The Stages of a Stratified Teaching Unit through an example. 

In this topic, you will be guided through the different stages of a stratified teaching unit through one example, the teaching unit “Environment and I”.
This unit is also made available to you as a BlendSpace resource to showcase how teaching material can be digitized and used in your classrooms.

Class Observation 

An example of a class observation according to inclusive and SEL teaching is also made available to you in a downloadable format. We know that you are already working on a student needs analysis, but we believe that there is always space to learn more about how to identify student needs and how to respond accordingly. Remember to take notes of the emotional issues you have observed, the schemes of interaction and activities you will use and the scaffold you will need. That is the difference with a stratified unit. Don’t be afraid to follow the steps.

Notes on the teaching unit

The stratified teaching unit which follows uses approaches that can support specific students’ needs and socio-emotional issues and provides opportunities to close the gap between current and desired performance but also between current and desired self-perception. The use of scaffolding techniques is massive but the activities are stratified so that each level can find it challenging and interesting. Efforts to reduce the levels of anxiety experienced were also put in place by using self-correction sheets and using pair work with familiar and friendly-perceived pairs.

One of the strategies used is the application of the Jigsaw method. Students are divided into the so-called “basic” groups, which all have the same topic to study. From the subject under study, the teacher assigns to each
component a part, of which he must become an expert. The members of the different groups who are to become experts from the same party form the “expert groups” and sit in the same seat. The experts deepen their part and produce a written document that will serve them in the teaching/learning phase when they fall within their respective core groups. Once the “basic groups” have been reconstituted, each expert takes care of the learning, by the other members, of the contents exposed by him and, in turn, studies contents taught by the other experts. As far as the effectiveness of the Jigsaw method is concerned, the teacher is satisfied overall in the achievements observed in the field of social
skills, for example students show greater motivation to learn and greater confidence in their own potential and even the most problematic ones have always achieved good results.

Additional Resources: Stratified Teaching Units in different educational subjects 

Included in the material on this topic are also examples of stratified teaching units that are made available in a downloadable format for you to use as inspiration or adapt to your needs after the completion of this course.

• Art History 
• Mathematics
• Ancient History 
• Media Education 
• Sociology 
• Physics

Feel free to share your thoughts, observations, new ideas and questions on the Forum.