1. Differentiated Instruction plan
Shelenna McKissick
Post University
EDU 605: Differentiated Instruction
Differentiated Instruction plan

2. Overview of my educational context
John Winthrop School
Bridgeport, CT
Pre-kindergarten Teacher
18 students
4 year-old students
Regular Ed. Inclusive Classroom
Diverse group of students
Suburban learning environment

3. Rationale for differentiated instruction
Building a partnership with each student and their families will help teachers learn more about them and develop a relationship that will help the child learn (Dodge & et. al, 2002).
Linking instruction to student strengths and interest will increase the student’s likelihood of developing a passion for learning and will effectively strengthen their learning abilities by supporting their academic needs.

4. Getting to know my students

5. Pre-learning activity
KWL Chart KWL charts are used to activate and organize prior and gained knowledge on a topic. They foster a greater chance of the students retaining the material and becoming more enthused about the topic. Teachers also have the ability to assess student learning.
Students will explain what they already KNOW, WHAT they want to know, and what they LEARNED about caterpillars.

6. During-learning activity
As a learning activity during whole group guided practice, students will discuss ideas on what happened in the story on The Very Hungry Caterpillar while their ideas are recorded on the chart. Throughout this scaffolding procedure I will ask students what happened at the beginning, middle and end of the story while using sentence strips and pictures/drawings to complete the chart. Students will also learn important vocabulary words (such as first, next, and last) that they will need to become familiar with as we read the story and complete the chart. This activity will assist students in comprehending the story text through story sequencing.

7. During-learning activity continued
Story Sequencing
At the beginning of the discussion, our chart will include some of the following ideas:
By the end of the discussion, our chart will include some of the following ideas:
Beginning
Middle
End
Once upon a time...
The next day...
They lived happily ever after.
Henry was born...
After several months...
In the end...
Beginning
Middle
End
The caterpillar was born and was hungry.
Sunday, Monday 
Each day the caterpillar ate a little more than the day before.
Wednesday
The caterpillar changed into a butterfly.
Friday, Saturday

8. Post- learning activity
Post learning activities are activities that test the student’s level of understanding and acquired skills gained throughout the lesson. Interest and student choice are two powerful motivators that engage student learning (Tomlinson, 2001). The post learning activity I chose to use are graphic organizers (one for struggling learners and the other for average/advanced learners). Students will likely engage in learning and experience a higher level of critical thinking when using graphic organizers.

9. Post-learning activity Continued
Struggling Learners
The lower leveled students will complete this graphic organizer where they have to copy (draw) the pictures that happened at the beginning, middle and end of the story.
Average/Advance Learners
The more advanced leveled students will complete this graphic organizer where they have the option to write, draw, or paste pictures within the graphic organizer that illustrate or symbolize events from the beginning, middle, and end of the story.

10. Content
Content: Known as the “input” in teaching and learning, content involves teachers using concepts, facts, skills and ideas during instruction to ensure student growth and development based on the interest of the learners (Tomlinson, 2001). One way I will vary the content I teach is through flexible grouping. Flexible grouping guarantees student support and an increase in student engagement and progress.
Flexible Grouping

11. process
Process: Involves activities students can use to make sense of the content being introduced. Tomlinson (2001) states, “differentiating process according to student readiness means matching the complexity of a task to a student’s current level of understanding and skill” (p.80). One way I would differentiate the varying process of student learning in order to expand comprehension is to allow students to put on a puppet show.
Puppet Show

12. product Story Sequencing
Product: The product refers to the students demonstrating what they have learned, their ability to master the understanding of the content taught, and acquire the new information (Tomlinson, 2001). One way I would vary the product on this lesson is to allow students to complete a story sequencing activity on The Very Hungry Caterpillar story and on the life cycle of a caterpillar.
Story Sequencing

13. Strategies for differentiated instruction
Students will benefit from completing digital exit slip assignments by giving them the opportunity to share what they learned, expand on their creativity and are likely to become more engaged through the use of technology (Levinson, 2013).
Buddy mentoring helps students to support each other when completing a learning task, it promotes cooperative learning, and builds on student language and social skills. It also gives advanced students the opportunity to assist and guide struggling learners. Ford (2005) believes, it is important for teachers to promote different learning experiences to increase the different level of outcomes.

14. My Future goals
To continue to obtain and apply knowledge on differentiated instruction through helpful websites such as Edutopia, The Teaching Channel, and Tedx Talk.
To incorporate strategies that will support and meet the needs of the learners through the differentiation of lessons and activities.
Sharing and encouraging my pre-kindergarten team to differentiate instruction more often to impact student learning, keep the attention all learners and to meet the needs of our diverse student population.

15. Summary
In moving forward, I plan on improving instructional differentiation within my classroom to better know my students so they will benefit from instructions and activities that fit their needs, interest and learning styles. As differentiated instruction continues to impact student learning today, it is imperative for early childhood educators to diversify their instruction and activities in order to meet the needs of the diverse learners. “Differentiation is not a simple, discrete task to add to your center’s list of things to do, an item to be checked off and forgotten. Differentiation is an enhancement that deepens growth and understanding for every learner. In early childhood education, one size does not fit all” (Gadzikowski, 2016, p.16).

16. References
Beginning-Middle-End. (n.d.). Retrieved from student handouts: 0e43c4b4d22bef94ab jpg
Edutopia (n.d.) Retrieved from
Ford, M. P. (2005). Differentiation through flexible grouping: successfully reaching all readers. Learning Point Associates,
Gadzikowski, A. (2016). Everyday Differentiation: How Administrators Support Differentiation Of Curriculum and Instruction in Early Childhood Classrooms. Exchange ( ),
Gibbons, P. (2002). Scaffolding language, scaffolding learning. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Gray, K. C., & Waggoner, J. E. (2002). Multiple intelligences meet Bloom's taxonomy. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 38(4), 184–187.

17. References continued
Levinson M. (2013). Hit the mark with digital media exit cards.  [Weblog] 
Ogle, J. (2013, February 14). K-W-L Chart for Individual Use. Retrieved from Why So Special:
Teacher Vision. (2016). Sequencing Lesson Plan for The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Retrieved from Teacher Vision:
Tedx (n.d.). Retrieved from
The Teaching Channel (n.d.). Retrieved from
Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixed- ability classrooms. Alexandria, Va: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Tomlinson, C. A., & Imbeau, M. B. (2010). Leading and managing a differentiated classroom. Alexandria, Va: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

18. References continued
WETA Public Broadcasting. (2015). Story Sequence. Retrieved from Reading rockets:
White, L. (n.d.). The Very Hungry Caterpillar- Story Event Graphic Organizer. Retrieved from Teachers Pay Teachers Hungry Caterpillar- Story-Event-Graphic-Organizer