The Flexible ELA Classroom

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 standards and keeping students accountable. This second edition is fully updated with new lesson plans and ideas on topics such as using AI to differentiate, essentials for vocabulary instruction, leveled-up fishbowls, grade inflation and expectations, digital citizenship lessons, and digital portfolios. Amber provides a variety of helpful tools and strategies, ranging from easy options you can try immediately to deeper-integration ideas that will reshape your classroom as a flexible, personalized learning environment. You’ll learn how to use choice boards and menus to teach vocabulary, reading, and presentation skills in fun and interactive ways; group students strategically to maximize learning and encourage collaboration; make vocabulary instruction effective with visual aids, tiered lists, and personalized word studies; design Project Based Learning lessons to unleash students’ creativity; assess students’ progress without one-size-fits-all testing; and more!