FIAE Chapter 5 Response

I had never heard of the concept of tiering before reading this chapter, but it sounds very similar to scaffolding.  I understand how it can be a valuable tool in the classroom because it allows students to begin with a relatively simple task and then gradually build off of that knowledge while the complexity of the task at hand increases.  In theory, it makes a lot of sense.  The only thing I am worried about is learning how to “tier” at a rate that is comfortable and beneficial for my students.  In order to do this, not only I am going to have practice tiering like Wormeli suggests, but I’m also going to have to really get to know my students.  (It seems like everything we’ve been reading about goes back to the concept of knowing your students).  Once I know where their strengths are and what things they need extra help with I will be able to tier their lessons accordingly.  One thing I really like about the tiering strategies that Wormeli presents is that they are easily differentiated.  A few of my favorite ones were learning contracts, RAFT(S) (which reminded me a lot of GRASPS) and one-word summaries.  I think that learning contracts sound excellent for differentiation because they allow students to work at their own pace and to build from the level that they are at.  RAFT(S) reminded me a lot of GRASPS, except it sounds like it would take a lot of planning to create “menus.”  Lastly, I think that one-word summaries are good for the English classroom because they require students to exercise their vocabulary.  Again, before I could use these ideas in my classroom I would need to know my students’ strengths and weaknesses.