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

2. 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)

3. 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?

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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)

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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.