Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners

All the school districts in my region and many others across Pennsylvania have access to Discovery Education, discoveryed probably best known for streaming video. When I searched for streaming videos 116,458 results came up which can be further refined by grade level, subject area, type of media etc... Folks most often think of video clips or even full length videos and they would be right…. but there is much, much more.

Discovery also has:
  • Songs (466) – Multiplication raps, ABCs, Homophone Blues, Tornados & Hurricanes to name a few…
  • Audio files (48) – speeches, historical events, and more
  • Images (20,828) – historical events, historical figures, places, animals etc..
  • Writing prompts (603) – still pictures combined with a writing prompts historical people/events, careers & a large number for literary analysis. Prompts can be copied and/or edited to customize for teacher needs.
  • Clip art (1184) –Most of the collection is for the elementary grades
  • Sound effects (3088) – animal sounds, applause, weather and bubbling lava are some favorites.
  • Quizzes (2077) – pre/post assessment quizzes to accompany videos
Discover also has Builder Tools for teachers to create their own:
  • Assignments
  • Writing Prompts
  • Quizzes

And so….. well for me the so what has two parts: differentiated instruction & the economy. I literally cannot go anywhere and not hear about either. Yet here is a tool that is likely under utilized by the majority of teachers, includes content based on PA standards and is available in a variety of formats (visual, audio and text). What a wonderful tool to differentiate instruction!

If you have access to Discovery Education, survey your teachers for what services they use and help connect Discovery to on-going district or school initiatives e.g. writing across the curriculum, differentiated instruction etc...

Bottom line a subscription service such as Discovery Education costs the same for schools that use it to its full potential as it does for schools that do not. In this economy can we afford not use every tool we have to its potential?

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