Check out "The Differentiator" for a great menu of differentiation possibilities you can apply to any subject.
The Differentiator
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
Low Prep DIfferentiated Literature
This is a student-centered approach to a literature study. It works in a class where students are reading the same novel and it also works in a class where students are reading different novels in book groups or different novels related to a common theme. Students can even participate and benefit from the activities on some level even if they haven't read as far as the scheduled assignments call for. It's so simple I almost feel like I'm cheating when I use it in my classroom.
Here's what the students do. They choose three quotes from the novel that "speak to them." We discuss what that means in class. They also write three discussion questions after talking about what makes a good discussion question versus a comprehension question and looking at some examples and non-examples of good discussion questions. If students are not all reading the same novel, they will have to provide some context for the quote and they may need more guidance to write discussion questions that are thematic or universal rather than specific to one story. Then, as fits your calendar, the students share their quotes and discussion questions in class over several days. I used clock partners to make sure they were talking to different students and getting different perspectives on the novel. This requires a little flexibility if a clock partner is absent or unprepared, but it is very doable. Students without a partner remained standing and found a discussion partner that way. I also stepped in as a clock partner at times.
What makes this differentiated content? Students can read books at their ability level. Students can write questions at their cognitive level. Students who struggle with written expression can express themselves orally. Students can pair with students at different levels of understanding. Students who haven't quite completed the book can choose quotes and write questions from the part they have read and will hopefully become more motivated to finish the book by participating in the conversations in class. Students get lots of input and lots of practice before completing a summative assessment.
I used this approach with To Kill A Mockingbird. Some students read an alternate novel, Words by Heart by Ouida Sebastyen, an easier book with remarkably parallel elements. It worked like a charm!
Here's what the students do. They choose three quotes from the novel that "speak to them." We discuss what that means in class. They also write three discussion questions after talking about what makes a good discussion question versus a comprehension question and looking at some examples and non-examples of good discussion questions. If students are not all reading the same novel, they will have to provide some context for the quote and they may need more guidance to write discussion questions that are thematic or universal rather than specific to one story. Then, as fits your calendar, the students share their quotes and discussion questions in class over several days. I used clock partners to make sure they were talking to different students and getting different perspectives on the novel. This requires a little flexibility if a clock partner is absent or unprepared, but it is very doable. Students without a partner remained standing and found a discussion partner that way. I also stepped in as a clock partner at times.
What makes this differentiated content? Students can read books at their ability level. Students can write questions at their cognitive level. Students who struggle with written expression can express themselves orally. Students can pair with students at different levels of understanding. Students who haven't quite completed the book can choose quotes and write questions from the part they have read and will hopefully become more motivated to finish the book by participating in the conversations in class. Students get lots of input and lots of practice before completing a summative assessment.
I used this approach with To Kill A Mockingbird. Some students read an alternate novel, Words by Heart by Ouida Sebastyen, an easier book with remarkably parallel elements. It worked like a charm!
Monday, April 9, 2012
Group Work and Learning Preferences
Sometimes our agenda in assigning a group project is precisely to help those students who find it challenging to develop the cooperative skills they will need to be successful in the workplace and the social world. If that is the case, it is important to structure the work clearly, provide defined roles for group members, monitor and support the group process during the project, and make it clear how the project will be evaluated based on individual and/or group effort and results.
If teaching and supporting cooperative group learning is not the main agenda, then I think it is important to offer an alternative, independent project as a differentiated option. As long as the learning targets for the assignment are clear to you, there will be another way for students to demonstrate their skills. Here's an example of a culminating project my students are just finishing for our Civil War integrated history and language arts unit. After studying the historical facts of the Civil War and reading Paul Fleischman's Bull Run as a model of writing from multiple perspectives, the majority of students opted to write a cooperative group novel focused on one significant event or aspect of the war (Antietam, Andersonville Prison, Siege of Vicksburg, etc.) They will be scored for research skills, historical knowledge, narrative writing, writing craft (word choice, voice), conventions, and group cooperation. As an independent alternate project, students are creating multimedia digital narratives focused on any of the focus topics used for the novels. The same learning targets are scored, with the single substitution of technology use for group cooperation. Just about 10% of my students opted for this project, perhaps because they like to play with computer applications, perhaps because they strongly dislike group work. Regardless of their reasons, they are more motivated and more satisfied than if they had been shoehorned into the group project.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Differentiation with Vocabulary
Differentiation with Vocabulary
As
a former Latin teacher, I love teaching vocabulary in my Humanities
classroom. Words are powerful,
words are interesting, and words can be wildly entertaining. I want my students
to maintain and utilize an academic vocabulary in order to help them in high
school, college, and beyond. My goal is that my students remember the words
well beyond next week’s quiz.
I
use Jane Bell Kiester’s The Chortling Bard as my grammar and vocabulary
warm-up to start each class. Specifically, I use the warm-ups from her version
of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The vocabulary is rich and a
good mix of words. Many of my students perform well on assessments, but I want
all the students to perform well and also retain the information after the
assessment. I’ve been varying the
processing activities and differentiating groups based on previous scores of
vocabulary assessments and word choice in their writing. Here is a sampling of
what I’ve been doing:
|
Activities for not yet proficient
students
|
Activities for on-target students
|
Activities for TAG/highly capable
Students
|
|
1. Making flash cards
2. Quizzing with a partner
3. Drawing/ graphic representation of words
4. Practice with assessments from previous years
5. Small group check-in with teacher
|
1. Writing pseudo-assessments: true or false,
fill-in-the-blank, matching, synonym and antonyms (I sometimes use their
questions on the assessments)
2. Exploring the parts of speech with vocabulary
3. Small group vocabulary charades
|
1. Writing linear arrays[1]
2. Writing analogies
3. Writing stories with vocabulary words
4. Compare/
contrast words
5. Word families
6. Etymologies
|
For
whole group instruction, I use vocabulary graphic organizers[2],
class discussion with emphasis on root words and prefixes/suffixes and visual
representations of vocabulary words.
Often I’ll type the vocabulary list into Google Images search and we’ll
discuss why a particular image came up. Caveat:
do not do this “live” in front of students. Even with the usual school safety
settings in place, I’ve seen some unseemly images! Making your own vocabulary
puzzles is another great idea- I use crossword puzzles because they are
self-checking[3]. If you have
a small class and/or enthusiastic class, you can do whole class charades with
vocabulary. I’ve used “Mad Libs” as a practice activity for vocabulary, and
students love it.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
"Old School" Differentiation
Educational Leadership devoted an issue to the theme "The Challenge of Individual Difference."-
In December of 1953!
http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el_195312_washburne.pdf
In December of 1953!
http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el_195312_washburne.pdf
Differentiation Resource
ASCD recently published online a differentiated instruction theme issue of the ASCD Express:
http://www.ascd.org/ascd-express/vol4/425-toc.aspx
http://www.ascd.org/ascd-express/vol4/425-toc.aspx
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