Differentiation to Higher Level Learners

Targets

• Methods of Differentiation that we can use and/or currently using.

• Obtain new differentiation methods you can use for assessment, process, & content

What is differentiation?

• Responding to learners’ needs.

- Carol Tomlinson

What differentiation is not

• Giving more of the same kind of work to kids who have shown mastery.

• Giving busy work to kids who have shown mastery.

• Tediously planning each aspect of every learning activity for each student at all times.

• Placing students in inflexible groups based on ability at all times.

• Expecting kids who are “gifted” to always know everything before it is taught or to excel in every subject area.

Principles of Differentiation

• Focus on the essentials

• Attention to student differences

• Assessment & instruction inseparable

• Modification of content, process, and products

• Respectful work for all students

• Flexible working relationship between teacher & students

– Carol Ann Tomlinson (1999)

3 Keys in Differentiation

• Content – materials & elements

• Process – students gain understanding of ideas & information

• Product – ways to demonstrate knowledge

Get to Know your Students

• Use Pre-assessment to differentiate instruction.

• Assessment of:

– Readiness – where are they in relation to a topic

– Interests – curiosity or passion for a topic

– Learning Styles – how students are influenced.

Assessing Readiness

• Assessing Individuals:– Pretest

– Exit Tickets

– Most Difficult First

• Assessing the Group:– Name cards/sticks

– Individual Response Boards

– 4 corners: students explain why they chose that corner

Pretest

• Use something easy, but effective (Don’t re-invent the wheel)

• Have a mastery level (90%??)

• Students that achieve mastery level have alternative activity to complete.

Exit Tickets

• One Minute Response – Most important thing you learned today– Main unanswered question you leave class with today – Muddiest point (most confused about)

• A&E Card (Assessment & Evaluation) – Show 3 different ways to complete this math problem. – Briefly explain gravity. Give an example of gravity in the classroom or on the playground. – Which event is most important in the story? Why?

• 3-2-1 Card – 3 key ideas ,2 questions, 1 thing I want to read more about – 3 words I think are most important to this topic, 2 connections I made, 1 thing I do not like

Improving Whole Group Assessment

• Individual Response Boards

• Name Cards/Sticks

• Topic Talk

– Student pairs discuss a given topic, then switch in the middle when signal is given.

Ideas for Assessing Interests

• Interest Inventory – list of various topics kids might enjoy learning about

• Note Cards / Sticky Notes

• KWL

• Sign-ups – List topics for groups/centers and let kids sign up based on interest.

Determining Learning Profiles

• Learning styles inventories

• Multiple Intelligences questionnaire

• Parent questionnaire

• Observations

• The Internet is a great resource for findingready-to-use student learning styles inventories

3 Key Rules for Differentiation of High Level Learners

1. Don’t bother anyone else while you’re working.

2. Don’t call attention to yourself or the fact that you’re doing something different – it’s no big deal.

3. Work on activities you’ve chosen or been assigned.

Differentiation Strategies

Whole Group: • Grouping • Tiered/Multilevel Activities • Activity/Extensions Menus • Learning Centers

Individual Students: • Compacting • Independent Projects • Accelerated Learning (Matrices)• Mentorships

Tiered Activities/Multi-Level

• Open-ended Activities - allow students to naturally work at various ability levels.

• Tiered Lesson/Activities – have two or more levels of difficulty/complexity in regard to content, process, and/or product. A series of related tasks of varying complexity.

Differentiated Tasks

• Pretest student knowledge and skills.

• Group students by results of the Group students by results of the pretest in groups of 4. Provide streamlined instruction for the top group.

• Provide task demands for the top Provide task demands for the top group, using a problem solving approach.

Other tasks for Differentiation

• initially, identify the student's areas of interest / strength through individual conferences, student surveys, etc.

• incorporate the ideas and suggestions of the student when making plans; work as a team to plan appropriate activities

• make curriculum connections• facilitate regular meetings / conference with the student in

order to monitor progress, make modifications to the plans, encourage and praise

• use the student's input in planning and implementing both formative and summative assessments; create the assessment tools along with the student when possible

Learning Center

• Task Cards or Center Activity Menus – brief, clear directions for activities students may do at a particular center

• Center Logs – Students record what they do at a center (may be stored in folders in a designated spot)

• Assignment/Choice Boards – Names of groups/individuals are placed in pocket chart labeled with words and/or pictures based on students’ changing ability and readiness on a day-to-day or week-to-week basis

Compacting Content

• Pre-assess to find out what students already know and what they still need to learn

• Document to show mastery – Learning Contract

• Teach remaining skills in a whole/small group or independently.

• Provide replacement activity: – Extension activity– Learning centers– Independent project

– Subject acceleration – Mentorship

Mentorship

• Ask a community member to volunteer to work one-on-one with a student to develop a special project on a topic of interest. Ex.: A retired veteran might be willing to work with a student interested in learning more about World War II. Ex.: A college student in a service club might help a small group of interested students to organize a school service project.

• Possible mentors: elderly people who are active in the community, stay-at-home parent with special talents/interests, college students in service organizations

• Requires very little preparation by the teacher. • Research-proven to be especially effective for gifted

underachievers and low socioeconomic students

Resources

• Great website with many resources:

• http://www.cybraryman.com/assessments.html

DifferentiationMake it Work

• Start small.... But start somewhere! – Anchor activities– Differentiation for small blocks of time

• Grow slowly – but grow!

• – Try creating one differentiated lesson per unit, differentiate one product per semester, etc.

• – Give structured choices more often.