Providing challenging instruction for multiple ability level

One of the first and suggestions that I would have for you is to try to incorporate some sort of technology that is avaliable to all students into your classroom. There are many programs on the market that enable children to do math and reading actvities at their own pace, but the results of their actvities are logged and avaliable to the teacher. This way, the teacher is able to see areas in which the student is struggling and is better able to understand how to help the children who need it, while challenging every student. These types of assessments should be done after the student has completed a lesson, if the student reached the proficancy level in which you have set, then that student can begin to work on small actvities for the next section. Thus you are continuing to challenge your higher-level students without leaving your lower-level students behind. Good luck.
Erin Capewell (Guest)

There’s no easy answer to your excellent question. In a way, it’s similar to asking the question of “how can I assure that everyone’s needs are being met” in a large family.

Some tricks I have used in a social studies classroom is to xerox reading material out of three different textbooks written at different levels. My students can choose from among the three materials to read at their comfort level.

I have lots of examples like that but my work has been mostly in middle school in social studies, Language arts and math. What level are you teaching at?

Some ideas are at http://www.powerof2.org