UDL AND DIFFERENTIATION

Knowing that individuals learn differently, students should be instructed in a manner that permits them to learn the materials by various means that will align success with learning preferences. This also applies to students with disabilities both noticeable and unnoticeable.

UDL AND DIFFERENTIATION The Life Cycle of Butterflies lesson plan services all students, those with or without disabilities.. It is designed to reach all students on the level they best learn, (e.g., visual, audio, tactile, etc.) It is constructed with instruction and activities equipped for a diversity of students. The materials used to administer the lesson plan can petition assistive technology. One method the materials is presented is with Kidspiration, which develops thinking, literacy, and numeracy skills using learning principles. A whiteboard can also be used to present the lesson plan. Teaching with an interactive whiteboard allows the teacher to accommodate all different learning styles. Those students who are tactile learners can get to touch and move things around on the board as well as make notes and highlight elements. For students who are visual learners the will see a clear view of what is happening on the board and for those who are Audio learners they can participate in the class discussion.

UDL AND DIFFERENTIATION The steps for enhancing learning for the students will be Science based. I find that my students enjoy doing projects. They seem to be able to grasp the concept of the projects very quickly. The project will focus on the development stages of a butterflies and how to properly care for it in the first 4 weeks of it’s’ life. Before the butterfly hatches, students will be asked to draw what they think it will look like and at the end of the project, the students will be asked to write about what they experienced and learned.

UDL AND DIFFERENTIATION To engage and motivate students I will set up 4 learning centers within the classroom to provide opportunities for students to describe each stage of the butterfly life cycle. I will provide students choice to work alone or in pairs. Students will visit either Center 1 or Center 2 and they will visit Center 3 or Center 4. Each student will have a card with a corresponding picture/label for each center and they will check off the two centers they visit.

Center 1: Make A Book Center: Provide materials (paper, markers, crayons, etc.) so students can author their own book about the life cycle of butterflies. Explain that the story can be either fiction or non-fiction. (many younger students will use inventive spelling and may need to have their text transcribed). Center 2: Writing Center: pencils, paper, word processor with text-to-speech. Students write about the life cycle of butterflies in a format comfortable for them (e.g. poetry, sentences, bulleted points, etc.) Center 3: Art Center: markers, crayons, pencils, paper, glue, and scissors, computer drawing program. Students create their own representation of the life cycle of butterflies. Provide a template with four squares labeled Stages 1-4. For students who need scaffolding to complete this activity provide a picture and a printed vocabulary word for each stage. Students will need to match the correct word and picture to complete their life stage cards. In addition, they need to write or dictate a descriptive sentence about each cycle..

The principles of UDL provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs. (Edyburn, Dave,2006)) Academic performance problems are not limited to students with disabilities. Therefore, why should technologies that enhance academic performance be restricted to students with disabilities? When new information is introduced in schools, learners perform as novices; that is,their performance is significantly different than that of experts. However, with proper instruction, the performance of a novice can be enhanced to very high levels. Additional research and development is needed in the area of cognitive prostheses (Edyburn,2006) in order to clarify the benefit of tools and strategies that serve as scaffolds (temporarily needed and discarded) vs. tools that augment performance (always needed for acceptable performance ). WOULD YOU RECOGNIZE UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING IF YOU SAW IT? TEN PROPOSITIONS FOR NEW DIRECTIONS FOR THE SECOND DECADE OF UDL.

Center 4: Graphic Organizer Center: Students complete one of the two attached life cycle maps, on or off the computer. Students can use either words or pictures to complete their maps. The first template is empty; students are required to fill in all four stages. The Second template provides some pictures and words to support students. Once the template is completed, students need to write or dictate two descriptive words for each stage Twenty first century instruction will likely need to alter instructional practices in order to place students in the role of Goldilocks they try multi-pleoptions to determine which option is" just right" for ensuring their performance is acceptable to meet high standards Principles of fairness indicate that equity is achieved when every student receives what he or she needs(Welch,2000 WOULD YOU RECOGNIZE UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING IF YOU SAW IT? TEN PROPOSITIONS FOR NEW DIRECTIONS FOR THE SECOND DECADE OF UDL.

RTI and UDL interventions. Journal of Special Education Technology The author argued “In the process of creating/locating nine activities, teachers break out of the one-size-fits-all teaching and learning mold found in most classrooms. And, it offers teachers a practical way to begin providing their students with multiple means for accessing and engaging with the curriculum. When the students receive the tic-tac-toe grid, their responsibility is to review the nine options and find three activities in a row that they will complete as their assignment. In my experience, this strategy facilitates the transfer of UDL theory into practice.

REFERENCES CAST Universal Design for Learning Transforming Education through Universal Design for Learning. Retrieved from Edyburn, Dave (n.d.) WOULD YOU RECOGNIZE UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING IF YOU SAW IT? TEN PROPOSITIONS FOR NEW DIRECTIONS FOR THE SECOND DECADE OF UDL. Retrieved from Edyburn, D. (2009). RTI and UDL interventions. Journal of Special Education Technology, 24(2), Retrieved from