How would you differentiate between grades 5-8 with EB Academics' Currliculum?
Differentiation for the EB Reading Program
In terms of differentiation for grades 5-8, we have provided Yearlong Scope and Sequences that our Curriculum Team has created to ensure each skill within each grade band is covered.
Of course, as the professional, you are free to swap out one resource for another based on your students' needs and interests. All of our resources are editable so that you can make the necessary scaffolds for your unique population.
In addition, some of our units include built-in differentiation. For example, many of our reading units include both an on-level version and scaffolded version of the unit's text. The scaffolded version offers the same information as the on-level version with simpler wording and definitions for possibly unfamiliar vocabulary. Many of our activities also include supports like examples, sentence stems, and graphic organizers. For students who have mastered concepts, many of the instructions for use in our resources include ideas to extend learning for students who are ready for more challenge.
Units and resources released as of January 2024 include audio recordings for the long-form texts included within them. Additionally, currently released resources include Instructional Support Suggestions inside the lesson plans that offer differentiation and support ideas for students with accommodations and/or for whom English is a second language. Please note that our Curriculum Team is working to update all of our EB Reading Units and other resources to include these Instructional Support Suggestions.
Finally, the members-only EB Teachers' Community is such a valuable part of your membership. There are fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth-grade teachers (several of whom teach across many grades) who are happy to collaborate and share ideas. We suggest using this group to ask for suggestions in planning out your scope and sequence and gathering ideas for differentiation. We've witnessed lots of support among the members so far, and we are always excited to see the ideas they share.
Differentiation for The EB Writing Program
In The EB Writing Program, you have access to all four grade levels of each writing style. The videos and materials (student practice activities, examples, texts, etc.) included in each unit focus on the same concepts and increase in complexity from 5th to 8th grade. This is intentional as the ELA writing standards are quite similar for each grade, and we want to maintain consistency as students work through the program, ideally all through middle school!
Please note that in the EBW Approach section of The EB Writing Program (5th Grade), we have also included a scaffolded version of all the materials that work well for students who need even more support. These scaffolded versions can also be used in 4th grade to prepare students to use the EB Writing Program during their 5th grade year.
Differentiation for The EB Grammar Program
The EB Grammar Program covers all the language Common Core State Standards for grades 5-8. Inside the program, at each grade level, you will find a Skills + Lessons Chart that will show you which Common Core standards are addressed. Some of the standards are very broad, and these ones may have more than one lesson. Underneath some of the lessons, you will see a Supporting Lesson that you may want to teach before the regular lesson. These are not required but are helpful for classes or students that need extra support. Additionally, we provide supporting lessons for some skills that are not included on the Skills + Lessons chart, like some parts of speech and punctuation concepts.
Furthermore, the program includes Application to Writing checklists for each grade level, which provide an easy way to help students apply their new grammar knowledge in the writing they do in class. These checklists make differentiation easy by providing a "writing check" section (simple checklists to help students proofread for specific grammar concepts) and a "challenge" section for strong writers (instructions for intentionally incorporating specific grammar concepts in writing).