DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION IN THE EARLY

CHILDHOOD CLASSROOM

The Changing Classroom

Classrooms today are more diverse and this requires the teacher to be better able to reach all students on a level they can understand. “In differentiated classrooms, teachers begin where students are, not the front of the curriculum guide” ( Tomlinson, C.A. 2001).

Teachers can differentiate four classroom elements based on students readiness , interest, or learning profile ( Tomlinson, 2000).

1.) Content 2.) Process 3.)Products 4.) Learning Environment

Content

Content is what we teach and what we want our students to learn. We can differentiate content by evaluating the students readiness, interest, and learning profile.

1.) Readiness is evaluating the students capacity to read and understand the material, and making the material and information relevant to their abilities.

2.) Student interest can be used to adjust teaching ideas and materials to include specific students interests that might also encourage learning.

3.) A students learning profile is the way a students learns, this includes visual, auditory, and hands on approaches.

Content Differentiation Examples

To successfully differentiate content, it is important to have a variety of resources available to accommodate varying learning capacities. This could include various texts and manipulatives

For example, you may chose to expand on the textbook readings with visual learning websites which the students can access not only in the classroom, but also at home via educational websites.

You might also use manipulative such as number lines, sorting sticks, or various math games.

Process

When students are presented with new ideas, information, or skills, they take that information, input it into their minds, and process it through their current knowledge. Each students will have a different understanding of what they have been presented with and therefore will be at different levels of processing what is being taught. Here is where, as teachers, we must recognize a students current knowledge of the information and effectively design an appropriate sense making process that will heighten their level of understanding. We can differentiate the process dependent also on a students level of readiness, interest, and learning profile.

Process Evaluation

To differentiate the process of instruction to meet the readiness level of a student, we must first recognize their current level of understanding of a skill.

To encourage the learning process based on interest, we must give students various options to approach a skill based on their personal interest that might be linked in some fashion to what is being taught.

To accommodate various learning profiles means we must encourage students to make sense of a skill in their preferred way of learning.

Process Differentiation Examples

To successfully differentiate the process of instruction, it is important to have activities that encourage teacher-student engagement, which in turn gives the teacher more opportunities to interact and observe each students abilities and progression in skill building.

Along side whole class instruction, it is important to include small group and individual work time. This gives time for student interaction with peers, as well as teacher interaction time.

Some various process strategies include, journals, learning centers, choice boards, and role playing.

Products

Products are a great way to assess and review a students knowledge and understanding of skills. Products are not tests, but rather activities or projects that show a students understanding . Using various ways, alongside the usual standard tests, can give more opportunity for students to display their knowledge and understanding. This will give students a chance to reflect, apply and demonstrate their knowledge.

Product Demonstration

Deciding upon an appropriate product approach you must decide what type of product will fully help a student to demonstrate what they have learned. Products can include tests, essays, projects, and any other activity that will clearly demonstrate a students knowledge. These approaches can be decided upon based on a students preferred learning process. The product often helps to determine how a skill will be taught to fulfill the end product result.

Product Differentiation Examples

There are many product possibilities that can demonstrate a students knowledge, these include such things as:

Design a game Journal WritingsDemonstrationMake a Learning CenterPuppet ShowDrawing

Differentiation by Learning Profile

Learning styles have been discussed for years in the educational world. It is well known that not everyone learns the same, and when we can discover how a child learns best they are more likely to succeed. “Learning style is based on the concept that individuals differ significantly in the way (or style) that they concentrate, absorb, and retain new information” (Landrum, 2012).

Learning Profile Factors Learning Profile Factors Group Orientation

independent/self-orientation group/peer orientation adult orientation Combination

Cognitive Style creative/conforming essence/facts whole-to-part/part-to-whole expressive/controlled nonlinear/linear inductive/deductive people-oriented/task or object-oriented concrete/abstract collaboration/competition interpersonal/introspective easily distracted/long attention span group achievement/personal achievement oral/visual/kinesthetic reflective/action-oriented

Learning Environment quiet/ noise warm/cool still/mobile flexible/fixed “busy”/“spare”

Intelligence Preference analytic practical creative verbal/linguistic logical/mathematical spatial/visual bodily/kinesthetic musical/rhythmic interpersonal intrapersonal naturalist existential

Tomlinson, 2001

Learning Profile Strategies

PRESENTATION INSTRUCTIONAL

AuditoryVisualKinestheticWhole-to-partPart-to-whole

Flexible EnvironmentMultiple Modes of

AssessmentOrganizersWorking Choice

Arrangements4-MAT

Classroom Diversity Challenges

Today’s classrooms are more diverse than ever. With these changes comes the challenge of meeting the diverse needs of the students in the classroom. Diversity includes aspects of:

AgeEthnicityGenderPhysical AbilitiesRaceReligious OrientationSocio-economic StatusFamily Status (Burns, 2010)

All of these diversities within a classroom require various differing approaches to education, and therefore differentiation is encouraged to ensure the success of every child.

Inclusion in the Classroom

Research shows that children with varying learning disabilities benefit from classrooms where they can interact with their peers. In the past, children with learning disabilities were taken out of their regular classrooms and placed in “special education” classes. Doing this led to stereotyping of these students and often times made for additional difficulties in school due to exclusion and being labeled an outcast by peers.Over time, inclusion has become an option in classrooms. “Inclusion provides a supportive environment in which young children can grow and learn side by side with their peers” (Vakil, 2008). Inclusion is a positive option for everyone involved. It not only fosters the child’s relationship with peers, but also gives children exposure and understanding about the differences we all posses by not excluding those who might, in the past, be deemed “different”.

Benefits of Inclusion

For the child with a disability…Significant gains in social competence and social play.Significant gains in developmental domains.More stimulating environmentCurriculum that builds on the child’s strengths.Peer interaction

For the typically developing child…Peer TutoringDeveloping sensitivity for those who would otherwise be seen

as “different”. This understanding carries on as they grow.

Example of Lesson Plan Ideas Pt. 1

I. Grade Level: Preschool II. Topic: Seasons   IV. Objective: Students will gain knowledge about the seasons and their varying changes. V. Materials: The book Skip Through the Seasons by Stella Blackstone, flash cards, glue, poster board,

magazines, music, computer VI. Procedures:

Set: This lesson will begin with the reading of the book Skipping Through the Seasons. By reading this book, the students will gain visual knowledge of the changing seasons.

  Developmental Activities:

Instruction: Knowledge of the seasons gained through: reading, flash cards, and independent activity. Understanding will be observed through all activities in the lesson plan to ensure students knowledge

of all seasons  

Guided Practice: Using flash cards, as a group and one on one, the students will show their ability to recognize each season and its elements. The students will also have the opportunity to show their knowledge as we read the book Skipping Through the Seasons. We will sing songs about the seasons.

  Independent Practice: The students will work independently using glue, poster board, and magazines.

In this assignment, the students will locate pictures that indicate an element of each season. The students will also be given time on the computer to explore sites that will help them in understanding the changing seasons.

  Closure: As a group, we will read a loud together Skipping Through the Seasons. Each student will get the

opportunity to vocalize a season, and the elements that represent that season.

Example of Lesson Plan Ideas Pt. 2

VII. Diversity / Differentiation for Exceptionalities: Learning Styles (modalities / multiple intelligences) – There are

activities to accommodate all learning styles. Gifted – The students will be able to express themselves during the independent

activity and will have the opportunity to explore further seasonal changes during computer time.

LEP - Access to teacher assistance is constant, and the teacher will be assisting students during individual work to help those who need further assistance.

LD, ED, ADD – Access to the teacher is constant, and one on one time is available. Numerous group activities will help to expose students to the material. During independent work, the teacher will assist those who are in need of assistance.

Multicultural Connections –The independent assignment gives students the opportunity to express their own individuality by selecting objects they prefer to glue to their poster board demonstrating the seasons.

  VIII. Evaluation: The students knowledge the seasons will be evaluated

throughout this lesson plan through teacher observation, as well as the independent work that is done by each child. The teacher will also evaluate each child during group activities to ensure each child is gaining appropriate knowledge of the seasons and the elements they include.  

Lesson Plan Summary

As you can see in the provided lesson plan, there are various ways to present content in a way that meets all learning styles. You can also evaluate student knowledge in various ways outside of the standard paper and pencil testing.

1.) Instruction2.) Guided practice3.) Independent Practice

Conclusion

Varying the content presentation will not only meet the various learning styles, but also keep the lesson interesting and keep the children involved.

Romans 12:6-7 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching

Reference

Tomlinson, C.A. (2000) How To Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classroom. ASCD/Virginia.

Tomlinson,C.A. (2001) The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners. ASCD/Virginia.

Vakil, S. Inclusion Means Everyone! The Role of the Early Childhood Educator when Including Young Children with Autism in the Classroom. Early Childhood Education Journal. 36(4), 321-326.