1. Differentiated instruction work session
Special Education Teacher Institute

2. Who are you? Make a creative name tag/tent
You will have 10 minutes to make your own name tag.
Make sure you list hobbies, draw a picture or two, give a self profile,etc.
Don’t forget your name, years of teaching experience, and what you teach.
Introduce yourself and share out with the your table.
Make a name tag tent to display on your table. Fold a corner to make the tent stand better.

3. Please silence your cell phones
Ground Rules
Please silence your cell phones
Please take breaks as needed. Due to our short time together we will not have a scheduled break.
Be open minded! 

4. Think of a Time…
Turn to a partner at your table and talk about a time when you were really engaged in learning…
What did that look like?
What did that sound like?
Why do you think you were so engaged?
Give them about 8-10 mins to discuss. Share with others at your table. Share out.

5. What is differentiation?
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.
-Tomlinson (2001)

6. Teachers Can Differentiate
Content
Process
Product
According to Students’
Go through and talk about each box.
Content – What is being taught. You can differentiate the actual content being presented to students.
Process – How the student learns what is being taught. For example, some students need to interact with the material physically, some might prefer to read a book.
Product – How the student shows what he/she has learned. For example, students can write a paper or they can present information orally.
Readiness – Skill level and background knowledge of child. We try to stay away from the word “ability” because you don’t always know the ability level of a child if their readiness level is low.
Interest – Child’s interest or preferences – these can be interests within the curricular area (for example, they might be interested specifically in learning about folklore in a unit on volcanoes) or in general (for example, knowing a student’s favorite cartoon character could allow you to tie that into an example and might motivate the student)
Learning Profile – This includes learning style (is the student a visual, auditory, tactile, or kinesthetic learner), as well as preferences for environmental (such as level of distraction, exposure to light or noise) or grouping factors (small group, large group, or individual)
Readiness
Interest
Learning
Profile
Adapted from The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners (Tomlinson, 1999)

7. So two thirds of the kids are wasting their time.
Did you know…
When a teacher tries to teach something to the whole entire class at the same time, chances are, one-third of the kids already know it; one-third will get it; and the remaining third won’t.
Lillian Katz
So two thirds of the kids are wasting their time.
Very interesting statistic. Emphasize the numbers…one-third know it, one-third will get it, and the remaining third WILL NOT
Willis, S (November 1993). “Teaching Young Children: Educators Seek ‘Developmental Appropriateness.” Curriculum Update, 1-8.

8. Pyramid of Learning 10 % READING 20% HEARING 30% SEEING 40%
DISCUSS WITH OTHERS
70%
90%
TALK/WRITE OR DO/APPLY

9. We also know…
People learn differently—we have various learning styles, learning strengths, abilities, and interests.
We also learn alike in that we need to find meaning and make sense of what we study. We learn best from work that demands we stretch ourselves, but does not intimidate us.

10. We know from research…
Students learn 90% of what they say or discuss as they complete an activity.
Drawing figures helped improve critical thinking skills in learning-disabled children.
Play is the brain’s link from the inner world to reality and the foundation of creativity.
Mind mapping engages all the brain’s functions and captures the total picture.
Laughter and humor maintain students attention, reduce mental and physical tension, relieve stress and make the school day shorter.

11. Differentiated or Different?
Have them read the article from Reading Rockets. Discuss at their tables

12. Flexible Grouping Should be purposeful: Implementation: Cautions:
may be based on student interest, learning profile and/or readiness
may be based on needs observed during learning times
geared to accomplish curricular goals (K-U-D)
Implementation:
purposefully plan using information collected – interest surveys, learning profile inventories, exit cards, quick writes, observations, etc.
list groups on an overhead; place in folders or mailboxes
“on the fly” as invitational groups
Cautions:
avoid turning groups into tracking situations
provide opportunities for students to work within a variety of groups
practice moving into group situations and assuming roles within the group.
Talk about how groups are not just random. There should be purpose in your grouping.

13. GRAFITTI FACTS
Discuss at your table for 2 minutes what is differentiated instruction.
Pick someone from your table to go Graffiti on the chart what you agree to share.

14. Curriculum should be differentiated in three areas:
The Key
The Key to a differentiated classroom is that all students are regularly offered CHOICES and students are matched with tasks compatible with their individual learner profiles.
Curriculum should be differentiated in three areas:
1. Content:
Multiple option for taking in information
2. Process:
Multiple options for making sense of the ideas
3. Product:
Multiple options for expressing what they know

15. MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
Logical-
Mathematical
Naturalist
Musical-
Rhythmic
Visual-
Spatial
Bodily-Kinesthetic
Interpersonal
Verbal-Linguistic
Intrapersonal
Learning Styles
VISUAL
AUDITORY
KINESTHETIC 15

16. -CHOICE- The Great Motivator!
Requires children to be aware of their own readiness, interests, and learning profiles.
Students have choices provided by the teacher. (YOU are still in charge of crafting challenging opportunities for all kiddos – NO taking the easy way out!)
Use choice across the curriculum: writing topics, content writing prompts, self-selected reading, contract menus, math problems, spelling words, product and assessment options, seating, group arrangement, ETC . . .
GUARANTEES BUY-IN AND ENTHUSIASM FOR LEARNING!

17. Choice Boards
Choice Boards are a great way to have the students have choices in there learning.

18. Purpose of Choice Boards
Homework
After Reading or Problem Solving
Learn a vocabulary word
Projects for a certain topic or book
Presentation or Demonstration
Independent Work
Demonstrate a Skill

19. Primary Consideration:
What is your learning target?
What must ALL students:
Know
Understand
be able to Do

20. Fractions Choice Board
Learning Goals: Students will…
KNOW: Fractions show parts of a whole and can be expressed numerically.
UNDERSTAND: Fractions represent equal sized portions or fair shares.
Be able to DO: Use different materials to demonstrate what the fraction looks like.
Turville, J. (2007) Differentiating by Student Interest

21. Turville, J. (2007) Differentiating by Student Interest

22. Insects Choice Board Learning Goals: Students will…
KNOW: The characteristics of insects.
UNDERSTAND: Insects have particular characteristics and parts and are different from other kinds of bugs.
Be able to DO: Create a product that demonstrates an understanding of characteristics that are particular to insects.
Turville, J. (2007) Differentiating by Student Interest

23. Turville, J. (2007) Differentiating by Student Interest

24. THINK-TAC-TOE Book Report Differentiation Strategy: STUDENT CHOICE
Draw a picture of the main character.
Perform a play that shows the conclusion of a story.
Write a song about one of the main events.
Write a poem about two main events in the story.
Make a poster that shows the order of events in the story.
Dress up as your favorite character and perform a speech telling who you are.
Create a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the introduction to the closing.
Write two paragraphs about the main character.
Write two paragraphs about the setting.

25. Structures, Processes and Responses of Plants Tic-Tac-Toe for Student Choice Activities
1. Draw some type of visual that differentiates the two types of reproduction in flowering plants
2. Write a short essay explaining the structures flowering plants have for defense.
3. Search the Internet for information about a plant’s response to external stimuli. Print out what you find and summarize your information into your own outline.
4. Create a lesson plan on the life cycle of a flowering plant and teach this lesson to the class.
5. Write a newspaper article highlighting the poisonous plants common to South Carolina (i.e. Mississippi)
6. Write a short story about the life cycle of an apple seed.
7. Create a Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting vascular and nonvascular plants.
8. Design a poster shows the parts of a flowering plant that function for survival.
9. Make a collage of various organisms from the five kingdoms. Label and give the characteristics of each kingdom.
Name: ________________________ I/We choose activities #____, #____, #____.
Today’s Date _________________________ Due Date ___________________

26. TIERED ACTIVITIES

27. WHAT CAN BE TIERED? ASSIGNMENTS ACTIVITIES CENTERS & STATIONS
LEARNING CONTRACTS
ASSESSMENTS
MATERIALS
EXPERIMENTS
WRITING PROMPTS
HOMEWORK
With a little thought, almost any classroom activity can be tiered.
Two or three tiers is usually best for implementation. However, a teacher who is experienced and comfortable with the strategy may have more tiers if it facilitates the instruction or better meets the needs of the students.

28. What is Tiered Instruction?
By keeping the focus of the
activity the same, but
providing routes of access at
varying degrees of difficulty,
the teacher maximizes the
likelihood that:
1) each student comes away with
pivotal skills & understandings
2) each student is appropriately
challenged.
Teachers use tiered activities so that all students focus on
essential understandings and skills but at different levels of complexity, abstractness, and open-endedness.
No student should look at the task and say to themselves, : I guess I’m in the dumb group.”
The key to developing good tiered activities is to design them so that they are just above the level of the learner. This helps students stretch and build from where they are. Challenging and supporting students at their levels of understanding will help them become successful learners.

29. OPTIONS FOR DIFFERENTIATION OF INSTRUCTION
To Differentiate Instruction By Readiness
To Differentiate Instruction By Interest
To Differentiate Instruction by Learning Profile
equalizer adjustments (complexity, open-endedness, etc.
add or remove scaffolding
vary difficulty level of text & supplementary materials
adjust task familiarity
vary direct instruction by small group
adjust proximity of ideas to student experience
encourage application of broad concepts & principles to student interest areas
give choice of mode of expressing learning
use interest-based mentoring of adults or more expert-like peers
give choice of tasks and products (including student designed options)
give broad access to varied materials & technologies
create an environment with flexible learning spaces and options
allow working alone or working with peers
use part-to-whole and whole-to-part approaches
Vary teacher mode of presentation (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, concrete, abstract)
adjust for gender, culture, language differences.
useful instructional strategies:
- tiered activities
Tiered products
compacting
learning contracts
tiered tasks/alternative forms of assessment
interest centers
interest groups
enrichment clusters
group investigation
choice boards
MI options
internet mentors
multi-ability cooperative tasks
Triarchic options
4-MAT
CA Tomlinson, UVa ‘97

30. Just a different approach
Think dots
Just a different approach

31. STUDENTS USE THINKDOT’s
Students begin ThinkDots by sitting with other students
using activity cards of the same color.
Students roll the die and complete the activity on the
card that corresponds to the dots thrown on the die.
If the first roll is an activity that the student does not want
to do a second roll is allowed.
Teachers can create an Activity Sheet to correspond to
the lesson for easy recording and management.

32. THINKDOTS Suggestions:
Use colored paper to indicate different readiness
levels, interests or learning styles.
Have students work in small groups.
Let students choose which activities- for example:
choose any three or have students choose just one to
work on over a number of days.
After students have worked on activities individually,
have them come together in groups by levels, interest
or learning style to synthesize.

33. Differentiated Lesson Plan

34. We do not want our students to feel like this…

35. Let’s Get to work!
You have time now to work as you please. Take this time to work on Choice Boards, Tiered Activities, a Differentiated Lesson Plan, or whatever will benefit you the most.
There are some examples for you to look at around the room and supplies for you to use.

36. Walkaway thought… - Carol Ann Tomlinson
“In the end, all learners need your energy, your heart, and your mind. They have that in common because they are young humans. How they need you, however, differs. Unless we understand and respond to those differences, we fail many learners.”
- Carol Ann Tomlinson

37. Instructional Facilitators with the Exceptional Education Department
Thanks for your time
and attention!
We hope you enjoyed the presentation and learned something you can take back to your classroom/school!
Instructional Facilitators with the Exceptional Education Department

38. Kristi Coggin kristi. coggin@mnps. org www. mnpsteacher
Kristi Coggin