Differentiated instruction

Differentiated Instruction Lisa Swope Radford City Schools

Why Differentiate?

People learn differently —we have various learning styles, learning strengths, abilities, and interests.
We also learn alike in that we need to find meaning and make sense of what we study. We learn best from work that demands we stretch ourselves, but does not intimidate us.

The Teacher's Role

Differentiated Instruction is Proactive
The teacher begins with the assumption that different learners have different needs.
She proactively plans a variety of ways to “get at” and express learning .
She organizes materials and resources so learning will be purposeful and not chaotic.

Expect BETTER work, not MORE work!!!
The teacher does not simply give more work to learners who are more capable; instead, he adjusts the nature of the assignment to meet student needs .
The level of complexity, steps in a task, and levels of questioning can be geared to student ability.

Begin With Assessment
Students’ readiness level is determined through standardized test results, pre-testing, conversations with the student, interest surveys, and/or instruments indicating preferred learning styles and/or multiple intelligences.

Provide Several Routes to Content, Process, and Product
Content— what students learn
Process— how students go about making sense of ideas and information
Product— how students demonstrate what they have learned

Differentiated Learning is Student-Centered
Students are given the opportunity to take increasing responsibility for their own growth.
Teaching students to share responsibility allows a teacher to work with different groups or individuals for parts of the class time………….and it better prepares students for life.

Differentiation Blends Several Types of Instruction
Whole-class instruction
Individual instruction
Flexible grouping
Cooperative/collaborative learning

Differentiation is Fluid
Teachers participate in ongoing collaboration with students
Lessons and assignments are adjusted as needed
There is no one “right” way to differentiate as long as the basic principles of differentiated learning are followed.

Basic Principles of Differentiation

Some Principles
Students are pre-assessed to determine learning needs.
The teacher plans proactively to provide several learning options.
Students work alone, in pairs, and in small groups .
Students sometimes receive whole-class instruction .
The teacher gives clear directions and shares responsibility with students.
The teacher provides organization to the degree that learning is purposeful and not chaotic .
The teacher provides support as needed.
The student takes responsibility for his/her own learning and demonstrates understanding through a student-designed product.

Examples of Differentiation

For First Grade Reading
Create a flexible reading program.
Post a weekly reading schedule and allow students to find their names on it.
Allow students to move to appointed parts of the room at times designated on the chart.
Sometimes the whole class will meet to listen to a story and talk about it or to volunteer to read it.
Sometimes a small group meets with the teacher to work on decoding, comprehension strategies, or to share ideas.
Sometimes students will meet with peers to read on a topic of mutual interest, regardless of their reading readiness (different level books on same topic).
Students read alone (from books in discovery boxes based on various topics or from boxes designated by colors to match levels of reading readiness).
Students may meet with a reading partner to take turns reading or, at the direction of the teacher, to “choral read” so stronger readers can provide leadership for a peer who doesn’t read as well.
From Tomlinson

Third Grade Reading
Design a variety of centers based on student learning profiles
Assign students to centers based on formal or informal assessments
At centers related to people the students are studying, students can choose to work alone, in pairs, or within a small group
Some possible centers include:
Students select a person they’ve studied and make an annotated time line of the person’s early life, noting events that shaped the person. The student chooses whether to write a paper, draw a storyboard, or act out the events.
Students select a biography and a fictional work each has read. Then they write about real-life events they and some of their friends have had. Students then look in all three works for common themes about growing up and decide to present their work as a matrix or through conversations between or among the subject of the biography, the fictional work, and a 3 rd grader.
From Tomlinson

Seventh Grade Science
As part of an exploration of life science, students chose a living creature and develop questions of interest to them individually.
Students figure out how to find answers to their questions.
Each student determines ways to share their findings with their peers.
(Questions can vary in complexity.)

High School Algebra II
Students can pre-test and “compact out” of a unit at any time during the first three days of instruction
Students who opt out do an independent investigation of math in the real world, given guidelines by the teacher, who works with them to tighten or focus plans, as needed
Students who did not “compact out” receive whole group instruction, and then—based on understanding—divide into cooperative groups for practice, or meet in a small group with the teacher for further instruction
When the class has finished the chapter, everyone participates in two days of mandatory review and the entire class takes the test.
From Tomlinson

High School U.S. History
Students read biographies of their choice from a suggested reading list. Each student chooses to do one of the following:
Write a two-page summary of the person’s life.
Note transforming dates in the subject’s life and make a timeline.
Choose three events that most impacted the subject’s life and make a poster explaining each.
Students read names from a posted list and go to pre-assigned groups, which include:
Students meet in small groups and “tell the story” in first person of the subject of each biography
Students make a chart listing similarities and differences in their characters’ personalities, lives, and accomplishments
Students brainstorm qualities of “greatness” and create a matrix they will use to rank all of their subjects
Students choose one or a few topics making news in their lifetimes and conduct a time-travel/round-table discussion in character as their subjects.
Students complete an assignment from the following product list:
A PowerPoint presentation
A scripted presentation to the class
An argumentative or comparative essay.

Differentiation by Readiness

The Equalizer: A Tool for Planning Differentiated Lessons
Foundational……………. Transformational
Concrete…………………. Abstract
Simple…………………… Complex
Single Facet……………… Multiple Facets
Small Leap……………….. Great Leap
More Structured………….. More Open
Less Independence……… More Independence
Slow……………………….. Quick

Tiering Instruction
Change the nature of the task , not the workload
Change the sophistication of the prompt and/or the student’s response to it
Remember to keep all students “above water” by adjusting challenge levels so all students can make sense of their learning

Tiering Formats
Learning Contracts
Learning Menus
Cubing
Summarization Pyramid
Change the Verb

Learning Contracts
Students enter into independent study with an agreed-upon set of tasks supporting adjusted goals.

Learning Menus
Students are given choices of tasks in a unit or for an assessment. They most do one “entrée task”, may select from two “side dish” tasks, and may choose to do one of the “dessert” tasks for extra enrichment .

Cubing
Students receive foam or poster board cubes with a different task written on each face; each task has a different complexity level than the others. Given a topic, students: Describe it, Compare it, Associate it, Analyze it, Apply it, Argue for it or against it.

Summarization Pyramid
Create a pyramid of horizontal lines, then ask students at different readiness levels to respond to tiered prompts as they interact with the topic.
SOME GREAT PROMPTS
Synonym
Analogy
Question
Three attributes
Alternative title
Causes
Effects
Reasons
Arguments
Ingredients
Opinion
Formula/sequence
Insight
Larger category
Tools
Sample
People
Future of the topic

Change the Verb
Raise or lower the challenge level by changing the verb in your prompt:
CONSIDER USING:
Analyze
Revise
Decide between
Why did
Defend
Devise
Identify
Classify
Define
Compose
Interpret
Expand
Imagine
Suppose
Construct
Recommend
Predict
Argue for (or against)
Contrast
Critique

Some Tips
All students need coherent lessons that are relevant, powerful, and meaningful.
Good curriculum pushes students a bit beyond what is easy or comfortable.
Encourage students to “work up” and complete tasks that stretch them.

Differentiation by Interest

Sidebar Studies
Interest Centers
Specialty Teams
Real-Life Applications of Ideas and Skills
New Forms of Expression

Strategies That Support Interest-Based Studies
Studying concepts and principles through the lens of interest
Student choice of tasks
Independent Study
I-Searches
Orbitals
Mentorships
Group Investigations
Interest Groups
Jigsaw
Literature Circles
WebQuests
Student-selected audiences

Differentiation by Learning Profile

Four Factors
Learning Style Preferences
Intelligence Preferences
Culture-Influenced Preferences
Gender-Based Preferences

Strategies for Learning Profile Preferences
Vary teacher presentation (auditory, visual, kinesthetic)
Vary student mode of expression (Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences)
Working choice arrangements
Multiple modes of assessment
Varied approaches to organizing ideas and information

Differentiating Content

Strategies for Differentiating Content
Curriculum Compacting
Learning Contracts
Mini-lessons

Ways to Support Students
Reading partners or audio/video recorders
Note-taking organizers
Highlighted print materials
Digests of key ideas
Peer and adult mentors

Differentiating Process

Processing: Making Sense of the Content
Present activities that are interesting to the student
Provide opportunities for students to think at a higher level
Cause students to use key skills to understand key ideas

Strategies for Differentiated Processing
Cubing
Learning logs or journals
Graphic organizers
Centers or interest groups
Role playing
Choice boards
Jigsaw
Think-pair-share
PMI
Model-making
Labs
Tiered activities

Differentiating Products

Creating Product Assignments
What students must know, understand, be able to do as a result of the study.
Identify the format of the project.
Determine expectations for quality (content, process, product).
Decide on scaffolding (brainstorming, rubrics, time lines, planning/goal setting, storyboarding, critiquing, revising/grading).
Differentiate based on readiness, student interest, student learning profile.

Why have you been looking at the ocean during this presentation????????

Because……….
Like being on the ocean, when you differentiate you must:
Find exactly where students are before you know how to take them someplace new
Organize your resources
Adjust for varying degrees of depth
Support those who can’t keep their heads above water
Modify your strategy as you go
Recognize there are different ways to reach the same destination

The content of this presentation is based on the work of Carol Ann Tomlinson of the University of Virginia and on her book, How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms .

Supplementary Resources
Glossary of terms
Learning Style inventory
Sample lessons
List of additional resources

Differentiated instruction

by Lisa Stack

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