How do I differentiate instruction?

May 31, 2009 8:46 PM

Can you recommend a good book (or journal, or webpage) on differentiated instruction?

Without going into too many specifics and writing 5 pages, I'm going to have to teach several "levels" of high school US history in the same room at the same time. Imagine regulars, honors, and mega-double-secret-honors in the same classroom, but with 3 separate (but at least fairly similar) classes going on, getting ready for 3 separate sets of exams at the end of the year.

So...what can I do to address my teaching to each individual's specific needs and target instruction at their "level", rather than have everyone do the same activity or same discussion, when they are not going to benefit from the same things? I mean, some stuff certainly benefits all students, such as analyzing primary source materials or interpreting charts and graphs, but some stuff is only going to be relevant to 1/3 of the class, like a particular essay that only 1/3 of them have to learn how to do...

Good books to recommend? I want to do right by my students and give them what they NEED, not just what is easiest for me.

posted by Elagabalus to education (7 comments total)

There are tons of books on this subject, and the ones I have read are all pretty similar. It depends on what you are looking for info on. Are you looking for help with lesson planning specifically in the subject you teach, or info about learning theory and differentiating to unique learning needs? You can differentiate based on ability, interest, learning style, readiness, etc. Differentiating is not easy in terms of planning because it takes much longer to plan a single lesson that is differentiated in several ways, but if you have strong classroom management techniques, the classes are much more meaningful for the students.

The ASCD page on differentiation is a good place to start: http://www.ascd.org/research_a_topic/Education_Topics/Differentiating_Instruction.aspx
posted by archimago at 4:27 AM on June 1

You're asking a question so tied to the fundamentals of what you're doing that there won't be a simple method. You can't just take an existing lesson and "differentiate" it. Usually the point of the lesson is to pass on a skill, language set or set of ideas that applies to a group of students who are in a certain place. In this context, most kinds of differentiation miss the point.

The classic example, usually from the earlier grades, is giving a writing assignment then telling the kids who struggle with writing that they can draw a picture instead. Yes, what the kids are doing is different, but there's no meaningful sense in which the instruction has been differentiated. Some of the kids simply aren't doing the task at hand and are filling time with something else.

That said, here's how I do this with 4th graders:

-- Make a context. I think of a big scheme, usually something based on the imagination, that lets kids pour in different kinds of work that comes together in one framework. As an example, right now we spend a year creating a continent from scratch. Obviously, the kids could study a lot of different things in a lot of different ways. But everything they do goes into depicting this made-up place. You could recreate a scene from history in all its detail (lots of research); or make a rewriting of history that branches into different possible outcomes; or make a history-based movie.
-- Give out jobs from within the context. My students can study different subject in earth sciences, life sciences, social sciences. The subjects they master, they can apply to the continent. For instance, a student who reads and writes about geography can decide where the tectonic plates are and how they're moving, or put in mountain ranges or mineral resources. A marine biologist adds and describes the invented marine biology. Make the jobs organic to your scheme. If you were, say, creating a historical movie, have a language consultant who looks into how people spoke. Have fact-checkers who try to catch historical anomolies. Have actors who have to know their characters deeply. Etc.
-- Create the tasks needed to attain the different roles. Decide what people need to do to master certain roles. I built bins like in vinyl record stores, then filled them with articles at different reading levels about geology, marine biology, etc., I tell kids they need to do a certain number of reader-response pieces in their journals to attain a job. The reader-response pieces could be a mix of drawing and writing in different modes (I laid out the journal pages with writing and drawing spots). The feeling of working towards a job, and having responsibilities to carry out once you get there, is a powerful one.
-- Celebrate at the end. Have a gallery exhibit. Have a premiere for the movie. Play the big game.

I hope you can see that this is a sequence played out over many months, not a single lesson. I think true differentiation takes that kind of longer commitment.
posted by argybarg at 6:38 AM on June 1

My high-schooler had an awesome history experience this year. Individual project based with lots of lecture. I'd be glad to share more via memail, if you'd like.
posted by auntbunny at 6:40 AM on June 1

oops, sorry. Have you seen The Differentiated Classroom and ERIC digests?
posted by auntbunny at 6:43 AM on June 1

as archimago said, there are tons of books on this subject. there are even different differentiated instruction books for each teachable subject.

but one of the things i found really useful when trying to plan for DI was having my students do the multiple intelligences test. something like this (there are templates/print-friendly quizzes on the web too).

then, based on how many of my students are logical/mathematical, musical, interpersonal, linguistic, etc. i try to incorporate assignment choices that cater to those intelligences. so, if i know i have a few musical students but i'm teaching a Biology lesson (which i wouldn't because i teach English & History), i could give them the choice of creating a song about the nervous system. if you are able to offer different kinds of assignments that cover the same material, the students will be able to do what they want (and this is usually an area in which they excel). bonus -- often, giving a choice of assignments will mean your assignments are interdisciplinary (which is viewed as the mark of a skilled teacher).

another thing to keep in mind when you're teaching (and if you have to lecture a bit, that's okay) is the visual/auditory/hands-on division of students. make sure that instead of just talking all the time, you include visuals and things they can try themselves. it will ensure you reach all of your students.

i hope some of this helps! unfortunately, i sold back all of my DI textbooks, but if you need any help or want some suggestions, feel free to memail me. i know that DI can seem like a huge, daunting thing. i just finished teaching a course with 10 'identified' students (4 identified as gifted, 6 had learning disabilities) and it could be a bit stressful at times. best of luck!
posted by gursky at 7:44 AM on June 1

Specifically I guess what I am looking for is what differentiated instruction LOOKS LIKE in practice in a high school history classroom. What class structure or activities can allow students to split up into smaller units and work on stuff at their own abilitiy level? Not so much what they WANT to do (there are specific minimum standards I have to meet in the way of course curriculum, and they are externally assessed at the end of the course), but what they SHOULD do based on their own abilities.

I'm going to read the high school sections of the Tomlinson book today and see where that gets me. Most of these articles, upon first reading, seem to encourage you to change the way you think about education - but I think I already have. I already KNOW I should meet each student's individual needs, but I just need to determine what that looks like in practice, and specifically with high schoolers.
posted by Elagabalus at 11:37 AM on June 1

i see what you mean about what they want vs. what they should be doing...

this might sound like i am brushing off your concern, but the hardest part of implementing DI is being aware of it as a concept. that's why so many of the books discuss it in such depth. if you know about it and are aware that not all students learn the same way, you will teach accordingly. it sort of becomes automatic after a while.

as long as you aren't standing at the front, speaking for 70 minutes straight, you're doing a far better job than a lot of teachers. if you create assignments that give the students a choice, you're really helping them explore learning styles.

what does it look like in practice? well, when i taught History, i varied my lessons every day. most of my classes were split into 2-4 different 'parts'. so students might begin the class with a group discussion, move into pairs or small groups for an activity/learning exercise, then we might watch a video clip as a class, and do an individual assignment for the rest of the period. the next day, the students might start class by taking down a note as i lecture (the length of the note/lecture depends on the grade level), move into a jigsaw activity (i.e. rotating groups where students teach each other -- student-directed learning), and then i might have them present their findings as a way to start a class discussion.

the way that i think of DI is just varying your instruction. the more approaches you have to teaching a lesson, the more students you'll be able to reach. it does make for a lot more prepwork, and there's an element of creativity required, but the internet is full of lesson plans that you might use or tweak. it's tough, but it's so worth it. and it makes your job more interesting too.

i hope that helps a little more.
posted by gursky at 9:47 PM on June 8