Differentiated Instruction

Tanya Morret

What do I teach?

• 3 Minutes• List academic content

you are responsible for, as well as what grade level(s)

How do I know what to teach?

• Standards Aligned System• Wikispaces.com• Saxon, Reading mastery,

etc…• PASA Website• Curriculum Resources

Curriculum Resources Binder• Standards Flow Chart• Academic Standards• Alternate Standards• Primary Standards/Eligible

Content• 3-12 Anchors/Eligible Content

Reading• 3-12 Anchors/Eligible Content

Math• 3-12 Eligible Content At-A-

Glance• 3-12 Eligible Content Science

Essential Question:

What is Differentiate

d Instruction?

What is Differentiated Instruction?• Differentiated instruction is the

planning of curriculum and instruction using strategies that address students' strengths, interests, skills, and readiness in flexible learning environments (Gartin, Murdick, Imbeau, & Perner, 2002).

• Differentiation is not individualized instruction (Tomlinson, 1995), however, by using the concept of differentiated instruction, teachers have a framework to address individual student needs within the context of a classroom.

Structured Note-takingSupportive Learning

Environment

On-going Assessme

nt

High Quality

Curriculum

Respectful Tasks

Flexible Grouping

Supportive Learning Environment

• Lays the foundation

• Sense of community where students feel comfortable participating and taking risks

• Includes establishing rules and routines, guidelines for how to get extra help, procedures for getting out and collecting materials, etc.

• Each student is regarded with respect and high expectations

Supportive Learning Environment

Supportive Learning Environment

Students will tend to mirror

these behaviors, respecting

one another and holding

one another accountable for

high-quality work.

High Quality Curriculum

• Students can become powerful learners only if what they are asked to learn is powerful.

• Teachers must realize and accept that all content is not created equal – and they must agree on the priorities.

High Quality Curriculum Check• Important • Focused• Engaging• Demanding• Scaffolded

High Quality Curriculum Check• Important

How is PDE helping to define a “High Quality Curriculum”?

High Quality Curriculum Check• Important • Focused

Wiggins and McTighe 2001, 2005

“…good curriculum must focus on the concepts, principles, big ideas, essential understandings, and questions that identify and emphasize what is truly key to the understanding and practice of a discipline…”

K(now)-U(nderstand)-D(o)

• K-discreet facts (vocabulary, dates, places, terms)

• U-key understanding (big ideas)

• D - skills

EdHub…

• Standards• Curriculum Framework

– Big Ideas, Concepts, and Competencies, Essential Questions, and Vocabulary

High Quality Curriculum Check• Important • Focused• Engaging

Strategies That Most Impact Achievement

Rank Strategy

1 Extending Thinking Skills

2 Summarizing

3 Vocabulary In Context

4 Advance Organizers

5 Non-VerbalRepresentations

(Marzano / ASCD, 2001US Department of Education: 2002)

Levels of Learning

Level One:Acquisition

Level Two: Extending/RefiningThinking/Reasoning

Level 3: Authentic, Meaningful Use

Learners do not suddenly learn skills and concepts. They progress through levels of learning with each level taking the learner to more depths of understanding and the capabilities to apply those skills and concepts in their lives. The following chart illustrates three levels of learning:

(Adapted From Marzano: ASCD, 1992)

High Quality Curriculum Check• Important • Focused• Engaging• Demanding

The Equalizer

High Quality Curriculum Check• Important • Focused• Engaging• Demanding• Scaffolded

Interventions may include:

o Previewing/Accelerationo Use of On-Going or

Formative Assessments(Informal and Formal) that drive instruction

o Skill groupso Remediation

Think-Pair-Share

• Three locations for Curriculum Resources

• Two ways I can tweak a lesson to differentiate (Equalizer)

• One routine I use to create a supportive learning environment

Formative Assessmentvs. Summative Assessment

Summative Assessment is--

Assessment OF Learning

Formative Assessment is--

Assessment FOR Learning

If we think of our students as plants . . .

– Formative Assessment is the equivalent of observing, tending, feeding and watering the plant – directly impacting its growth.

– Summative Assessment is the process of simply measuring it after a certain amount of time. It might be interesting to compare and analyze measurements but, in themselves, these do not impact growth.

The Instruction Assessment CycleTraditional

Pre-Test Teach Teach

Teach Teach

Teach Post-test Assign Grades

The Instruction Assessment CycleRevised Model with Data

Analysis

Pre-TestAnalyzeResults

Plan forDifferentiated

Instruction

Monitor,Reflect,

And Adjust

Teach

Teach Post-Assess

Cyclical Nature of Assessment• Before instruction

assessment techniques:

– Sponge - Students respond to a prompt.

– Pretests - Students answer questions related to upcoming critical content.

– KWL - Students write what they know and what they want to learn about a topic.

Cyclical Nature of Assessment

•During instruction assessment techniques:

– Questioning - Teachers ask all students a variety of questions.

– Think-aloud - Students verbalize the process by which they arrived at an answer.

– Journals/learning logs - Students draw/write reflections, conclusions, or processes and submit to teacher.

Quick, Informal Formative Assessments

Formal Formative Assessments• Summarizers• Progress Monitoring

– Curriculum Based Measures– Checklists– Rubrics

On- Going Assessments

• Readiness• Interests• Learning Profile

Readiness

• Attitudes• General Experience• Ability• Evidence of Skills• Prior Task Completion

Interest

• Passions• Hobbies• Family Interests• Friends• Preferences

Learning Profile

• Learning styles• Intelligences• Environmental

Preferences• Gender or Culture-related

preferences• Group Orientation

Respectful Tasks

• Interesting, engaging, and appropriately challenging

• Tied to the K-U-D

Respectful Tasks

• Interesting, engaging, and appropriately challenging

• Tied to the K-U-D• Task should match

readiness, interest, or learning profile

• Choice whenever possible

Respectful TasksBased on Readiness…• Connect to prior related

experiences• Provide background reading,

information, or skill development

• Acknowledge background exposure to a topic

• Familiarize yourself with above and below grade level standards

• Offer mini-lessons (missing or advancing skills)

Not a Respectful Task

The Equalizer

Equalizer

Simple Complex

Resources, problems, and so on are simple if they deal with one or few events, steps or meanings, perhaps in a 'big picture' way. They are complex if they deal with multiple events, steps, or meanings, perhaps in a more detailed way.

Reading Example

Simple ComplexStandard:

Learning to read independently.

Eligible Content:

Demonstrate knowledge of the alphabetic principle, the ability to associate sounds with letters, and use these sounds to form words.

Reading Example

Simple ComplexObjective: Generate sounds of short and long vowels and blend those into recognizable words.

Whole Group Instruction:

Direct and explicit instruction on short and long vowel sounds.

Social Studies Example

Simple Complex

Objective: Generate sounds of short and long vowels and blend those into recognizable words.

Vowel Stars

a

u

ie

o

d _ g

Reading Example

Simple Complex

Objective: Generate sounds of short and long vowels and blend those into recognizable words.

Word Baseball

Baseball

Mad

Made

Tap

Tape

Mad

Dude

Set

hide

Reading Example

Simple Complex

Objective: Generate sounds of short and long vowels and blend those into recognizable words.

Canned Sort

Canned Sort

/a/

/a/

Fast, Camp, Fake, Shame

Respectful TasksBased on interest…• Assessing for students’

interests and then incorporating those interests into instruction – Present Levels

• Show how current topics and skills can enhance interests

• Give students opportunities to share

• Consider establishing mentorships

Interest Surveys

• Determine your goal for knowing

• Timing• Opportunity to “add-in”

information

Respectful Tasks

Based on Learning Profile…• Gain content through multiple

modalities…listening, reading, discussing, journaling, etc..

• Variety of materials (graphic organizers)

• Provide multiple product options

Multiple Intelligences (Smarts)

WordLogicPeopleSelf

ArtMusicBodyNature

On-Going Assessments/Respectful Tasks• When you do an

assessment, be prepared to follow it up with specific appropriate instructional practices

• Formative assessments without changes in instructional practices are wasted instructional time

Questions - Quick Talk

• What formal and informal formative assessments are used in your classroom?

• Which type of Respectful Tasks (based on readiness, interest, or learning profile) have you used most often and how?

• If this is new to you, how might you use incorporate these two elements?

Quick Break

Flexible Grouping

• Too often, we group students by readiness only.

• Teachers can use whole groups, readiness groups, interest-based groups, mixed-ability groups, partners, and individual tasks to lead students to success.

Flexible Grouping

May vary in• length • number• teacher instruction• resource

Questions to consider…

• Alone/groups?• Who chooses the task?• Group size?• How to group –

interest/readiness/learning profile?

• Heterogeneous/ Homogeneous?

Strategies that SupportFlexible Grouping• RAFT• Cubing/Think Dots• Contracts• Learning Centers/Options• Tiered Assignments• Multiple Intelligences

Role-Audience-Format-Topic

• Supports student choice– Interest and/or learning

profile– Can accommodate varied

readiness levels by offering different levels of difficulty

RAFT – Re-Tell Rumpelstiltskin

Role Audience Format Topic

Miller Wife Poem Explaining why he lied

Mouse Princess

Chant Warn her about Strangers

King’s son

Father Rap Forcing him to Marry

Cubing/Think Dots

• Students roll a cube/die to determine a task– helps generate random

groups based solely on number

– differentiate a single cube– use of multiple cubes/dice

can be specific to a particular readiness, interest, or learning profile

Cubing –Extension of Fables Based on Learning

ProfileA Re-tell a fable using comic

strip boxes.

B Create your own fable.

C Re-tell a fable by changing words to Twinkle Twinkle.

D Make a puppet out of the main character and tell the story from his point of view.

E Display real world examples (school, home, community) of the fable at work today.

F Write a diary entry explaining a situation where you experienced the fable at work.

Contracts/Learning Menus

• Supports student choice along with teacher input– Contracts may have

components that all students share

– Contracts may have different components unique to a student

Learning Centers

• Either areas in the classroom devoted to a particular topic/activity

• Self-contained materials students or pairs can check out and bring to their seats– Students only work in centers

they need to or– Activities within each center

vary based on readiness, interest, or learning profile

Learning Centers – Phonics based on Readiness• Three sets of activities

identified by ,, or .• Sample:

- Vowel Stars - Word Baseball - Canned Sort

Tiered Assignments

• Supports student readiness

• One assignment/task that has varying degrees of difficulty by tweaking the resources, product, or environment

Elapsed Time Tiered Assignment

12

3

6

9

Multiple Intelligence

• Supports student learning profile

• Can support student choice, but vary for strengths and areas of development

Multiple Intelligences (Smarts)

WordLogicPeopleSelf

ArtMusicBodyNature

Balance Point /Counter Balance

Logic/Self Body/People

Art

Independently find materials in the classroom to demonstrate where the balance point is and how counter balances should interact.

Safely work with two other partners to simulate balance point and counter balance.

Draw and label a diagram that accurately represents balance point and counter balance

M.I. example

Your Assignment…

• Develop a Differentiated Lesson– Choose Eligible Content– Design Whole Group

Instruction– Determine On-Going

Assessment– Design Respectful Tasks– Divide into Groups– If Needed – Establish

Routine

BibliographyArmstrong, Thomas. Multiple Intelligences in the

Classroom. Alexandria: Association for

Supervision and Curriculum Development,

1994.

Strickland, Cindy A. Tools for High-Quality

Differentiated Instruction. Alexandria:

ASCD, 2007.

Tomlinson, Carol A., McTighe, Jay. Integrating Differentiated Instruction & Understandingby Design. Alexandria: ASCD, 2006.