Differentiated Learning Experience

Name & Student Number: Sarah Donnar 2153332

Curriculum (Learning) Area of Lesson or Learning Task: English & HASS: (Geography)
Specific Topic of Lesson or Learning Task: Place
Year Level: 2

Differentiation Choices
1. For this assignment, I have chosen to design a differentiated:
Learning Menu or Agenda
Choice Board
RAFT
Summative Assessment Task for Unit of Work
Lesson with Specific Adjustments for Students with Special Needs
Series of Tasks for Learning Centres or Stations
Learning Task or Lesson with Innovative Use of Technology to Support Differentiation

2. My lesson or learning task is differentiated to address differences in student:

Readiness
Interest
Learning profile preferences

Context
This lesson is part of a broader English & HASS (Geography) unit for a year 2 class entitled
Storytelling: Place. Whilst the unit does cover Geography content the focus is on learning
English Language and Literacy skills. The unit allows students to engage with a variety of texts
to learn about storytelling traditions and in particular dreaming stories in the context of Australia.
Throughout the unit students listen to, read, view, interpret and compare and contrast Australian
literature through genres such as text, illustration and multimodal methods. The students will
respond by creating oral, written and visual texts. The unit will wrap up with a summative
performance assessment task which will be teacher observed and assessed for unit grading.

This particular lesson/task is intended to take place early on in the unit. It pays attention to
curriculum achievement standards and through student involvement with a choice board activity
there will be opportunity for formative assessment to take place throughout the lesson.
Depending on student outcome this activity may continue over more than one lesson. This
lesson will focus on the picture book You and Me: Our Place by Leonie Norrington. The choice
board has been designed to include respectful tasks that are based on student interest and
learning profile preferences (Tomlinson, 2004).

The class includes 27 students. For 15 of these students English is not their first language. As
highlighted in Acara it is necessary to differentiate the lesson with adjustments that are specific
to the learning needs of children where English is an additional language or dialect (Australian
Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2016). In addition to this, there is a
child who has been diagnosed with autism who has specific learning needs that I have
addressed in more detail below. For these students I have introduced a tiered version of the
choice board which is intended to target their particular learning needs based on readiness
(Jarvis 2016, Doubet & Hockett 2015, Tomlinson 2001, Tomlinson 2004).

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Learning Objectives
As a result of engaging with the differentiated lesson, students will:
Understand that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples maintain special connections to
particular country/places. Adapted from Acara: (ACHASSK049)

Understand that spoken, visual and written forms of language are different modes of
communication with different features and their meaning varies according to the audience,
purpose, context and cultural background. Adapted from Acara: (ACELA1460)

Know Be able to (do)

- that implied and literal meaning may
differ in storytelling from person to person
- that images & written text can both
support and contest meaning depending
on a persons own experience
- that place can have a different meaning
to different people depending on a
persons own experience
- that place can change over time
- describe characters/events in a story Yes.
- monitor text meaning Is this something they will
do or will you and how will they KNOW how to do
this?
- use other texts as comparisons Yes.
- explain preferences for aspects of text Yes.
- respond to literature/tasks drawing on own
experience (preferences) and information learnt
during lesson Yes.

Essential Questions
What is a place?
Why do different places have different meaning/s for different people?

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Lesson Sequence:

Whole Class Introduction:

Reminder About Previous Lesson/Activate Prior Knowledge:
In the previous lesson the students spent time working on the culture class concept wall. The students
worked together to formulate the principles of the concept wall with the guidance of the teacher
(Tomlinson, 2004). In the previous lesson they added their understandings of the word Indigenous.

Whole Class Activity: Picture Book Reading: The teacher reads the book with students: You and Me: Our
Place.

About the book: The book, which is written by Indigenous author Leonie Norrington, is about the
interconnection between generations in cultures. The narrative describes two boys on fishing and hunting
trips with Uncle Tobias and their connection to the long grass people. The story shifts as it continues and
is told through Uncle Tobiass perspective. This prompts the viewer/listener to begin to ask personal
questions about the past, connectivity with others, community and change over time. Language is used
expressively in this book and provides a platform to respectfully explore cultural diversity with/in the class.
The illustrations, generally displayed over 2 pages, bleed to the edges and warm colour is utilised. This
seems to emphasise the importance of the land and the sea to the central people in the story. Line is used
to create expression for the characters expressions and gestures. The book includes descriptions of the
food being hunted and the equipment used to catch the animals.

Follow up Activity:
Teacher/class discussion using no hands questioning strategies (Wiliam, 2016) such as popsicle method
to select students to respond to guiding questions such as:
What does place mean to you?
Why do different places have different meaning/s for different people?
What factors affect our connection to places?

Differentiated Activity is introduced: (See Choice boards Appendix 1/2)

After reading the book students will be introduced to the choice board activity (Appendix 1 & 2).
Students also have access to online copies for immediate reference. There are 2 choice boards for use in
this lesson. One is tiered (Appendix 2) and is aimed at the specific learning needs of particular children in
the class with emphasis on language and literacy tasks working in pairs/with a buddy.

Specific Adjustments for Students with Special Needs:

Strategies to assist EAL/D students include providing instruction in students own language, mini
workshops, small group instruction, having a buddy system, audio books, front-loading key terms and

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utilising SSO assistance (Jarvis, 2016). The tiered choice board has options for EAL/D students that focus
on scaffolding language and literacy skills (please see Appendix 2 for more details). Within the classroom
there is one student who is diagnosed with autism. This child prefers to stick to routines and does not like
frequent change in the classroom. Due to this I provide verbal and visual (in the form of a morning/
afternoon timetable) reminders of what will happen next. Carpenter (2014) claims that the use of
technology can assist students with autism resulting in increased academic engagement. The use of I-
Pads has been included in the tasks provided on the choice board for this reason. Social communication,
interaction and imagination can prove challenging for children with autism. Intervention such as a safe
and quiet place, exit cards and a circle of friends would be put into place to support this child in the
classroom environment (The National Autistic Society, 2016).

Teacher assessment:
The teacher will be formatively assessing this lesson using a simple 3-point rubric (See Appendix 3
adapted from Van De Walle, 2010). The rubric is an efficient way to assess the whole class, rather than
individually, that can be completed as the lesson progresses. The teacher will explain to the students that
the activity will be assessed in order to enable planning for future lessons. In addition to formative
assessment a performance assessment task will be carried out at the end of the unit to provide
opportunity for summative assessment and grading of the whole unit. Students will not be graded in
individual lessons as this can encourage competition. Instead the classroom ethos is about individual
learning, effort and progression (Van De Walle 2010, Marzano 2006). Black et al (2004) claim that
assessment should focus on providing student feedback on specific learning issues and should include
comment only marking and target setting. This holistic approach emphasises that students are capable
of improvement rather than comparative to peers.

Grouping for the Choice Board Activity:

Students can approach this activity individually, in a self-directed manner, using the choice board prompts
as direction. However, there will be a support system in place for students who need additional help such
as:
1) Seek help from/work with your buddy (Jarvis 2016, Tomlinson 2004)
2) C3B4Me See 3 before me (Monceaux, 2016)
3) Class to use coloured cups system to indicate how they are tracking or if they need teacher
assistance (Hockett, 2007 as cited in Jarvis lecture, 2016)
4) Hint cards online (Hockett, 2007 as cited in Jarvis lecture, 2016)

Early Finishers:
ICT Anchor activities (Tomlinson & Imbeau, 2010) can be accessed through personal online portals.
Examples are:
Vocabulary extension activities
Reading related to lesson (cultural identity)
Researching animals/creatures in written text (skinny, stingray, pipis, longbums, mangrove worms)
Researching fishing/hunting methods from written text (silver lure)
Watch film on Long Grass People of Darwin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urQtjUey_D4

Lesson closure:
Students to place choice board responses in class baskets for assessment and save any recordings in
their online portals.
Students to fill out exit tickets (Tomlinson, 2004) in response to the following prompts:
Write down one fact you have learnt in this lesson
Write down one question you have
Exit card responses will be utilised for grouping in the following lesson.

Resources:
Picture Book for this lesson: You and Me: Our Place by Leonie Norrington also online at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO7li40O5DA

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Other books used in unit of work include:
Creatures Of The Rainforest: Two Artists Explore Djabugay Country by Warren Brim
When I Was Little Like You by Mary Malbunka
Father Sky And Mother Earth by Kath Walker
Tracker Tjugingji by Bob Randall

Other resources:
Dictionaries
Student journals
Various drawing materials: paper, pens, pencils, paints, scissors, glue
Old magazines
Copied pages of book, book pages copied for sequencing activity and images of book characters
Venn diagram template
Comic strip template
Access to Laptops/I-Pads for:
Online resources allowing students to print independently if required.
Comic Life app.
Choice board (Appendix 1/2)
Explanation:
In order to address the specific learning needs within the context of my classroom, for this particular lesson, I have
designed two choice boards. The purpose of the choice board is to offer students alternative ways of exploring and
expressing key ideas using key skills (Tomlinson, 2004). The choice board provides students with 9 options based on
key curriculum requirements in the learning areas of English and Geography with emphasis on learning English
language and literacy skills during a broader unit on the concept of Place.

The first choice board is based on student interest and learning profiles and is guided by Gardeners theory of 8
multiple intelligences (Gardner, 1999). Hooking interest in learning by targeting student interests and learning profiles
can result in students being more motivated and bringing prior knowledge to the class environment. This can result in
better outcomes for individual students (Sousa & Tomlinson 2011, Doubet & Hockett 2015, Tomlinson 2004).

The second choice board is aimed at the specific learning needs of particular children in the class and also targets
student interest and learning profiles but focuses on student readiness (Doubet & Hockett, 2015). Within the context
of my classroom there are some students for whom English is an additional language or dialect (EAL/D) and this can
result in language being/becoming a barrier to learning. There is also one child who is diagnosed with autism.
Additional strategies to assist the students in the class with specific learning needs have been outlined in the lesson
sequence. By tiering learning activities for specific learning needs based on readiness it is possible to expose the
students to new areas of interest with the intended outcome of growth mind-set (Dweck 2010) To accommodate the
specific needs of these students the tasks on the tiered choice board have been designed to foster language and
literacy skills with emphasis on a buddy support system.

Student learning and interests changes over time and therefore an effective educator should be able to identify and
adjust teaching for individual learning requirements. By using varied, targeted and alternative methods of teaching in
conjunction with ongoing assessment, I believe teachers are well placed to make learning accessible to a broad range
of students.

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References
Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2015). The Australian Curriculum Mathematics.
Retrieved from: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au

Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, C & Wiliam, D. (2004). Working Inside the Black Box: Assessment for
Learning in the Classroom. Retrieved from: http://pdk.sagepub.com/content/86/1/8.full.pdf+html

Carpenter, L. (2014). Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder. In M. Hyde, L. Carpenter & R. N. Conway (Eds.),
Diversity, inclusion and engagement (2nd ed., pp. 297-315). South Melbourne, Vic.; Oxford University Press.

Doubet, K. J., & Hockett, J. A. (2015). Differentiating according to student readiness.

Chapter 7 in Differentiation in middle and high school: Strategies to engage all learners
(pp. 173-206). Alexandria, Virginia; ASCD.

Dweck, C. (2010). Mind-sets and equitable education. Principal Leadership, p.26-29.

Gardner, H. (1999). Intelligence reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century. New York: Basic Books.

Jarvis, J. (2016). Differentiating in Response to Student Readiness slides distributed in the topic EDUC9406
Differentiation & Inclusive Educational Practices, Flinders University, Bedford Park, August 2016.

Jarvis, J. (2016). Leading and Managing an Effectively Differentiated Classroom slides distributed in the topic
EDUC9406 Differentiation & Inclusive Educational Practices, Flinders University, Bedford Park, September 2016.
Marzano, R. J. (2006). Classroom Assessment and Grading That Work.
Alexandria, US: ASCD. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com

Sousa, D. A. & Tomlinson, C. A. (2011). Differentiating in response to student interest.

Chapter 7 in Differentiation and the brain: How neuroscience supports the learner
friendly classroom (pp. 111-134). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press Inc.

Sousa, D. A. & Tomlinson, C. A. (2011). Differentiating in response to student learning

profile. Chapter 8 in Differentiation and the brain: How neuroscience supports the
learner-friendly classroom (pp. 137-163). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press Inc.

Spencer, C. (2005). Place Attachment, Place Identity and the Development of the Childs Self-identity: Searching the
Literature to Develop an Hypothesis. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 14,
305-309.

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The National Autistic Society. Teacher resource pack retrieved from: http://www.autism.org.uk/professionals/teachers/
in-your-school/pack.aspx

Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). The How Tos of planning lessons differentiated by readiness.

In C. A. Tomlinson, How to differentiate instruction in mixed ability classrooms (2nd ed.,
pp. 45-51). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Tomlinson, C, A. (2004). Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom. Strategies and Tools for Responsive
Teaching. Hawker Brownlow. Victoria. Australia.

Tomlinson, C. A., & Imbeau, M. B. (2010). Leading and managing a differentiated classroom. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Van De Walle, J. (2010). Elementary and middle school mathematics. New York: Addison and Wesley. (7th edition).
Wiliam (2016). Retrieved from: http://www.dylanwiliamcenter.com/practical-ideas-for-classroom-formative-
assessment/

Appendix 1
Name ____________________________________
Literature Choice Board
Storytelling: Place
Book and Author: You and Me: Our Place by Leonie Norrington

Instructions: Choose one activity from each horizontal row

Vocabulary: Artist: Point of View:
Pick a phrase from the book Draw or paint a picture Whose point of view is the
that you are unfamiliar with. of one of the scenes in book written from? Who told
e.g. His basket smells of salt the book. Write an the story? Would the story be
and darkness. explanation of the different from somebody elses
In your journal write down what scene. point of view? Discuss with
you think this might mean. Use MI: V your buddy. You can record
a dictionary if you wish. each other or write down your
MI: LI. I. ideas.
MI: LI. LO. I
Collage: Text structure: Poem:
Use magazines to cut out at Take a copied page In your journal write a short
least 3 pictures that remind from the book and poem/rap describing a scene
you of the book/events that highlight/circle any in the book. You can record/
took place in the book. Paste nouns in the text. perform this with a buddy.
them onto a piece of cartridge MI: V, LI MI: M, LI
paper. Label your collage with
key words.
MI: V, K, N

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 IInference: Character Match Up: Comic Strip:
In your journal explain why you Use a Venn diagram to Draw and colour a comic strip
think the author wrote this compare and contrast showing a scene in the
book. the main character in chapter. Make sure to use
MI: LI this book with the main speech bubbles so that the
character in When I reader can follow along. You
Was Little Like You can use the worksheet or use
MI: LO Comic Life on the IPads.
MI: V

(Tic tac toe rubric method taken from Tomlinson, 2004)

Appendix 2
Name ____________________________________
Literature Choice Board
Storytelling: Place
Book and Author: You and Me: Our Place by Leonie Norrington

Instructions: Choose one activity from each horizontal row

Vocabulary:
Write down three words you
dont understand from the
book. Use a dictionary and
write down the definition.
Artist: Point of View:
Paint a picture of one Whose point of view is the
of the scenes in the book written from? Who told
book. Share your work the story? Would the story be
with your buddy and different from somebody elses
discuss the setting of point of view? Discuss with
the scene. your buddy. Record each
others response to these
questions.

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 Collage:
Use magazines to cut out at
least 3 pictures that remind
you of the book/events that
took place in the book. Paste
them onto a piece of cartridge
paper. Label your collage with
key words.
Text Structure: Poem:
Using photocopied In your journal write a short
pages from the book poem/rap describing a scene
(Teacher will provide) in the book. You can record/
Work with your buddy perform this with a buddy.
and put the pages into
the correct order.
(Sequencing)

Inference: Character Match Up: Comic Strip:

Work with your buddy. Select a
page from the book. Without
using the written text explain to
your buddy what is happening
in the illustration. Swap places
with your buddy and repeat
using another page.
Use the supplied Draw and colour a comic strip
images of the main showing a scene in the
character in this book chapter. Make sure to use
and the main character speech bubbles so that the
in When I Was Little reader can follow along. You
Like You (Teacher will can use the worksheet or use
provide) Compare and Comic Life on the IPads.
contrast the 2
characters with a
buddy.

(Tic tac toe rubric method taken from Tomlinson, 2004)

Appendix 3
Simple Three Point Rubric for Formative Assessment
Unit: Storytelling Place
Task: Choiceboard Differentiated Activity

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Super
Clear understanding.
Communicates key terms easily and
relates to learning.
Shows evidence of connecting without
prompting.
Represents findings confidently.
Self-directed observations.
Uses different methods (ICT) of recording
observations.
Brings new ideas to activity.
Understands key terms.

On Target
Developing understanding of key
terms and relativity to own life.
Communicates own ideas.
Connects observations/experiences with
learning requirements.
Considers alternative representations to
showing findings.
Needs prompting occasionally.

Not Yet
Some confusion or misunderstanding.
Hesitant to communicate with others.
Limited presentation of findings.
Not confident in response to task.
Requires help to complete activity.
Disconnected.

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