Differentiated+Instruction

Differentiating Instruction is meeting students at their current level. It allows teachers to prescribe specific activities that will help students meet expectations or enrich their learning.

__Professional Learning Communities focus on four questions:__ 1. What is it that we want students to know or do? 2. How do we know that a student has learned at the expected level? 3. What do we do if a student has not learned at the expected level? 4. What do we do if a student already knows the content at the expected level?

Most interventions answer the first three questions, but differentiating instruction allows teachers to answer all four.

__Teachers can differentiate:__ 1. Content (what students learn) 2. Process (how they learn, activities, and tasks) 3. Learning Environment (rules, procedures, room arrangement, etc.) 4. Product (what a student produces to show learning)

__Teachers differentiate the above four areas in combination with any of the following:__ 1. Readiness (current ability related to objective) 2. Affect (relationsship, skill set, and goals) 3. Learning Profiles (learning style and preference) 4. Interest (passion)

__Teachers can differentiate the above four areas using strategies such as:__ 4-MAT * Multiple Intelligences * Learning Contracts Compacting * Jigsaw * Independent Study Varied Questioning * Taped Materials * Depth of Knowledge Group Investigations * Anchoring Activities * Small Group Instructions Complex Instructions * Varied Organizers, Texts, & Materials * Interest Centers and Games Tiered Lessons Centers, Products * Literature Circles/Socratic Circles * Varied Homework, Reading, and Writing Assignments

Tomlinson, C.A. (1999). The differentiated classroom. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development