. The students in a given class of any age or level will exhibit a range of language abilities. Some will be stronger speakers, some will be stronger writers, while some will be stronger overall. No classroom is perfectly equal. This situation poses a challenge for teachers when it comes to designing lessons and activities. Teachers want to ensure that all students are challenged and that they are all able to feel a sense of accomplishment. By this point in the term, Jeremy should have a good idea of which students are strong in which areas.

How can he use this information to build effective lessons for his students?

Choose two of the following:

a. He can design his tests and assessments to focus on his students' weaker areas. Tests not only provide a means of assessment for teachers, but they are also a powerful motivating tool. By announcing that he will test areas where students have exhibited difficulty in the past, he will be encouraging them to study harder at home to learn the concepts that challenge them. This is more effective than giving tests that cover strengths and weaknesses equally.

b. He can focus his lessons on particular student weaknesses to address shortcomings and skills that are underdeveloped. The goal is to help all of his students develop all of their language skills, so devising specific lesson activities to improve areas of weakness is a good approach.

c. He can create group tasks that enable the stronger students to help the weaker students. Students, particularly young students, learn from everything around them, so tasks that foster peer help can prove very successful. Quietly asking a peer for assistance is also often less intimidating for shy students than asking the teacher in front of the whole class.

d. He can focus his lessons on student strengths to continue to develop those areas. As students exercise their strengths, they are able to understand more complex concepts. By practicing these more complex concepts, the students will sharpen the associated language skills. This will then have a trickle-down effect and improve their other language skills.