Differentiated Instruction: A Guide for Foreign Language Teachers

by Deborah Blaz

Bestselling author Deborah Blaz helps you differentiate lessons for your students based on their learning styles, interests, prior knowledge, socialization needs, and comfort zones. This is the only book in print devoted solely to applying the principles and practices of differentiated instruction to the teaching of foreign languages. It provides detailed classroom-tested examples of activities and lessons plans to help

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Teaching, Language

208 pages, Paperback

First published April 24, 2006

Reviews

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of course, author Deborah Blaz aimed Differentiated Instruction: A Guide for Foreign Language Teachers at World Language teachers; after all, it’s literally right in the title. But middle-school and high-school teachers of any subject can find dozens upon dozens of excellent ideas in this 208-page book.

Blaz has great ideas on planning instruction, on assessments other than paper-and-pencil tests, on “games” that teach concepts more effectively than worksheets or lecturing, on projects, on presentations, and lots, lots more. She not only includes concepts, but Blaz includes lesson plans, how-to plans for creating games, hand-outs, and more. I learned more from this book than I did from some of the textbooks I had when getting my Master’s in teaching! No kidding!

While this book is excellent for secondary teachers of any subject, Differentiated Instruction: A Guide for Foreign Language Teachers is a must-have for teachers of World Languages, English, or English Language Learners. I can’t recommend this book highly enough!

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was looking for a practical book to discuss with members of my department during department meetings and I think that this will help shake things up a bit.

Although there are a lot of activities in this book, it is not the kind of book you might open Sunday night to figure out "what am I going to do tomorrow". And that is a good thing. Read this from front to back (old-fashioned linear reading) and Blaz does a good job at presenting what differentiated instruction might look like in your language classroom, and also plenty of hints on how to slowly make the transition.

There is a chapter in the end that she calls "ideas smorgasbord" where she presents different activities that lend themselves to differentiated instruction and, best of all, she arranges them by level and by the amount of preparation required.

This is a great addition to a professional library for teachers of a second language.

[Courtney Ruley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Provides lots of charts, graphs, and lesson plan ideas specifically for the modern language classroom.

[Nancy Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want this book for my professional library. Excellent resource. Two years ago I told someone that I felt like I was stuck in a rut. Although I had incorporated many different activities in my lessons and assessments, I felt as if I were using the same ones over and over again. I needed/wanted some new ideas. This book is the answer. As the author states, "Differentiation does not mean you need to change what works for you; it asks that you consider expanding your repertoire to see if you can reach a few more students. The more techniquesyou can use the better the students will learn." I am already using many of these techniques, thanks to fantastic mentors at all of the conferences and workshops I have attended. Many of the techniques I have already incorporated are listed here. Thank-you to the author and all of my mentors.

[Catrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! It really helped give me ideas to incorporate differentiated instruction in my lesson plans effectively! A must for foreign language teachers!

[Katrina Holman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was an excellent blend of theory and usable examples. It's definitely influenced the way I'm planning my year.