Running head: DIFFERENTIATING INDEPENDENT WORK

Differentiating Independent Work

Emily Rhinehart

University of West Georgia

MEDT 7490
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Client Information

Candice Parker is a 7th grade Social Studies teacher in Gordon County, Georgia. She just

finished her 4th year teaching. She taught pre-k for 2 years and 7th grade for 2 years. Her email is

cparker9@my.westga.edu. Candice loves implementing technology into her lessons but still has

a main area of concern when it comes to planning in her classroom.

Instructional Problem

Candice says during her mini lesson students are engaged and do well with class

discussions and grasping new concepts but when independent worktime begins she struggles to

differentiate the stations to meet the needs of her students. Candice says due to class size,

different learning styles, and different ability levels, she has a challenge creating assignments

that will be appropriate for all learners and still implement technology.

The lesson that was chosen to re-design involves the following 7th grade Social Studies

standard: SS7E10 The Student will describe factors that influence economic growth and examine

their presence or absence in India, China, and Japan. a. Explain the relationship between

investment in human capital (education and training) and gross domestic product (GDP). b.

Explain the relationship between investment in capital (factories, machinery, technology) and

gross domestic product. c. Describe the role of natural resources in a country’s economics

Instructional Model

Typically, when Candice starts her independent work time she has students working at

different stations. Some students are reading articles online, some completing a scavenger hunt

of questions to be answered using the textbook, and some students work on designing their own

maps in relation to the specific country’s workforce. These groups will rotate to a different

station each day but the groups are not flexible and are not based on ability or data she has
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collected. Candice is hoping that through the re-design she can find ways to make her stations

more differentiated to meet the needs of her students.

Re-Design

The best way for Candice to differentiate is to group her students homogenously based on

ability level. We agreed using the pre-test scores for the unit on Asia, which addresses this

standard, would be most beneficial. Candice will group her students into three groups (high,

medium, and low) based on pre-test scores. As Candice becomes more comfortable with

differentiation these groups can become more fluid and she can change them every few days

based on ticket out the door activities or quizzes.

The stations Candice had initially chosen will be modified. The groups will all be

working on the same task but given a choice between creating a presentation using Prezi or

creating a graphic using Piktochart. Either choice will show the relationship between investment

in capital, human capital, gross domestic product, and natural resources in India, China and

Japan. The students will not have to rotate since they are all working on the same project and

working towards the same standard. The differentiation comes with the parameters and resources

given to each group. The high group will be required to include 3 resources that they find

relevant to the task. The medium group will work independently after being given 2 resources to

use as information to guide their Piktochart or Prezi. The low group will work with a teacher to

review a resource and decide which information would be appropriate to use in their Piktochart

or Prezi. The teacher is not merely just “helping” this group, the purpose of the teacher is to

model how to decipher and use the resources so they might be able understand the content better.
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Methods to Assess/Evaluate Lesson

In order to assess student content mastery, the projects the students created could be

presented by the groups. A rubric for both the project and presentation should be used. If

Candice wanted to follow up after the projects to make sure all individual students had success

with the information, then a quiz/post-test could be assigned and taken using Blackboard or

another platform online.

Explanation

I believe grouping the students based on ability and allowing for choice was the best

decision to foster differentiation because it allows for the “stations” to have a more

individualized purpose. Even though it is a group activity it is still structured in a way that the

student is receiving support or a challenging constraint based on their understanding of the

material. From my research on visual literacy, Cunnington (2014) alludes that visuals stimulate

higher-order thinking skills and encourage students to analyze, think creatively and form

connections. Research implies that visual literacy enhances learning skills in students and

impacts them cognitively. Therefore, I believe that intertwining differentiation and technology in

this redesign lesson was the best choice for academic success of Candice’s students.

ACRL Visual and Literacy Competency Standards

Students will be expected to meet the following ACRL standards in order to complete

their intended project:

Standard Two: The visually literate student selects the most appropriate sources and retrieval

systems for finding and accessing needed images and visual media.

Standard three: The visually literate student situates an image in its cultural, social, and historical

contexts.
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Standard five: The visually literate student uses problem solving, creativity, and experimentation

to incorporate images into scholarly projects.

Students will meet standard two by selecting the appropriate visuals, sources, and articles

for their project. Students will meet standard three by selecting images and sources that are

historically and culturally relevant to the GPS standard they are working towards. Students will

master standard five by adding creative elements of design to their project.

Reflection

This project was challenging because you had to essentially deconstruct and re-build a

lesson. Also, I think differentiation is something that is a difficult concept because there are so

many different ways to incorporate it into lessons. I learned that there are ways to meet both

ARCL standards and GPS standards when teaching a content lesson and implementing

technology. Sometimes stations and students working on different tasks simultaneously is

exactly what students need to provide differentiation but in this re-design I wanted to simplify

the lesson so that everyone was working towards the same standard and the same project but

given choices and grouped using summative data. When differentiating it is important to know

why you are grouping students and that those groups are flexible day to day depending on

student mastery of the content. Although differentiation can be difficult and at times confusing, I

believe the re-design allowed for Candice to see that it is possible and it does not require a ton of

planning or resources.
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References

Cunnington, M., Kantrowitz, A., Harnett, S., & Hill-Ries, A. (2014). Cultivating Common

Ground: Integrating Standards-Based Visual Arts, Math and Literacy in High-Poverty Urban

Classrooms. Journal of Learning Through the Arts, 10 (1). Retrieved June 14, 2017, from

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1050589.pdf