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First Step Toward Differentiated Instruction

Did you know?

Research shows that students enter the classroom with a variety of abilities and interests, requiring that teachers employ a variety of learning options (Keefe & Jenkins, 2005; Yatvin, 2004).

Research shows that excellent teachers rely on a variety of instructional strategies rather than relying exclusively on one method (Langer, 2004).

Research shows the most effective teachers function more as facilitators and coaches than as lecturers and direction givers, particularly in the upper grades (Bolliger, 2004; McCain, 2005).

"Diversity is the one true thing we all have in common. Celebrate it every day." –Anonymous

In the sea of faces you look at daily in your classroom, each individual student has a different set of learning needs. Not all students learn at the same pace, have the same interests, or the same learning styles. It can be a formidable task to differentiate your instruction to meet the needs of all of your students. Many enthusiastic teachers have thrown themselves into differentiation only to burn out from trying to do too much right away.

It’s important to remember that the journey toward differentiated instruction (DI) takes place one . . . step . . . at . . . a . . . time, and with every single step you take, you and the students in your classroom will benefit. Read on to find two strategies that help you take the FIRST STEP TOWARD DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION as well as the research to support it.

Take the first step toward differentiated instruction by immediately using one of the following strategies in your classroom

1. Anchors
Anchors are an excellent way to provide activities that meet varying student learning profiles and interests. Anchors support self-directed learning and effective classroom management because they provide students with meaningful activities to work on when they have free time, such as at the beginning of class or when they have finished their work early. They are usually designed for individuals to complete alone, but it is also possible to create Anchors for pairs or other small, self-selected groupings. They may be used as “bell ringer” or “door buster” activities to begin the day or a class session, or they may also be used to extend learning throughout the day when students have completed other activities.

Anchors are typically sets of activities from which students can pick. They should be engaging, and since Anchors are used during small segments of time, they should either be short or easy to pick up and put down throughout the day or week. Elementary-level teachers may, for example, create a set of five Anchors for each week since their time together spans most of the class day. Secondary-level teachers might create a set of five Anchors for a month, since time with students is typically limited to no more than one period each day.

Anchor Examples
(Based on ideas presented in the PLS course Differentiated Instruction for Today’s Classroom™ Online.)

Elementary Reading
  • List three facts and three opinions found in this week’s reading selections
  • Write a song or poem using ten vocabulary words found in the textbook
  • Write a journal entry from the point of view of a character in one of the reading selections.
  • Listen to one of the “book on tape” selections on the CD player in the back of the room.
  • 5. Create a graphic organizer to show important ideas from one of the selections you’ve read in the past five days. (This activity may be done with a partner.)
Secondary Poetry
  • Create a simile and a metaphor for the quality of perseverance.
  • Using two different objects from the classroom, write two sentences with examples of personification
  • Write two sentences that use alliteration
  • Choose a poem from one of the sources available in the classroom. Read it to yourself making sure that you are comfortable with all the pronunciations and rhythms. Find a partner and read the poem aloud to him or her.
  • Identify all the poetic devices that you can find in the poem "The Second Coming" by W. B. Yeates.

2. Agendas
Agendas are another DI strategy designed to support self-directed learning and effective classroom management. It is also a way for you to differentiate based on students’ readiness. DI Agendas should not be confused with meeting agendas or class agendas, whose purpose is to track and schedule a series of activities within a single meeting or class day. Rather, DI Agendas are an organizational framework that you use to orchestrate assigned student tasks.

Furthermore, Agenda items are assignments. Students are free to complete their Agenda activities in any order they choose, but all activities must be completed. Typically, an Agenda includes practice activities for an entire week. As students complete their items, they also make some type of record of what they have done and/or what they have learned. In other words, they are held accountable and it is their responsibility to document completed work in a manner agreed upon. Many teachers use folders for this purpose.

Agenda Examples
(Based on ideas submitted in the PLS course Differentiated Instruction for Today’s Classroom™ Online.)

Elementary Language Arts

Student A
  • Read independent reading book and write a summary outline for every 3 to 5 pages
  • Using wordsmith cards with a partner, complete 15 correct consecutively in less than 60 seconds
  • Create a word search for the spelling words that you misspelled in the pretest
  • Review this week’s list of vocabulary words and definitions. Read today’s poetry selection and highlight all of the vocabulary words you find
Student B
  • After reading a chapter in your independent reading book, write a letter to me responding to your reading including a brief summary, questions, and thoughts.
  • Complete two levels of the word game on the computer.
  • Write ten analogies using ten spelling words
  • Scan today’s poetry selection for vocabulary words with which you are unfamiliar. Record five words. Predict their meaning and then look up the definitions to see if you were correct.

Secondary History

Student A
  • Use the Constitution in the reference section of your book to complete the fill in the blank abbreviated Constitution outline provided to you at the beginning of the chapter.
  • Read the Newsweek article excerpt “Our Constitution in Evolution.” On the back of the article, write a one-paragraph answer to the following question: Do you agree or disagree with historians who say our Constitution has evolved over time? Provide three examples from the reading to support your answer.
  • View a virtual tour of Independence Hall in Philadelphia on the Intranet. Describe the physical environment in which the Constitution was created. Take into consideration the Constitution was created in the summer during a heat wave.
Student B
  • Create a Constitution for this class including what you think are the five most important rules. Decorate it to make it look like an antique.
  • Develop five interview questions and answers for one of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention. The questions must be about the development of the Constitution, the specific feelings of that delegate, or relations between that delegate and other delegates.
  • View the virtual tours of Independence Hall in Philadelphia and the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. Compare the two environments and describe how the physical environment might affect the decision making then and now.

Bolliger, D. U. (2004). Investigating student learning in a constructivist multimedia-rich learning environment. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology, Chicago, IL. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED485028)

Keefe, J. W., & Jenkins, J. M. (2005). Personalized instruction. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation.

Langer, J. A. (2004). Getting to excellent: How to create better schools. New York: Teachers College Press.

McCain, T. (2005). Teaching for tomorrow: Teaching content and problem-solving skills. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Tomlinson, C. A. (1999). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners (pp. 66-67). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Yatvin, J. (2004). A room with a differentiated view: How to serve all children as individual learners. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Source: The above tips are based on PLS's graduate course Differentiated Instruction for Today’s Classroom™. For more information see "Related Graduate Course" to the right.

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