Differentiating Instruction to Advance Literacy: Utilizing the

Past to Perfect the Future NCSS 2010

Dr. Susan SantoliDr. Paige Baggett

Dr. Susan FergusonUniversity of South Alabama

Mobile, AL

Session Overview• Experiences in Differentiation?• What is Differentiation?• Differentiation Strategies• Tips for Implementing Differentiation• Differentiation Practice• Differentiating for ELL Students• Differentiation Practice• Resources

Imagine these scenarios…

Not all students are alike!• Varying background knowledge• Readiness• Language• Preferences in learning• Interests• Motivation

When you hear “differentiated instruction,” what comes to mind??

What Differentiated Instruction IS

• Having a vision of success for students• Realizing that not all students learn the same way• Allowing students some choice in their routes to learning• Providing opportunities for students to demonstrate

knowledge they know and move forward• Offering lessons of varying degrees of difficulty to meet

the same standard• Combining whole class instruction with individual and/or

group work

What Differentiated Instruction IS NOT

• A different lesson plan for each student each day• Assuming that all students learn by listening and

writing• Assigning more work to students who have

demonstrated mastery• Only for students who need acceleration• Giving all students the same work/assignments

all of the time

Elements of Differentiation• The teacher focuses on the essentials• The teacher attends to student differences• Assessment and instruction are inseparable• The teacher adapts content, process

and/or products• All students participate in respectful work• Collaboration between teacher and

student

• The teacher balances group and individual norms.

• Teacher and students work together flexibly.

All differentiation begins with assessment!

Assessment• Assessment is today’s

means of understanding how to modify tomorrow’s instruction

• Think of assessment for learning vs. assessment of learning

• Assessment should always have more to do with helping students grow, than cataloging their mistakes

From Carol Ann Tomlinson

The What…1. Content2. Process3. Product

The How…1. Readiness2. Interest3. Learning Profile

Content Process Product

According to Students’

Readiness Interest LearningProfile

Teachers Can Differentiate

The Access Center. Adapted from The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners (Tomlinson, 1999)

Instructional Strategies that Support Differentiation

• Anchor Activities• Centers/Stations• Layered Curriculum• Tiered Lessons

• Entry Points• Use of the Arts• Academic Contracts• Compacting

What do you do when…– Students finish work early

and correctly– Students finish tests or in

class assignments at different rates

– You need to work with certain students on specific information/skills

Anchor Activity• Student activities that are designed to

extend and review already learned skills• Self directed• Can free up classroom teacher to work with

small groups or individual students• Can be used to begin the day, when

students complete an assignment, when students are stuck and waiting for help (Tomlinson, 2001)

Using Anchor Activities to Create Groups

Teach the whole class to work independently andquietly on the anchor activity.

Half the class workson anchor activity.

Other half works ona different activity.

Flip-Flop

1/3 works onanchor activity.

1/3 works on adifferent activity.

1/3 works withteacher---direct

instruction.

1

2

3

www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/enriched/giftedprograms/docs/anchor.ppt

Examples of Anchor Activities• Journals or learning

logs• Supplementary

readings• Learning packets• Learning/Interest

Centers• Investigations

• Research projects• Think-tac-toe

(example to follow)• Learning Contracts

(example to follow)• Webquests or web

activities • Silent reading

Examples of Anchor ActivitiesExamples of Specific Anchor ActivitiesEnrichment Activities sites from sources such as

readwritethink from the International Reading Association (http://www.readwritethink.org)

Others might include:• Content related crossword puzzles• A listening center• A video center• Learning packets on specific information or a specific skill

ABC Books

ABC Books:ABCs for Baby Patriots

http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/ufdc/?m=hd1J&i=108500

Student ABC Book on World War I

What are some anchor activities that you have used or might use?

– Teacher creates an agenda that will last 2-3 weeks

– A particular time is set aside as agenda time (each day, each week)

– Students generally determine the order in which they’ll complete agenda items

– This could also be a choice of projects or assignments

Agendas-personalized list of tasks that a student must complete in a specified time

Examples of Think Tac Toe Projects

• East Asia• 2008 Presidential Election• American Presidents• Industrial Revolution

Centers/Stations• Spots for concentrated work on particular

skills or assignments or areas that students move through that contain different assignments

• Holocaust Centers• Environmental Center

Layered Curriculum• Students have a variety of activities from

which to choose• Choices are presented in layers, where

each represents a different type of thinking or depth of understanding

• C represents Core Concepts• B represents Application• A represents Critical Thinking

Layered Examples• Geography• Egypt• Economics• Kathy Nunnley site

• Tiered Activities-used when a teacher wants to make sure that students with different learning needs work with the same essential ideas and use the same study skills

Examples from ss textbook resources

• Great Depression Tiered Lesson Plan-Library of Congress

http://web.archive.org/web/20070316174958/http://www.primarysourcelearning.org/teach/best_practices/diff_instruct_bulletin_sec.pdf• Standard for lesson plan: The student will demonstrate

knowledge of the social, economic, and technological changes of the early twentieth century by identifying the causes of the Great Depression, its impact on Americans, and the major features of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.

Same content information, different LEARNING PROCESS

• Everyone will answer these questions:1. Describe what you see in the photograph.

Include as much detail as possible.2. Compare and contrast your home to the home

you see in the photograph. What is similar and what is different?

3. In addition to the first two questions, student pairs will each receive one of the following questions based on academic readiness level.

• Tier 1: If we could hear the people talking about their life, what would they be saying?

• Tier 2: From what you see in the photograph, explain how you think this room might be used by the family and why.

• Tier 3: Assess the Great Depression’s social and economic impact on

this family from the evidence in the photo.

Same content information, same analysis process, different PRODUCTS

• Tier 1: Create a timeline of the Dust Bowl and Great Depression era. Include the following 10 events with accompanying visuals and written description.

• Tier 2: Create a scrapbook depicting the life of a child affected by the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. Include information about where the child lives, his/her family’s economic and social situation, recreation, education, and prospects for the future.

• Tier 3: In the role of a political candidate, create a persuasive speech proposing actions to address the concerns of the Dust Bowl farmers during the Great Depression. Incorporate information about the farmers’ economic, social and political problems and propose how the government can and cannot assist them. Support

your plan with evidence from both primary and secondary sources.

Same task, 3 different SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Choose one of the primary sources below. Examine both the information about the item and the item itself. Take notes of important details that will help you answer the following question:

WHAT WERE SOME OF THE ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND POLITICAL EFFECTS OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION ON PEOPLE?

Tier 1: Dorothea Lange Photograph of the Migrant Mother, 1936

Tier 2: Mrs. Mary Sullivan-August, 1940

A Traveler’s Line

Tier 3: American Life Histories, Manuscript from the Federal

Writer’s Project, North Carolina, 1938

Nina Boone-North Carolina

Reflection

Academic/Learning Contracts

Grapes of Wrath

• Written agreements between students and teachers• What students will learn• How they will learn it• Time period for learning experience• How they will be evaluated

• Usually opportunity for student choice• Could be tiered activities• Could be an anchor activity

Entry Points• Middle Ages • Immigration• Industrial Revolution

Fandex Masters of Western Art: Painters

Content Springboard for Academic/Learning Contract

• Written agreements between students and teachers• What students will learn• How they will learn it• Time period for learning experience• How they will be evaluated

• Usually opportunity for student choice• Could be tiered activities• Could be an anchor activity

• Entry points-based on Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences– Begin topic with overview for whole class– Allow students to select entry points for investigation

Source: http://connect.in.com/gardner-multiple-intelligence/photos-1-1-1-1501aebf4e77af79d3a75ba0a40e8173.html

Multiple Intelligences & The Arts• Write and perform a song to teach concepts• Creating charts, posters, graphs, or diagrams • Creating a Web page or PowerPoint project • Making a videotape or film • Creating pie charts, bar graphs, etc. • Making a photo album • Creating a collage • Designing a mindmap • Making a map • Using color and shape • Developing or using Guided Imagery • Understanding Color Schemes

Multiple Intelligences & Social Studies

GeographyAmerican HistorySymbolismDescriptive WordsLanguageVisual LiteracyConsumerism

Pop Art, Collage & Recycling

Your ideas

Compacting• Requires pre-assessment before beginning unit of

study or development of a skill• Students who do well on the pre-assessment

should not have to continue work on what they already know

• A plan for meaningful and challenging use of student time will be developed

• Can also be used in giving homework assignments

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/enriched/giftedprograms/docs/ppts/compactingfixed.ppt

General Compacting ExampleThe CrusadesWeb Quests Students complete an online quest

Think Quests Students create an online quest or complete one posted by other students

Getting Started….• Start small

– Start with your favorite unit/lesson plan– Begin by teaching all students an anchor activity-

meaningful work done individually and silently– Early on, you may want to ask some students to work

with anchor activity and others to work on a different task which also requires no conversation or collaboration

– Try a differentiated tasks for only a small block of time– Grow slowly, but grow

– Assess students before you begin to teach a skill or topic

– Try creating one differentiated lesson per unit– Differentiate one product per semester– Find multiple resources for a couple of key parts of

your curriculum– Give students more choices about how to work, how

to express learning or which homework assignments to do

– Develop and use a two day learning contract, then a 4 day, etc.

You cannot differentiate everything for everyone every day!

Differentiation is an organized yet flexible way of proactively adjusting teaching and learning to meet kids where they are and help them to achieve maximum growth as learners.

Differentiated Instruction and ELL Students

• Differentiation benefits all students and is especially effective for ELL students who may have difficulty with– Understanding the material they are hearing

or reading– Communicating their knowledge of the

material

Social Studies can present special challenges for ELLs

• Use of higher level thinking skills required for reading and writing

• Lack of familiarity with historical terms, government processes, and vocabulary

• Amount of text covered and ELL’s inability to tell what is important in the text and what is not

• Difficulty understanding what is said by the teacher and being able to take notes

• Differences in educational system• Lack of experience in expressing personal

opinions in class• Concepts that do not exist at all in some

cultures

Haynes (2005) in Teaching Social Studies to English Language Learners by Cruz and Thorton

Strategies

• Books on CD• Open book quizzes• Alternative projects• Fill in the blank before essay• Essays that relate to the students• Accessing prior knowledge

Making Content Comprehensible

• Use illustrations/pictures• Act it out• Enlist the help of a bilingual dictionary or

word for word translator• Use scaffolding to build up to new concepts• Check for prior knowledge

Inviting ELLs to Achieve• Plans some lessons/activities that are

relevant to the lives of ELL students• Provide hands-on lessons with activities

that will allow for early success for ELLs• Communicate individually with ELLs as

much as possible• Give students sufficient wait time

More classroom tips• Avoid forcing students to speak• Emphasize key words and concepts• Use lots of repetitions• Check often for understanding• Provide graphic organizers to aid in study• Set reasonable study goals• Help them find key concepts

Questioning Strategies• “Point to the answer” strategy• “Yes-no” with visual aid• Break complex questions or tasks into steps• Ask simple “how” and “where” questions

Drama

• Charades/pantomime• Readers’ Theatre• Act as I read• Create a Character• Set Designing• Puppets

Advance Preparation• What vocabulary will be difficult• What connections can I make to other

knowledge?• What strategies does my ELL need to

develop? • What assessment will realistically test the

knowledge of my ELL without penalizing his/her level of learning?

• Clearly defined and written objectives• Organizers, outlines, labels and pictures• Supplementary materials• Make it relevant• Links to past experience and potential

experience

ResourcesSocial Studies Activities and Handouts

Including English Language Learners in Social Studies (

ppt) presented by Cruz and Thorton at NCSS 2008

To access this ppt, go to: http://www.coedu.usf.edu/main/Departments/seced/Faculty/Thorton.html

• Making Social Studies Meaningful for ELL Students: Content and Pedagogy in Mainstream Secondary School Classrooms http://www.usca.edu/essays/vol162006/ahmad.pdf

• Teaching the English Language Learner in the Social Studies Classroom http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/subject/teaching_ell.phtml

• Resources to Help ELL Students http://www.mcsk12.net/SCHOOLS/peabody.es/ell.htm

• Teaching Social Studies to ESL Students http://www.suite101.com/content/teaching-social-studies-to-esl-students-a129303

• Passport to Learning: Teaching Social Studies to ESL Students by Barbara’ Cruz, Joyce Nutta, and Jason O’Brian. NCSS: 2003.

• Teaching Social Studies to English Language Learners by Barbara’Cruz and Stephen Thorton, NY: Routledge, 2009.

Understanding the WIDA English Language Proficiency Standards: A Resource Guide, 2007 Edition

http://www.wida.us/standards/Resource_Guide_web.pdf

Questions or Comments?

Dr. Susan Santolissantoli@usouthal.edu

Dr. Paige V. Baggettpbaggett@usouthal.edu

Dr. Susan Fergusonferguson@usouthal.edu