Nicole Perry
Tiered Assignment
KUDos:
Know:
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Sediment
Continental Drift
Tectonic Plates
Mantle
Crust
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Lithosphere
Plate Boundaries
Conduction
Convection
Asthenosphere
Understand:
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Students will understand that the earth is constantly changing and moving.
Students will understand that there are many different layers in the earth’s makeup.
Students will understand that the earth is very different then it was thousands of years ago.
o Covered in water, the movement of the tectonic plates.
Students will understand that there are differences in the layers of the earth’s crust.
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Explain the different types of plate boundaries
List from inside out the levels of levels of the earth’s crust
Classify different layers of rock according to age
Do:
Scenario:
I have a classroom of 25 9th graders pretty evenly split between the sexes. After my last pre- test, I have
found that I have 3 categories of students: a group that still has no clue, a group that understands some
(most of the major topics but not the smaller information), and a group that understands the material.
The few that are not doing well are a group of friends that tend to work with each other on every
project so creating a tiered assignment that they do not work together would probably be best. My
middle group did not do well on the written portion of the last exam so creating their assignment to be a
written assignment would help them get more practice on what they struggle at.
My tiering assignment will consist of 3 separate color coded assignments. I will arrange them according
to color in different stacks. On their previous pre-test I will assign them each a stamp color coded to
each of the stacks in order to keep a small amount of privacy of the students. This project assignment
will be assigned in class and collected 2 days later so that the higher scoring students will have a little
more time to work on the projects and the lower scoring students have the opportunity to ask question
after they sit down and attempt to do it at home.
Tier 1 (lowest level – Green): This group of individuals will get a packet diagrams and vocabulary
definitions to help them become more exposed at all the different material all over again. The
definitions will be the ones listed in the Kudos
Tier 2 (middle level – Blue): Short answer questions – The short answers are the ones listed from the
pre- assessment that the students were already tested over. I will also give them one question to
accompany the others so that they can also “learn something new and so that it is not just a review”.
Tier 3 (highest level – Red): Project – essay – This assignment will be different than the rest of the
assignments in that the students will pick what they want to learn. My only request that it paper is at
least 1.5 pages long and that they have to check their topic with me before they decide to go along with
the project. I want the students to pick a topic that we were covering previously and tell me about it and
explain what they have learned and how it ties into the class in the pas t and in their opinions, in the
future.
Green Group:
Name: __________________
Instructions: Complete the following worksheet and diagrams
Vocabulary:
Word
Definition
Why is it important
One fact about it
Sediment
Tectonic Plates
Mantle
Crust
Lithosphere
Plate Boundaries
Conduction
Convection
Asthenosphere
Continental Drift
List five topics, questions or areas that you had trouble with on the previous pretest and that you would
like to have retaught to you.
Blue Group
Name: _____________
Instructions: Answer the following short answer questions (minimum 5 well thought out sentences)
Attach additional sheets if needed.
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What are plate tectonics? What causes plate tectonics? Describe how plate tectonics both
creates and destroys Earth's crust.
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Describe the different kinds of plate tectonic boundaries and what happens at each type of plate
boundary.
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Describe the stresses that cause folding and faulting, the different kinds of faults and how these
contribute to mountain building.
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Explain each level of the earth’s crust and what makes it different from the other layers? Include
the ages of each level.
List five topics, questions or areas that you had trouble with on the previous pretest and that you would
like to have retaught to you.
Red Group
Name: _________________
Instructions: Write a minimum of a 1.5 page paper on a topic of your choosing revolving around the unit
and what we have learned. Explain the topic and what makes it so important to the world of earth
science. Include how it ties in to what we have learned in class as well as how it may affect this class in
your opinion in the future. Check with me about your topics before you write the essay. Turn in this
sheet along with your typed paper.
Project Topic: _________________________________________________________
List five topics, questions or areas that you had trouble with on the previous pretest and that you would
like to have retaught to you.
Diagrams for green group: