Equality of ChallengeEquality of ChallengeEquality of ChallengeEquality of ChallengeMercy Mounthawk: How we try Mercy Mounthawk: How we try to differentiate the curriculum.to differentiate the curriculum.

Sept. 2009Sept. 2009

Pauline Burke, Mercy Mounthawk Pauline Burke, Mercy Mounthawk Secondary School, Tralee, Co. Secondary School, Tralee, Co.

KerryKerry

Background• Learning School Project – team of

teachers encouraged to get involved. (Internal CPD) Focus on the “more-able students” and developing a policy on how to meet their learning needs.

• Equality of challenge initiative. Developing differentiated resources. Worked with the SESS last year to develop a bank of differentiated resources.

Where to next• This year we will focus on

individual mentoring of exam students and developing their metacognitive skills.

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.

• What is differentiation?• Differentiation is the adjustment of the

teaching process according to the learning needs of the pupils. It can be aimed at:

• A whole class• Groups within a class• Individuals

Why do we need to differentiate

• All our students are different from each other in terms of:– What they need to learn– The pace at which they learn it– The support they need in order to

learn it.

A realistic approach to differentiation

In Mounthawk, we are very aware of the needs of all our pupils but we are also very realistic about what is practical to do. We have discovered that:

• It is not possible to formally differentiate in every lesson.

• It is possible to informally integrate differentiation into most lessons ( we do it naturally but being aware of it helps us to do it better)

• We can work together to lessen the load when planning for differentiation.

Useful differentiation methods for more-able

studentsDifferentiation methods• Worksheets• Choice of tasks• Self-directed learning tasks• Sharing success criteria: must/should/could• Reflection sheets/ diaries/ KWL Grids• PMI- Plus Minus Interesting• Differentiated questioning

Differentiated worksheet

• Independent worksheets

Questions become more difficult as they progress.

Begin with questions that all students find accessible with more difficult questions at the end.

Other worksheet options

• Explicitly identify the extension at the end and allow the students to elect to answer it when finished.

• Another approach that we explored was using a variety of worksheets but most found this unsuitable.

Choice of Task• Sometimes it is useful to allow the children to

judge for themselves and to choose the task appropriate for them.

• Example in English- a poetry task addressing form and structure in poetry.

Students are given the choice to write either a limerick, an acrostic poem or a sonnet.

Self directed learningProjects: History research projects =

differentiation by outcome.

• Overt differentiation – guiding more able students to make evaluations.

Reading Records• Bronze (Compulsory)• Silver (Optional)• Gold (Optional)

Sharing success criteria• Having read a variety of myths, it is now time to try and write your

own.• Your story must:• Contain capital letters and full stops where they should be.• Have most spellings correct (use a dictionary is necessary)• Use adjectives to describe your main characters.• Your story should:• Use apostrophes appropriately and accurately, (go over the rules if

you have to) • Use commas and speech marks properly. • Use similes and metaphors to describe your characters.• Your story could:• Include a vivid description of your setting.• Describe your characters emotions as well as their appearance.• Surprise your reader in some way with a twist in the plot!

Peer Assessment• Share success criteria in advance

• As far as is possible match a child with some one of similar ability.

• Students mark each other’s work. • Give each other two plusses and a

target.

Examples of 5th year peer assessment comments

• + Themes fully explored• + Good analyses of language• T- Include more personal

response.

Example of 2nd year peer assessment

comments• + Good use of adjectives• + Your work appealed to the

senses• T – Use more examples of

figurative language e.g. metaphors and similes.

Learning Diary• Encourages reflection• Encourages students to take

control of their own learning.

Learning diary headings

1. What I have learnt that is new is ….2. I might have learnt better if…3a. What I found difficult was..

3b. What helped me to overcome it was…

4. What I need more help with is….

My targets for next week are…

KWL Grids

World War II

K (What I know already)

W (What I want to know)

L (what I have learned)

KWL Grids

World War II

K (What I know already)

W (What I want to know)

L (what I have learned)

Dates of WW 2

Hitler & The Holocaust

Role of GB & USA

KWL Grids

World War II

K (What I know already)

W (What I want to know)

L (what I have learned)

Dates of WW 2 Who else was involved?

Hitler & The Holocaust

How long did it go on for?

Role of GB & USA Main battles?

Why did Germany lose?

Higher Order Questioning

The age of explorations• Plus Minus Interesting• New foods Slavery What if

America had found us first?

AFL- Assessment for Learning

• A team of teachers working together to pilot the main components of Assessment for Learning found that much of what worked in AFL was useful for all students with special needs at both ends of the spectrum.

AFL principles and differentiation

• Comment only marking- helped

move students forward by looking at how they could improve as opposed to the grades. Individual differentiation for every student.

Thank you for your attention