Instructional Strategies

District 58 encourages teachers to use a variety of instructional strategies to help students learn and grow. We recognize that each student has different learning preferences, strengths and growth areas. As such, we encourage our teachers to get to know each of our learners and identify ways to support them on their learning journey. Listed below are some instructional methodologies that District 58 encourages our faculty to use in order to meet our students and help them develop their learning skills. Please note that this list is not comprehensive and that many of our teachers use many instructional strategies beyond those referenced in this section.

Guided Instruction

Guided instruction is small group instruction facilitated by the teacher for a short period of time meant to develop meaningful understanding of concepts. Guided instruction can occur in any content area but is most frequently seen in reading and mathematics. Instructional topics are often focused on one or two specific learning targets during a guided instructional setting. Guided groups often last for 15-30 minutes, frequently followed by the students doing an independent or non-teacher led learning experience. Groups tend to be eight students or fewer.

Flexible Grouping

Flexible grouping is the process of developing student instructional groups based upon student instructional level in a specific area of focus. District 58 supports flexible grouping as a model for developing small group learning opportunities to focus on a specific skill or set of skills. Instructional groups in a flexible grouping model are designed for short periods between assessments ranging from a week to a trimester.

Team Teaching

Team Teaching is a model in which two or more teachers work together to support student learning and growth. Team teaching provides students with the opportunity to receive instruction and feedback from multiple instructors with different strengths and perspectives. This model can be used to support both general instruction or specific differentiated instruction.