REACHING ALL CHILDRENREACHING ALL CHILDREN IN THE CLASSROOM: IN THE CLASSROOM:

AN OVERVIEW OFAN OVERVIEW OFDIFFERENTIATION STRATEGIESDIFFERENTIATION STRATEGIES

Objectives

Overview of differentiated instruction

Implement several differentiation strategies

Identify things to consider when implementing differentiation at the classroom, school, and district level

Let’s Define Differentiated Instruction

Differentiated Instruction means creating multiple paths so that students of different abilities, interests, or learning needs experience equally appropriate ways to learn.

Differentiation means tailoring the instruction to meet individual needs. The use of ongoing assessment and flexible grouping makes this a successful approach to instruction.

The Rationale for Differentiated Instruction

Different levels of readiness

Different Interests

The Rationale for Differentiated Instruction

Different Ability Levels

Different Cognitive Needs

Differentiation: Content, Process, or ProductIf children do not learn the way we teach them, then we must teach them the way they learn.

Differentiating Content

• What we teach – The facts, skills, concepts, principles, and attitudes

&

• How we give access to the content – Text, audio, technology, dialog, hands on, etc.

Differentiating Content

Resource materials at varying readability levels

Audio and video recordings

Highlighted vocabulary

Charts and models

Varied resources

Peer and adult mentors

DIFFERENTIATING PROCESS

Process is how the learner comes to make sense of, understand, and “own” the key facts, concepts, generalizations, and skills of the content.

Differentiating Process (making sense and meaning of content)

Use leveled or tiered activities

Interest centers

Hands-on materials

Vary pacing according to readiness

Allow for working alone, in partners, trios, and small groups

Allow choice in strategies for processing and for expressing results of processing

What does Differentiating by Product mean?

A product is a means by which students demonstrate what they have come to know, understand, and be able to do (Tomlinson & Strickland, p. 8)

A major or culminating demonstration of student learning that comes at the end of a long period of learning (unit, marking period, etc)

What you expect the students to produce (Graphic Organizer, Paragraph, Speech, etc)

Differentiating Products(showing what is known and able to be done)

Tiered product choices

Model, use and encourage student use of technology within products and presentations

Provide product choices that range in choices from all multiple intelligences, options for gender, culture, and race

DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGIES

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE/READINESS:PRIOR KNOWLEDGE/READINESS:The Value of Pre-Assessment... The Value of Pre-Assessment...

Textbook PretestStudent/Teacher Conference - as short as a 5 minute talkK-W-L Chart – Journal - Write what you know about...List - If I say ... What does it make you think of?Concept Map...Student Reflection

~You can’t figure out what to teach ’em if you don’t ~You can’t figure out what to teach ’em if you don’t know ’em!know ’em!

High-Prep Differentiation Strategies

• Tiered Activities • Flexible Grouping• Multiple Intelligences/Learning

styles• Jigsaws• Learning or Interest Centers• Stations• Literature Circles• Reading/Writing Workshop

Low-Prep Differentiation Strategies

• Mind-mapping/Graphic organizers• Use questions that are tailored to the students’

comprehension level (Bloom)• Think, Pair, Share• Manipulatives• Vary pacing / length of time • Reading buddies• Peer Tutoring• Personal/Individual Agendas• Technology-enhanced learning/webquests• Simulations• Models of student work at different degrees of

complexity

Tiered Activities

Designed to provide different levels of complexity, abstractness, and open-endedness. The curricular content and objective(s) are the same, but the process and/or product are varied according to the student’s level of readiness

What Can Be Tiered?

Processes, content and products

Assignments

Homework

Learning stations

Assessments

Writing prompts

Anchor activities

Materials

What Can We Adjust?

Level of complexity

Amount of structure

Pacing

Materials

Concrete to abstract

Options based on student interests

Options based on learning styles

Jigsaw Method

Stations• Learning stations are areas of the classroom

organized around a topic, theme, or skill. They can target students’ readiness levels, interests, or learning profiles. The teacher creates several stations that cover portions of the material. To learn about the topic, students must complete the activities at each station.

Flexible Grouping

Students work as part of many different groups depending on the task and/or content.

Groups assigned:

Readiness

Assigned by teacher

Randomly

Chosen by students

Allows students to work with a wide variety of peers and keeps them from being labeled

Flexible Grouping

Homogenous/Ability

-Clusters students of similar abilities, level, learning style, or interest.

-Usually based on some type of pre-assessment

Heterogeneous Groups

-Different abilities, levels or interest

- Good for promoting creative thinking.

Individualized orIndependent Study -Self paced learning -Teaches time

management and responsibility

-Good for remediation or extensions

Whole Class -Efficient way to present

new content -Use for initial instruction

Students choose from a menu of options.

Tasks vary by process and interest.

Some anchor activities can be required of all students.

Homework, projects, and assessment can be used as additional options.

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Tic Tac Toe

*see book report example

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Anchoring Activity (See the Anchoring Activity for: The Giver)

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Self-paced, purposeful, content-driven activities that students can work on independently throughout a unit, a grading period, or longer

Meaningful ongoing activities related to the curriculum A list of activities that a student can do at

any time A long-term project An activity center/learning station located

in the room These activities must be worthy of a student’s

time and appropriate to their learning needs

Learning ContractsLearning Contracts A written agreement between the student and the

teacher which includes opportunities for the student to work relatively independently on primarily teacher-directed material.

The student has:

Some freedom in acquiring skills and understandings

Responsibility for learning independently

Guidelines for completing work

Guidelines for appropriate behavior

I will read: I will look at and listen to:

I will write:

I will draw: I will need:

Here’s how I will share what I know:

My question or topic is:

I will finish by this date:

To find out about my question or topic…

Learning Contract #1Name _______________________28

Learning Contract #2

To demonstrate what I have learned about ___________________, I want to

_ Write a report_ Put on a demonstration_ Set up an experiment_ Develop a computer presentation_ Build a model

_ Design a mural_ Write a song_ Make a movie_ Create a graphic organizer or diagram_ Other

This will be a good way to demonstrate understanding of this concept because _____________

To do this project, I will need help with ____________________________________________

My Action Plan is______________________________________________________________

The criteria/rubric which will be used to assess my final product is _______________________

My project will be completed by this date _____________________________

Student signature: ________________________________ Date ______/_____/____

Teacher signature: ________________________________ Date ___/___/___

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Graphic Organizers & Note Taking

T-Notes Cornell Notes Lit Circle Q-Notes Inference Notes Cluster Notes Hierarchical Notes Think-in-Threes

Timeline Notes Venn Diagrams Conversational

Roundtable Episodic Notes Spreadsheet Notes This is a skill that

must be taught, use different organizers with a specific purpose in mind

Check what students create

Diverse needs learning styles interests

Provides Choices encourages student responsibility

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Peer collaboration

• Learn more content when taught with peer-mediated learning

• In a diverse group of peers

• learn from the strengths of others

• feel like their own contribution is worthwhile.

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Use of the learning profile will determine how the students prefer to learn.

Learning and recognizing student interests will connect the student interests to the content of the curriculum.

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• Consider the readiness level to provide more one-on-one instruction.

• Pre-assessments, ongoing assessments and final assessments

• Teacher is aware of where the students are in the learning process at all times.

• The students are engaged through facilitation, which gives them an opportunity for growth.

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The classroom environment will provide students with choices to learn by manipulating different areas of the classroom.

Various learning styles will make a teacher more flexible understanding of all types of learners

The awareness of student learning, interests, and readiness levels will include students with learning differences and gifted students.

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Differentiation Scenario Activity

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High expectations for all students Adjustment of content Providing students with choices Assigning activities geared to

different learning styles

Interests

levels of thinking

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Acknowledgement of individual needs

Assessment to determine student growth and new needs

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The biggest mistake we have The biggest mistake we have

made in past centuries in made in past centuries in

teaching has been to treat all teaching has been to treat all

children as if they were variants children as if they were variants

of the same individual and thus of the same individual and thus

to feel justified in teaching them to feel justified in teaching them

the same subjects in the same the same subjects in the same

ways. ways.

~Howard Gardner~Howard Gardner