
children
in
small
groups
is
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