Differentiation
Prepared by: Shuhudha Rizwan (2007)
What is differentiation?
• Differentiation an attempt to recognise
individual differences among students and
to find ways to consider these differences
in the process of teaching and learning.
• Differentiation is classroom instruction that
caters for all the different needs of
learners.
Why Differentiate?
• One size does not fit all.
• No two human beings are the same.
• To make it possible for all the learners to
access all curriculum.
What do you differentiate?
You can differentiate:
Content: What is being taught
Process: How the student learns what is being
taught
Product: How to show what is being learnt
How do you differentiate?
You can differentiate content, process and
product according to students’:
Readiness:
Skill level and background
knowledge of child
Learning Profile: learning style, environmental
Preferences and grouping factors
Interest:
What interests the child or
his/her preferences
Characteristics of differentiated
classrooms
• The basis for planning and instruction are the individual
differences of the learners.
• Assessment is diagnostic and formative so that instruction
responds to the learner
• Students are guided in making choices according to their
interests and learning profiles.
• Instruction is based around the ways in which students learn.
• Many instructional groupings and arrangements are used
• Multi-option assignments are used, providing students
choices in the ways in which they show what they have
learned.
• Student readiness, interests and learning profiles guide
instruction that incorporates multiple materials. School
curriculum guides and standards are still used, but they are
supplemented by other materials.
Differentiation Strategies
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Choice Boards
Learning Contracts
Tiered Activities
Compacting
Interest Centers or Interest Groups
Flexible Grouping
Choice Boards
• Choice boards are organizers that contain a variety
of activities.
• Choice boards require students to choose one or
several activities as they learn something.
• Choice boards can be used to differentiate
according to students’ readiness, interest or
learning profile.
• “Dinner menu” and “Tic-tac-toe” can be very
interesting activities of choice boards.
An example of “dinner menu”
Topic: Healthy Eating (Science, Grade 7)
Appetizer (Everyone Shares)
 Name the 3 main food groups with 4 examples each.
Entrée (Select one)
 Describe a balanced diet with an example.
 Draw a poster of a food pyramid showing a balanced meal.
 Create a song/poem explains a balanced diet.
Side Dishes (Select two)
 Why is it important to have a balanced diet in order to avoid heart attacks?
 Why does your heart beat very fast when you play a basketball match?
 What type of food should people with constipation problem have in their diet?
Why?
 Why do we need to eat more carbohydrates than any other type of food?
Dessert (optional)
 Draw a line graph showing your heart rates when you are engaged in different
activities at home (example: watching TV, playing football, eating, writing, resting)
An example of “Tic-tac-toe”
(Select any 3 activities, including the middle one)
Human Digestion (Science, Grade 7)
Name the parts of the
digestive system.
Design an activity to
show the action of
peristalsis
Write a story about what
happens to a piece of
bread you eat (you have
to start the passage of the
bread piece from the
mouth until absorption
takes place)
Write a poem about
human digestion
In your group perform a
play about the functions
of different parts of the
digestive system.
Write the order of events
as they take place in the
human digestive system.
Create a Venn diagram
comparing and
contrasting the digestion
of carbohydrates and
proteins.
Write two paragraphs
about the events that
take place in the mouth,
which help digestion.
Draw a poster of a the
human gut to be pasted
on the classroom wall.
Tiered Activities
• Tiered activities are designed to instruct
students on essential skills that are
provided at different levels of complexity,
abstractness, and open-endedness.
• The curricular content and objective(s) are
the same, but the process and/or product
are varied according to the student’s level
of readiness.
An example of a tiered activity
Volume of irregular objects (Science, Grade 7)
Low ability group: Ask them to measure the
volume of some objects like a key, coin,
paper clip
High ability group: Ask them to measure the
volume of ONE single needle from a bundle
of 100 needles.
Learning Contracts
• Learning contracts are agreements
between the teacher and the student.
• Teacher specifies the content/skills
expected to be learned, while the student
identifies methods for completing the
tasks.
• This strategy
- Allows students to work at an appropriate
pace
- Caters for learning styles
- helps students work independently, learn
planning skills, and eliminate unnecessary skill
practice.
Example of a learning contract
(Science, Grade 7)
My topic is: Acid Rain
To find out about my topic:
I will read:
__________________
I will look at and
listen to:____________
I will draw:
__________________
I will write:
____________________
I will need:
_______________
After studying I will share what I know by:
________________________________________________
I will complete my task on:
______________________________
Compacting
• Compacting is the process of adjusting
instruction to account for prior student mastery
of learning objectives.
• Compacting involves a three-step process:
1. assess the student to determine his/her level of
knowledge on the material to be studied and
determine what he/she still needs to master
2.create plans for what the student needs to know,
and excuse the student from studying what
he/she already knows
3. create plans for freed-up time to be spent in
enriched or accelerated study.
An Example of Compacting
Circuits (Science, Grade 7)
• A student who knows the basic concepts
of circuits would not participate in a direct
instruction lesson, but might be provided
with small group or individualized
instruction on deeper understanding of the
topic.
Flexible Grouping
• Students work as part of many different groups
depending on the task and/or content.
• Sometimes students are placed in groups based
on readiness, other times they are placed based
on interest and/or learning profile.
• Groups can either be assigned by the teacher or
chosen by the students themselves.
• Students can be assigned purposefully to a
group or randomly.
• This strategy allows students to work with a wide
variety of peers and keeps them from being
labeled as advanced or slow-learners.
An example of flexible grouping
Keeping Fit (Science, Grade 7)
• Activity 1: Students work in groups to write down a list of
activities that can help them to keep fit.
• Activity 2: Students work in groups to prepare a poster or
a leaflet aimed at creating awareness on the importance
keeping fit.
• Activity 3: The whole class is grouped into two to debate
for one of the following topics
- Exercise is the most important factor for keeping fit.
- Healthy food is the most important factor for keeping fit.
For each of the above mentioned activities, students should change their groups.
Assessment in differentiated classrooms
• Diagnostic assessment
Assessing students’ readiness, interest, and learning
profiles to find out where and how to begin instruction.
• Formative or continuous assessment
Ongoing assessment that continually inform the teacher
about a students’ progress and future instruction should
be based on that information
• Instruction dependent assessment
Assessment should be based on the content and manner
in which the students were taught
• Student dependent Assessment:
Assessment should be based on the needs of the
students and the way in which they have been interacting
with the material.