An overview of some of the types of differentiation strategies that can be used in the classroom

1. Differentiation in the Classroom
What it is and is not.

2. Differentiation
Write down what you immediately think of when you hear the term “differentiation”

3. Objectives
● We Are Learning to:
– Evaluate the use of
differentiation
strategies for use in
our own classrooms
● What I'm looking For:
– All: observe instances
where we already
differentiate in our
classroom.
– Most: Create a
differentiated resource
for use in a lesson next
week.
– Some: Evaluate the

4. Lecture Outline
● What is Differentiation (5 mins)
● Outcomes Objectives and Backwards Mapping (10
mins)
● Differentiation by Outcome (5 mins)
● Differentiation by Support (5 mins)
● Differentiation by Task (5 mins)
● Plan your lesson (20 mins)
● Share understanding (5 mins)

5. What is Differentiation
● Differentiation, is the process by which differences between
pupils are accommodated so that all students have the best
possible chance of learning.
– UK Training and Development Agency
● Differentiation is providing different learning experiences for
different groups of students in your classroom.
● Differentiation comes in many forms.
● Differentiation takes deliberate planning if it is to be really
effective.
● Differentiation is a way to give your students an opportunity to
achieve learning.

6. What Differentiation is Not.
● Differentiation is not providing a individualised curriculum.
● Differentiation is not a way to do without teaching
assistants.
● Differentiation is not missing out the unimportant bits of
the syllabus.
● Differentiation may not make your stubborn students
learn.
● Differentiation is not just for the less able students.

7. Types of Differentiation
● There are three broad types of differentiation that
can be used in the day to day classroom.
– Differentiation by outcome
– Differentiation by support
– Differentiation by task
● All types of differentiation require the teacher to
have deliberate, well formed learning objectives
and outcomes
Increasing
teacher
planning
Increasing
student
outcomes
Increasing
teacher
management

8. Objectives versus Outcomes
● These two terms are often misunderstood.
– A lesson (or learning) objective is “what” you are
wanting the students to learn.
● Based on syllabus requirements.
– A learning outcome is “how” students know that
they have achieved the objective.
● Based on things the student can “do”

9. Objectives
● Lesson objectives
– Indicate the depth of learning
– Give students confidence that they can participate
in the learning.
– Present challenging learning to students
– Engage students in what is going to happen
– Motivate students by giving them an “I can do it
feeling”

10. Objectives
●
Objectives should be able to be written in student speak( not
Eduspeak!)
●
Often it is good to try to write objectives that start:
“We Are Learning To ...” (WALT)
– e.g. We Are Learning To explain how sound waves travel.
– e.g. We Are Learning To understand how Shakespeare uses irony.
– e.g. We Are Learning To create a missing song from Frozen
●
If you have written the objective, then SHARE the objective at the
beginning of every lesson with your students.

11. Outcomes
● Outcomes indicate what students should be able
to do at the end of the learning.
● Outcomes are often written in the form:
● What I'm Looking For (WILF):
– e.g. Students who can identify that sound waves need
particles.
– e.g. Students who can compare the use of irony by
Shakespeare and modern comedians
– e.g. Students who can collaborate to produce a song.

12. Outcomes
● Outcomes can often be
written using verbs
from Bloom's
taxonomy.
● Often the tendency is
to choose verbs from
the lower levels of
thinking.
– Consider using verbs
from different levels to
indicate to students
what is required.

13. Backwards Mapping
● Backwards Mapping
is the process of
planning lessons from
outcomes rather than
towards outcomes.
● It is an essential
process in ensuring
that differentiation is
actually useful for
students.
Objectives
Outcomes
All:
Most:
Some:
Activities
Resources
Big Ideas / Topics
Stage1Stage2Stage3

14. Differentiation by Outcome
● This is the easiest to implement, but the hardest to
manage.
● All students are given the same, often open
ended, task.
● Students are invited to show achievement at one
of a number of levels (usually 3)
– This technique is generally not seen as best practice.
– But, with tightly controlled success criteria it can be
very effective.

15. Differentiation by Outcome
● Try to write just 1 or 2 learning objectives for a
lesson
● Try to write your outcomes at three different
levels
– All: this is what students MUST be able to do
– Most: this is what students SHOULD be able to do
– Some: this is what you WOULD like students to do

16. What might this differentiation
look like?
● Lesson objective and outcomes are shared with the
class at the beginning and clarified if needed.
● Outcomes are referred to throughout the lesson
● Students are encouraged to complete the task at the all
level, then the most,then the some.
– Students are actively engaged with trying to achieve the next
level outcome
● Lesson objective and outcomes are re-visited at the end
of the lesson and students self-assess their learning
against outcomes.

17. Differentiation by Support
● This requires pre-planning and a good knowledge of your
students and their capabilities.
● There are many ways to provide “support” to your students.
– You can provide different texts (resources) for different groups.
– You can use organised group structures.
– You can work with one group while other groups work
independently.
– You can use Teaching Assistants.

18. Differentiation by Support -
Text
● Provide a range of resources for your students
to use:
– Textbooks at different reading levels
● Made easier with systems like LearningField
– Videos and animations at different levels
● Search YouTube etc.
– Real-world resources vs school resources
● Foreign language newspapers/magazines/books vs
formulaic school texts.

19. Differentiation by Support -
Grouping
● Group students by various methods:
– Could group by ability
● Often used for differentiation by outcome tasks, or for providing targeted
teacher support.
– Could group by personality
● Often used when needing to get students to develop specific team roles.
– Could group by mixed ability
● Often used so that the more able teach the less able and bring them up
– Could group by ability then mix.
● Often used for “expert” groups: groups of students of similar ability become
experts in part of a problem. The groups are then mixed and the experts
have to teach the remained of the new group.

20. Differentiation by Support –
Direct Support
● Either as the teacher or using a Teaching Assistant
– Generally requires grouping of some form.
– The teacher / TA works with a small group while the rest of
the class works independently on the task.
– Can be very effective to move the top on or bring the
bottom up.
– Needs to be deliberate and not ad-hoc.
– Must avoid over-supporting the group
● Ask open ended questions,
● Answer questions with questions
● Walk away

21. What might this differentiation
look like?
● Lesson objective is shared with the class at the beginning
and clarified if needed.
● Students are grouped as needed and given the same
core material.
● Students use the materials to construct their own
knowledge and share it with each other.
– High level of collaboration
● Teacher (and TA) move around the room supporting
groups (and individuals) and facilitating learning.

22. Differentiation by Task
● This requires the most pre-planning
– The teacher produces multiple tasks (usually 3)
which are used to teach the same learning objective
at differing levels of challenge.
– There are a few ways to do this:
● Graduation
● Negotiation
● Resource

23. Differentiation by Task -
Graduation
● The teacher chooses their lesson outcome so that they
form a sequence of learning.
– At each level the knowledge gets deeper or the skills get more
advanced.
● The teacher develops similar resources that target each
level of outcome
● The resources are then merged to form a single large
resource.
● Students start at the beginning and the resource
naturally gets more advanced as they progress.

24. Differentiation by Task -
Graduation
● Sometimes advanced students can be told to start
at question X
– This assumes they already have the basic
understanding developed by Questions 1 to (X-1)
● Students are set the challenge of see how far they
can get in a fixed time.
– Could be directly related to WILFs
● Commonly seen in maths, and science, and in
text book end of chapter questions.

25. Differentiation by Task -
Resource
● The teacher chooses their lesson outcomes so
that they achieve the objective at different levels.
● The teacher then develops a resource that targets
the middle level outcome.
● The teacher then modifies this resource up and
down to achieve the upper and lower outcome.
● Students are given the appropriate resource for
their learning by the teacher

26. Differentiation by Task -
Resource
● This requires very careful planning to avoid
stigmatising students.
● There needs to be the option for students to ask
for the next resource up
– Therefore this should not be overly covert
● If covert is necessary, then a 2 level resource
system is preferable.
– Resources can be dealt from the top or bottom of the
pile without the need for further clarification.

27. Differentiation by Task -
Negotiation
● The teacher plans a sequence of lessons for a
given period of time (e.g. 2 weeks)
– For each “lesson” the teacher produces a particular
resource.
– The resources get gradually more challenging
throughout the sequence.
– It is possible to have a number of strands of
resources in the sequence with each strand having
its own progression

28. Differentiation by Task -
Negotiation
● The students work through the sequence of lessons at their own pace.
● They are given deadlines such as:
– By the end of lesson 2 all of you should have done worksheet 1 & 2 and some of
you might have finished worksheet 4.
● The sequence MUST be designed so that all students are able to
achieve the minimum standard by the end of the allocated time.
● It may be desirable to plan the sequence like a corkscrew:
– Revisiting ideas at gradually increasing complexities.

29. Your Task
● Think of a lesson that you are going to deliver to a class in
the next fortnight.
– Develop a suitable learning objective
– Identify suitable learning outcomes for the class
● What activities might you use to deliver that lesson?
● How might you differentiate the lesson for your class?
● Develop a suitable differentiated resource to deliver your
lesson. (20 mins)

30. Objectives
● We Are Learning to:
– Evaluate the use of
differentiation
strategies for use in
our own classrooms
● What I'm looking For:
– All: observe instances
where we already
differentiate in our
classroom.
– Most: Create a
differentiated resource
for use in a lesson next
week.
– Some: Evaluate the