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The Flexible ELA Classroom: Practical Tools for Differentiated Instruction in Grades 4-8
Find out how to differentiate your middle school ELA instruction so that all students can become better readers, writers, and critical thinkers. Author Amber Chandler invites you into her classroom and shows how you can adjust your lessons to suit different learning needs while still meeting state standards and keeping your students accountable. She provides a wide variety of helpful tools and strategies, ranging from easy options that you can try out immediately to deeper-integration ideas that will reshape your classroom as a flexible, personalized learning environment. Topics
Using choice boards and menus to teach vocabulary, reading, and presentation skills in fun and interactive ways;
Grouping students strategically to maximize learning outcomes and encourage collaboration;
Making vocabulary learning interesting and memorable with visual aids, tiered lists, and personalized word studies;
Designing your own Project Based Learning lessons to unleash your students’ creativity;
Assessing students’ progress without the use of one-size-fits-all testing;
And more! downloadable versions of some of the rubrics and handouts in this book are available on the Routledge website at Also, check out the book’s website, doyoudifferentiate.com, for additional articles and strategies.
Using choice boards and menus to teach vocabulary, reading, and presentation skills in fun and interactive ways;
Grouping students strategically to maximize learning outcomes and encourage collaboration;
Making vocabulary learning interesting and memorable with visual aids, tiered lists, and personalized word studies;
Designing your own Project Based Learning lessons to unleash your students’ creativity;
Assessing students’ progress without the use of one-size-fits-all testing;
And more! downloadable versions of some of the rubrics and handouts in this book are available on the Routledge website at Also, check out the book’s website, doyoudifferentiate.com, for additional articles and strategies.
152 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 13, 2016
30 people are currently reading
15 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 14, 2025
Isn't it amazing how things come to us, just when we need them?! I'm going to be spending this summer doing a curriculum review and this book is one I will return to.
Amber has some really specific, practical, innovative and fun ideas. I know these are ideas that will take awhile to implement, so I'm grateful to have read the book now, to have the time to think and process, and then even more time this summer to plan for implementation in the fall.
My takeaway: her ideas would engage students and help them to gain and demonstrate skills and knowledge. I also really liked that she addressed some of my main concerns: vocabulary development and teaching novels.
Amber has some really specific, practical, innovative and fun ideas. I know these are ideas that will take awhile to implement, so I'm grateful to have read the book now, to have the time to think and process, and then even more time this summer to plan for implementation in the fall.
My takeaway: her ideas would engage students and help them to gain and demonstrate skills and knowledge. I also really liked that she addressed some of my main concerns: vocabulary development and teaching novels.
June 30, 2025
Quick, well-written, with lots of great ideas and perspective reminders.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews