Differentiated Instruction

The Basic Steps Towards

Differentiating
 Super Sleuth
Directions: Walk around the room and find
someone to respond to the questions on your
Super Sleuth paper. After a verbal answer
the person will initial the square.
Rules:
- A person can only answer and initial one
square.
- The goals are to activate prior knowledge and
to meet new people with new ideas.
 Super Sleuth

What is your definition of Give an example of when you have What is something you would like
differentiated instruction? used DI? to learn about DI?

When do you use small group Differentiation means as many How do you discover how your
instruction? lesson plans as you have students. students learn?
Agree?

What is one way you can form What are some quick on-going Are DI and assessment related?
groups in your classroom? assessments
in your class?
 Let’s Define Differentiated
Instruction

Differentiating instruction is doing

what’s fair for students. It means
creating multiple paths so that students
of different abilities, interests, or
learning needs experience equally
appropriate ways to learn.
The Rationale for Differentiated
Instruction
Different levels
of readiness

Different Interests
 The Rationale for Differentiated
Instruction
Different Ability Levels

Different Cognitive Needs

 Teachers can differentiate
according to ….

The content

The process

The product
 Differentiating Content
• Resource materials at varying
readability levels
• Audio and video recordings
• Highlighted vocabulary
• Charts and models
• Interest centers
• Varied manipulatives and resources
• Peer and adult mentors
 Differentiating Process
(making sense and meaning of content)

• Use leveled or tiered activities

• Interest centers
• Hands-on materials
• Vary pacing according to readiness
• Allow for working alone, in partners,
triads, and small groups
• Allow choice in strategies for
processing and for expressing results of
processing
 Differentiating Products
(showing what is know and able to be done)

• Tiered product choices

• Model, use and encourage student use
of technology within products and
presentations
• Provide product choices that range in
choices from all multiple intelligences,
options for gender, culture, and race
• Use related arts teachers to help with
student products
 Strategies to Make
Differentiation Work

1. Tiered Instruction
Changing the level of complexity or
required readiness of a task or unit of
study in order to meet the
developmental needs of the students
involved.
 Tiering

Key Concept
Or
Understanding

Those who do not Those who

Those with some
know the concept understand the
understanding
concept
 What Can Be Tiered?
• Processes, content • Assessments
and products
• Writing prompts
• Assignments
• Anchor activities
• Homework
• Materials
• Learning stations
 What Can We Adjust?
• Level of complexity
• Amount of structure
• Pacing
• Materials
• Concrete to abstract
• Options based on student interests
• Options based on learning styles
 Tiering Instruction
1. Identify the standards, concepts, or
generalizations you want the students
to learn.
2. Decide if students have the
background necessary to be successful
with the lesson.
3. Assess the students’ readiness,
interests, and learning profiles.
 Tiering Instructions
4. Create an activity or project that is clearly
focused on the standard, concept or
generalization of the lesson.
5. Adjust the activity to provide different
levels or tiers of difficulty that will lead all
students to an understanding.
6. Develop an assessment component for the
lesson. Remember, it is on-going!
 Strategies to Make
Differentiation Work
2. Anchoring Activities
These are activities that a student may do at any
time when they have completed their present
assignment or when the teacher is busy with other
students. They may relate to specific needs or
enrichment opportunities, including problems to
solve or journals to write. They could also be part
of a long term project.
 Strategies to Make
Differentiation Work
3. Flexible Grouping

This allows students to be appropriately

challenged and avoids labeling a student’s readiness
as a static state. It is important to permit
movement between groups because interest changes
as we move from one subject to another
Ebb and Flow of Experiences
(Tomlinson)

Back and forth over time or course of unit

Individual Small Group Whole Group Small Group Individual

 Flexible Grouping
Homogenous/Ability
-Clusters students of similar
abilities, level, learning style,
or interest.
-Usually based on some type
of pre-assessment
Heterogeneous Groups
-Different abilities, levels or
interest
- Good for promoting creative
thinking.
Individualized or
Independent Study
-Self paced learning
-Teaches time management
and responsibility
-Good for remediation or
extensions
Whole Class
-Efficient way to present new
content
-Use for initial instruction
 Strategies to Make
Differentiation Work
4. Compacting Curriculum
Compacting the curriculum means assessing a
student’s knowledge and skills, and providing
alternative activities for the student who has
already mastered curriculum content. This can
be achieved by pre-testing basic concepts or
using performance assessment methods.
Students demonstrating they do not require
instruction move on to tiered problem solving
activities while others receive instruction.
 What Differentiation Is …
• Student Centered • Multiple approaches
to content, process,
• Best practices and product

• Different • A way of thinking

approaches and planning

• 3 or 4 different • Flexible grouping

activities
 What Differentiation Isn’t
• One Thing • 35 different plans
for one classroom
• A Program
• A chaotic classroom
• The Goal
• Just homogenous
• Hard questions for grouping
some and easy for
others
 In Summary…..
What is fair isn’t always equal…

and

Differentiation gets us away

from “one size fits all” approach to
curriculum and instruction that doesn’t
fit anyone
 Bibliography
Campbell, Bruce. The Multiple Intelligences Handbook: Lesson Plans and
More. Stanwood, WA. 1996.

Daniels, Harvey and Bizar. (2005). Teaching The Best Practice Way:
Methods that Matter, K-12. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.

Gregory, Gayle. Differentiated Instructional Strategies in Practice.

Thousand Oaks, CA. 2003.

Tomlinson, Carol Ann. The Differentiated Classroom. Alexandria, VA:

ASCD. 1995.

Wormeli, Rick. Fair Isn’t Always Equal: Assessment and Grading in the
Differentiated Classroom, Stenhouse Publishers, 2006.