2. That students differ may be inconvenient,
but it is inescapable. Adapting to that
diversity is the inevitable price of
productivity, high standards, and fairness
to the students.
~Theodore Sizer
Sizer, T. (1984). Horace’s Compromise: The Dilemma of the American High School (p. 194). Boston: Houghton-
Mifflin
Differentiation: Introduction2

3.  Curriculum differentiation is a process used to maximize student
learning by improving the match between a student's individual
needs and the curriculum.
 A general term used to describe the range of strategies, which are
used to ensure children’s needs are met.
 Curriculum differentiation is a broad term referring to the need to
tailor teaching environments and practices to create appropriately
different learning experiences for different students.
 Adapting the curriculum to meet the unique needs of learners by
making modifications in complexity, depth, and pacing.
3

4. Teachers can Differentiate the:
CONTENT:
Knowledge, skills and attitudes
we want children to learn;
differentiating content requires
that students are pre-tested so
the teacher can identify the
students who do not require
direct instruction
PROCESS:
Varying learning activities /
strategies to provide
appropriate methods for
students to explore the
concepts; important to give
students alternative paths to
manipulate the ideas
embedded within the concept
(different grouping methods,
graphic organizers, maps,
diagrams, or charts)
PRODUCT:
Varying the complexity of the
product that students create to
demonstrate mastery of the
concepts; students below grade
level may have different
performance expectations than
students above grade level (ie.
more complex or more
advanced thinking~ Bloom’s
Taxonomy)
According to Students’:
READINESS/
DEVELOPMENTAL:
Some students are ready for
different concepts, skills, or
strategies; others may lack the
foundation needed to progress
to further levels
INTEREST:
Student interest inventories
provide information to plan
different activities that respond
to individual student’s interest
LEARNING STYLE
Individual student preference
for where, when or how
students obtain and process
information (visual, auditory,
kinesthetic; multiple
intelligences; environment,
social organization, physical
circumstance, emotional
climate, psychological climate)
4

5. • Essential Questions
• Curriculum Map Template
• Unit Design
• Lesson Planning
• Skills List
Differentiation:
WHAT To Teach
5

6. What to Teach???
 Essential Questions ~ conceptual
understandings
 (Mctighe & Wiggins, 2004, p. 91, 93-93)
 Curriculum Map/Unit Design
 Curriculum Map Template
 See other unit template
 Sample Skills List (Heacox, p. 61)
Turn, Share and/or revise Essential
Questions or Skills for your Unit of Study
6

7. Lesson
and
Unit
Design
7

8. DIFFERENTIATION
STRATEGIES
Parts I, II and III

9. 9

10. • Pre Assessment
• Curriculum Compacting
• Learning Contracts
Differentiation Strategies: Part I10

12. I’ve mapped out the concepts I’ve
already grasped to save you time. 12

13. Modify and/or streamline regular curriculum to:
 eliminate repetition of previously mastered
material
 upgrade the challenge level of the regular
curriculum
 determine student “readiness”
 provide time for enrichment and/or acceleration
activities

14. Eight Compacting Steps
(Student Readiness)
1. Identify objectives ( UbD Stage 1)
2. Create pretest (end of unit expectations; UbD
Stage 2)
3. Identify students to Pretest
4. Administer Pretest
5. Eliminate content in areas of mastery
6. Streamline instruction (UbD Stage 3)
7. Offer enrichment or acceleration activities
(Heacox, p. 139, 142)
8. Keep records of progress

15.  A written agreement between the student and the teacher
which includes opportunities for the student to work relatively
independently on primarily teacher-directed material.
The student has:
 Some freedom in acquiring skills and understandings
 Responsibility for learning independently
 Guidelines for completing work
 Guidelines for appropriate behavior
 Expectations tailored to readiness level
• See sample: Compacting Form and Project Description (Heacox, p.142)
• Turn & Talk: Explain how learning contracts support
curriculum compacting?

16. • Differentiation by Interest, Learning Style
(choice) & Readiness (challenge levels)
• Choice: Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
• Choice: Projects, Presentations & Performance (Heacox)
• Choice: Products & Performances/Performance Tasks (McTighe &
Wiggins)
• Readiness: Bloom’s Taxonomy~ Challenge Levels
• Choice by Challenge Level & Learning Style (Heacox)
• Flexible Grouping
• 3 Kinds of Groups (Heacox)
Differentiation Strategies: Part II16

17. Differentiate by Choice: Interest
 Interest Inventories (Heacox, p. 29-31)
 Grouping Index Cards/Use for Centers:
 Item 5: Have students list topics they rated 1 and 2 (use
to create teams of common interests)
 Item 7: Use to group for exploratory topics
 Item 13: Use to identify “specialists” for particular areas
of study
 Item 19/20: To create partnerships or learning groups
Review the inventory; how do you think and
learn? Reflect upon how your strengths have
been supported/neglected. Turn and share.
17

18. Differentiate by Students’
Learning Style & Challenge Levels
 Learning Style: How We Think and Learn
 Variety: Multiple Intelligences (Heacox, p. 36-37)
 Howard Gardner
 (Projects, Presentations, Performances;
Heacox, p. 34-35)
 Challenge Levels (readiness): Rigor, Relevance
& Complexity
 Challenge! NOT more.
 Blooms Taxonomy: 6 Levels of Thinking
 Challenge Levels (Heacox, p. 69 & 75)
18

19. CHOICE: Challenge & Learning Style:
 Bloom’s Taxonomy & Gardner’s M.I. Brief Lesson
Plan (Heacox, p. 73, 156)
 Content + Process + Product = learning experience
 Content=what are students learning about?
 Process=what level of thinking is required?
 Product= how will the results of learning be represented/
assessed?
 Ex: Compare and contrast a scene in a novel with
the movie version of the same scene by presenting
your ideas in a storyboard of words and pictures.
 Your Turn…
19

20. CHOICE: Challenge & Learning Style:
 Double-sided Lesson Plan Matrix (Bloom’s & Multiple
Intelligences)
 Heaxox, p. 78-79, 82-83
 Small group (triad/diad) plan to incorporate concepts
into your unit of study using the matrix…
20

21. “A hallmark of an effective differentiated
classroom….is the use of flexible grouping, which
accommodates students who are strong in some
areas and weaker in others.
~Carol Tomlinson
Three Types of Groups:
I. Flexible (readiness, learning style…)
II. Ability/Aptitude
III. Cooperative
(Heacox, p. 87)
21

22. • Tiered Activities
• Choice: Tic Tac Toe
• Anchoring Activity
• Questioning & Discussion
Differentiation Strategies: Part III22

23. Tiered Activities
Tiered Instruction features:
 Whole group introduction and initial instruction
 Identification of developmental differences
 Ladder Analogy (bottom – up; challenge/complexity)
 Increase or Decrease the:
 Abstraction/Challenge Levels (ie. application, analysis & synthesis)
 Extent of Support
 Complexity of:
 outcomes
 resources (reading levels, types of text [on-line, magazine, etc…], based on
prior-knowledge levels)
 processes (way in which students obtain information)
 products (M.I. products)

24. Tiered Assignment~
Middle School Unit: Dinosaurs
Objective: In their study of dinosaurs, the students will be able to
research and identify various theories of dinosaur extinction.
Task 1 - After researching and identifying various theories of dinosaur
extinction, students will be able to create their own theory and draw a
picture or diagram illustrating that theory.
Task 2 - After researching and identifying various theories of dinosaur
extinction, students will be able to create a visual representation of their
theory (i.e. diorama, timeline, or three dimensional model).
Task 3 - After researching and identifying various theories of dinosaur
extinction, students will be able to create a visual representation of their
theory and defend their theory during a class debate.
 “Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World” example & planning template
 Brainstorm your own!
24

25. CHOICE:
 Use as a choice of required products
 Code to identify challenge levels or learning
style
 Warm-up/Cool-down activities
 Pure “choice” time
 Alternatives for students
(via curriculum compacting)
 Project Menu Cards (Heacox, p. 106)
 Tic Tac Toe
25

26. Tic
Tac
Toe
*see book report
example
26

27. Anchoring Activity
(See the Anchoring Activity for: The Giver)
 Self-paced, purposeful, content-driven activities
that students can work on independently
throughout a unit, a grading period, or longer
 Meaningful ongoing activities related to the
curriculum
 A list of activities that a student can do at any
time
 A long-term project
 An activity center/learning station located in the
room
 These activities must be worthy of a student’s time
and appropriate to their learning needs
27

28.  Explain the activity and the procedures
with the whole class
 Make expectations clear – develop ground rules
for:
 Behavior
 Performance
 Use tasks that require time and thinking – this is
not an extension of the “seat-work” concept
 Provide clear instructions, materials,
responsibilities, check points, and expectations
(rubrics)

30. Open Ended Questions
 have no “right” answer
 can be discussed and debated
 provoke and sustain student inquiry
 raise other important questions
 address the conceptual or philosophical
foundations of a discipline
 stimulate vital, ongoing reflection of big ideas
and assumptions
30

31. “Summer’s over kids!
Now, all you round pegs get back
into your square holes!”31