The Why and How ofDifferentiated Instruction

Leading and LearningNovember 21-22, 2008

Change is constant in education. What teaching practices have you explored in an attempt to address the changing

needs of your students?

Changes in Teaching Practice

Workshop Objectives

•Reflect on the changes in education that impact student learning

•Make connections between where we have been and where we are going

• Explore differentiated instruction as an effective teaching practice

Shift in Education

Curriculum Instruction Assessment

Students with Special Needs in Red Deer Public 07/08

440 students with severe special needs 500+ students with mild – moderate special

needs 95 children with severe special needs 56 children with mild-moderate special

needs Students with behavior disorders Majority in regular classrooms

English as a Second Language

37 500 students in Alberta 1500 new students per month 200 students in RDPSD 35% increase in one year

Societal Changes

Technology advancement Family structure Economical influences Societal expectations

Why examine teaching practice?

Increased student diversity Increased awareness that students of

same age differ in readiness, learning styles, interests, etc.

Decreased stigmas about being different

Decreased exclusion from curriculum, programs and activities of the school

Increased accountability for student achievement.

Teacher

Getting students in the zone!Too Easy

•I get it right away…

•I already know how…

•This is a cinch…

•I’m sure to make an A…

•I’m coasting…

•I feel relaxed…

•I’m bored…

•No big effort…

On Target

•I know some things…

•I have to think…

•I have to work…

•I have to persist…

•I hit some walls…

•I’m on my toes…

•I have to re-group…

•I feel challenged…

•Effort leads to success…

Too Hard

•I don’t know where to begin…

•I can’t figure it out…

•I’m spinning my wheels…

•I’m missing key skills…

•I feel frustrated…

•I feel angry…

•This makes no sense…

•Effort doesn’t pay off…

THIS is the place to be…..This is the achievement zone…..

What do we want students to know and

be able to do?Curriculum

How will we knoweach student has

acquired the intended knowledge

and skills?Assessment

How will we respond

when students are or are not

achieving the objectives?Instruction

Responsive Teaching

Differentiate between types of assessment Assessment OF and FOR Learning

Plan learning opportunities with the end in mind

Differentiate Instruction

Make adjustments

Assess learning

Define outcomes from the Program of Studies in student friendly language

Curriculum and Instruction:A Planning Guide

Adapted from Tomlinson 05

Assessment

Identify what achievement looks like prior to teaching

Involve students in peer and self assessments

Adjust teaching based on assessment evidence

Plan questions

Provide specific, descriptive feedback to promote next steps in learning

Use Exemplars

Product

Through a variety of instructional strategies

Carol Ann Tomlinson (2006)

Differentiation

Is a teacher's response to learner’s needs

Respectful tasks

Continual assessment

Flexible grouping

Teachers can differentiate through

Content Process

According to students’

Readiness Interests Learning Profile Environment

Differentiation

Is a teacher's response to learner’s need

Respectful tasks

Continual assessment

Flexible grouping

Interesting Engaging Challenging In the ZONE

Think Pair Share

Jigsaw

Think Pad Brainstorming

Preassessment

Summative Assessment

Formative

Think, write, pair, share

GraffitiFour Corners

Rally Table

Round Robin Place Mat

Gallery Walk

Differentiation

Is a teacher's response to learner’s need

Respectful tasks

Continual assessment

Flexible grouping

Teachers can differentiate through

Content Process Process

Differentiation

Is a teacher's response to learner’s need

Respectful tasks

Continual assessment

Flexible grouping

Teachers can differentiate through

Content Process Product

Content

Essential

Questions

Reading

comprehension

Vocabulary

Instruction

Compacting

Using varied text

and resource

materials

Learning

contracts

Minilessons

Varied

Support

Systems

Audio/Video

recorders

Note-taking

Organizers

Highlighted Print

Materials

Lists of Key Ideas

Peer or Adult

mentors

Process

Flexible groupingGraphic

Organizers

Tiered

assignments

Anchor Activities

Framing

Questions

Learning LogsLearning Centres

Learning

contracts

Literature Circles

Writing

Workshops

Products

Develop games Write books

Give a

presentation

Write a song

Conduct a

debate

Make a video

documentary

Present a

puppet show

Write a photo

essay

Develop web

pages

Through a variety of instructional strategies

Carol Ann Tomlinson (2006)

Product

Differentiation

Is a teacher's response to learner’s need

Respectful tasks

Continual assessment

Flexible grouping

Teachers can differentiate through

Content Process

According to students’

Readiness Interests Learning Profile Environment

Teaching according to:

Skills

Concepts

READINESS INTEREST LEARNINGPROFILE

ContentKnowledge

• Interest Surveys• Interest Centers• Self-Selection

•Areas of Strengthand Weakness•Work Preferences•Self Awareness

ENVIRONMENT

•Still/Active•Flexible/Fixed•Warm/Cool•Quiet/Noisy•Many Displays/Few Displays

Through a variety of instructional strategies

Carol Ann Tomlinson (2006)

Product

Differentiation

Is a teacher's response to learner’s need

Respectful tasks

Continual assessment

Flexible grouping

Teachers can differentiate through

Content Process

According to students’

Readiness Interests Learning Profile Environment

Time is a factor!

GradingMeetings

TeachingRecess Duty

Report Cards Phone Calls Conferences Planning

LO-PREP Tools are Your Solution!

Quick Assessments

Fist of 5 Hardest First Continuum Line Four Corners Graphic Organizers Cards Voting Techniques

Windshield Check

Clear – “I get it!” Bugs – “I get it for the

most part, but I still have a few questions.”

Mud- “I still don’t get it.”

Directions: Complete the chart to show what you know about Voice. Write as much as you can.

Definition

Non-Examples

Words that come to mind

Examples

Useful for Pre - Assessment

Writing with

Voice

Picture Words

Voice

Knowledge Rating Chart

1. I’ve never heard of this before

2. I’ve heard of this, but I am not sure how it works

3. I know about this and how to use

____ Direct Object

____ Direct Object Pronoun

____ Indirect Object

____ Indirect Object Pronoun

____ Object of Preposition

____ Adjective

____ Interrogative Adjective

Example of Pre-assessment Readiness

Questions

Compose

Create

Cubing – Generic Cubes

Who

WhenWhere

Why

How

What

My Family in the Past and Present Cube

Make a video or tape recording, interviewing members of your

families telling about their responsibilities.

Create a timeline with pictures and/or

words showing changes in your

family over time.

Create a song or rap that tells about how

your family has changed over time.

Present an argument that convinces others

how your family is different today than

it was in the past.

Create a collage with digital pictures showing changes in

your family over time.

Create a play that demonstrates

changes in your family over time.

Make a video or tape recording of a family member, describing how your family has changed over time.

Leveled Writing Prompts

Our school is considering having longer class periods. Do you believe this is a good idea? Why or why not?

As Canadians, we enjoy many freedoms. Which freedom do you believe is the most important? Why?

People have many choices of what to do during free time. What is your favorite thing to do during free time, and why is the best choice?

Leveled Questions with Reading

What were your feelings after reading the opening chapter(s) of this book?

Return to a place in the story that you loved, hated, or questioned. How did this event change the way you looked at the story?

What was the author trying to sayabout life and living through this novel?

Exit Cards: Decimals and Fractions

Name:___________ How is a decimal like a fraction?

How are they different?

What’s a light bulb moment for you as you’ve thought about fractions and decimals?

Student Survey

At school, I like _____________________

Because___________________________

I do not like_________________________

Because___________________________

If I have free time, I prefer to __________ or _____________.

My favorite thing to read is_____________.

Carolyn Chapman / Rita King 2005

Student Survey

Name ________ Date_________Answer the following questions with either a yes or no answer or fill in the blank.

Yes NO

I like to read. 4 3 2 1I like to make up songs. 4 3 2 1I am challenged by things that are difficult to do. 4 3 2 1Taking things apart and reassembling 4 3 2 1 them intrigues me.I like to play outside. 4 3 2 1I prefer to work by myself. 4 3 2 1I enjoy working with others. 4 3 2 1I like to draw my own pictures. 4 3 2 1I like school. 4 3 2 1

Carolyn Chapman / Rita King 2005

Interest Inventory

Diane Heacox, 2002

1. What is your favorite activity or subject at school? Why? Your least favorite? Why?

2. What are your best subjects: What makes them easiest for you?

3. What subjects are difficult for you? What makes them the hardest?

4. What subject make you think and work the hardest? Why is it the most challenging?

5. What are your favorite games or sports?

6. If you could learn about anything you wanted to, what would you choose to learn about?

Other LO-PREP Tools

Flexible groups Varied materials Open-ended activities Jigsaw Digital Images Interactive Websites Online reading

Collaborate to add one high-prep per term

Cubing Learning contracts Varying organizers Tiered activities Choice boards Literature circles Learning stations

Compose

Create

Cubing – Multiple Cubes

Poetry Contract

Create A Rhyming Wheel

Use your spelling lists as a w ay to get started

Use Your Rhyming Wheel

Write a poem that sounds like Shel Silverstein might have written

Write an Acrostic Poem

Be sure it includes alliteration

Write

A cinquain ( check with another cinquain writer to make sure you got the right pattern

Computer Art

Use clip art to illustrate a simile, metaphor, or analogy on your class list, or ones you create.

Write about you

Use good descriptive words in a poem that helps us know and understand something important about you

Interpret

“How to Eat a Poem”

Research a Famous Person

Take notes. Write a clerihew that uses what you have learned. (It can have more than one stanza.)

Illustrate a Poem

Find a poem we’ve read that you like or one on your own. Write about why you illustrated it as you did.

Student choice #1 Student choice #2 Student choice #3

Graphic Organizers

Flow Chart

KWL

Timeline

Venn Diagram

Character Map

Story Board

Circular Story

Compare and

Contrast

Listen-Draw-Pair-SharePMI

Retell-Relate-Reflect

Planning Tiered Assignments

Concept to be UnderstoodOR

Skill to be Mastered

Below-LevelTask

On-LevelTask

Above-LevelTask

Create on-level task first then adjust up and down.

“Adjusting theTask”

1. Find a friend & measure the length and width of the classroom. Draw onto paper in centimeters.

2. Work at the Graphing Centre to complete 2 activities. Place into your Math folder when done.

3. Measure your height, the height of 2 friends and the height of an adult. Rank order from smallest to tallest.

Graphing and Measuring: Student Choices

Writing BingoTry for one more BINGO this month. Be sure to use your writing goals and our class rubric to guide your work .

Recipe

Invitation

Newspaper Article

Advertisement

Letter to Your Teacher

Directions to one place to another

Rules for a game

Letter to the editor

Thank- you Note

Email request for Information

Letter to a pen pal, friend or relative

Skit or scene Interview

Schedule for your work

Grocery or shopping list

FREE

YOUR Choice

Short Story

Design a web page

Journal for a Week

Proposal to Improve Something

Cartoon Strip Poem Instructions Greeting Card

Book Think Aloud

Interest-Based Assignment

Select a person in one of the folders and write a composition describing that person as thoroughly as you can,

Athletes

Authors

Artists

Film Stars

Scientists

Musicians

Political Leaders

Through a variety of instructional strategies

Carol Ann Tomlinson (2006)

Product

Differentiation

Is a teacher's response to learner’s need

Respectful tasks

Continual assessment

Flexible grouping

Teachers can differentiate through

Content Process

According to students’

Readiness Interests Learning Profile Environment

Set a Goal!Set a Goal!

It is perfectly acceptable to take small steps

AS LONG AS WE ARE

STEPPING

FORWARD!

If you want to feel safe and secure, continue to do what you have always done. If you want to grow, go to the cutting edge of our profession. Just

know that when you do, there will be a temporary loss of sanity. So know

when you don’t quite know what you are doing, you are probably growing.

Madeline Hunter

Give Yourself a HandGive Yourself a Hand

You deserve it. Teachers ROCK!