Adaptive Teaching

Where possible, the whole class should be working on the same material and tasks should not be differentiated but instead increase in difficulty and depth.

Pre-teaching allows some learners to familiarise themselves with new language

Ensure worksheets are clear and leaners are not overwhelmed by what is on the page

Play games the consolidate new or tricky concepts

Those who require extra support should have additional input prior to the lesson, be part of more focused group to go through an activity and additional opportunities to practice.

Use of visuals and actions can remind learners of the meaning of words

Be flexible in delivery – it might not be necessary for all learners to be involved at once

Ensure tasks are scaffolded so that learners can focus on the objective e.g. pre-write information which is non-essential (date/LO)

Use of concrete resources e.g. beads, strings, counters etc.

Careful use of additional adults or able peers to decode language in maths

Give learners a target number of questions

Help learners to practice fluency outside of maths lessons

Have vocabulary available around the room, refer to this, rephrase questions if necessary. Use of working walls.

Allow learners to ‘draw’ a problem, if this helps them ‘see’ it more clearly

Incorporate some questions that appeal to a learner’s interests

Mark learners work in the moment rather than at the end of the lesson

Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract

Simplify problems or questions

How can you focus learner’s attention on the new content? For example, learners could observe and explore a stimulus to hook them into the new learning. This could be an object, a model, or an image. You should encourage learners to ask questions about their learning and build in opportunities for small group and whole-class discussions. Oracy-led sessions, with visuals to support the access of all learners, can enable you to build on and extend your learners’ scientific thinking.

Plan small group teaching opportunities, for example whilst learners who have already met an objective are doing enrichment activities independently, dedicate time to conference with and/or provide additional learning opportunities for learners working towards the learning objective.

Meticulously plan, and always test practical experiments before the lesson. Use your practice to create step-by-step instructions, which you can then modify with visuals and/or more precise steps for learners needing additional guidance.

Create opportunities to pre-teach, providing some learners with the opportunity to learn new vocabulary and concepts in advance of a lesson in a small group setting.

Provide topical word banks and picture cards that the learner can point or refer to when explaining scientific processes.

Ask teaching assistants to collate word/picture banks on a mini whiteboard/paper with the learner during the teaching input to support their independent learning activity.

Provide word banks that are accessible throughout the science topic. Encourage learners to tick the words they feel confident with to help target language that still needs support,

Identify possible misconceptions that learners may have, and plan for how you will address these in the lesson.

Provide learners with worked examples to use as a model whilst completing independent work.

Communication-friendly strategies: Make it visual: add pictures to word banks to help all children access them, allow thinking time: always allow thinking time when you ask a question, even before children talk to their partner (think, pair, share), when children need further support, offer forced choices or use cloze procedure to scaffold them

To ‘scaffold’ speaking or writing, eg using sentence starters, writing or speaking frames that focus pupils’ attention on key pieces of information. Writing or speaking frames can be used to provide prompts and support, eg when working with sources pupils could use, for example: – This tells me… – In this picture I can see… – This suggests… – I think it was made/drawn/ written in… because… – Both sources say… – The sources are different in these ways….

Stories are very helpful ways of teaching history: ” Narrative can help all pupils, including those with learning difficulties, to make sense of events. Pupils benefit from taking part in, for instance, card sort type activities, using photographs, audio sources, and pictures which tell a story to show how a historical event unfolded. Pupils can tell and retell the story, and in doing so develop an understanding of change, causation, continuity, similarity and difference etc.

Use pictures and symbols to illustrate abstract, new or historical concepts to enhance curriculum access for pupils with learning difficulties. Symbols may need to be provided, for instance for artefacts from Victorian times.

Allow a choice of outcomes to meet the same objective so pupils can choose the form that best shows their ability − eg for a piece of homework about understanding the causes of the Great Fire of London, pupils might produce/ complete a: labelled map, causation diagram, storyboard, role-play, essay, audio recording/video, electronic presentation, or cloze procedure.

New vocabulary should be planned for and taught in context. Model using new words in a sentence and give learners time to practise them in context.

Build opportunities to develop attention and listening skills with the whole class. e.g. when feeding back answers tell the learner that they will be sharing their partners answer.

Pre-teach. For example, if you are starting a new area of study on a Monday and know a learner will need more time to process it, find time for them to have any new vocabulary on the Friday before

Guided groups – this can support learners to access the learning. Set the whole class off with the task and then work in a guided group to support learners, address misconceptions etc.

Resources – think carefully about the design of any resources to ensure that it meets individual leaners with SEN, such as increased text size, accessible font.

Design resources with the end goal in mind, if you are asking learners to annotate a text have you left enough room to do this? Wider margins? Double spaces on the text?

If your history lesson involves writing use of sentence starters can guide learners. Some learners benefit from verbally rehearsing answers before writing them.

Multi-sensory approaches Ideas for visual learners include: summarising ideas in pictures, modifying visual sources to show changes, comparing visual sources from different times, explaining patterns in graphs, using visual timelines, using or presenting information in tables or diagrams, rather than unbroken text, storyboarding text,

Provide activities that require movement for pupils who learn best through doing and for pupils who find it difficult to sit still for long periods: role-play, card sorting, modelling structures − eg pupils with role cards with different characters negotiate themselves into a line showing social order, and using the interactive whiteboard with pupil involvement.

In this case, written sources could be converted to an auditory form. Emotive auditory sources can be used to engage and motivate all pupils, eg: Churchill’s wartime speeches or the memories of those evacuated in WWII, WWI poetry,  distinctive sounds such as sirens for ‘take cover’ and ‘all clear’, songs, spoken interviews, and radio documentaries.

Auditory methods (based on listening and speaking) are the most common found in history teaching. They are ideal for auditory learners but are also valuable for pupils with an SEN who find text-based work difficult.

Use of visuals to support learning – word mats possibly used as pre-teaching by sending at home.

Recognise that the language of history may be challenging and cause barriers for some pupils, eg: ” the specific use in history of an everyday word, eg ‘party’, ‘church’, ‘state’ ” the use of history-specific terms, eg ‘chronological’, ‘artefact’ ” the use of abstract terms, eg ‘power’, ‘belief’.

Break learning into chunks. Ensure you mix teacher talk with partner talk.

Plan to teach new history vocabulary explicitly in context to extend proficiency in technical vocabulary.

Give learners movement breaks, this could be built into the lesson routine

Clear routine and use of visuals to support the learning

Communication-friendly strategies: Make it visual: add pictures to word banks to help all children access them, when children need further support, offer forced choices or use cloze procedure to scaffold them

Break learning into chunks. Ensure you mix teacher talk with partner talk.

Build opportunities to develop attention and listening skills with the whole class. e.g. when feeding back answers tell the learner that they will be sharing their partners answer.

Allow thinking time: always allow thinking time when you ask a question, even before children talk to their partner (think, pair, share)

Give learners movement breaks, this could be built into the lesson routine

Clear routine and use of visuals to support the learning

New vocabulary should be planned for and taught in context. Model using new words in a sentence and give learners time to practise them in context.

Pre-teach. For example, if you are starting a new area of study on a Monday and know a learner will need more time to process it, find time for them to have any new vocabulary on the Friday before.

Guided groups – this can support learners to access the learning. Set the whole class off with the task and then work in a guided group to support learners, address misconceptions etc.

Resources – think carefully about the design of any resources to ensure that it meets individual leaners with SEN, such as increased text size, accessible font.

Chunk map work – those with spatial skills difficulties will struggle to memorise a whole map so break it down into continents for example.

If your geography lesson involves writing use of sentence starters can guide learners. Some learners benefit from verbally rehearsing answers before writing them.

Make connections between geography and real life – it can spark a child’s interest in the study.

THEREFORE: Plan to teach new language explicitly.

Emphasize and illustrate vocabulary.

Prepare grids for recording information, writing frames and cloze exercises (where key vocabulary is missing) − which can be helpful for some pupils.

Questions are prepared in different styles/levels for different pupils − careful preparation ensures all pupils have opportunities to answer open-ended questions.

Recognise that the language of geography may be challenging for many pupils − for example: ” the specific geographical use of everyday words such as ‘mouth of the river’, ‘water table’ ” terms specific to geography, such as ‘erosion’, and ” terms like ‘climate’, ‘gradient’, ‘height’ or ‘distance’, which can create barriers for many pupils because of their abstract nature.

Comparisons between places or peoples can create barriers for pupils with communication impairments, including pupils on the autism spectrum, because of the language needed to conceptualise how a place is the same as or different from somewhere else.

Integrate movement and tactile learning – for example draw a big map on the playground; create puzzles out of maps – have two maps the same, laminate them and cut one up they children have to put together.

Consider the practical layout of the room and seating. Do learners with a physical disability have the appropriate space to work? Do learners who struggle with fine motor skills have a broader resource base? Do learners with more sensory needs have access to adapted visual or auditory aids?

Learners with fine motor skills difficulties: Consider using frames or adhesives (e.g., masking tape) that hold down learners’ work to surfaces in cases where learners may struggle to hold a resource in place. Provide learners with larger scale materials to work on and gradually decrease the scale as they acquire greater control. Use of scissors can be a source of frustration for some learners and wider-handled or easy grip scissors can be a useful aid.

Key vocabulary should be clearly displayed and used repetitively throughout lessons. Prepare grids for recording information, writing frames and cloze exercises (where key vocabulary is missing) − which can be helpful for some pupils.

Learners will hear and use a range of specific vocabulary including pattern, colour, tone, texture, line, shape, form and space. Discuss and display any key vocabulary together with its meaning. Practice saying them together.

Use strategies such as modelling, demonstrating and imitating to support learners in understanding the step-by-step processes.

Provide a word and/or picture bank for the learner to refer to during guided and independent activities.

Provide visual word banks that are accessible to the learners

Share information visually as well as through discussion.

Allow sufficient talk time to encourage thinking and idea sharing

Showing outcomes from the previous lesson’s work can be a useful memory aid.

Pre-teaching can be planned to ensure a learner or group has access to new vocabulary, information or resources before the lesson takes place

Consider adapting the lesson to break it into chunks that permit time for paired or group talk and allow tasks to be completed across manageable stages.

Allow movement breaks if and when necessary and give learners classroom jobs such as handing out a resource.This will support learners who struggle with self-regulation.

Take time to model and demonstrate each element of a process, allowing learners to develop their understanding through a step-by-step approach.

Have visual aids in the form of worked examples that the learners can have to hand when completing independent tasks.

Provide visual aids to enable learners to identify artists and their work, as well as to identify equipment and media.

Introduce each piece of equipment – name it, explain what it does, model how it can be used or applied.

Model processes on a step-by-step basis, allowing learners time to do practical tasks alongside the teacher.

Ensure any equipment to be used is fully accessible to all and adapted for individuals as necessary to ensure all can fully participate.

At times, music can create challenges for learners with sensory issues. This needs to be considered when creating an effective learning environment. Consider the practical layout of the room and the position of the learners. Will they be working with a large class or a smaller group?

Consider the physical layout of the workspace. Will all learners, especially those with physical disabilities, be able to access resources and have the space to play an active part in the lesson?

If the learner has literacy difficulties provide visual aids to enable learners to identify instruments and musical dimensions, such as pitch and tempo. Also use strategies such as modelling, demonstrating and imitating to help learners understand musical concepts

Begin each lesson with a recap of key vocabulary – provide visual word banks that are accessible throughout the lesson.Provide word banks that are accessible throughout the science topic. Encourage learners to tick the words they feel confident with to help target language that still needs support,

Consider potential unhelpful sources of distraction, such as overfrequent changes of task or unstructured group work

Use of ear defenders – Music lessons can be challenging for learners with auditory sensitivity.

For learners with attention issues give learners a particular role in the lesson to keep them engaged and promote active participation.

Break down content into small steps and allow time for guided practice of each step to build up conceptual understanding.

The acceptance that others have different views and that they have a right to hold and express them can present barriers for younger pupils and those with social, emotional and mental health difficulties (SEMH) or an autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). Many of these barriers can be removed by using multi-sensory approaches, eg through drama and role-play, visits to places of worship, or sharing special meals.

Learning about religion can present barriers for pupils with complex needs because of the abstract concepts involved. For example, some pupils will have difficulty understanding abstract concepts such as spirituality, belief, opinion, friendship, justice, cooperation, conflict and empathy. Drama, role-play, games and simulations, can develop understanding of such concepts.

Recognise that the language of RE may be challenging for many pupils, eg: language used in religious texts may be difficult to understand and will need to be explained some vocabulary can have different meanings in different contexts, and metaphor, eg in the sayings of religious leaders or parables, can be interpreted literally by some pupils, thus creating confusion or misunderstanding.

Use of good-quality artefacts allows pupils to understand aspects of the different faiths. Artefacts can be used to develop pupils’ observation skills and use of language.Some pupils (e.g.pupils with ASD) struggle with rule changing during activities. Consideration and support may be required if tasks have to be modified or adapted part-way through.

Digital image technologies, both still and moving, are valuable tools for teaching RE. Pupils can use image technology to support the writing process − eg creating a storyboard of pictures as a scaffold for writing a narrative about a moral choice

Reducing reliance on memory. Pupils can become confused between the different faiths. It is often better to concentrate learning – and display – on one faith at a time, rather than try to follow a theme through different faiths. If the school’s curriculum requires the latter, try to clarify the different faiths in displays and resources.

Discussing misconceptions in RE prevents pupils becoming inhibited by fear of mistakes. Avoid a culture of ‘right answers’. RE deals with belief and opinion. Some pupils may find it hard to see beyond a ‘black and white’ view of issues.

Consider ways of supporting pupils’ recall − eg use a digital camera to capture the stages of an activity or the sights of a visit for future reference. Images can also be used to build a visual or audio-visual record.

The use of memory aids is encouraged. These can include wallcharts and posters, useful spellings, personalised dictionaries

Pre-tutoring important RE vocabulary, concepts and/or processes, where appropriate

Plan to teach new vocabulary explicitly at the start of a new topic. Make sure that pre-tutoring on RE vocabulary is available for pupils, where appropriate.

Teaching assistants prepare pupils to contribute to feedback sessions, where appropriate.

Preparing grids for recording information, which can be helpful for some pupils.

It may be necessary to present the same information in a range of different ways to aid understanding.

Sit the learner near you or another adult in carpet sessions, in a position where they can see your face straight on. This will ensure they can hear properly and also pick up visual clues from facial expression

Speak clearly, slowly and simply. Regularly reinforce frequently used expressions by providing the learners with written or oral models of the language you want them to produce

Have a mini-whiteboard or notebook to hand for quick drawings, to create on-the-spot visuals, choices or to reinforce key word

Provide a visual instruction mat. Make your own using software such as Widgit or use ready-made ones

Draw attention to figurative language and idioms quickly, rephrasing where necessary

Use collaborative activities as a way of encouraging exploratory talk and thinking between students. Activities that may help scaffold talk could be sorting/ matching/ spotting/ sequencing activities, or use of graphic organisers

For New to English EAL provide a bilingual dictionary – preferably age-appropriate and pictorial depending on the learner’s literacy level in their first language.

Clearly model and repeat the vocabulary and language structures of Standard English that learners are expected to understand and use to help the learner achieve age expected outcomes.

Pair with first language buddies to support understanding, and sit the EAL learner next to other learners who are supportive language role models

Use Directed Activities Relating to Text (DARTs),for example: Sorting/ matching/  spotting/ sequencing activities – using graphic organisers, labelling – choosing/  matching/ writing, gap-filling activities with missing words, phrases or sentences, cut up text/pictures for the learner to re-sequence

Provide exposure to well-known traditional tales and children’s books (building up this cultural frame of reference will help the learner access the curriculum as they progress through school)

Identify grammar/ language structures that the learner clearly needed for a piece of work but has not used or has had difficulty in using. Provide model examples of this language in use and use activities such as gap fll that allow opportunities to practise the language points

Send reading books home. Recommend that parents talk to their child about the book in their first language. Get the learner to read in English and explain what is happening

Provide plenty of ‘talk for writing’ activities: organise debates and activities that require students to present arguments (see the Noisy Classroom for examples of these. Collaborative activities are excellent for language development because they involve providing opportunities for purposeful communication. These include information exchange,barrier games and jigsaw activities)

Use Speaking frames to scaffold academic language, encourage fluency and use age-expected structures, ‘spotting’ sheets, where learners listen for key information, are useful to provide language models and help develop academic language skills

Teach frequent, specific vocabulary in small groups and/or whole class. This is particularly useful in KS2 for more nuanced or formal vocabulary and abstract nouns, see the Foundation’s page on introducing new vocabulary.  Word Aware is an example of a whole-class approach to developing vocabulary developed by speech and language therapists. Another resource is the list of 1000 academic words.