Choose one thing that you can differentiate in one lesson.
1. Choose a strategy from either this chapter or a previous one. Tell what the strategy is that you used and what you plan on Differentiating. (content? Process? assessment?)
2. Utilize the strategy and do the lesson. Tell us how it went in a post below. Would you do anything different next time? What strategy do you plan on trying next in your future lessons?
Last week I started differentiated more in my 7/8 Reading class. In this group the range of reading ability from avid readers to students with IEP accomodations and struggle with reading. To better meet their needs I had each student choose their own individual book. Each student filled out a "Reading Contract" and stated their reading goals and what their assignments would be to prove that they were reading. They also chose a short project to go with their book for an assessment. The contract also listed learning goals and expected behaviors.
ReplyDeleteSo far so good! The students liked that they could choose any book they wanted and also choose their method of assessment. It took a while to have one on one conferences with each student, but in my opinion it was time well spent!
A strategy I want to try and plan to do soon is to implement more peer/adult mentoring with my elementary GT students. I had an adult mentor with one of my Advanced Studies students last semester and the relationship and learning from both adult and student was awesome.
Happy learning!
Showing Sondra how to post!
ReplyDeleteI have a plan to have the 4th graders do a unit of study on a US state of their choice. I will at the same time, do one for Montana as an example to them, while at the same time slipping in some mini lessons on Montana.
ReplyDeleteIn the past, I've had the 4th graders present their facts using Microsoft Publisher where they created a brochure. Another year I had them present on Power Point, but this time I plan on having them utilize the Museum Box Web 2.0 tool. It offers a large variety of options ie, videos, photos, text, audio. The internet is such a conducive tool for differentiation.
Used a variety of drills during a p.e. class for volleyball passing and setting. Start with small groups of two. Using their skills they will pass and set the ball back and forth to eachother. See some frustration and struggling while in these small groups with some students. I progressed to same skill development with larger groups and this seemed to help with individual skill success. Surround by more successful students, able to relax and focus on smaller area of responsibility. Allows for, once struggling, students to achieve more success. Those students feel better about themselves as a result.
ReplyDeleteI will and have done this strategy often as it is successful for a multitude of talent levels.
Shane
Annette:
ReplyDeleteI do compacting in my reading class. If readers compact out of reading (various criteria, including ability level and goals reached in A.r., and passing a pretest in the unit), they are "Theme Beaters." They work together on a novel study, online projects, etc.
I like to have them work together for discussion purposes, but another option might be for them to choose their own projects (using the tic tac toe method, for example).
My comments are on Concept-Based teaching. This is so true how concept-based teaching covers lots of facts. If students don't have these broken down into useful or interesting sections for each of them, they do have a memory loss on the subject. Differentiation instruction is a great tool to focus on concepts AND principles instead of JUST focusing on facts. Students will truly understand and learn more about a subject as well as holding more in memory if we as teachers break it into categories that are more meaningful to each student.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I think works in my classes is to have students choose a sub-topic from a list of possible topics in which they have discovered an interest. I do this by having students first investigate the elements of the main topic (investing. When they find something they like, I have them research and investigate it, culminating with a report which they share with the class.
ReplyDeleteThis way each student becomes a "subject matter expert" in one small area they are curious and interested in, and all will benefit from more in-depth analysis of the topic than I could dream to cover with lectures alone.
I use varied text and resource materials. For my 8th grade general music class we study History of Rock and Roll. They come into class and I hand out a listening activity worksheet along with a picture of some interesting fact about the performer we are learning about that day. Some questions on it are style of jazz that they think it is (this is after we do a whole section on jazz), any solo instruments, accompaniment instruments, list three words that describe this piece of music, details that make this music unique, and rate this piece of music. After each piece of music we talk about together as a class. I then hand out reading material about the performer and we read it aloud in class while I ask questions almost after every paragraph. I then hand out a short (10 questions or less) worksheet about the performer we studied. I believe this is using my resources because I use the internet for music and information, I use two different jazz books I have available to me, and we discuss it together as a class what we learned.
ReplyDeleteHolly D.