When It Really Counts- Differentiating for Physical and

Health Education

PHE Canada National ConferenceHalifax, Nova Scotia

Justin Oliverjoliver2@staff.ednet.ns.ca

Halifax Regional School Board

Today’s Objectives

• What is it?

• Why use it?

• Assessing skills/outcomes

• Allow choice

• Examples

• Tools/Questionnaires

What is Differentiated Instruction?

What is Differentiated Instruction?

In PHE Too

Differentiated Instruction is…

• Challenging and observing substantial growth of students in mixed ability classrooms (Tomlinson)

• Proactive

• Rooted in assessment

What to Differentiate?

• Content- input, what students learn

• Process- how students go about making sense of ideas and information

• Product- output, how students demonstrate what they have learned

Why Differentiate?

• struggling learners• natural champions of advanced learners • ‘standard’ students• Allowing all students to get the

opportunities they need so they all have equal access to learning in a way that will lead to their success as well as opportunities to demonstrate their learning that maximize their potential for success

Differentiating the Product

• Usually more than one way for a student to demonstrate that they have mastered or accomplished an outcome to your satisfaction.

• When assessing students, it is our responsibility to give the most accurate representation of a student’s demonstrated knowledge

Example #1 in PE

• Dribbling soccer ball in grade 7

• The teacher can create a series of stations in a circuit format each ranging in degree of difficulty-tiering

• Students choose their starting point in the circuit and as one version of the skill is mastered, students move to the next level of difficulty

Example #2 in PEVerbal/Linguistic “say it, read it”

Explain how spatial awareness is needed to be successful in

the high jump.

Musical/Rhythmic “hum it, tap it”

Create a rap, jingle, cheer, or rhyme on one of the events in

this unit.

Visual/Spatial “picture it”

Design a graphic organizer of the steps of throwing a javelin

successfully. Logical/Mathematical

“count it” Describe the sequence of

preparing a jump in the high jump.

Free Choice “ponder it”

Choose a category that you have not answered yet.

Body/Kinesthetic “move it”

Construct a drill for an athlete to improve their start from

the starting blocks.

Naturalist “investigate it”

Label and classify the weight difference of a shot put for male and female athletes.

Interpersonal “talk about it”

Solve the following problem: Two students are on the track & field team. One student has

a low skill level but attends every practice. The other is a

natural athlete but only attends when she wants. The

coach can on select one of them for the team. Who

should he choose? Explain.

Intrapersonal “reflect on it”

Think about and plan a practice schedule for yourself

outside of class time to improve your long distance

races.

What We Know

• PE and HE is not everyone’s favourite class

• Diversity is more apparent in our class

• Students enter with different skill sets (playing sports outside of class to beginners)

• Different interests

Example #1 in HE

• SCO B1.2 Grade 4- demonstrate an ability to select nutritious breakfast foods

• SCO B1.2 Grade 4- demonstrate an ability to select nutritious breakfast foods

• Perform a skit showing energy levels of a person who eats a nutritious breakfast in the morning compared to someone who does not by using props

Example #1 in HE

• SCO B1.2 Grade 4- demonstrate an ability to select nutritious breakfast foods

Assessment

• SCO B1.2 Grade 4- demonstrate an ability to select nutritious breakfast foods

• 4- Clearly

• 3- Mostly clear

• 2- Not very clear

• 1- Unclear

Example #2 in HE

• SCO B3.1 Grade 8- identify risks and related precautions of being sexually active

• Verbal/Linguistic- write a letter to a friend who is or may become sexually active about some of the risks and precautions

SCO B3.1 Grade 8- identify risks and related precautions of being sexually

active• Musical/Rhythmic- create a rap, cheer,

jingle, or rhyme

• Visual/Spatial- Create a poster or a graphic organizer

• Logical/Mathematical- top 10 list

• Body Kinaesthetic- skit or improv

• Naturalist- create a Venn diagram of pros and cons

• Interpersonal- form a position whether boys or girls have more pressure on them to be sexually active early on in life and if there are different precautions for each gender

• Intrapersonal- write a journal entry about a scenario where a person became sexually active and had trouble dealing with it emotionally

What you Need (and probably already have)

• Positive and inclusive classroom (try not to say ‘no’)

• Allow students to work in flexible groupings

When planning a lesson, what do I need to consider?

• What assessment tool will I use to determine the appropriateness of my students?

• Can my students be divided into 3 or 4 distinct ability groups?

• What activities or stations will I create to provide an appropriate challenge for students in each of the groups?

Continued

• Will the structure of the activity promote cooperation and mutual respect and inclusiveness?

• When will it be important to have students of similar ability work together?

• When will it be important for students of diverse abilities to work together?

Learning Inventories

• Knowing the learning profile and interests of your students is also an essential element in planning for differentiation however, the students knowing their learning profile is equally as essential

• The goal of differentiating lessons for different learners with varying interests is to offer a variety of choices so students may learn in ways that work best for them about topics of interest within the scope of the curriculum

What Do These Coaches Have in Common?

• Bruce Pearl- 442 career wins, 2nd fastest to 300

• Vince Lombardi- won 5 Superbowls and had winning percentage of 90 in playoffs

• John Wooden-won 10 NCAA Championships in 12 years

• Scotty Bowman- 1244 career wins, 9 Stanley Cups

Pros of Differentiated Instruction

• Teach the subject• Telling students what

to do

• Teach the student• Allowing choice

Resources

• Differentiation in Health and Physical Education- Walsh

• Multiple Intelligence Test

• Multiple Intelligences Chart

• http://www.howardgardner.com

Conclusion

• Does differentiated instruction make sense to you?

• Can using differentiated instruction help your students?

• Will differentiated instruction add to your workload?