📘 AVID + Diffit Toolkit

AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) empowers students to succeed in rigorous coursework and beyond. Diffit makes it easier to bring AVID strategies to life by providing leveled texts, vocabulary supports, and structured response formats. Together, they help students access complex content, think critically, and collaborate effectively—without lowering expectations.

How to Use This Toolkit

This collection is designed to support AVID practices across subject areas. Start small: select one or two Diffit activities that align with AVID routines, then build them into your regular classroom flow. Whether you’re working 1:1, in small groups, or with the whole class, Diffit helps you scaffold instruction so every student can access and engage with grade-level content.

🔍 Focused Note-Taking & Reading for Meaning

Help students organize thinking, monitor comprehension, and build habits that support long-term success.

• Read and Annotate: Practice marking the text to highlight key ideas, questions, and evidence.
• Cornell Notes (Learning Objective): Use structured notes to capture key points from Diffit passages.
• 3-2-1 What I Learned: Summarize, reflect, and self-assess learning after reading.
• Main Idea (By Paragraph): Break complex texts into smaller chunks for clearer understanding.

🧠 Critical Thinking & Academic Writing

Push students to engage deeply with texts and strengthen evidence-based writing skills.

• RACE Short Answer Question: Restate–Answer–Cite–Explain for clear, scaffolded responses.
• CER Open Ended Question: Claim–Evidence–Reasoning to develop academic argumentation.
• Compare and Contrast: Examine similarities and differences across passages or text levels.
• Causes and Effects: Organize thinking around relationships and outcomes in the text.

🗣️ Collaboration, Communication & Leadership

Build academic language, peer interaction, and student voice through structured talk and shared tasks.

• Think Pair Share: Rehearse ideas with a partner before independent writing or discussion.
• Group Discussion: Use guiding questions to structure collaborative dialogue.
• Answer and Explain: Strengthen metacognition by justifying answers with evidence.
• Social Media Summary: Synthesize learning into a concise, creative product.

💡 Tips for Differentiating with Diffit in AVID Classrooms

• Use leveled Reading Passages to include every student in AVID routines like Socratic Seminar or Philosophical Chairs.
• Front-load with Key Vocabulary with Images to build confidence before tackling the grade-level version.
• Pair Cornell Notes with Main Idea (By Paragraph) to strengthen focused note-taking.
• Alternate between Read and Annotate and Multiple Choice Questions for close reading plus quick checks.
• Offer choice in written products (RACE, CER, or Social Media Summary) to give students agency in how they demonstrate learning.