Tiered Lessons The meat and potatoes of differentiated
instruction Tomlinson (1999)
Slide 2
What is a tiered lesson? A tiered lesson is a differentiation
strategy that addresses an essential understanding or particular
skill, BUT allows different pathways for students to achieve this
understanding or skill based on their interests, readiness, or
learning profiles.
Slide 3
When Should I Tier an Assessment? When some students are ready
to move ahead and other students need more time. would benefit from
using different resources, readings, or materials to understand the
basic concepts. need more modeling and direct instruction. need
more challenge, more independence, or more complexity. Dodge
(2005)
Slide 4
Eight Steps in Developing a Tiered Lesson Pierce and Adams
Slide 5
Step One Identify the grade level and subject for which you
will write the lesson.
Slide 6
Step Two Identify the standard you are targeting. START with
the standard first. If you dont know where you are going, how will
you know if you get there?
Slide 7
Step Three Identify the key concept and generalization The key
concept follows from the standard. What big idea am I targeting?
What do I want the students to know at the end of the lesson,
regardless of their placement in the tiers?
Slide 8
Step Four Be sure students have the background necessary to be
successful in the lesson. What scaffolding is necessary? What must
you have already covered or what must the student have already
learned? Are there any other skills that must be taught first?
Slide 9
Step Five Determine in which part of the lesson (content,
process, product) you will tier. Can tier what you want the
students to learn OR the way the students make sense out of the
content OR the outcome at the end of a lesson, lesson set, or unit.
When beginning to tier, it is suggested that you only tier for one
of the three.
Slide 10
Step Six Determine the type of tiering you will do: readiness,
interest, or learning profile.
Slide 11
Step Seven Based on your choices, determine how many tiers you
will need and develop the lesson. Keep in mind that differentiation
is doing things differently. Be sure that work in each tier is
challenging, respectful, and developmentally appropriate. No group
should be given busywork.
Slide 12
Step Eight Develop the assessment component to the lesson. Can
be formative, summative, or a combination of both.
Slide 13
Tiering for Different Level of Learners First, design an
activity for on-level learners. Next, design an a similar activity
for your struggling learners, providing scaffolding. Finally,
develop a third more complex activity for advanced learners.
Slide 14
Scaffolding more modeling, additional teacher instruction,
review of concepts, peer tutoring color-coded elements, highlighted
elements, exemplars of writing or assessments manipulatives,
sentence strips, sticky notes, flash cards, address labels typed
with vocabulary terms, access to text resources more opportunities
to use language: vocabulary lists, cards with pictures, word banks,
opportunities to discuss the topic using provided terms, word
walls, lists of questions, a list of signal words a graphic
organizer, an incomplete outline, a framed paragraph, sentence
starters, prompts a template, a set of steps, a formula Dodge
(2005)
Slide 15
Complexity identify assumptions, points of view, or problems
examine and support their ideas, positions, conclusions, and
perspectives formulate, hypothesize, or synthesize new ideas
Represent, model, or demonstrate ideas in a new way rather than
simply listing, applying, or summarizing anothers ideas Identify
implications Explore what if scenarios or alternative perspectives,
action, or results Dodge (2005)
Slide 16
Making Tiering Invisible The biggest disadvantage to tiering is
making tiering invisible. To do this, first, make sure students are
used to moving in and out of different grouping arrangements in the
classroom. Second, remind students that Fair is not equal. Fair is
getting what you need as Tomlinson and others have said. Also: You
must make all tasks equally engaging, important, and fair. Try to
design activities that look similar or have products that are
similar.
Slide 17
Examples
Slide 18
Topic/Concept/Skills: Conducting Research Research any
nonfiction topic Take notes as you read information Tier 1 Basic
Application/Analysis (Teacher-directed activity) Teacher introduces
key vocabulary terms. Students read with teacher/reading partners.
Using guided questions, they discuss what they have read. Students
complete provided graphic organizer or cloze sentences (My animal
live__) with terms from a word bank. Tier 2 On-GradeAnalysis
Students read on-grade-level material independently. Given a
graphic organizer or outline with subtopics included, they take
notes on details. Tier 3 AdvancedSynthesis Students create their
own questions for research about the topic. Using several sources
(text, nonfiction books, the internet), students locate
information. Students take notes in any format studied (outline,
mapping, bullets, graphic organizer). Dodge, 2005
Slide 19
Subject: Mathematics Grade: 3 Standard: #5 Geometry and #6
Spatial Sense Key Concept: Students work with geometric shapes and
develop spatial sense. Generalization: Students identify lines of
symmetry of objects. Tier 1 Kinesthetic Learners Pairs of students
use brightly colored paper to make several simple origami designs.
Provide guidance when necessary. When students are finished, have
them unfold the figure(s), find any congruent figures, and identify
lines of symmetry. Students then share the origami figures and have
classmates try to construct them. Tier 2 Visual Learners Pairs of
students work with pictures of items from nature, such as a
butterfly, sunflower, rainbow, snowflake, or starfish. Students
find any congruent figures and identify lines of symmetry for each
item. Students color the pictures to help show the lines of
symmetry. Students cut out the figures and have classmates find the
lines of symmetry. Assessment Use a summative assessment noting
students abilities to identify the congruent figures and lines of
symmetry. Have each student reflect in writing about congruent
figures and lines of symmetry. From a list of objects in the
classroom, students will select an object and write about whether
or not the object has congruent parts, lines of symmetry, or both
and then explain why. The students could also include a drawing
that illustrates the congruent parts, lines of symmetry, or both.
Pierce and Adams
Slide 20
Tiered Graphic Organizers
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Helpful Websites
http://www.doe.state.in.us/exceptional/gt/tiered%5fcurriculum/welcome.html
Dozens of examples of lessons K-12 that are tiered by readiness,
interest, and learning styles
http://teachereducation.wlu.edu/Differentiation.htm Information,
resources, and strategies that can be used in a differentiated
classroom