Tag Archives: differentation

How do you explain why activities are different when differentiating instruction?

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Differentiated Instruction Misconceptions

Fair is a very difficult concept for many students to grasp. Many students will see differences in assignments, differentiated instruction, as frustrating at all levels of ability. The advanced or gifted student might resent the lower levels because they may see their work as easier or shorter. The lower levels may feel like they are not as good as the upper levels or embarrassed that they were given a different assignment.

It is very important that the teacher differentiate instruction correctly. Don’t just add busy work to upper level students and don’t just take away parts of an assignment for the lower level students.

I try not to level activities at all but to differentiate them using multiple intelligences instead. I also give students the choice of what they want to do and how they want to work (self, partner, group) through the use of flexible grouping. That way everyone is different so no one feels different.

There are some occasions when leveling/scaffolding/tiering an assignment is necessary. Accommodations for SPED and ELL students are constant too which can make certain students stand out more and resentfulness and embarrassment can take place. This is when the teacher needs to step in and explain to everyone that “fair isn’t always equal”, to quote my former Principal Lauren French, Gouverneur Middle School. Explain that all students are starting with different background knowledge and need to be taught from that level and brought up to the next level. No one should feel jealous of another group because at some point in the year, during different concepts, people are going to change levels. You need to bring it down to their level and possibly relate it to a sport or video game. These accommodations or levels of an assignment equal the playing field like a handicap does in golf.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kasha-Mastrodomenico helps social studies teachers differentiate their activities and writing through the use of multiple intelligences and  leveling/scaffolding/tiering. 

Written by,

Kasha Mastrodomenico

http://www.socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction.com

kasha@socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction.com

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kasha-Mastrodomenico

How can you differentiate instruction with examples?

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Use Multiple Intelligences to Differentiate Instruction for Content

Differentiation through the use of multiple examples goes along with the UDL (Universal Design for Learning Principles) idea of recognition learning. This is not a complex idea but it does take planning. The idea is that the more examples you give, and in different ways, the more students you will reach and the higher retention of the material they will have. Differentiated instruction can be done through the use of mutliple intelligences or ability levels.

One of my favorite lessons that I created that differentiates instruction in this way was about grids, latitude and longitude, etc.) I used multiple intelligences to differentiate. I first introduced the students to grids by providing the definitions that went along with grids and then I drew them on the board and had the students draw it next to the definition (linguistic, spatial). I also had them stand up for longitude and lay on the floor to explain latitude (kinesthetic). I showed them Santa Clause sliding on a longitude line from the North Pole to the South Pole and said “it’s a long way down to the South Pole” (spatial, linguistic). Next, I handed them a balloon and had them create a globe with a grid and had them label it (spatial, kinesthetic, intrapersonal). Then, they got a partner and they had to use the giant floor grid I had made with painters tape.  One person walked on the latitude line and the other walked on the longitude line and then met at the absolute location. They would then write down the item that was there (interpersonal, spatial, kinesthetic and logical). The last piece of the lesson was to use a map and as a small group find locations (logical, interpersonal, spatial). Notice that I used flexible grouping also in this lesson. There was whole class instruction, individual work, as well as partner work and small group work. I had so many different examples that every student had an understanding of not only what grids were but also how they worked. This lesson took two days. If you would like this lesson, click here.

In this lesson, the same information was provided in seven different ways to students. By providing multiple examples, differentiated instruction is accomplished by teachers.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kasha-Mastrodomenico helps middle school social studies teachers differentiate instruction.

 

Written by,

Kasha Mastrodomenico

http://www.socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction.com

kasha@socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction.com

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kasha-Mastrodomenico

What roles should students have in differentiated group activities?

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Student roles in differentiated group activities will change slightly depending on the activity they are doing. It is important to have students hold certain jobs during differentiated group activities to keep the group rolling forward and not get distracted.

Students need roles to keep differentiated group activities running smoothly

A couple of roles that should always be included are task master and time keeper. The task master acts as the motivator and policeman of the group. When a student gets off topic or sidetracked the task master redirects them. There should always be an amount of time allotted to finish the assignment. Otherwise the students will take advantage of it and waste time. The role of the time keeper is to frequently tell the group the amount of time they have left to finish the assignment. This will again motivate the students to stay on task. For most activities there will be a writer. Teachers need to make sure that this role is not misused by the other students in the group. They are to be used more like a secretary who writes down the groups ideas. They themselves are not responsible for the end product and all the critical thinking that goes along with it. Other roles might be an artist, speaker and material gatherer. No matter what activity it is, roles should be assigned to students because they help group activities go smoother and be more productive.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kasha-Mastrodomenico/Category/Activity-Templates-and-Rubrics helps social studies teachers differentiate instruction in less than 10 minutes by using activity templates with rubrics, check it out!

Written by

Kasha Mastrodomenico

http://www.socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction.com

kasha@socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction.com

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kasha-Mastrodomenico

How can teachers use flexible grouping to differentiate work session activities?

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Using Flexible Grouping helps students of different learning styles

Flexible grouping is an easy way to differentiate work session activities. One way is by providing students three choices of grouping, you are not only differentiating, you are also giving students ownership in their education. It will help both interpersonal and intrapersonal learners. The three choices should be to work by themselves, with a partner or with a group. If these choices are given to the students the day before the activity is to be done then the teacher can use their choices to create workable pairs or groups. Depending on the project or activity the teacher may group by ability level and work more closely with the lower level or the teacher could use mixed ability grouping and allow the students with a higher ability level to guide or teach the students who struggle. It also allows teachers to make the amount of copies needed. Flexible grouping can change with every project or multiple times per lesson.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kasha-Mastrodomenico/Category/Activity-Templates-and-Rubrics helps middle school social studies teachers differentiate instruction, Check it out!

Written by

Kasha Mastrodomenico

http://www.socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction.com

kasha@socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction.com

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kasha-Mastrodomenico

How can teachers use flexible grouping to differentiate instruction?

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Flexible grouping is one of the easiest ways to differentiate instruction. Teachers need to be able to reach both interpersonaland intrapersonal learners. Grouping during instruction has a few possibilities. Most teachers use whole class instruction lectures to introduce the main concepts of a unit. One way to differentiate grouping during instruction is through the questioning of the students. Wait time extended is a tool I picked up in “Effective Teaching”, a professional development course through A.P.L. Associates. In every two to three minutes of instructional lecture, the teacher stops and asks the class a question. The students, seated in pairs, have thirty seconds to give the answer to their partner. If one person in the partnership doesn’t understand then the other person teaches it to them. This not only will hold the interest of the interpersonal learner but it also increases the student’s mastery of the content. 90% of mastery comes from teaching others the content learned. Once the question is given to the students to discuss, the teacher walks around the room and guides and observes the partner discussion. At the end of the thirty seconds the teacher then calls on someone they thought had a good answer. The time to prepare an answer is appreciated by the students because they have time to process and put together a well stated answer. Flexible grouping also allows a quick group discussion of a minute or two. Because students are seated in pairs, a teacher could ask the students to group in fours just by having one pair turn around and face the pair behind them. The teacher’s role would be the same as in the extended time partnership. Another way of questioning is one that has been used more traditionally and has great value. The teacher needs to ask questions to the class that require self reflection for intrapersonal learners to connect themselves to the content and it allows them to rely on themselves for the answer. Even during a lecture, differentiation through the use of flexible grouping, is a possibility and is effective.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kasha-Mastrodomenico/Category/Activity-Templates-and-Rubrics helps teachers differentiate in less than 10 minutes.

Written by

Kasha Mastrodomenico

http://www.socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction.com

kasha@socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction.com

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kasha-Mastrodomenico