Tiered Instruction In Pre-K Presented by: Tina McClanahan CMS Pre-k Literacy Facilitator January 2010

What is Tiered Instruction? Tiered instruction is a differentiation strategy that blends assessment and instruction. Tiered instruction aligns complexity to the readiness levels and learning needs of students.

What we call differentiation is not a recipe for teaching. It is not an instructional strategy. It is not what a teacher does when he or she has time. It is a way of thinking about teaching and learning. It is a philosophy. Carol Ann Tomlinson

Differentiated Instruction Suggests Teachers can challenge all learners by…  Providing materials and tasks on the standard at varied levels of difficulty  With varying degrees of scaffolding  Through multiple instructional groups

Teachers use tiered activities so that all students focus on essential understandings and skills but at different levels of complexity, abstractness, and open-endedness.

Guidelines for Tiered Instruction Ensure that group membership is flexible. Plan the number of levels most appropriate for instruction. Recognize that complexity is relative. Promote high-level thinking in each tier. Provide teacher support at every tier.

Quantity*Time*Level of Support* Input* Alternate Goals Difficulty Participation* Output* Substitute Curriculum Adapt the way instruction is delivered to the learner. Adapt the number of items that the learner is expected to learn or complete. Adapt the time allotted and allowed for learning, task completion, or testing. Increase the amount of personal assistance to keep the student on task or to reinforce or prompt use of specific skills. Enhance adult-student relationships; use physical space and environmental structure. Adapt the skill level, problem type, or the rules on how the learner may approach the work. Adapt how the student can respond to instruction. Adapt the extent to which a learner is actively involved in the task. For example: In geography, have a student hold the globe, while others point out locations. Ask the student to lead a group. Have the student turn the pages while you are reading to the group. Adapt the goals or outcome expectations while using the same materials. When routinely utilized, this is only for students with moderate to severe disabilities. For example: In social studies, expect a student to be able to locate the colors of the states on a map, while other students learn to locate each state and name each capital. Provide different instruction and materials to meet a learner’s individual goals. When routinely utilized, this is only for students with moderate to severe disabilities. For example: During a language test a student is learning toileting skills with an aide. Nine Types of Curriculum Adaptations

Quantity 1:1 Counting: DMC Dump It Out (U1 W1 D4-5; W2 D1) –Tier 1: 1-6 –Tier 2: 1-10 –Tier 3: 1-15

Quantity Rhyming: (U1 W4 D1-3) –Tier 1: 3 objects-1 pair 1 rhyme at a time Several sets using same rhyme –Tier 2: 4 pictures-2 pairs One rhyme is very familiar, other rhyme may be new or IP Several sets using same rhymes –Tier 3: 6+ pictures/pairs

Quantity Sorting: (U3 W1 D1-3) –Tier 1: Sort by one attribute –Tier 2: Sort by two attributes Color Size Shape –Tier 3: Sort and Share

Level of Support Questions –Tier 1: Knowledge Literal Answers can be found directly in the book –Tier 2: Comprehension, Application, Analysis Compare and Contrast Sequence Real and Make-believe –Tier 3: Synthesis, Evaluation Open ended No one right answer Logical response

Input Use different visual aids Enlarge text Plan more concrete examples Provide hands-on activities Place students in cooperative groups Pre-teach key concepts or terms before the lesson

Difficulty Puzzles –Puzzles with pieces separate from each other –Puzzles with # pieces touching that has ‘guide’ lines or picture on the board –Puzzles with # pieces touching without ‘guide’ lines or pictures on the board –Puzzles with # interlocking pieces

Difficulty Vocabulary Tier 1 WordsTier 2 Words airplane box present jet carton gift

Difficulty Letter learning –Letters in their name –Letters in their friends/families names –Letters that are not visually similar –Letters that have similar strokes (visually similar) Letter learning materials –Magnetic letters –Tactile letters –Letter cards

Difficulty Letter Identification: Upper Case BINGO (U1 W3 D3-5) –First letters of students in classroom –First letters of students in classroom common letters that are not visually similar –Commercial BINGO boards using all letters

Difficulty Alphabet Letter Matching (U1 W1-3) –Tier 1: Students match letters using only those provided (Equal sets 8 cards/4 sets—not visually similar) –Tier 2: Students match letters using only letters provided plus two random letters (8 cards/4 sets + two extras—not visually similar) –Tier 3: Students match letters using random sets of letters (12 cards/6 sets)

Output Listening Center –Draw picture –Draw picture and label –Draw picture and write Writing –Content –Conventions

Give it a try… recorderfacilitatormaterials managerreportertime keeperChoose a recorder, a facilitator, a materials manager, a reporter and a time keeper. Using the materials/activity provided, talk with your group and determine how the materials/activity might be tiered from the most basic level to the most difficult. (3+ examples) NOTE: You may choose to reference materials that are not on the table, but you must include those you have been provided.

Tiered instruction evolves from teachers’ assessments and decisions regarding how to modulate tasks around the combinations of factors they select that influence complexity.

Resources tiered/index.htmlhttp:// tiered/index.html nts/curriculum/diff/tiered_files/frame.htmhttp:// nts/curriculum/diff/tiered_files/frame.htm

Tiered Instruction In Pre-K Presented by: Tina McClanahan CMS Pre-k Literacy Facilitator January 2010

Planning for Small Group with Teiring Table 1Table 1—(yellow) Pg. 16: Unit 3 Week 1 Days 4-5; Week 2 Day 1: The Shape BINGO Game Table 2Table 2—(yellow) Pg. 96: Unit 3 Week 3 Days 3-5: Alphabet Go Fish Table 3Table 3—(yellow) Pg. 121: Unit 3 Week 4 Days 1-3: Clay Experiment Book Table 4Table 4—(green) Pg. 16: Unit 4 Week 1 Days 1-3: Color and Shape BINGO Table 5Table 5—(green) Pg. 91: Unit 4 Week 3 Days 3-5: Naming and Labeling Paint Colors Table 6Table 6—(green) Pg. 92: Unit 4 Week 3 Days 3-5: Matching Color Words and Color Swatches

Five Components of Differentiated Instruction Pre-Assessment-Individual Differences Environment Content Process Product/Assessment