Meeting the Needs of All Learners

“…differentiating instruction means … that students have multiple options for taking in information, making sense of ideas, and expressing what they learn. In other words, a differentiated classroom provides different avenues to acquiring content, to processing or making sense of ideas, and to developing products so that each student can learn effectively.” Tomlinson 2001

 Every student has an opportunity to succeed;  A single experience with success is enough for a student to approach new learning situations with confidence and motivation  Opportunity is there to discover personal strengths and show multiple intelligences  Less frustration due to confusion or boredom Benefits For the Teacher  More sense of control over each student’s learning progress  A greater understanding of each students ability to learn  The reward of having a classroom that allows equal opportunity for success for all students

 The Pre-Assessment (formative assessment) before the actual lesson planning  Gathering information about what the students already know, and what they need to learn  The Pre-Assessment paints a picture of the number of students who have developed concept mastery, who show some understanding, or who show a need for additional focus or instruction  This information will help determine how many levels of a lesson need to be prepared, or how one could plan a lesson that is neither above nor below the capabilities of the students

 To meet a large variety of student needs instructional strategies should be differentiated.  Common Task with Multiple Variations  Open-ended Questions  Differentiation Using Multiple Entry Points  Tiered Activities  Anchor Activities

 A common problem-solving task, and adjust it for different levels by offering multiple variations.  For many problems involving computations, you can insert multiple sets of numbers.  Students tend to select the numbers that are challenging enough for them while giving them the chance to be successful in finding a solution.

 Marian has a new job. The distance she travels to work each day is {5, 94, or 114} kilometers. How many kilometers does she travel to work in {6, 7, or 9} days?

Outcome D2 – Recognize and demonstrate that objects of the same area can have different perimeters.  Materials: colored tiles and centimeter grid paper  Differentiation: the choice will be the number of tiles they select.  Choose 6, 12, or 20 tiles. Model as many rectangles as you can using all of your tiles. Draw each rectangle on your centimeter grid paper. Record both the area and perimeter for each figure.  Do all rectangles with the same area have the same perimeter?  Additional extensions :  Determine the greatest possible perimeter.  Determine the least possible perimeter

 Choose an outcome from your curriculum and create a task with multiple variations for your students.

Open-ended questions have more than one acceptable answer and can be approached by more than one way of thinking. Area – Grade 5 -6 I want to make a vegetable garden in the shape of a rectangle. I have 200 feet of fence for my garden. What might the area of the garden be?

 Well designed open-ended problems provide most students with an obtainable yet challenging task.  Open-ended tasks allow for differentiation of product.  Products vary in quantity and complexity depending on the student’s understanding.

1. Identify a topic. 2. Think of a typical question. 3. Adjust it to make an open question. Example: 1. Operations with decimals: Money 2. How much change would you get back if you used a toonie to buy Caesar salad and juice? 3. I bought lunch at the cafeteria and got a few coins back in change. How much did I start with and what did I buy? Today’s Specials Green Salad$1.15 Caesar Salad$1.20 Veggies and Dip$1.10 Fruit Plate$1.15 Macaroni$1.35 Muffin65¢ Milk45¢ Juice45¢ Water55¢

 Use your curriculum document or Math Makes Sense to find examples of open-ended questions.  Find a closed-question from Math Makes Sense or from your curriculum document.  Change it to an Open-ended Question  Be prepared to share one of your questions.

 Multiple Entry Points are provided through diverse activities that tap into students’ particular inclinations and favored way of representing knowledge.  Learning styles for example.

Based on Five Representations:  Concrete  Real World  Pictures  Symbols  language Based on Multiple Intelligences:  Mathematical/ Logical  Bodily kinesthetic  Linguistic  Spatial

3D Geometry

Using the outcomes for decimals, create tasks with multiple entry points. Consider: 1)the five Representations: real world (context), concrete, pictures, oral/written, and symbolic 2)Multiple Intelligences: logical/mathematical, bodily kinesthetic, linguistic, spatial.

 What other ways can a teacher provide multiple entry points for the students?

Teachers use tiered activities so that all students focus on essential understandings and skills but at different levels of complexity, abstractness, and open-endedness. By keeping the focus of the activity the same, but providing routes of access at varying degrees of difficulty, the teacher maximizes the likelihood that:  each student comes away with pivotal skills & understandings  each student is appropriately challenged.

Key Concept or Understanding struggling some understanding understand Reaching back Readiness levels Reaching ahead

Our class is going to make decorative boxes during art class to sell at the spring fair. Your group is going to decorate boxes that are 4x3x2cm. You are going to cover them with the wrapping paper provided. How many of these boxes can you cover? Explain your answer. Our class is going to decorate 20 boxes that are 4x3x2cm. We are going to cover them with wrapping paper. You can buy the paper in a roll or in sheets. What is the least amount of paper we should buy(roll, sheets, or rolls and sheets)? Explain your answer. Our class is going to decorate boxes that have a volume of 24 cubic cm. What size boxes could we have? We are going to cover them with wrapping paper. You can buy the paper in a roll or in sheets. What is the least amount of paper we should buy to cover two boxes of each size? Explain your answer. Dacey and Lynch. Math for All: Differentiating Instruction, Grades 3-5

Adjust---  Level of Complexity  Amount of Structure  Materials  Time/Pace  Number of Steps  Form of Expression  Level of Dependence  Concrete or abstract

Create an on level task and adjust up and down Tier the task based on Readiness level On Level Task Below Level Task Above Level Task Adjusting the levels

Learning is a process that never ends.

Provide meaningful work for students when they finish an assignment or project or when they first enter the class. Provide ongoing tasks that tie to the content and instruction. Free up the classroom teacher to work with other groups of students or individuals.

Anchor activities are ongoing assignments that students can work on independently throughout a unit, a grading period or longer.

Learning Packets Activity Box Learning/Interest Centers Puzzles Listening Stations Research Questions or Projects Commercial Kits and Materials Journals or Learning Logs Silent Reading (Content Related)

Teach the whole class to work independently and quietly on the anchor activity 1/3 work on anchor activity 1/3 work on different activity 1/3 work with teacher Half the class works on the activity Half the class works on a different activity

 Have clear expectations  Tasks are taught and practiced prior to independent work  Students should be accountable for behavior and task completion  Rubrics  Checklists  Portfolio  Student – teacher conferences  Peer review

 The Little Owl Daycare Centre needs a new playground.  Design the playground.  Here are the guidelines:  It must have the shape of a rectangle  It is enclosed by a fence  There are sections for 4 or 5 pieces of equipment  The sections need to be far enough apart for the children to be safe  Draw and label your design on grid paper and find how much fencing the playground needs.

Difficulty Level Total All numbers must be used along with any operation to reach the total 4 ÷ 4 = 1 1 x 12 = x 2 = 24

 To support the large variety of learners in your classroom your instruction will be differentiated.  Select a unit of study and prepare some tasks that allow for a variety differentiation instructional strategies.  Common Task with Multiple Variations  Open-ended Questions  Differentiation Using Multiple Entry Points  Tiered Activities  Anchor Activities