Differentiated Instruction
From WikEd
[edit] Descriptions, definitions, synonyms, organizer terms, types of
Differentiation occurs when teachers make curriculum modifications in order to best meet the needs of all students. This can occur with the assistance of Learning Disability specialists, English Language Learning specialists, and Enrichment specialists. Or the teacher can attempt to do all of this on his/her own!
[edit] 3 Modes of Differention
I. Content
Content can be differentiated through "acceleration, compacting, variety, reorganization, flexible pacing, and the use of more advanced or complex concepts, abstractions, and materials." Kid Source The idea is that students move through the material at their own pace. When they have mastered one concept they can move onto the next. Allowing students some choice as to what content they pursue can also be very motivating.
II. Process
Differentiating the process is a little more challenging. Students should be given open ended questions that allow them to respond in a way appropriate to their own level of understanding. These answers or responses can vary in complexity, depth of analysis, and breadth.
There are three different kinds of learners: kinesthetic, auditory and visual. Teachers can create activities that appeal to each type of learner. With this type of differentiation students are learning the same lesson, it is just presented in different formats.
III. Product
Allowing students to complete assignments in ways that use their various strengths is differentiation of product. For example, where one student might write a report, another might give an oral presentation or design a web page.
[edit] Application in classrooms and similar settings
Differentiation, though time-consuming as it requires much planning on the part of the classroom teacher, is really an effective means of helping all students of varying abilities. One effective way to incorporate differentiation into the classroom is to incorporate learning centers into the curriculum. The students can be divided into groups based on ability levels and be given an activity that is appropriate for their academic ability. For example, if students in a middle school language arts class were working on vocabulary development, three vocabulary exercises could be used for the different groups. Suppose there are five groups of students in all. Two of the groups (groups 2 and 3) are performing at about average levels when it comes to vocabulary. One group (group 5) is above average and could use an extra challenge and the other group (group 1) is performing below level. Each of these groups could be given a vocabulary activity, but it would be differentiated because the activities in the vocabulary center would be different for the various groups. Groups 2 and 3 would have an "average" ability-level activity; group 1 would have a more concentrated, perhaps teacher-directed activity to really understand the concept at-hand; and group 5 would have a more challenging vocabulary activity.
Pretests are many times used to determine whether a student might need differentiated content. An example would be a math pretest over the concepts from the upcoming unit or chapter that will be taught. The pretest should contain the same skills that will be assessed on the test at the end of the unit. However, different numbers would be used in the problems. When the teacher grades the tests, she can either grade to determine if a student passes out of a unit, or carefully analyze each question to determine what lessons a student passes out of. In either case, alternative lessons, projects, or activities need to be planned to extend this student's learning.
Another example would be a spelling pretest. All the students are given a test over same words at the beginning of the spelling cycle. If a student misspells any/all words on the pretest, these words are written on the student's individual spelling list. Then, if the student needs more words to include on the spelling list, he/she can choose words that are part of the spelling rule focus lesson from that spelling cycle, words that were misspelled in their writing, or challenging words from a spelling dictionary. The amount of words on the spelling list might be also be differentiated. Compacting instruction means identifying concepts specific students have already mastered and, instead of sitting through lessons they already know, having those students work on other meaningful activities while the rest of the class that needs instruction on a concept receives it. Instruction is a compact and brief as possible, with the addition of enrichment or acceleration options.
The two pretest examples from above help determine the differentiated content a student needs to learn. However, sometimes students need to learn the content through a different process. In these instances, a teacher might focus on the preferred learning styles of her students. For example, when teaching students math, she might teach rhymes or chants for learning certain multiplication problems to help students strong in the musical intelligence. (i.e.) 8 x 8 = 64: "I ate (8) and I ate (8) until I got sick (6) to the floor (4)." Or when teaching geometric angles, she might have student move arms to show acute, straight, obtuse, and right angles.
An easy way to differentiate product is to design a tic-tac-toe board of different assignments that either focus on Howard Gardner's different intelligences, or have different levels of difficulty according to Bloom's taxonomy.
A variety of other differentiation strategies can be used in the classroom, including cubing, tiered instruction, compacting, anchor activities, layering, think dots and flexible grouping. Cubing is often used for writing activities. Students are asked to think about a topic in a variety of ways: Describe It, Compare It, Associate It, Analyze It, Apply It, and Argue for or Against It. A six sided cube can physically be used or simply the six options (Masters, 2008). Think dots are similar to cubing. A matrix of questions or ways to look at a topic (using Blooms' Taxonomy) are presented as choices (Diamond, 2007). Tiered instruction can begin with a brief lesson on the basics, then students move to individual or group activities of differing levels of mastery and challenge. A number of activities of tiered levels is provided, thus a lot of prior planning is necessary (Adams, no date). Compacting involves identifying students who have already mastered a concept and providing enrichment or accelerated activities for them while providing basic instruction to those students who have not yet mastered that particular concept (University of Connecticut, 1998). Anchor activities are meaningful activities that students can engage in after completing their "regular" classroom assignments. They should tie into current topics and learning objectives (Masters, 2008). Flexible grouping is a necessary component of differentiated instruction. Large groups, small groups, teams, partners, and individuals are all utilized with a variety or mix of group members, depending on the task or objective at hand (Ford, 2005). Easy? No! Worth it? Yes!
[edit] Evidence of effectiveness
Simply understanding Howard Gardner's philosophy of multiple intelligences (a fundamental educational theory taught in most teacher education programs) a teacher will understand the fundamental need to differentiate. Howard Gardner His theory explains that students have varying levels of strength in various types of intelligences. Simply stepping foot into a classroom, you will find differing personalities that evolve with their skills in various subjects and types of learning. Simply because we know students have different strengths and weaknesses, teaching openly, with options, allows for students to select those which best suit their intelligences.
[edit] Critics and their rationale
[edit] Alternative explanations due to Diversity considerations
Hertzog, N. B. (2005) Differentiation of curriculum and instruction. Resource packet for Committing to Success 2005. University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, IL.
Tomlinson, C. (2004) Summer Institute on Academic Diversity. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia.
These two resources provide insight into differentiated teaching methods for teachers to effectively provide for an array of learners. The Line of Logic for Differentiation (Hertzog, 2005) is an excellent quick reference for teachers to use.
[edit] Signed ‿life experiences‿, testimonies and stories
I had no idea what differentiated instruction was before taking a graduate education course a few years ago. It wasn't covering during my initial certification degree. Once I understood the concept I realized the value it had in the classroom and how much it could benefit each student. I try to encorporate differentated instruction techniques in my classroom full of pre-service teachers. This concept ties in perfectly with my course, Instructional Technology, because technology is a wonderful resource for differentiating lessons. When I teach my students how to make webquests I explain how the teacher can use the same webquest with different versions. One webquest may have more challenging questions or websites to explore than the regular verson. Once I demonstrate the concept to the pre-service teachers in my class they can see how useful differentiated instruction can be.--Benish 21:16, 3 May 2005 (CDT)
I have enjoyed the challenge of using differentiated teaching methods in a multi-age, inclusive classroom setting. The classroom setting was truly inclusive, providing instruction for children with special needs, children at their ability level and for gifted children. The classroom used the Project Approach successfully to differentiate instruction for such an array of learners. In order to be effective teachers, we worked closely with the director who specialized in creating effective differentiated teaching methods in classroom environments. TYM
As a teacher, it is important to understand that each student learns in a different way. In special education, it is often necessary to provide differentiated instruction in order to allow special needs students the same opportunities as their regular education counterparts. This may include having a resource class, extended time for assignments, making up separate tests, etc. Often, the regular education teacher does not understand why this is necessary, and it is up to the special education teacher to make them understand. Additionally, it places the onus of teaching that subject on the special educator and being able to co-teach the subject makes for a more appropriate learning experience for everyone involved. Differentiated instruction is a very important part of the learning process for special needs students, and it is important for all parties to be involved in order to assist that student to reach his/her ful;l potential. Pat Johnson
As a teacher, presenting differentiated instruction, is one of the most difficult parts of the job. In one classroom, there may be a range of 3 years as far abiltiy. This makes it extremely difficult. How does one present a writing lesson, for example, to students where some are not able to write their names correctly and others are able to write page after page with few grammatical errors? While, difficult, it is nonetheless, an essential portion of effective instruction.--KK
I will agree that differentiating instruction is one of the hardest parts of teaching. One way that I differentiate reading for the children is by having guided reading groups. This way you are able to meet each child's needs in reading by using small groups. The other students can be working in centers that range in ability which will also challenge each student at their individual level. In order to meet each child's needs it is incredibly necessary to differentiate your instruction. - R.U.
Differentiated Instruction is one of the most important teaching tools that a teacher can practice. All people learn in different manners. Some are visual others are verbal, others need hands on application. The more that we can give our students the better we as teachers are doing to succeed in our jobs. One way that I use Differentiated Instruction is to give students choices on what they do best. I make my students run cookie business in our Economics class. The students get to out in area's that they are strong and work with partners in areas that they are weaker, giving them the opportunity to be successful. Differentiated Instruction is not easy on the teacher and does require extra effort but it will make for better students. Nic D.
I teach middle school Spanish, and I find it very difficult to differentiate my lessons. Most of my students have little to no background knowledge when it comes to Spanish vocabulary and grammar. Therefore pre-tests don't usually do me any good. However, I do differentiate the presentation of my lessons as well as some assignments. Regarding lesson presentation I typically spend 1-2 days using gestures to teach vocabulary (meets needs of kinesthetic learners), then 3-4 days telling and acting out stories that use the target grammar and vocabulary. Afterwards I'll go to explicit grammar instruction for a few days before starting over with stories again. For each new vocabulary list I give five to six possible vocabulary assignments. My students are required to choose three of the assignments to complete. These assignments usually include the following types of assignments: visual(poster, brochure, scrapbook page), written (write a comic strip using 10 vocabulary words), flashcards, and various computer activities (listening comprehension, grammar/vocab. drills, etc.). I still need to work on differentiating for my ONE native speaker...an area in which I definitely can improve! -J. Adams
Differentiated Instruction has different meanings for different teachers. I worked with 5 other teachers to create a differentiated lesson for our Algebra students. As a team we could not decide on a method for differentiating our classes. We ended up coming up with 3 different levels of worksheets. We grouped students according to ability. It was nice as a teacher because I got to move around the classroom and work with one group at a time on their specific weaknesses. However I think there are better methods for teaching that giving students a worksheet to do. I would like to use differentiated instruction to address different learning styles in my classroom as opposed to different abilities. I haven't quite figured out the best way to go about this yet. I do know that Differentiated Instruction takes time and practice. You can't get better at it if you don't try. R. Fruin
As an inclusion teacher, I must teach through differentiated instruction. It really isn't much different than normal teaching to me. You just need to make sure that you make that little extra effort to check on those students that need your extra assistance as well as giving those brighter students the extra work to keep themselves engaged. It is a lot of fun to see the different levels demonstrate their learning whether they are doing the same assignments or not. ~ R. Hayes
The summer before my first full time teaching job, I went to a workshop on differentiated instruction. It seemed the perfect solution to teaching, especially since our district has non-tracked classes. I was so excited to learn that I had the potential to teach every student at her or his ability level, all in the same classroom. While I still hold this possibility to be true, and I come closer and closer to it every year, I was admittedly overwhelmed. To create not just one lesson plan every day, but three or more! created a lot of stress for me as a young teacher, and still does to this day. I am getting better, but am still far from where I'd like to be. I have read a lot of Rick Wormeli, and his books have helped me figure out ways to differentiate in bits and pieces. Luke A.
[edit] References and other links of interest
Links of Interest:
This newspaper article details the implementation and success of differntiated learning based on heterogenous grouping. http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/education/20.htm
D.I. in a nontracked environment
This site has a bunch of links for differentiating instruction [1]
http://www.netc.org/focus/challenges/instruction.php
Rick Wormeli (a DI guru!)
http://www.aeispeakers.com/speakerbio.php?SpeakerID=1100
http://www.sde.com/presenters/featured-presenter.asp?presentersId=1
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Rick%20Wormeli&page=1
References:
1998, April). Curriculum Compacting. Retrieved April 28, 2008, from University of Connecticut The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented Web site: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/ToolsforSchools/curc.html
Adams, Cheryll M. Critical Questions about Tiered Lessons. Retrieved April 28, 2008, from Ball State University Web site: http://www.bsu.edu/gate/Instruction/criticalquestions.htm
Diamond, Linda (2007, February 5). Cubing/Think Dots: Strategies that support differentiated processing. Retrieved April 28, 2008, from Mingo County Board of Education Web site: http://boe.ming.k12.wv.us/teachers/di/di_docs/strategies_cubing_think_dots/CubingThinkdotpp.ppt
Ford, Michael P. (2005, December). Differentiation Through Flexible Grouping: Successfully Reaching All Readers. Eric: Learning Point Associates, Retrieved April 28, 2008, from http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1b/ba/6e.pdf
Masters, Sarah (2008, April). Differentiation in the Real World. Retrieved April 28, 2008, from Glendale School, East Peoria District 86 Web site: http://www.epd86.org/Glendale/Differentiation%20in%20the%20Real%20World/differentiation_in_the_real_world.htm
