Toolkit: How to adapt resources for your learners
Do you often need to modify learning materials to meet the specific needs of your learners?
This free, printable poster, which is part of our professional development toolkit, provides practical tips and examples to help you adapt resources effectively. It shows how personalising, differentiating, scaffolding and extending learning activities can help all your learners get the level of challenge and support they need. You can view the tips online or print the poster to display in a space you share with other teachers.
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Watch the video below to find out more about how these tips and examples will help you adapt resources for your learners.
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- Transcript – How to adapt resources for your learners
NARRATOR: How to adapt resources for your learners [Uplifting background music] [On screen: How to adapt resources for your learners].
Every learner and group of learners is unique. So how can you select and modify teaching materials to meet their specific needs? Here are some practical tips and examples to help you adapt resources effectively.
Consider your learners and teaching context [On screen: Consider your learners]. Ask yourself questions like how old are my learners? [On screen: How old are my learners?] How many learners are there? [On screen: How many learners are there?] What level do they have? [On screen: What level do they have?] What do they already know? [On screen: What do they already know?] And what technology or other resources do I have? [On screen: What technology or resources do I have?] Asking questions like these will help you to select the right learning resources for your learners.
Personalise lesson materials [On screen: Personalise]. This TeachingEnglish lesson is all about different types of families [VISUAL: TeachingEnglish lesson plan]. Personalise it by changing some of the examples, names used [VISUAL: TeachingEnglish worksheet with images of different types of families] or one or two of the photos for some that are closer to your learners' lives. It's motivating for learners to see familiar situations and people in their lessons.
Differentiate content, process and product [On screen: Differentiate]. Every learner needs the right level of challenge for them, and that's different for every person [On screen: Differentiate]. Ask yourself, can I simplify tasks or readings for some learners? Could I increase the level of challenge for others? [On screen: Adapt content] How do your learners work best: independently, in pairs or in groups? Adapt the learning process so it suits them [On screen: Adapt process]. How can learners show what they've learned? Some could present their ideas in a group. Others may make a video [On screen: Adapt product].
Scaffold learning [On screen: Scaffold] by breaking tasks into smaller steps and providing support. Using visual aids like images, diagrams and videos can make new concepts clearer. Giving learners time to prepare to speak and write can help them communicate more complex ideas for longer. Providing templates and sentence starters helps learners to write and speak more fluently. As learners grow in confidence, they can work more independently.
[On screen: Extend] Extend activities to deepen learning and develop different skills. Discussion questions provide opportunities for learners to practise speaking, use topic-related language, and connect the topic to their own lives. They may find it motivating to write discussion questions for their classmates too. You can also encourage learners to get creative by designing a poster or creating a short video summary of a lesson. Approaching learning in different ways can help reinforce the content and is more motivating. Encourage learners to apply what they've learned in the real world. This could be solving a problem in their school or area.
Think carefully about your learners when adapting your lesson plans [On screen: Consider your learners]. Personalising [On screen: Personalise], differentiating [On screen: Differentiate], scaffolding [On screen: Scaffold], and extending [On screen: Extend] learning activities can help all your learners get the level of challenge and support they need to enjoy their English lessons and make progress.
Poster text
How to adapt resources for your learners
Every learner and group of learners is unique, so how can you select and modify teaching materials to meet their specific needs? Here are some practical tips and examples to help you adapt resources effectively.
Consider your learners and teaching context
Decide if you need to modify the lesson materials to fit your:
- learners' age and level
- learners' existing knowledge and challenges
- class size
- available technology.
Personalise
Make learning materials more meaningful by connecting them to your learners' lives.
Relatable context: Engage learners with examples and activities that reflect their everyday experiences. Younger learners may connect better with topics like daily routines or pets, while older learners might relate more to subjects such as music, social media or future ambitions.
Cultural relevance: Make sure the content reflects the culture of your learners. For example, adapt reading texts to include local places or change the names of characters in stories to reflect common names in your region.
Interests: If your learners enjoy football, use football-related examples in your lessons. If they like music, try using song lyrics in language activities.
Differentiate
Not all learners learn the same way, so it's important to adapt resources for different needs.
Content: Change the material based on learners' abilities. For example, give simpler tasks or readings to learners who need more support, and more challenging activities to advanced learners.
Process: Adjust how the lesson is delivered. Some learners might work best in pairs or groups, while others may prefer to work independently.
Product: Let learners show what they've learned in different ways. For example, some might prefer to write an essay, while others might present their ideas in a group or create a video.
Use scaffolding
Support your learners by breaking tasks into smaller steps.
Provide structure: Use graphic organisers, templates or sentence starters to guide learners through tasks.
Visual aids: Include diagrams, charts or videos to make concepts clearer.
Gradual support: Start by providing a lot of help, and then gradually reduce the support as learners become more confident.
Extend
Give learners extra activities or challenges to deepen their learning.
Discussion questions: Add questions that encourage learners to think more deeply about the topic. For example, 'How would you solve this problem if you lived in a different country?'
Creative tasks: Give learners opportunities to apply their learning creatively. For example, ask them to design a poster or create a short video based on the topic.
Real-world applications: Encourage learners to apply what they've learned in real life, for example, solving a problem that's affecting their school or area.