Differentiating+Instruction

In CASTLES, we know that:

Marian Diamond ||
 * * No two children are alike.
 * No two children learn in the identical way.
 * An enriched environment for one student is not necessarily enriched for another.
 * In the classroom we should teach children to think for themselves.

What can we do about it?

We can differentiate our instructional materials.

=What Is Differentiated Instruction? = By: Carol Ann Tomlinson (2000) <span style="border-bottom-color: #cccccc; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-color: #cccccc; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; color: #3f547b; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 10px; vertical-align: baseline;">Differentiation means tailoring instruction to meet individual needs. Whether teachers differentiate content, process, products, or the learning environment, the use of ongoing assessment and flexible grouping makes this a successful approach to instruction. Teachers can differentiate at least four classroom elements based on student readiness, interest, or learning profile:At its most basic level, differentiation consists of the efforts of teachers to respond to variance among learners in the classroom. Whenever a teacher reaches out to an individual or small group to vary his or her teaching in order to create the best learning experience possible, that teacher is differentiating instruction.  ==Content == Examples of differentiating content at the elementary level include the following:  ==Process == Examples of differentiating process or activities at the elementary level include the following:  ==Products == Examples of differentiating products at the elementary level include the following:  ==Learning environment == Examples of differentiating learning environment at the elementary level include: <span style="color: #da7d37; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[|References] <span style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-color: #cccccc; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; clear: both; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="border: 0px initial initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: 11px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">//Excerpted from: Tomlinson, C. A. (August, 2000). Differentiation of Instruction in the Elementary Grades. ERIC Digest. ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education.//
 * <span style="border: 0px initial initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 35px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px initial initial; color: #da7d37; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Content] – what the student needs to learn or how the student will get access to the information;
 * <span style="border: 0px initial initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 35px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px initial initial; color: #da7d37; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Process] – activities in which the student engages in order to make sense of or master the content;
 * <span style="border: 0px initial initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 35px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px initial initial; color: #da7d37; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Products] – culminating projects that ask the student to rehearse, apply, and extend what he or she has learned in a unit; and
 * <span style="border: 0px initial initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 35px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px initial initial; color: #da7d37; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Learning environment] – the way the classroom works and feels.
 * 1) <span style="border: 0px initial initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 35px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Using reading materials at varying readability levels;
 * 2) <span style="border: 0px initial initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 35px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Putting text materials on tape;
 * 3) <span style="border: 0px initial initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 35px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Using spelling or vocabulary lists at readiness levels of students;
 * 4) <span style="border: 0px initial initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 35px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Presenting ideas through both auditory and visual means;
 * 5) <span style="border: 0px initial initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 35px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Using reading buddies; and
 * 6) <span style="border: 0px initial initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 35px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Meeting with small groups to re-teach an idea or skill for struggling learners, or to extend the thinking or skills of advanced learners.
 * 1) <span style="border: 0px initial initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 35px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Using tiered activities through which all learners work with the same important understandings and skills, but proceed with different levels of support, challenge, or complexity;
 * 2) <span style="border: 0px initial initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 35px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Providing interest centers that encourage students to explore subsets of the class topic of particular interest to them;
 * 3) <span style="border: 0px initial initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 35px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Developing personal agendas (task lists written by the teacher and containing both in-common work for the whole class and work that addresses individual needs of learners) to be completed either during specified agenda time or as students complete other work early;
 * 4) <span style="border: 0px initial initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 35px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Offering manipulatives or other hands-on supports for students who need them; and
 * 5) <span style="border: 0px initial initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 35px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Varying the length of time a student may take to complete a task in order to provide additional support for a struggling learner or to encourage an advanced learner to pursue a topic in greater depth.
 * 1) <span style="border: 0px initial initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 35px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Giving students options of how to express required learning (e.g., create a puppet show, write a letter, or develop a mural with labels);
 * 2) <span style="border: 0px initial initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 35px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Using rubrics that match and extend students' varied skills levels;
 * 3) <span style="border: 0px initial initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 35px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Allowing students to work alone or in small groups on their products; and
 * 4) <span style="border: 0px initial initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 35px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Encouraging students to create their own product assignments as long as the assignments contain required elements.
 * 1) <span style="border: 0px initial initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 35px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Making sure there are places in the room to work quietly and without distraction, as well as places that invite student collaboration;
 * 2) <span style="border: 0px initial initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 35px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Providing materials that reflect a variety of cultures and home settings;
 * 3) <span style="border: 0px initial initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 35px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Setting out clear guidelines for independent work that matches individual needs;
 * 4) <span style="border: 0px initial initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 35px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Developing routines that allow students to get help when teachers are busy with other students and cannot help them immediately; and
 * 5) <span style="border: 0px initial initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4; list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 35px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Helping students understand that some learners need to move around to learn, while others do better sitting quietly (Tomlinson, 1995, 1999; Winebrenner, 1992, 1996).