Differentiated Instruction

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Differentiated Instruction

• Lisa Swope
• Radford City Schools

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Why Differentiate?
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• People learn differentlywe 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.

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The Teacher's Role
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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.

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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.

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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.

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Provide Several Routes to Content, Process, and
Product

• Contentwhat students learn
• Processhow students go about making sense of
  ideas and information
• Producthow students demonstrate what they have
  learned

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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.

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Differentiation Blends Several Types of
Instruction

• Whole-class instruction
• Individual instruction
• Flexible grouping
• Cooperative/collaborative learning

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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.

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Basic Principles of Differentiation
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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.

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Examples of Differentiation
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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 doesnt read as
  well.
• From Tomlinson

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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 theyve studied and make
  an annotated time line of the persons 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 3rd grader.
• From Tomlinson

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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.)

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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 thenbased on
  understandingdivide 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

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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 persons life.
• Note transforming dates in the subjects life and
  make a timeline.
• Choose three events that most impacted the
  subjects 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.

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Differentiation by Readiness
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The Equalizer A Tool for Planning
Differentiated Lessons

• Foundational.Transformational
• Concrete.Abstract
• Simple Complex
• Single FacetMultiple Facets
• Small Leap..Great Leap
• More Structured..More Open
• Less IndependenceMore Independence
• Slow..Quick

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Tiering Instruction

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

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Tiering Formats

• Learning Contracts
• Learning Menus
• Cubing
• Summarization Pyramid
• Change the Verb

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Learning Contracts

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

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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.

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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.

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Summarization Pyramid

• 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

• Create a pyramid of horizontal lines, then ask
  students at different readiness levels to respond
  to tiered prompts as they interact with the
  topic.

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Change the Verb

• 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)

• Raise or lower the challenge level by changing
  the verb in your prompt

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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.

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

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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

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Differentiation by Learning Profile
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Four Factors

• Learning Style Preferences
• Intelligence Preferences
• Culture-Influenced Preferences
• Gender-Based Preferences

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Strategies for Learning Profile Preferences

• Vary teacher presentation (auditory, visual,
  kinesthetic)
• Vary student mode of expression (Gardners
  Multiple Intelligences)
• Working choice arrangements
• Multiple modes of assessment
• Varied approaches to organizing ideas and
  information

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Differentiating Content
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Strategies for Differentiating Content

• Curriculum Compacting
• Learning Contracts
• Mini-lessons

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Ways to Support Students

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

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Differentiating Process
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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

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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

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Differentiating Products
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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.

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

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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 cant keep their heads above
  water
• Modify your strategy as you go
• Recognize there are different ways to reach the
  same destination

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• 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.

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Supplementary Resources

• Glossary of terms
• Learning Style inventory
• Sample lessons
• List of additional resources