Observing & Recording Children To Plan for Differentiated Instruction- Small Groups Teacher’s Role Ch. 4 Creative Curriculum

Observing Watch children for skills and interests Note learning styles, activities they enjoy, activities they avoid Knowing students interests, abilities and skills on the developmental continuum will help you differentiate for individuals and groups

Purpose of Small Group Time Introduce a new concept Help students learn new skills or practice skills Introduce new materials to the children Scaffold their learning to the next level What else? Discuss

Successful Small Group Activities Short- Less than 10 minutes Brief introduction Teacher models for children Teacher observes an imitates children using the materials Teacher follows children’s lead, comments, supports and encourages children’s efforts

Successful Small Group Activities All children have materials to use Children work at their own developmental level Teacher observes how the children use the materials and extend their learning with open ended questions (why, how, I wonder what will happen if…) Children observe each other and share ideas and problem solving strategies

Successful Small Group Activities Children learn new ways to use the materials by watching others. Skills relate to multiple objectives are addressed during the activity: patterning, one- to-one correspondence, counting, classifying, and problem solving.

When do we do small groups? Groups can be done during scheduled daily small group time Flexible groups can be pulled during other times of the day

Ideas for Small Group Activities Retell familiar stories with props, puppets, etc Introduce a new material, game, activity or computer software Science exploration (eye droppers, mixing colors, natural objects and tweezers, magnifiers, etc) What else?

Flexible Grouping Activity Abilities Interests

Planning for Small Groups Look at your data What do you want to teach to the whole group vs. a small group Would it be better to introduce that to 2 smaller groups? Keep children‘s learning styles, interests and skills in mind while planning for small groups

Successful Small Groups It is important to keep in mind the goal of having small groups and being very deliberate, specific, intentional in your planning to spark curiosity, plan for children's interests and meet the learning needs of all your students.