D if f e r e n t ia t e d In s t r u c t io n
O v e r v ie w
Hialeah Gardens High School
October 28, 2010
Participants will be able to:
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Identify ways instruction can be differentiated
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Identify instructional practices that can
be used to differentiate content, process, and
product
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What is your definition of Differentiated
Instruction?
Share your definitions with others at your
table. After sharing create one definition of
Differentiated Instruction per table.
Share definition with the whole group.
“…differentiated instruction refers to a
systematic approach to planning
curriculum and instruction for
academically diverse learners. It is a way of
thinking about the classroom with the dual
goals of honoring each student’s learning
needs and maximizing each student’s
learning capacity.”
~ Carol Ann Tomlinson, 2003
Differentiation in Practice: A Resource Guide
for Differentiating Curriculum Grades 5-9, p. 3
Principles of Differentiation
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Students differ in experience, readiness, interest,
intelligences, language, culture, gender, and mode of
learning.
Educators must meet each student at his or her starting
point and ensure substantial growth during each school
term.
Teachers that ignore student differences are unlikely to
maximize potential in any student who differs
significantly from the “norm.”
Teachers need to make modifications in instruction for
students rather than assume students must modify
themselves to fit the curriculum.
Teachers should always keep in mind that human brains
learn best when curriculum is highly interesting and
highly relevant.
~ Carol Ann Tomlinson, 2001
The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners,
is a teachers’ response to learners’ needs
guided by general principles of differentiation,
such as
respectful tasks
ongoing assessment and adjustment
flexible grouping
~ Carol Ann Tomlinson, 1999
The Differentiated Classroom, p. 15
Content
Process
Product
according to students’
Readiness
Interests
Learning Profile
through a range of instructional and management practices such as
multiple intelligences
jigsaw
taped material
anchor activities
varying organizers
varied texts
varied supplementary materials
literature circles
tiered lessons
tiered centers
tiered products
learning contracts
small-group instruction
group instruction
orbitals
independent study
4MAT
varied questioning strategies
interest centers
interest groups
varied homework
compacting
varied journal prompts
complex instruction
~ Carol Ann Tomlinson, 1999
The Differentiated Classroom, p. 15
“Content is what the students learn and the
materials or mechanisms through which
learning is accomplished.”
“It is what a student should come to know
(facts), understand (concepts and principles),
and be able to do (skills) as a result of a given
assignment of study (a lesson, learning
experience, a unit).”
~ Carol Ann Tomlinson, 1999
The Differentiated Classroom, p. 11, 43
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If the classroom objective is for all students
to subtract using renaming, some of the
students may learn to subtract two-digit
numbers, while other may learning to
subtract larger numbers in the context of
word problems.
“Process describes activities designed to
ensure that students use key skills to
make sense out of essential ideas and
information.”
“It is the opportunity for students to
make sense of the content. “
~ Carol Ann Tomlinson, 1999
The Differentiated Classroom, p. 11, 43
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One student may explore a learning center,
while another student collects information
from the web.
Definition of Product
Products are assessments or
demonstrations of what students have
come to know, understand, and be able to
do as the result of an extended sequence of
learning. A product is the student’s
opportunity to show what she has learned
throughout a unit.
~ Carol Ann Tomlinson, 2001
How to Differentiate Instruction
in Mixed-ability Classrooms
“Products are important not only because
they represent your students’ extensive
understandings and applications, but
also because they are the element of
curriculum students can most directly
‘own’.”
~ Carol Ann Tomlinson, 2001
How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-ability Classrooms, p. 85
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For example, to demonstrate understanding
of a geometric concept, one student may
solve a problem set, while another builds a
model.
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When teachers differentiate, they do so in
response to a student’s readiness, interest,
and/or learning profile.
“Readiness is a student’s entry point
relative to a particular understanding or
skill.”
~ Carol Ann Tomlinson, 1999
The Differentiated Classroom, p. 11
“Interest refers to student’s affinity, curiosity,
or passion for a particular topic or skill.”
~ Carol Ann Tomlinson, 1999
The Differentiated Classroom, p. 11
“When interest is tapped, learning is more
likely to be rewarding, and the student
becomes a more autonomous learner
(Bruner, 1961).”
~ Carol Ann Tomlinson & Susan Demirsky Allan, 2000
Leadership for Differentiating Schools & Classrooms, p. 19
“By helping students discover and pursue
their passions, we can maximize their
engagement in learning, their productivity,
and their individual talents (Amabile, 1983;
“Learning profile refers to ways in which we
learn best as individuals. Each of us knows
some ways of learning that are quite
effective for us, and others that slow us
down or make learning feel awkward. . . .
The goals of learning-profile differentiation
are to help individual learners understand
modes of learning that work best for them,
and to offer those options so that each
learner finds a good learning fit in the
classroom.”
~ Carol Ann Tomlinson, 2001
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Use diagnostic assessments to determine
student readiness (Formal or informal)
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Teachers can give pre-tests, question
students about their background knowledge,
or use KWL charts (charts that ask students to
identify what they already Know, what they
Want to know, and what they have Learned
about the topic).
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Identify student learning styles and
environmental preferences
Determine student interest:
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Using interest inventories and/or including
students in the planning process.
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Teachers can ask students to tell them what
specific interests they have in a particular
topic, and then teachers can try to
incorporate these interests into their lessons.
Identify student learning styles and
environmental preferences:
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Learning styles can be measured using learning
style inventories.
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Teachers can also get information about student
learning styles by asking students how they learn
best and by observing student activities.
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Identifying environmental preferences includes
determining whether students work best in large or
small groups and what environmental factors might
contribute to or inhibit student learning.
Quote
“A teacher in a differentiated classroom
does not classify herself as someone who
‘already differentiates instruction.’ Rather
that teacher is fully aware that every hour
of teaching, every day in the classroom
can reveal one more way to make the
classroom a better match for its learners.”
~ Carol Ann Tomlinson, 2001
How to Differentiate Instruction
in Mixed-ability Classrooms, p. 5
Differentiation Continuum
Not Differentiated
Fully Differentiated
Examine the differentiation continuum and
Assessment
is at the end. on the continuum Assessment
is ongoing.
place
yourself
for each
A single
form
of assessmentareas.
is used.
Diagnostic assessment is used.
of
the
specific
Teacher directs student behavior.
Instruction is whole class.
Coverage of texts and curriculum
drive instruction.
Not Differentiated
Intelligence is viewed narrowly.
Single option assignments.
Time is inflexible.
Teacher solves problems.
Grading is based on teacher-set,
inflexible objectives.
Teacher scaffolds self-reliant learning.
Flexible grouping is practiced.
Materials are varied.
Fully Differentiated
Multiple forms of intelligence are valued.
Assignments offer multiple options.
Time is flexible in terms of student needs.
Teacher facilitates student problem-solving.
Grading is determined by learning goals.
adapted from Carol Ann Tomlinson, 1999
The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners, p. 16
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What 3 things about differentiated
instruction did you learn or were
clarified for you?
What 2 things about differentiated
instruction are you interested in learning
about or what 2 questions do you still
have about differentiated instruction?
What 1 thing do you feel is the most
important aspect about differentiated
instruction that you must be aware of
Caldwell, J.S. & Ford, M.P. (2002). Where have all the
bluebirds gone? How to soar with flexible grouping.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Tomlinson, C. & Allan, D. S. (2000). Leadership for
differentiating schools & classrooms. Alexandria, VA:
ASCD.
Tomlinson, C. (2001). How to differentiate instruction in
mixed-ability classrooms. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Carol Ann Tomlinson
http://www.caroltomlinson.com/
http://www.frsd.k12.nj.us/rfmslibrarylab/di/differented_instruction.htm
Hotlist of Web Sites on Differentiated Instruction
http://www.frsd.j12.nj.us/rfsmslibrarylab/di/differentiated_instruction.h
http://worldmusic.about.com/od/genres/p/Reggae.htm
http://www.caroltomlinson.com/articles/SPage_RAFT_Rev.pdf
Carmen S. Concepción
carmenconcepcion@dadeschools.net
&
Danette Hernandez
d_hernandez@dadeschools.net