To-With-By: A three-tiered modelfor differentiated instruction

Bruce Campbell

Al1 teachers differentiate instruction; i'natural, it's intuitive; we couldn't survivewithout differentiating. However, we canbecome more conscious and intentional

~in the ways we think about our students

and in the ways we plan our lessons so that differentiationhelps even more students succeed, particularly thosestruggling with literacy. To do that, an equally intuitiveframework for differentiation is in order; one thatdoes not require extensive training or preparation butstill creates a classroom infrastructure within whichdifferentiation occurs.

Whether we approach DI from the point of view ofdifferences in readiness, differences in ability, differences ininterest, or differences in learning profile, it involves mul-tiple or differentiated resources, a variety of instructionalstrategies, and a range of options for demonstrationsof understanding. Carol Tomlinson (1999) discussesdifferentiated content, process, and product. Thiscould be interpreted as differentiated curriculum,instruction, and assessment. In other words, we candifferentiate the resources weuse, the ways we ask students Figure 1

to interact with the content, TOand the ways we ask students The foundationto demonstrate their learning.

I have been a classroom Direct instruction

teacher for over 30 years, at Main lessonevery level from grades one My project presentathrough twelve, and in multipledisciplines. If there is one thing Teacher-focusedI have learned, it is that I have Introduction of skillto make that conscious and Teachintentional effort to differentiate

on a daily basis. Whether we are I dotalking about using multipleresources, different instructional strategies, or moreperformance-based assessments, I try always to be

conscious of the unique group of students with whomI am working. And I intentionally plan my lessons tonot only target state and district standards but alsothe readiness, abilities, interests, and learning profilesof the students in that classroom (Campbell, 2009).

The basic formula I have used for many years isTo-With-By: I teach something to my students, this isusually in the form of direct instruction; then I work withmy students, this is essentially guided instruction; then Ipush them to work more independently or by themselves,this is self-directed learning. Such an approach issometimes referred to as Teach-Practice-Apply or I do-We do-You do. Regardless of the moniker, the beautyof this approach to teaching is that the teacher can usedifferentiated strategies at all three stages. Moreover, it isscaffolded for all students to ensure a "gradual release ofresponsibility" (Bruner, 1983). In otherwords, the processitself is differentiated in that it works through three tiersor levels that challenge students at progressively higherlevels, plus the learning strategies within each tier arealso differentiated. (See Figure 1)

Various Perspectives on To-With-By Instruction

withByThe implementation The application

Guided instruction Self directed-learning

Learning centers Project-based learning

tions Student practice Performance assessments

Group-focused Individual-focused

Is Skill building Demonstrations of learning

Practice ApplyWe do You do

There are many strategies under the umbrellaof differentiated instruction: tiered lessons, flexible

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grouping, anchor activities, learning centers, multi-modal instruction, cooperative learning, project-basedlearning, and so forth. Using the To-With-By model, Ican incorporate all of these strategies into my lessons.For example, multi-modal instruction can be usedeffectively in the to stage where I introduce a topic;cooperative learning works well in the with stage wherestudents are practicing; and project-based learning is anatural fit for the by stage where students are applyingthe skills and knowledge they have learned. In the nextthree sections, I'll describe each of the three stages inmore detail and then explain how the process can beused specifically in the context of literacy.

Direct instruction: ToStage one, or tier one, is to. I call this my Main Lesson.I start out each day or each period with a lecture inwhich I teach something "to" my students. It might beanything from long vowels to the binomial theorem,photosynthesis to the Boston Tea Party. It usuallytakes 10 to 20 minutes and provides an overview orintroduction to the basic skills or concepts with whichwe will be working.

In the Main Lesson, I am not only introducingbasic skills or concepts, I am also intentionally modelingthe kinds of teaching that I expect my students to dowith each other when they reach stage three: self-directed learning. It is essentially lecture-based, directinstruction but I use visuals (such as graphic organizersor charts), hands-on activities (such as physical modelsor manipulatives), mnemonic devices (such as chants orjingles), interactive learning (such as "turn and talk" orquestioning strategies), or reflective learning (such asjournaling or self-assessment).

During the Main Lesson, I often "think out loud"for my students. "We are talking about ThomasJeffersonand John Adams and we're going to look at some oftheir similarities and some of their differences. To dothat, I'm drawing this visual organizer called a VennDiagram which we can use to compare and contrastthe two men. I'm going to put Jefferson's name on thisside and Adam's name on this side..." I will go on toexplain that they will be expected to make the samekind of visual organizer in small groups at their learningcenters to compare and contrast other characters. Afterthat, they will also be expected to use the same typeof graphics in their independent project work. It's to-with-by.

Guided instruction: WithStage two, or tier two, is the with stage. This is guidedinstruction. Here I like to work with small groups soI set up my classroom with learning centers or what Icall "work stations." Regardless of grade level or subjectmatter, this stage involves multiple approaches to thesame concepts or skills introduced in the Main Lesson,

but now students are working in small groups. Manystudents learn best in small groups.

Nonetheless, the same concepts or skills can bepracticed in multiple ways with whole group instruction.In my classroom, students break up into small,collaborative groups and practice what was introducedin the Main Lesson in different (differentiated) ways:hands-on, visual, interactive, narrative, reflective,inductive, rhythmic, etc. This will vary depending on themanagement system or dynamics of individual teachers.In fact, I find that I have to modify my approach eachyear with different students.

As in any good collaborative lesson, smallgroup work has three essential components: specificsocial skills, group interdependence, and individualaccountability (Johnson andJohnson, 1994). So studentsare learning to work together in intentional ways, theyare collaborating to meet a common goal, and they areresponsible for their own learning. Sometimes eachgroup is working on the same task or taking the sameapproach. At other times, each group is taking a differentapproach to the same skills or content. The groups rotatethrough the stations until each one has approached thelearning task from multiple perspectives.

For some lessons, at some grade levels, and insome subject areas, it makes sense to reverse tiers oneand two: a more inquiry-based approach where studentsmight "mess around" with a topic first (with) andthen come together for a collective debriefing to drawconclusions and clarify the skills or knowledge theyhave just experienced (to). This is particularly true inscience classes but can also be the best way to processa passage students have read, a problem they have triedto solve, or some design or model they have attemptedto create. With-To-By is a more constructivist approachas opposed to the more scaffolded nature of To-With-Byand, given the circumstances, can be equally viable.

Self-directed learning: ByStage three, or tier three, is the by stage. Here studentswork more independently. This can take the form ofdrill and practice, performance-based assessments, orproject-based learning. Personally, I consider project-based learning to be the one of the most powerful waysto differentiate instruction. So, in a project-based "by"stage, students choose a topic within the content areaof study, research that topic (and yes, even primarystudents and non-readers can do certain kinds ofresearch), then put together some type of presentationor demonstration of learning for each other.

We cannot just ask students to "do a project" andexpect anything meaningful to happen, so there is a needfor considerable training and scaffolding first. As noted,I model different ways to express my understanding inthe Main Lesson. These are my "project presentations"and where skills and concepts are introduced. The work

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stations or learning centers provide ways that studentscan practice different techniques or approaches. This isthe real skill building stage. Early in the school year, Istart with what I call mini-projects-one dimensionaldemonstrations of learning such as a chart, a survey, aninterview, or a report. These mini-projects evolve intomore comprehensive, multimodal performances thatare true demonstrations of understanding. This is thestage where students use their individual strengths andpreferences to show others what skills and knowledgethey have learned.

To-With-By and literacyThe primary objective of reading is to make meaningof the text (Smith, 1985). As all teachers of readingknow (and all of us are teachers of reading), that doesnot happen automatically. The To-With-By approachprovides the necessary scaffolding for both youngchildren learning to read and older students working withmore difficult text so they can all be successful learnerswho understand what they read (Harvey and Goudvis,2000). Whether it is basic phonics work, book talks,shared reading (Holdaway, 1979), a read aloud, a readingworkshop (Calkins 2001), guided reading (Fountas andPinnell, 1996), responding to literature (Routman 1991),literature circles (Hill et al., 1995), personal journalwriting (Routman, 1991), or nonfiction reading (Harvey,1998), To-With-By makes perfect sense.

Let's say I'm introducing some new vocabularywords using a big book or chart. For the to stage, I modelfluent reading by reading through the text aloud andpointing to the words. Perhaps I stop from time to timeto think out loud: "Wait, that's a new word, that's a bigword, w-h-a-l-e, I wonder what that word is, I thinkI'm going to like that word..." During the with stage,students might be collaboratively working with someword cards at a learning center; arranging the cards;building sentences. The by stage could involve studentsindependently writing or building sentences using thenew words and then reading to the teacher or the classor drawing pictures, e.g., a whale, and labeling them. Ateach stage, I've used differentiated strategies.

Or, suppose, I'm working with older students onnonfiction text about the underground railroad. For theto stage, I'm going to do a brief lecture on the purposeand function of the underground railroad. I'll showstudents the text and describe the context and content.I'll probably use a map and other graphics to show routesand obstacles. I'll probably suggest a couple of guidingquestions: "What would it feel like to be actuallyfollowing the underground railroad? What would be thegreatest challenges?" During the with stage, I may beginwith a narrative pantomime, where I read the text andstudents collectively act it out as I read. Then they mightmeet in small groups and go through the text discussingwhat they were doing at each stage. Finally, during the

by stage, students will read the text independently, thenperhaps answer some questions, make some inferences,or reflect on the text itself.

There is no limit to the breadth and depth of To-With-By in the literacy classroom. At any grade level,in any subject area, students' literacy skills can bedeveloped and enhanced by this scaffolded (Vygotsky,1978) model. Teachers can bring a range of goodstrategies to the table for large group, small group,and independent learning. And, not only will literacyskills and knowledge improve but students will also bepleasantly engaged in a range of differentiated learningexperiences.

ConclusionThe To-With-By model provides a range of learningopportunities for all students. All three stages can bedifferentiated and all three stages can be personalizedfor the unique learning needs of students in anyclassroom. As noted, the curriculum resources canbe differentiated, the instructional strategies can bedifferentiated, and assessments can be differentiated. Itis a simple formula that can be applied by any teacher,in any subject area, at any grade level.

The formula is structured, teacher directed, andcontent based, but it is student centered and providesstudents with multiple entry points into the contentareas and personal choices based on their individualstrengths or learning profiles (Tomlinson, 1999;Marzano, 2007). As the year goes on, or as studentsbecome more responsive to the system, they becomeincreasingly self-directed and increasingly confidentabout their learning, so the balance may shift from lessto or with into more with and by.

No single method works best for all teachers orfor all students, but To-With-By is generic enough to beadaptable for any classroom setting. More importantly,it provides a simple framework for planning that eventhe least experienced of teachers can use to provideopportunities for all students to succeed. It's not morework to differentiate; it simply means thinking aboutour students differently and planning our lessons inmore conscious and intentional ways. To-With-Byprovides a framework for doing just that.

ReferencesBruner, J. (1963). The process of education. New York:

Vintage Books.Calkins, L. (2001). The art of teaching reading. New

York: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers.Campbell, L. & Campbell B. (2009). Mindfullearning:

101 proven strategies for student and teacher success(2nd ed.).-Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Fountas, I.C., & Pinnell, G.S. (1996). Guided reading:Goodfirst teachingfor all children. Portsmouth, NH:Heinemann.

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Harvey, S. (1998). Nonfiction matters. Writing and researchin grades 3-8. York, ME: Stenhouse.

Harvey, S., & Goudvis, A. (2000). Strategies that work:Teaching comprehension to enhance understanding.York, ME: Stenhouse.

Hill, B.C., Johnson, NJ., & Schlick Noe, K.L. (Eds.).(1995). Literature circles and response. Norwood,MA: Christopher Gordon.

Holdaway, T. (1979). The foundations of literacy. Sydney,Australia: Ashton Scholastic.

Johnson, R., & Johnson, D. (1996). Learning togetherand alone: Cooperative, competitive, & individualistic

learning. New York: Allyn & Bacon.Marzano, R. (2007). The art and science of teaching: A

comprehensive framework for effective instruction.Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and

Curriculum Development.Routman, R. (1991). Invitations: Changing as teachers

andlearners K-12. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.Smith, F. (1985). Reading without nonsense (2'"" ed.).

New York: TC Press.Tomlinson, C.A. (1999). The differentiated classroom:

Responding to the needs of all learners. Alexandria,VA: Association for Supervision and CurriculumDevelopment.

Tomlinson, C.A. (1999). How to differentiate instructionin a mixed ability classroom. Alexandria, VA:Association for Supervision and CurriculumDevelopment.

Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society. Cambridge,MA: Harvard University Press.

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TITLE: To-With-By: A three-tiered model for differentiatedinstruction

SOURCE: N Engl Read Assoc J 44 no2 2009

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