Differentiated learning, also known as differentiated instruction, is a teaching approach that tailors instruction to meet individual student needs. It allows students to show what they have learned in different ways. There are four main ways to differentiate: content, process, product, and learning environment. Teachers can differentiate by adjusting activities, materials, lessons, and assessments based on a student's readiness, interests, and preferred mode of learning. The goal is to develop engaging tasks that challenge and enhance learning for each student. While research shows differentiated instruction is effective, it also requires more planning time from teachers.
2. What is differentiated learning?
• Differentiated learning also known as differentiated
Instruction
• Differentiated instruction is a teaching approach
that tailors instruction to students’ different learning
needs.
• It lets students show what they know in different ways.
3. Differentiated Learning
• Differentiated instruction means using different tools, content, and
due process in order to successfully reach all individuals.
• Differentiated instruction, according to Carol Ann Tomlinson, is the
process of "ensuring that what a student learns, how he or she learns
it, and how the student demonstrates what he or she has learned is a
match for that student's readiness level, interests, and preferred
mode of learning.
• The goal of differentiated instruction is to develop engaging tasks
that challenge and enhance learning for each student. Instructional
activities are flexible and based and evaluated on content, process,
product, and learning environment.
5. • 1.Content: Figuring out what a student needs to learn and which
resources will help.
• Examples of differentiating activities:
Match vocabulary words to definitions.
Read a passage of text and answer related questions.
Think of a situation that happened to a character in the story and a
different outcome.
Differentiate fact from opinion in the story.
Identify an author’s position and provide evidence to support this
viewpoint.
Create a PowerPoint presentation summarizing the lesson.
6. 2. Process: Activities that help students make sense
of what they learn
• Examples of differentiating the process:
Provide textbooks for visual and word learners.
Allow auditory learners to listen to audio books.
Give kinesthetic learners the opportunity to complete an
interactive assignment online.
7. 3. Product: Ways for students to “show what they
know”
• Examples of differentiating the end product:
Read and write learners write a book report.
Visual learners create a graphic organizer of the story.
Auditory learners give an oral report.
Kinesthetic learners build a diorama illustrating the story
8. 4. Learning environment: How the classroom “feels” and
how the class works together
• Examples of differentiating the environment:
Break some students into reading groups to discuss the assignment.
Allow students to read individually if preferred.
Create quiet spaces where there are no distractions.
9. Strategies for Differentiation
• Differentiation can include complex strategies, like writing tiered lesson plans, or it can take a
more simplistic form, such as using reading buddies or think-pair-share strategies. Here is a
condensed list of the continuum of differentiated strategies
• Higher Prep Strategies
• Tiered Lessons
• Flexible Grouping
• Think-Tac-Toe
• Multiple Intelligence
• Options
• Graphic Organizers
• Response/Exit Cards
• Multiple Texts
10. TIERED INSTRUCTION
• Provides teachers with a means of assigning different tasks within the
same lesson or unit.
• The tasks will vary according to the students’:
• Readiness
• Interest
• Learning Profile
11. ACCORDINGTO STUDENTS
READINESS-refers to readiness for a given skill, concept, or way of thinking.
INTEREST- have to do with those things that learners find relevant,
fascinating, or worthy of their time.
LEARNING PROFILE- refer to things such as learning style, intelligence
preferences and how the students processes information, and how the learner
sees himself in relation to the rest of the world.
12. WHAT CAN BETIERED?
• Content
• Process
• Product
ASSIGNMENTS
• ACTIVITIES
• HOMEWORK
• CENTERS
• EXPERIMENTS
• MATERIALS
• ASSESSMENTS
• WRITING PROMPTS
13. FLEXIBLE GROUPING
• Flexible grouping is an opportunity for students to work with a variety of students,
through whole group
or in many different forms of small groups. The key to flexible grouping is in the
name…FLEXIBLE.
Students have an opportunity to be in different groups depending on the activity.
• Initially use whole group for instruction
• Divide group for practice or enrichment
• Not used as a permanent arrangement
• Use groups for one activity, a day, a week, etc.
14. How does Flexible grouping benefit students?
• Gives students and teachers a voice in work arrangements.
• Allows students to work with a variety of peers.
• Keeps students from being “pegged” as advanced or
struggling.
15. GROUP MEMBERSHIP
• Can be determined by:
• Readiness
• Interest
• Reading level
• Skill level
• Background knowledge
• Social skills
16. ANCHOR ACTIVITIES
• Anchor activities are ongoing assignments that students can work on
independently throughout a unit, a grading period, or longer.
The purpose of an Anchor activity:
• Provide meaningful work for students when they finish an assignment
or project, when they first enter the class, or when they are “stumped.”
• Provide ongoing tasks that tie to the content and instruction
• Free up the classroom teacher to work with other groups of students
or individuals
18. CUBING
• Designed to help students think about a
topic from different angles
• Game-like—motivates children
• Recognizes large reservoir of knowledge
and skills of some learners
• Satisfies hunger to do something different
• Eliminates boredom and lethargy
resulting from unnecessary drill and
practice.
• Often used to reinforce, extend or
demonstrate learning
19. GRAPHIC
ORGANIZER
• Aides comprehension, concept
development and learning
• Highlights key vocabulary
• Provides an organized, visual
display of knowledge
• Focuses attention on key
elements
• Helps integrate prior
knowledge with new
knowledge
21. PROS CONS
Research shows differentiated
instruction is effective for high-ability
students as well as students with mild
to severe disabilities.
When students are given more options
on how they can learn material, they
take on more responsibility for their
own learning.
Students appear to be more engaged
in learning, and there are reportedly
fewer discipline problems in
classrooms where teachers provide
differentiated lessons.
Differentiated instruction requires more
work during lesson planning, and
many teachers struggle to find the
extra time in their schedule.
The learning curve can be steep and
some schools lack professional
development resources.
Critics argue there isn’t enough
research to support the benefits of
differentiated instruction outweighing
the added prep time.
22. How differentiated instruction works
• Small work groups: The students in each group rotate in and
out. This gives them a chance to participate in many different
groups. A group can include a pair of students or a larger group.
In all cases, it’s an opportunity for students to learn from each
other.
• Reciprocal learning: Sometimes students become teachers,
sharing what they’ve learned and asking classmates questions.
• Continual assessment: Teachers regularly monitor students’
strengths and weaknesses (in both formal and informal ways) to
make sure they’re progressing in their knowledge and mastery of
schoolwork.