Dr. Barbara L. Branch
Branch Consulting©
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Common Core Standards Basics
Differentiated Instruction
Think like a disciplinarian
Thinking Tools
Example
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Aligned with college and work expectations
Include rigorous content and application of knowledge
through high-order skills
Build upon strengths and lessons of current state
standards
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Informed by top-performing countries, so that all
students are prepared to succeed in our global
economy and society; and
Evidence and/or research-based.
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Go back to what drew us into the teaching profession in the first
place. It’s about the students. The fact that the Standards are written
from a student point of view, emphasizes the importance of student
learning.
Use the Standards as a lens as you consider the how and why of
instruction.
There is a strong interdisciplinary emphasis on literacy skill integration
of English language arts, science, social studies, and mathematics. This
focus makes CCSS different from most state standards because content
literacy is not a separate entity and sole responsibility of English
teachers.
Dr. Katherine McKnight, http://www.teachhub.com/common-core-need-toknow-teachers
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The Standards emphasize rigor and connects it with what CCSS calls
textual complexity.
CCSS positions students to be increasing independent learners. Many of
the Standards describe tasks for students to accomplish independently.
Immerse your students in rich textual environments which include digital
text (i.e. blogs, wikis, online particles, eBooks). Require increasing
amounts of reading.
Dr. Katherine McKnight, http://www.teachhub.com/common-core-need-toknow-teachers
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Presentation of
curriculum that
responds to the varied
readiness levels,
learning profiles, and
interests of the
students.
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Recognizes that a
"one size fits all"
approach serves few
students.
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Teachers learn models
to develop curriculum
appropriate for all
students, English
Learners, Low
Achieving, Gifted,
Average Learners
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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.
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Teachers can differentiate the . . .
Content
Process
(activities)
Product
Interests
Learning
Profiles
in response to student . . .
Readiness
Levels
through a range of instructional and management strategies like . . .
tiered activities, centers,
products, or homework
multiple intelligences
varied questioning
learning contracts
jigsaws
interest centers
group investigations
audiotaped material
literature circles
independent study
graphic organizers
interest groups
technology use
supplementary materials
compacting
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Depth involves digging deeper into a
subject. Too often the curriculum in
California deals with many issues, but
in a superficial manner.
Common Core Standards solve this
problem.
Students sometimes have intense interest in a subject and
wish to know more.
Depth can involve looking at patterns (there are patterns in
math, in literature, in a civil war), looking at rules (again there
are mathematical rules, rules governing the English language,
rules in government), or looking at the ethics of an issue.
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Complexity can be seen as making
connections or seeing relationships.
One way to do this is to look at a subject or type of event over
time. During a unit on the civil war in America, a teacher may
introduce the fact that there have been many civil wars in many
countries, and some are still occurring in the world today. How
are the causes of these events similar? How are they different?
Complexity can also be done by looking at an issue from different
perspectives. How would your view of offshore drilling differ if
you were the owner of the oil well, an oceanographer, a marine
biologist, or a gulf shore resident?
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Acceleration is the easiest form of
differentiation to use. It is useful in the area
of math but is also used in other subject
areas.
Ideally students should be pretested before a unit is
taught.
If students demonstrate mastery of content in that
area they are not required to sit through instruction
about material they already know but are given more
advanced content. This is called curriculum compacting.
If the pretest shows areas of weakness, those areas
could be addressed before students move on.
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Novelty is introducing an area of
study that is new to the student.
It is most effective if the student chooses
or has input into the subject based on his
or her own interests.
This might take the form of a contract with
the teacher for an independent study
project and could be what the student
works on when he has compacted out of
some content area.
Novelty also means choices which
students love,
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Frames used as a differentiation tool
1. Focus on the Big Idea
2. Clarify understanding
3. Guide thinking towards analysis, synthesis and
evaluation
4. Build support, encourage justification
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Grade 6 Students:
Key Ideas and Details
1. Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as
well as inferences drawn from the text.
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Ask for details
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Introduce Anthropology –
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Think like an anthropologist
Introduce the idea of an alien landing on our planet
10,000 years from now, after humans have gone
extinct.
◦ What could the alien infer about our technology? He’ll see the Xbox
and plasma TV and infer that our technology was primitive compared to
his.
http://www.byrdseed.com/making-inferences-think-like-an-anthropologist/
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What could the alien infer about our relationship
with nature? He’ll notice that there are no natural
materials in the room and assume that we no longer
used nature.
What could the alien infer about boys? He’ll see
the clothes everywhere and think that boys are dirty!
They don’t clean up their room!
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What can you infer about the role of
women in the tribe?
Think like an
anthropologist
What can you
infer about
important values
in their society?
Native Alaskans
What can you infer
about the
importance of
nature to these
people?
What can you infer about their
understanding of science?
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Vocabulary
Draw a picture
to show the
rule
Patterns
2X3
Pacioli (1494) called the answer
“a sum.” Why?
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www.drbabs.wikispaces.com
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