Religious Education classrooms in Alberta serve students with a variety of needs that include developmental delays, students needing physical accommodation tools – Braille translations, gifted students or Knowledge and Employability students. Accommodation suggestions have been made in various places in the Teacher Resource Manuals.
The teacher should consult Individualized Program Plans (IPP’s) for specific directions on accommodation for individuals. Where applicable, consideration must also be given to address cultural diversity and, specifically, ELL students. The following is a list of suggested strategies to assist exceptional students:
· encourage students to choose from a variety of response methods: oral, written, pictorial, dramatic, and musical
· make use of a variety of teaching strategies to address various ability levels and learning styles such as storytelling, pictures, shared reading, small group discussions, handouts, and summative guides
· pair students of different abilities as work or study partners
· encourage ELL students to present the cultural interpretation of scripture stories from their place of origin
· direct some students to research with resources that are appropriate to their level of reading and comprehension – the school library staff is an excellent resource for accommodation material
· provide an independent research project to cover a part of the course that is elective and suits their personal interest as an option to the regular class assignment
· encourage students who have difficulty presenting to respond through audio or video messages
· reduce the quantity of work while retaining the demand for quality for students who are unable to complete assignments, e.g. assign fewer questions
· design assignments and rubrics that allow all students to successfully complete the course while challenging gifted students to aim for their highest potential
· create project based learning and performance assessments