Differentiation in secondary and post-16 Science? Charlotte Hendey Jumeirah College

When we teach the same thing to all students at the same time; –1/3 already know it –1/3 get it easily –1/3 never will So 2/3 of the students are wasting their time

What are DSIB looking for?

Differences? What are the differences between students? Which of these differences can we take account of at classroom level? –Prior knowledge –Skill –Learning rate –Cognitive ability –Learning style –Motivation, attitude and effort

Differentiation Gifted &Talented English Additional Language Special Educationa l Needs

Special educational needs students often struggle in science due to the subject specific language.

Articulate Students have to describe a word so team mates can guess the word. Support: Give taboo words that students are not allowed to use when describing the word or allow students to draw instead of use words. Extend: Students have to write definitions for each word.

Atom Element Compound Mixture Chromatography Distillation Electrolysis Bond Pick 5 of the words below and describe them so your partner guesses the word.

Personal glossary Students have a section in the back of their exercise books to make their own glossary. Words can be entered as directed by the teacher or when a student encounters new words.

What am I? Students are given a post-it note and stick it on their head/written on the whiteboard (and back to back) students ask Yes/No questions. They have 3 questions then have to make a guess. What am I?

Compound

Give students a list of keywords at the beginning of a topic. Differentiate: Students could write the definitions as they meet the new terms throughout the teaching of the topic. For less able students give the definitions separately and they can match them up as they meet them.

Group work Group students according to ability and have different tasks for each group, or provide support material for less able groups. Have mixed ability groups and assign roles. This allows students to work to their strengths or improve their weak areas.

Group A 1234 Group B 1234 Group C 1234 Group D 1234 Market place : Start with mixed ability groups but number students according to ability

No. 1s 1111 No. 4s 4444 No. 3s 3333 No. 2s 2222 Market place: Students team up in number groups. Work can be given appropriate to ability.

Group A 1234 Group B 1234 Group C 1234 Group D 1234 Market place : Re-join original groups and share information.

Manager  Distributes responsibilities to team members  Monitors progress of team mates  Manages activities, discussion and time  Helps team mates with their tasks, as necessary Artist  Select a small number of key images and draw the images out  Label images and add necessary descriptions Wordsworth  Identify key terms  Produce flash cards or another revision aid linked to terminology Public Speaker  Prepare a brief presentation (2-3 minutes) for classmates using Artist’s images and Wordsworth’s key terms from team-mates. Clairvoyant  Predict 10+ questions that would be asked on an exam on the topic.  Give correct answer / mark scheme for each question. Roles: To produce revision material

Roles: For experiments Project manager: co-ordinating or leading the method Safety Officer: Checking all students are working safely Data collector: Writing table and entering results Lab technician: In charge of materials

Questioning

Write 5 questions about chemical reactions. Put each question on a separate post-it note. 30 seconds Questioning

The Challenge Pyramid Bloom’s Taxonomy

Stick your questions on the Bloom’s Taxonomy sheet based on the level of your question Where are most of the post-it notes? Questioning

Write students name on a lolly stick Colour code the lolly sticks based on ability Pick a lolly stick whenever you ask a question Differentiating questions

Recall - 1 Understanding- 2 Applying - 3 Analysing - 4 Evaluating - 5 &6 Creating - 7 A ‘Bloom’s lesson’ Write 7 questions based on Bloom’s taxonomy Students start on question 1 When they have answered and checked a question is correct they put a post-it note with their name on the corresponding part of the triangle. They make their way up the pyramid by answering increasingly challenging questions. Have prompts if needed

You say ‘class’ they say ‘yes’ You say ‘teach’ they say ‘ok’ Hand and eye point – really key bit of information. Pupils have to repeat the information from the beginning with each new point. Power teaching

The Haber Process Nitrogen + Hydrogen Ammonia

Differentiating power teaching Support: Give any support staff a copy of the script Give students keywords Allow students to do diagrams on a white board Give a writing frame Extension Supply additional information for students analyse using the information covered Give questions that can be answered as the power teaching progresses

Any questions?