Theory – What is it? What does it look like? Differentiation Theory – What is it? What does it look like?

Our school We have a more diverse population than ever before and it continues to diversify. Discuss – In what ways does this manifest? What are the implications? (post-its)

Definition Differentiation is classroom practice that looks eyeball to eyeball with the reality that kids differ, and the most effective teachers do whatever it takes to hook the whole range of kids on learning (Carol Ann Tomlinson 2001) Can you think of a time when you did this? What did it look like?

Definitions of differentiation tend to be quite wide so…. Might be helpful to look at – Differentiation is not: Providing 3 different types of worksheets without an aim Giving more able children the challenging work Individual pupil instruction Making sure all the children get everything correct Unmanageable Purely modifying instructions up or down in difficulty Necessarily grouping children by ability groups

Therefore Differentiation is: Blending whole class, group and individual instruction Should consider all children in the class More about quality than quantity Flexible and active before, during and after a lesson Rooted in formative and summative assessment Work which will challenge and make children think

Differentiation takes 4 different forms Content – Instructions and what the children need to learn in the lesson Process – The activity given to the children, the work! Product – Improving the final outcome – rehearsing, applying, extending. What you see at the end of a unit/piece of writing/maths challenge/DT project/etc Learning Environment – The way the classroom works and feels

Examples of content Skilled questioning Understanding instructions or tasks Using a spelling list, vocab list, visual instructions, recorded instructions, etc. Pre-teaching Pairing very able readers with less able readers Group work (at all levels)

Examples of process Tiered activities and tasks Manipulatives and resource support Varying time or conditions of a task Varying process – written, diagrammatic, photographic, pictorial, recorded, modelled, scaffolded, etc

Examples of product Children given options on how to express learning Individual, paired or small group work Responding to marking and feedback Extending the original idea, developing the challenge Use of Bloom’s Taxonomy

Examples of Learning Environment Seating and table arrangements Accessibility to learning walls and visual ques Developing routines and structures of what to do where children need help or what to do when work is complete Catering for different learning styles

Blooms Taxonomy in a nutshell Bloom’s Taxonomy in action in relation to the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears Remember: Describe where Goldilocks lived. Understand: Summarize what the Goldilocks story was about. Apply: Construct a theory as to why Goldilocks went into the house. Analyze: Differentiate between how Goldilocks reacted and how you would react in each story event. Evaluate: Assess whether or not you think this really happened to Goldilocks. Create: Compose a song, skit, poem, or rap to convey the Goldilocks story in a new form. Difficulty Level

Activity Activity in pairs – You should plan differentiation for a Year 3 lesson on perimeter. The basic concept you want the children to grasp by the end of the lesson is to ‘Measure the perimeter of simple 2-D shapes’. You have wide, varying ability in the class: a group of children who are struggling to use a ruler and measure in cms. A group who should be fine though some children in the group might grasp this concept quite quickly. A group who are very able group. Likely to achieve this without a problem and two members of this group are especially gifted in maths and can access year 6 work.