Beginning Differentiation: 5 means of differentiating content and learning activities.

ELL Students:

1) Content: Ask each student to present their favorite story from their 1st language.

Activity: Ask the presenting student to then translate the story. The parts that are most difficult can be translated through pictures.

2) Content: Provide a short film on art.

Activity: Ask students to translate the film through a written paragraph or verbally, if preferred. 

3) Content: Present the class with a song.

    Activity: Ask students to create a visual story board after listening to the song.

4) Content: Present a written and visual text on a history topic.

Activity: Divide students into small groups and ask them to work together to summarize the text. The pair can decide together, how they wish to demonstrate their summary (verbally, by using pictures, or written, etc.).

5) Content: Present a verbal lecture accompanied by some graphics on literature.

Activity: Ask the student to listen, while creating and adding to their word journal, words or sentences, that are difficult to comprehend. Then have students pair up and compare their word journals, helping each other understand unknown words, using a dictionary or going online.  

Special Needs Students:

1) Content: Present health related content presentation through power point.

Activity: Allow the students to choose their own form of text to demonstrate what they learned (Choice Board Activity). 

2) Content: Read a poem to the students.

Activity: Pair students, and ask them to perform the poem, demonstrating their understanding. 

3) Content: Provide each student with the same novel. Read the novel to them

Activity: Ask the students to skim over the novel before you read it out-loud to them. Then conduct a class Q & A. 

4) Content: Show a short film on a history topic.

Activity: Ask students to create an organization chart. Students will be asked to classify groups of events, accurately, on the chart, as well as to compare and contrast, important individuals mentioned in the history lesson. 

5) Content: Provide a math lecture topic on the white board.

    Activity: Pair up students and ask them to, think-pair-share, to solve their problem. 

Gifted/Advanced Students:

1) Content: Present a lecture on a piece of currently studied literature.

Activity: Ask the students to use narratives, providing different levels of explanation on analyzing the content of the literature. 

2) Content: Provide a research science topic.

Activity: Ask the students to use varied methods of their choice to complete a research project. 

3) Content: Provide varied research topics:

Activity: Ask the students to choose their preferred topic and complete a research project. 

4) Content: Tell/Read a story.

Activity: Ask students to each describe a relatable personal experience. If students cannot relate to the story, ask them to create an outline of the story that was told. 

5) Content: Split students into groups. Take aside half of each pair and provide a

song to be listened to.

Activity: Have the students listening to the song, create an outline or a story board of the song (their choice). Then bring the pairs back together, have the other half of students, who did not listen to the song, use the outline/story board, to create a short, one paragraph summary. Then switch roles and conduct activity again, using a different song. 

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Think - Pair - Share

The Think-Pair-Share, strategy, is a method that allows all students in the classroom, whether they be shy or outgoing, to actively engage in their learning and demonstrate it, through thinking and discussing.

This strategy simply asks two or more students to work together to solve and discuss a problem or assignment.

The accountability comes in by reinforcing that students MUST focus and pay attention, because they are preparing to share their gained knowledge of this assignment. It promotes confidence by taking away the fear of having to discuss with the entire classroom, instead, only focusing on discussing with one or two other classmates. I remember, always having wonderful ideas and questions but being too intimated to speak up in class.

This method is a great tool for ELL learners, specifically, because it allows them to practice their English in a 'safe' environment, thus promoting confidence (the more they practice, the better they get and feel about speaking English).

This strategy can be used for every topic in the classroom. In math, it's a great way to pair up students, give each student the problem and have them present their results, also allowing them to ask for help and teach one another if and when needed.
In reading, it a wonderful way for two students to each read the same story, reflect on the summary and then share them, seeing how close in relation they come. This method also works for science projects, and quizzing one another for history exams. The list goes on and on.

I see myself using this method often in my future classroom.

Story Telling: Through Your Eyes

  I recently created a rubric for my lesson plan - Story Telling: Through Your Eyes.

The objective of the lesson plan is to allow students to relay their favorite story through the art of storytelling, their way.

            Students are grouped together based on their pre assessments. For example, ELL students would work primarily together, as would gifted students etc.

            They would all complete background work by reading each group member's favorite book (3-4 stories total, 3rd grade level). They would then need to come together and vote on which of the 3-4 stories they would like to narrate in front of the class. After the book has been chosen, the group members will decide how they each wish to contribute to the story telling. For example, one may be comfortable with being the main narrator, solely speaking, while the other may want to act out the characters and scenes, while another may wish to create the graphics. Or, the group may decide as a whole, that they all wish to take turns narrating. The idea is to incorporate differentiated instruction for each student so that they may most comfortably complete, and receive the most out of this assignment. 

            After each student’s preferred method of expression is chosen, they must then work together to create a seamless story telling experience that the entire class can understand. This would include: neat pictures, strong voices, eye contact, and the ability to connect and transition from one scene of the story, to the next. 

             This assignment is infusing the design of the Totally Awesome Teaching Strategies, by including: Visual, Performing Arts, Language Arts, Art Studies, Self-Directed Learner, and Critical Thinker performance indicators. The motivation for this assignment is to have small groups come together to voice their common interests in literacy, and make a responsible, consecutive decision by working together to achieve an outcome. We could incorporate multicultural infusion in this assignment by having students complete the same lesson but having the students use some words in other languages, teaching the class something new. 

             At the end of the story, the presenting group will each ask the class a couple of questions, showing me that that presenters and the audience/class, has comprehended the story through the method of questioning. 

            The rubric is designed to allow each varied learner the opportunity to gain the most points and retain the most information in a way that works the best for them. For example, points are not lost if presenters choose not to speak but to act instead. They would then be graded on eye contact, transitions between scenes/characters, strong voices, memorizing lines etc. If the audience is left knowing very little about the main characters due to lack of description or character knowledge, points would then be lost. 

Examples of how different learners can get the most out of this practice:

·        ELL Students: Visual and animated story telling, through graphics and acting, incorporating some words from their native tongue and using key vocabulary words that they are learning in their ELL groups. Focus on essential ideas and skills and eliminate unnecessary activities or tasks.

·        Gifted Students: Can create a power point presentation by using Adobe Presenter or KidPix3D.

·        Special Needs Students: Can choose which method of expression is most comfortable for them, with an aid helping the group prepare for their presentation.