Although schools may have mission statements and other documents about providing opportunities for all students, the real work occurs in the classrooms—and this issue has many suggestions for doing so.  For example, Accommodating Differences describes strategies to involve all students in class activities, noting that “All classes, even homogeneous ones, show varying levels of ability and motivation.”
I’ve seen how many strategies for accommodate English Language Learners (ELLs) work for all students. Striking a Balance has examples for ramping up the use of learning centers to include activities in reading, writing, content review, and vocabulary in science. The Snowball Questioning Methoddescribes a variation on the Think-Pair-Share and Wait Time strategies for getting students involved in discussions. The author notes an increase in student engagement and an improvement in quiz scores when using this method! [SciLinks: Student Equity]
A colleague in social studies always emphasized the “story” in history. He crafted lessons that put events into a narrative context that emphasized the people involved. Las Rocas Nos Cuentan Su Historia (Rocks Tell Their Stories) takes a similar approach to geology—exploring the stories told in rocks. Students compare and contrast the characteristics of rock samples (a sample worksheet is provided) rather than memorize names of rocks. [SciLinks: Identifying Rocks and Minerals, Rock Formations, Rock Types, Rock Cycles]

Science terminology and text reading is a struggle for all students, but especially for ELLs. The authors of Every Word You Speak describe five levels of language development and provide examples of prompts or questions that can be used at each level to encourage participation. There are also examples of word maps and organizing charts that can help all students who struggle with learning the language of science.
Taking the Leap is subtitled “A classroom bungee jump activity helps students understand physics concepts.” I had visions of students leaping out of windows, until I read that this is a variation on the egg-drop activity that many teachers use. The investigation includes a number of physics concepts, graphing, and mathematical applications. [SciLinks: Acceleration, Elasticity, Force of Gravity, Hooke’s Law, Potential and Kinetic Energy]
One way to engage students is through projects that are connected to a real-life need or situation. Hands-On Hydroponics illustrates a 5e inquiry lesson in which students build hydroponic growing systems (photographs are provided) and use them to investigate questions related to sustainability and plant biology as related to the increasing need for food. [SciLinks: Hydrophoncs, Plant Growth]
Don’t forget to look at the Connections for this issue (April/May 2012). Even if the article does not quite fit with your lesson agenda, this resource has ideas for handouts, background information sheets, data sheets, rubrics, etc.