Differentiated Instruction:Speaking the Same Language with

One Size Does Not Fit All

A Teacher In-service for

St. Katherine Drexel Elementary SchoolBeaver Dam, Wisconsin

Presented by

Aïda Michlowski, PhD, JD and Kristi Shaw, MAE, ABD

Marian UniversitySchool of Education

Institute of Professional Development and Virtual Learning

Session 1: Oct 9, 2012Session 2: Dec 4, 2012Session 3: Feb 4, 2013Session 4: May 9, 2013

Reflection: View YouTube video (7 minutes) and relate it to DIhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNYoIEFnsWk&feature=related

Framework: 1 hour and 45 minutes in-service scheduled in four sessions with extra scheduled sessions for observation and coaching to allow time for the required implementation of a lesson or assessment and to receive feedback as needed.

Underlying universal assumptions: No two students are alike. Students differ in background knowledge, readiness to learn,

strengths, interests, language proficiency, access to resources, family situations and other variables.

Teaching to the “middle” does not accommodate the advanced learners and the slow learners

Equal does not mean equitable- ex. providing running shoes size 6 to all students is equal but not effective; providing all students with shoes that fit their size sets them up for success.

Assumptions developed by the association for Supervision and Curriculum Development: Learners in virtually all classrooms at all grade levels and in all subjects vary significantly in

their readiness to learn particular topics at a given time, in their interests, and in ways they learn best.

Readiness, interest, and learning profile are shaped by a learner’s experiences, culture, gender, and biology.

Most learners can achieve far more than we tend to think they can if teachers provide rich, engaging, supportive environments with a balance of continuously escalating expectations and joy in learning.

Learners are generally more motivated to learn and make greater achievement gains when teachers respond effectively to their particular readiness levels, interests, and learning profiles.

2

Responding consistently to learners’ learning needs is a powerful way for teachers to communicate to learners the importance of each student to the teacher and to the success of the class as a whole.

To teach responsively, teachers need to develop consistently expanding repertoires of instructional strategies suited to both the needs of learners and the nature of the content they are studying.

The complexity of the teaching and learning process requires that teachers continuously grow in instructional proficiency.

Expert teachers teach responsively—with a focus on curricular requirements, needs of individual learners, needs of the class as a whole, and ways to ensure balanced focus on all three of these important elements.

Responsive teaching is flexible teaching.

Instructional strategies that help teachers increase flexibility in the context of high quality curriculum and a positive learning environment help learners achieve better and develop increasing confidence in themselves as learners.

Getting Started!

1. Define differentiated instruction

Differentiating instruction is: Differentiating instruction is not

Using a variety of groupings from pairings to whole class to meet student needs;

Providing alternative instruction/assessment activities;

Engaging and challenging students with activities and assignments at an appropriate level, in light of their readiness, interests, and learning profiles.

Individualized instruction (i.e. doing something different for every student in the class);

Labeling or Tracking (using labeled groups that never change, or isolating struggling students within the class;

Disorderly and undisciplined student activity;

Never engaging in whole-class activities with all students participating in the same endeavor.

2. Know CP2 - the fundamentals

3

content (what to teach) = curriculum process (how to teach it) = teaching strategies product (what student do to show what they learned) = alternative assessments

3. Begin where your students are. Prepare a profile for each student. Priorities. Do the one who needs it most first. Take notes and update them continually, use this data for planning activities and grouping. If you have the technology resources, use the digital device of your choice.

Baseline data from standardized test scores, test results, report cards Readiness - Identify the level at which each student is working(at grade level, below

or above grade level). Determine if student needs teach-backs added to assignments, whether to add or remove instriuction, conferencing and modeling (scaffolding based on the student’s zone of proximal development -ZPD).

Learning modalities (verbal, auditory, kinesthetic); administer a learning style inventory to determine how your students best learn. Go to http://ttc.coe.uga.edu/surveys/LearningStyleInv.html

Gardner’s multiple intelligence - spatial/visual, musical/ rhythmic, bodily kinesthetic, logical/mathematical, verbal/linguistic, naturalist, interpersonal, intrapersonal Go to http://surfaquarium.com/MI/inventory.htm

Gregoric Model of learning – concrete/sequential, abstract/sequential, concrete/random, abstract/random Go to http://www.thelearningweb.net/personalthink.html

Input preferences on getting information. Observe and ask learners what they like the best - video, handouts, lecture, peer-to-peer talks, internet search, books, other

Physical spaces for activities - desks, couches, tables, or floor seating Product choices for completing assignments - individual work, with a partner, with a

small group, with an adult/teacher Student interests through quick surveys. On a regular basis, ask students to identify

topics that interest them and activities that occupy their non-school time. Survey topics and products of interest.

4. Pick an area to differentiate. Dream big, but start small. Choose one subject, one unit to experiment on and choose one of the three main areas- content, process or product. As you feel more comfortable, a second area to differentiate as you continue with the first, then the third area.

• content (what to teach)• process (how to teach it)• product (what student do)

5. Use technology to help students work independently at their own level. The saving grace of being able to implement differentiated instruction successfully is having access to resources. Technology is the cheapest and fastest way to get those resources. You don't need to have expensive all-inclusive packages for they tend to take over the class

4

and leave you "out of the loop." Rather use more readily available technology that lets you differentiate content, process, and product with easy to use apps. For web 2.o resources, go to http://kristishaw.wikispaces.com/Web+2.0

6. Have a support system. Get a partner to plan with, find resources, and get feedback from. After a while, form a small group in your school – a cadre of differentiators, if you will. Then, spread out and connect with peers in your school district, within the state, across the country, around the world through forums and online groups.

STEPS AND STRATEGIES FOR DIFFERENTIATION

Differentiating CONTENT

1. Identify curriculum areas that could be adapted to differentiated instruction2. Choose broad instructional concepts and skills that lend themselves to understanding at

various levels of complexity.3. Identify the major concepts, principles, and skills students should learn in your subject

established by DPI core standards. 4. Choose one or two broad concepts or skills that lend themselves to being taught at

different degrees of complexity.5. Brainstorm ideas for activities, tasks, and assessments that address a specific concept or

skill. Ideas should cover a range of learning preferences, abilities, and interests.6. Provide text on multiple levels of difficulty from various media sources such as

manipulatives, Internet resources, audio recordings, and other non-conventional "text" 7. Use part-to-whole or whole-to-part instruction8. Make a list of questions to encourage thinking at various levels such as Bloom's

taxonomy or deBono’s thinking hats9. Break assignments/activities into smaller, more manageable chunks that include

structured directions for each part.

Differentiating PROCESS:

1. Develop a general plan for facilitating time, space, and materials in your classroom. On any given day, not all students will be working on the same assignment at the same time. You must have a plan for student access to necessary materials, where individuals or groups will work, and how much time can be allotted to specific tasks.

2. Be prepared having different students work on different tasks using materials that are already available or using strategies that are reasonably easy to implement (e.g., increasing ‘wait time’ when posing questions to the whole class).

5

3. Employ scaffolding based on student’s zone of proximal development (ZPD). Vary amount of support given.

4. Use classroom space and time flexibly- rearrange seating, allow students to move around

5. Use a variety of instructional delivery methods to address different learning styles (whole class lecture, small group discussion, individual tutoring, online delivery)

6. Provide varied assignment options (tiered contracts) at differing levels of difficulty or based on learner interests

7. Provide access to a variety of materials (learning centers and task cards) which target different learning preferences and reading abilities. o Develop activities that target auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learners. o Establish stations for inquiry-based, independent learning activities. o Create activities that vary in level of complexity and degree of abstract thinking. o Use flexible grouping - group and regroup students based on factors including

content, ability, and assessment results.o Ask multilevel questions – use Bono’s Six hats, Bloom’s taxonomy, Gardner’s

multiple intelligences, Socratic questionso Develop new instructional and assessment materials (see DI Range Cards handout)o Use strategies that depend on students’ having acquired specific social skills, e.g.,

cooperative learning such as Jigsaw, Webquests.

Note: When you build up your repertoire and share resource materials, high-prep become lower-prep.

Differentiating PRODUCT 1. Give learners choices about how they express what they learned2. Provide rubrics (a grid showing how learners will be assessed) for assignments3. Vary types of resources learners can use in preparing products (text, Internet resources,

books, encyclopedias, interviews, tours, pamphlets, interviews, and so forth).4. Allow learners to design a product around essential learning goals-to express what they

know in varied ways (e.g. speaking, writing, drawing, demonstrating, etc.)5. Identify alternative methods of assessing student performance and understanding.

Assessment results should increase teacher understanding of students' abilities, interests, and needs, and should be incorporated into future planning.

6. Use a variety of assessment strategies, including performance-based and open-ended assessment.

7. Balance teacher-assigned and student-selected projects, balance individual work with group work

8. Offer choices of products such as essays, poems, quiz/test answers, presentations, blogs, websites, skits, videos, plays, and other dramatizations

9. Provide students a choice of projects that reflect multiple intelligences and interests. 10. Make assessment an ongoing, interactive process.

6

7

8

Glossary of DI terms from A TO ZCompiled by Aïda Michlowski, PhD, JD

Acceleration/deceleration - adjusting the pace that students move through curriculum setting them up for success at their own rate. Highly competent students can work through the curriculum at a faster pace and students experiencing difficulties may need adjusted activities that allow for a slower pace.

Adjusting the questions - asking questions appropriate to a student’s readiness or ability level. Questions can be adjusted to the level of complexity that fits the learner.

Prompting – asking open questions; giving a cue or a hint but not leading Probing - asking follow-up questions for clarification or specification when answers are

vague or ambiguous, digging deeper to get more in-depth information when responses are shallow.

Advance Organizers by David Ausubel

Anchor activities - a list of activities that students can do at any time when they have completed present assignments or they can be assigned for a short period at the beginning of each class as students organize themselves and prepare for work. These activities may relate to specific needs or enrichment opportunities, including problems to solve or journals to write. They could also be part of a long-term project that a student is working on. These activities may provide the teacher with time to provide specific help and small group instruction to students requiring additional help to get started. Some time ago these activities may have been called

9

seatwork, and should not be confused with busy-work. Examples: daily 15 minutes of independent reading, select another activity, continue working on long-term project, doodle or sketchbooks, take notes on next chapter working in advance, complete logic puzzle, study word of the day, work on creative activity, drill and practice, computer games

Assessment - evaluation continuum that begins with what is to be taught and ends with performance or product to show what was learned. Pre-assessment to determine baseline, checks for understanding along the way (this could be a simple thumbs-up or an exit card with a question about what was learned or what was not understood today), teacher observation and questions, on-going assignments, peer and self-assessment, quizzes, tests, performance and projects.

Developmental – ongoing evaluation e.g. portfolio of student to show growth Summative – evaluation at the end of a unit, or quarter or semester; e.g. final exam

Behavioral Objectives - measurable outcomes for a lesson, task, project, or assignment that contain three parts: the behavior, the condition, and the criterion. The behavior describes what the learners are going to do (observable). The condition describes how or when the learner will perform the behavior. And, the criterion describes the mastery level of the behavior (Glencoe, n.d.).

Benjamin Bloom’s Taxonomy – then and now

10

Brain-based education according to Eric Jensen – the purposeful engagement of strategies on principles derived from solid scientific research applying principles of how our brain works in the context of education. For a fresh look at brain-based education, go to www.fasa.net/upload.../NEUROPLASTICITY10.29.pdf

Brainstorming – a creative problem-solving technique where spontaneous, random ideas are generated to find a solution to a problem. The goal is quantity over quality.

Compacting the Curriculum - means assessing a student’s knowledge, skills and attitudes and providing alternative activities for the student who has already mastered curriculum content. This can be achieved by pre-testing basic concepts or using performance assessment methods. Students who demonstrate that they do not require instruction move on to tiered problem solving activities while others receive instruction. The most important thing to remember about curriculum compacting is that it is not meant to provide an opportunity for busy work or leisure time. It is meant to give students time to accomplish meaningful work rather than relearning material they may already know. It is most useful for high-ability learners or any student with an unusual knowledge base on a given topic. These students should be given a chance to show what they know by providing them with interesting, creative, and challenging work equal to their ability. Compacting means that the teacher needs to:

1. Pre-assess all or some of the students for pre-existing knowledge and understanding of the selected learning objectives. “The most difficult first” strategy is another method for allowing students to prove mastery. (The classroom teacher will have to decide who to test and what constitutes mastery – 90%, 95%).

2. Provide extension activities and lessons for more in-depth learning of the topic or, in some cases, accelerate the student through the material.

3. Keep records of student progress and what the student is learning in place of the mastered material.

4. Be sure that students understand the rules for working on alternate activities.

Cooperative learning - a method of instruction where classroom activities are organized to provide academic and social learning experiences; students work together in groups, usually with the goal of completing a specific task. Four basic principles o cooperative learning:

11

Poisitive interdependence Individual accountability Equal participation Simultaneous, spontaneous interacio

Examples of cooperative learning strategies: Dyads or Triads – pairing in two’s or three’s mostly in think-pair-share Fishbowl – classroom is arranged with an inner circle of desks, surrounded by an outer circle.

Students on the inner circle, the fishbowl, begin the discussion. Students in the outer circle must listen carefully and take notes. Students must stay in the fishbowl until they make a contribution. Then they can leave and ask another student to come in, or the teacher can ask students to move in or out of the inner circle.

Inside-Outside Circles - class is divided in half, with students facing each other in concentric circles. Teacher poses a problem, asks a question, or invites an opinion. Each pair discusses the question. Students in the outer circle move clockwise and then share the conversation with a new partner. After several rotations, students report to whole class.

Line-ups – students line up by assigned items or values (ex by height, birthdays, agree or disagree), then they fold the line or split and slide to interact with someone with a different viewpoint

Numbered Heads - Students are placed in groups and each person is given a number (from one to the maximum number in each group). Teacher poses a question and students "put their heads together" to figure out the answer. The teacher calls a specific number to respond as spokesperson for the group. By having students work together in a group, this strategy ensures that each member knows the answer to problems or questions asked by the teacher. Because no one knows which number will be called, all team members must be prepared.

Pick-a-Spot – Teacher poses a question and assigns a specific spot for the answers. Students pick the spot that corresponds to their answers. That group share their ideas and pick a spokesperson who will voice their collective reason for picking the spot. Teacher asks the same question and allow the students to change their minds and pick another spot.

People Hunt or Fact Bingo – provide bingo cards with questions, students circulate to find classmates who can answer the questions in their card

Poster Sessions – sharing projects and products without a long series of oral group reports. Students set up a poster demonstrating their work, and then in a large setting, half the students display their posters while the other half visits and studies those being displayed.’

Rally Table with Pass n Praise– students take turns writing their answers and passes it to the next person on the right after receiving praise

Response Groups – students usually work individually, then in pairs or trios, to develop one perspective, present one solution, prepare one side of an argument or one response to a difficult dilemma. They read, study, and prepare their “case.” A presenter is selected, with the teacher making certain that the role of presenter is rotated each session.

Rotating Small Group Stations – teacher sets up several activity stations through which groups of students rotate (e.g., creating a computer character web, creating a poster collage, acting out a scene from a story, rewriting a scene from a different point of view, etc.)

12

Roundrobin and Nominal Group Technique – a “Circle of Knowledge” in which the teacher poses an open-ended question (e.g., explore the motivation of a character in a novel). A sheet of paper is passed around the group and each student must contribute an answer.

Russian Roulette - Snowballing – teacher asks a question, students write their answers in a piece f paper,

crumples it and toss it in a wastebasket, teacher shuffles the snowballs and students pick a snowball and finds classmates with matching snowballs to form a group.

For more examples, go to http://www.literacynet.org/icans/chapter01/overview.html

Co-teaching – a service delivery model where two teachers share instructional responsibilities and accountability to a group of students in a shared classroom. Some considerations: tandem teaching? ping-pong toss? collaboration? division of labor? equal time? equal pay?

Cubing (or Extension Menus) - alternative activities provided to students who have finished their work or are doing alternative work while teacher is meeting with small groups. Cubes and extension menus can also be part of learning/interest centers. The menu boxes or the sides of the cube provide possible activities for students to complete. A “menu of possibilities” can be organized around a current topic of study or provide extension activities related to a topic. Example: use one for each side of the cube- De Bono’s 6 thinking hats, Bloom’s 6 Taxonomy, Gardner’s multiple intelligences, 6 story starters, 6 probing questions, 6 WWWWWH For more examples go to http://2differentiate.pbworks.com/w/page/860043/Cubing

Differentiated instruction – teaching the students according to their needs and ability adhering to the adage “one size does not fit all.” It does not mean each student is taught differently as in individualized instruction. Rather it means that all students get what they need and are taught the way they learn best according to their own pace.

Differentiator – cost: $1.99 an app for the iPad designed for teachers to list lesson plans with differentiated strategies, useful for planning, organizing, managing DI, administering teams and collaborating among co-teachers

Flexible grouping - grouping in a differentiated classroom varies with topic (based on pre-assessment), interest, learning style, readiness, ability, etc. As student ability and performance will vary, it is important to permit movement between groups. Student’s readiness varies depending on personal talents and interests, so teacher must remain open to the concept that a student may be below grade level in one subject at the same time be above grade level in another subject, therefore it is important to permit movement between groups, thus allowing students to be appropriately challenged and avoiding labeling them.

13

Flow Theory of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - also referred to as “optimal experience” and in sports known as “being in the zone” when people are fully involved in an activity, become totally absorbed losing track of time, having a sense that one’s skills are adequate to cope with the challenges at hand, with an activity that produces experiences that are gratifying that people are willing to do it for its own sake (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975; 1991). In terms of differentiating instruction, the teacher must see to it that the challenge matches the skill level of the student for optimal experience to create flow. If challenge is high and the skill level is low the result is anxiety or worry. And if challenge is low and skill level is high the result is apathy or boredom.

Graffitti fact - Write all the things the class knows about the topic of study on white board, large post-It, Smart Board, or allow students to write down their own responses in a notebook. Reiteration of KWL – What We Knew, What We Learned, What We Want to Learn Next

Graphic organizers (or mental mapping)

14

Gregoric Model – a learning style delineator describing how the mind works

Grouping - Groups can vary from pairs, triads, groups of four, or even larger groups for instructional purposes.

Independent study project - a research project where the degree of help and structure varies from student to student depending on initiative, ability to manage ideas, time and productivity. A modification of the independent study is the buddy-study.

Jigsaw classroom - a cooperative learning strategy where each student first starts with a "home" team to specialize in one aspect of a topic (for example, one group studies habitats of rainforest animals, another group studies predators of rainforest animals). Students meet with members from other groups who are assigned the same aspect (the experts) team, and after mastering the material, return to the "home" team and teach the material to their group members. With this strategy, each student in the "home" team serves as a piece of the topic's puzzle and when they work together as a whole, they create the complete jigsaw puzzle.

Journal writing - students focus on the lesson by thinking and writing about what they learned. Differentiate through the use of different writing prompts. For example: visual learners draw diagrams or charts, auditory learners write a dialogue between two characters discussing the lesson and kinesthetic learners review game rules and questions. Use their journals to assess how well students understood the topic and kept their thoughts organized.

KWL – the abbreviation for Know-Want-Learn is an instructional strategy partially completed before the reading or teaching of a material, and partially afterwards. Introduced by Ogle in 1986, where teachers activate students' prior knowledge by asking them what they already Know; then students (collaborating as a classroom unit or within small groups) set goals specifying what they Want to learn; and after reading, students discuss what they have

15

Learned. A worksheet is given to every student that includes columns for each of these activities as shown below.

Layered curriculum – a flexible model designed to be very open allowing matching teaching style and students’ learning styles. Three components of a layered curriculum classroom:

Choice Accountability Promote Higher and More Complex Thinking

Learning centers - the activities provided are varied by complexity. Students should understand what is expected of them at the learning centers and are encouraged to manage their time. The degree of structure that is provided will vary according to student independent work habits. At the end of each week students should be able to account for their use of time.

Learning contracts - a written agreement between teacher and student that will result in student working independently. The contract helps students to set daily and weekly work goals and develop management skills. It also helps the teacher to keep track of each student’s progress. The actual assignments will vary according to specific student needs.

Learning environment – various spaces in the classroom designated for quiet activities, interactive activities, spots for alone time and for group work and play. The learning environment should make all students feel safe and engaged in learning. Three types of learning environment:

Cognitive – layered curriculum Temporal environment – flexible program schedule Social environment - centers for individual or group work, warm classroom climate

where students feel safe and free to interact with others

16

Learning profile - another filter for assigning students to tasks by their learning style, such as adjusting preferred environment (quiet, lower lighting, formal/casual seating etc.) or learning modality: auditory (learns best by hearing information) visual (learns best through seeing information in charts or pictures) or kinesthetic preferences (learns best by using concrete examples, or may need to move around while learning) or through personal interests and student motivation.

Learning targets – commonly used in project-based learning (PBL), the identified end goals of a unit or lesson which has two components (1) content – what should the learner know or be able to do, and (2) criteria – dimension of performance to assess attainment of the target

Lesson Plan Templates – Retrieved from http://differentiationcentral.com/examples/InteractiveDILESSON.htm

Literature Circles - an excellent strategy for getting students together to talk about a book they are reading to help build comprehension and verbal expression. Once a book group is formed, students read at a set pace and come together for discussions. At each meeting children are assigned a different role and they must come prepared to share with their group. E.g: “The Connector” looks for connections between the book, its characters and their own lives or other books they may have read; “Discussion Director” develops questions for discussion and help keep the group on track; “The Illustrator’ sketches a storyboard for the events of the story, or draws meaningful passages from the book; “The Quotable Quoter” selects parts of the story to share with the group as examples of figurative language, metaphor, hyperbole, etc; “The Summarizer” writes a brief summary or gives the highlights of the assigned section, and “The Word Wizard” looks out for interesting and new words to share with the group. Students and teachers can create their own job titles. Book selections can be made related to themes being studied or interest based. Best of all, book selection can be based on choice or ability.

Modalities of learning – how information is process using the senses

17

Multiple Intelligences Theory by Howard Gardner

Peer teaching – occasionally a student may have personal needs that require one-on-one instruction that go beyond the needs of his or her peers. After receiving this extra instruction the student could be designated as the "resident expert" for that concept or skill and can get valuable practice by being given the opportunity to re-teach the concept to peers.

Poster Sessions – sharing projects and products without a long series of oral group reports. Students set up a poster demonstrating their work, and then in a large setting, half the students display their posters while the other half visits and studies those being displayed.

Project-based Learning (PBL) - is an instructional method that provides students with complex tasks based on essential questions aimed at learning targets that involve the students' problem solving, decision making, investigative skills, and reflection where teacher facilitates, rather than directs.

Questions – guiding questions before, during and after differentiating:1. Before

The Planning Question - What do I want all students to know, understand and be able to do?

The Pre-assessment Question: Who already knows, understands and/or can use the content or demonstrate the skill?

2. During The Differentiating Question: What can I do for them so they can make continuous

progress and extend their learning?3. After

The Assessment Question – What did my student do/accomplished to show that he/she has learned the lesson?

18

QUILT method – acronym for Questioning and Understanding to Improve Learning and Thinking; quality questioning that uses Bloom’s Taxonomy.

1. Knowledge (recall) - Who wrote Green Eggs and Ham?2. Comprehension (understanding) - What is the main idea of the story?3. Application – How can you make yellow eggs green?4. Analysis – Why does the Narrator not eat green eggs and ham?5. Synthesis – Do you think the Narrator would have tried green eggs and ham if someone

other than Sam was offering it?6. Evaluation – Is it fair to refuse to do something just because someone you dislike likes it?

Readiness – the condition, willingness, inclination and ability of the learner to absorb the information. To determine readiness, use a variety of assessments. To learn new concepts students may be generally working below or above grade level or they may simply be missing necessary prerequisite skills. Students whose understanding is below grade level will work at tasks inherently less complex than those attempted by more advanced students.

Reading buddies – children get additional practice and experience reading to a classmate, particularly useful for younger students and those with reading difficulties. It is not necessary for reading buddies to always be at the same reading level. Students with varying word recognition, word analysis and comprehension skills can help each other.

Reciprocal Teaching – class is divided into groups and reciprocal teaching assignments are handed out. Two types of groups: grouping according to similar abilities/interests or integrated groups of all types of learners. Choose material for each group to teach the other groups that is fairly straightforward and requires minimal teacher input, require each group to make a visual to teach the material, such as a game to review the material and a quiz to assess what the other groups learned. Emphasize to students that teamwork is key, and that every person must contribute to their group's success.

Response to Intervention (RtI) - an alternative method, other than IQ tests, for identifying learning disabilities. Introduced in the reauthorization of IDEA in 2004, RtI is a 3-tiered process that provides academic support to needy students before referring for special education evaluation.

1. Identify at-risk students - Students are first informally evaluated or referred by teachers or parents for the need for additional, small group, scientifically-based instruction.

2. Monitor student progress, provide authentic intervention, adjusts those interventions, After a few weeks of careful data-keeping, needs are reevaluated and more intensive instruction provided.

19

3. Finally identify students with disabilities. The 3rd tier allows for one-to-one instruction and a referral to special education services.

Role-Playing - students visualize their lessons by role-playing. Students can write scripts, act parts and build props to adequately immerse themselves into the topic they need to learn. Gather all learning material to get students interested. Hand out lists of talking points that students must learn. Encourage teamwork as students work on a script and decide how they will portray the material. Alternatively, hand individuals or small groups their own topics to role-play in front of the class. Encourage creativity by giving assignments that fit their learning styles. For example, a shy student can be an observer of important events or become an inanimate object and discuss the topic from the object's point of view.

Rubrics – an assessment tool that teachers use to evaluate many different types of assignments with specific criteria and scoring guide

Scaffolding - temporary support or assistance, provided by a teacher, peer, parent, or computer, that permits a learner to perform a complex task

Small Group Lessons - during teaching time, divide the children according to their learning abilities. For example, divide class into three groups and present a problem. (1) first group will work together with teacher and manipulatives. (2) second group will use manipulatives, but no teacher and work together to solve the problem. (3) third group work a partner to figure out the problem with no manipulatives and no teacher

Socratic seminar - conversations that are stimulated by open-ended questions and hypotheticals such as “what-if” related to a selected reading. Socratic questioning is the heart of critical thinking. There are 6 types of Socratic questions

1. Probing for clarification – What do you mean by that?2. Probing for assumptions – How did you come up with that?3. Probing for reasons and evidence – What would be an example of - - ? Why?4. Probing for viewpoints & perspectives – What s another way of looking at it?5. Probing for implications and consequences – How does --- affect --- ?6. Questions about the question – What is the point of the question?

Study Buddy (or Buddy Studies) – is a classmate with whom school assignments and projects are completed.

Student interests - surveys, brainstorming for subtopics within a curriculum concept and using semantic webbing to explore interesting facets of the concept is another effective tool. This is also an effective way of teaching students how to focus on a manageable subtopic. Mindmanager / (http://Mindjet.com) and Kidspiration, personal mandala are two very useful

20

software applications that can facilitate the teacher in guiding students through exploring a concept and focusing on manageable and personally interesting subtopics.

TABA strategy or LGL – teaching through the inductive method devised by Hilda Taba whereby the class first generate a list of words associated with the topic (concept formation), then the list are grouped according to a shared attribute (interpretation of data), and finally, the groups are labeled based on the attribute (application of principles).

Task cards/ centers - written description of an assignment, a guideline indicating how a task defined

by the teacher can be performed by the child. Task cards can be designed in various ways. For example: addressing each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy (Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, Evaluation) related to the unit. For each level, have three different activities, one for the lower (emergent or developing), two for the average student (proficient) and three for the advanced or higher level thinker. Task cards are set up in learning centers around the classroom and students travel from one task to the next. Tip: color-code task cards according to ability level. Variation: task cards based on multiple intelligences

Think-pair-share – a cooperative learning technique in which students answer questions using three distinct steps

21

Read more on TeacherVision: http://www.teachervision.fen.com/group-work/cooperative-learning/48547.html#ixzz275xMxSh8

Think-tac-toe – a strategy that uses the visual pattern of a “tic tac toe” game where each row may have a single theme, use a single medium, explore the same idea across three different media, or even explore a single idea or subject across different disciplines. As an alternative assessment, extension activity, contracts or study, it can be used with all grades and all subject areas. Students simply choose three activities going across, going down or going diagonally. Use 9 squares and assign an activity to each square. Any activity can be used to fill the 3 x 3 squares. Most examples have the middle square marked student’s FREE choice. The back of the ThinkTacToe is used for the rubric in the same 3 x 3 squares.

22

The Six Thinking Hats of Edward de Bono

Thumb-it –for a quick survey, have students respond with the position of their thumb. Thumbs Up - Know a lot Thumbs Sideways - Know some Thumbs Down - Know very little

Tiered activities - a series of related tasks of varying complexity. All of these activities relate to essential understanding and key skills that students need to acquire. Teachers assign the activities as alternative ways of reaching the same goals taking into account individual student needs.

Tiered assignments - a way of getting everyone to the same goal (learning a concept or skill) by using different strategies and methods. It is important to understand where each student is starting from if you are going to use this, or any, method of differentiation.

Tiered lessons - allow students to work with the same concepts and essential ideas but at different levels of complexity, number of steps, concreteness vs. abstractness, and levels of independence to be accessible to low performing students and more challenging for high ability students.

23

Triarchic Theory of Intelligence by Robert Sternberg

Ubiquitous technology –I the thorough integration of computers and handheld devices like smartphones, tablets, GPS everywhere, anytime

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) - a set of principles for curriculum development that give all

individuals equal opportunities to learn. UDL provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals,

methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone--not a single, one-size-fits-all solution

but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs. Three

primary brain networks considered in UDL:

1. Recognition Networks – the “what” of learning How we gather facts and categorize what we see, hear, and read. Identifying letters, words, or an author's style are recognition tasks

2. Strategic Networks – the “how” of learning. How we plan, organize, perform tasks and express our ideas. Writing an essay or solving a math problem are strategic tasks.

3. Affective networks – the “why” of learning How learners get engaged and stay motivated. How they are challenged, excited, or interested. These are affective dimensions.

Voice and choice – a classroom where individual needs are met by allowing students to ask questions, voice their comments, and make choices which will give students a feeling of independence and ownership.

Wait time – the pause between asking the question and soliciting a response. Additional wait time after a student responds will allow all students to reflect on the response prior to further discussion. Research shows that increasing the wait time from three to seven seconds results in an increase in 1) the length of student responses, 2) the number of unsolicited responses, 3) the frequency of student questions, 4) the number of responses from less capable children, 5) student-student interactions, and 6) the incidence of speculative responses. In addition to pausing after asking questions, research shows that many of these same benefits result when

24

teachers pause after the student's response to a question, and when teachers do not affirm answers immediately. Caution: If wait time is too long, it may result in loss of interest and apathy.

X factor – that unknown quantity, unforeseen event; expect the unexpected

Yes-No Cards - student response system using index cards with for YES for NO and for Not sure or Maybe. For quick and easy count, color code yes- green and no-red

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) by Lev Vygotsky the area between what a learner can do with help and without help.

25

References

Adams, C. M. & Pierce, R. L. (2006). Differentiating instruction: A Practical guide to tiered lessons in the elementary grades. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press, Inc.

Benjamin, A. (2003). Differentiated instruction: A guide for elementary school teachers. Larchmont, NY: Eye On Educationan.

Coil, C. (2004) Standard-based activities and assessments for the differentiated classroom. Saline, MI: McNaughton & Gunn, Inc. Retrieved from www.piecesoflearning.com/UserFiles/File/.../clc0309.pdf

Common core standards and differentiated instruction (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys-OWfOpHoM and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN3i0Ws06vA&feature=relmfu

De Bono, E. (1991) Six thinking hats for schools: K-2 and 3-5 Resource Book.

Differentiated instruction book of lists. Retrieved from http://differentiatedinstruction.co/mobile-apps-for-education/

Dodge, J. (2006). Differentiation in action: A complete resource with research-supported strategies. Scholastic, Inc.

Dodge, J. (2009). 25 quick formative assessments for a differentiated classroom. Scholastic, Inc.

Drapeau, P (2004). Differentiated instruction: Making it work. Scholastic, Inc.

Gregory, G. (2003). Differentiated instructional strategies in practice. Corwin Press.

Gibson, V. & Haasbrouck, J. (2007). Differentiated instruction.

Guilford, J. (2009) Differentiated instruction 101: A basic guide to differentiated instruction. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?Differentiation-101---A-Basic-Guide-to-Differentiated-Instruction&id=3234212

Heacox, D. (2002). Differentiating Instruction in the regular classroom. How to reach and teach alllearners, Grades 3-12. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing.

Himes, D. (2008) Differentiated instruction – Teacher preparation. Retrieved from http://EzineArticles.com/1423041

How to differentiate instruction. Retrieved from http://www.teach-nology.com/tutorials/teaching/differentiate/planning

26

How differentiated instruction and formative assessment work. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/stw-differentiated-instruction-learning-styles-video

Kingore, B. (2004) Differentiation, simplified, realistic and effective. Austin, TX: Professional Associates Publishing.

Michlowski, A. (2012) Differentiated instruction: Speaking the same language with one size does not fit all. (Unpublished material).

Middendorf, C. (2009). The differentiated instruction plan book. Scholastic.

O’Meara, J. (2010). Beyond differentiated instruction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

O’Meara, J. (2011). RtI with differentiated instruction, Grades K-5: A classroom teacher’s guide. Corwin Press.

Paul, K. & Thomas, V. (1987). Winnie the witch. New York: Kane/Miller Book Publishers.

Shaw, K. (2012). Wiki Web 2.0 Resources. Retrieved from http://kristishaw.wikispaces.com/Web+2.0

Smith, G. & Throne, S. (2007). Differentiating instruction with technology in K-5 classrooms. International Society of Technology in Education.

Tomlinson. C. A. (1999). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Tomlinson, C.A, (2003). Fulfilling the promise of the differentiated classroom: Strategies and tools for responsive teaching. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Willoughby, Jennipher (2000) Differentiating instruction: Meeting students where they are. New York, NY: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill

27