Designing a Differentiated Lesson Plan

    Teachers divide their time, resources, and efforts to effectively instruct students of diverse backgrounds and interests. They ensure that every student has the opportunity to develop his or her individual talents. Teachers create lessons that will be effective for students with different academic skills and readiness levels. And in order to address the range of skills and needs of students in today’s diverse classroom, teachers need to develop and use varied teaching and assessment strategies. Differentiated instruction is one such technique that provides students with different avenues for acquiring and processing content. Differentiation entails identifying both the appropriate entry points for learning as well as the appropriate exit points for students to express their learning (Tomlinson, 2000). And there are many techniques to reach every type of learner. Such as, the gifted and talented students, the students with disabilities, the students who lack motivation, and the students who have not yet mastered the English language. I evaluated and choose instructional strategies to differentiate and engage diverse students by working with them to help them identify, recognize, develop, and use new terminology. I also tap into students’ prior experiences and knowledge to see what they already know. Combining students with varying learning abilities, interests, language proficiencies, or other skill strengths into groups of two or more can provide peer support throughout a lesson (Renzulli & Dai, 2014). Now, learner readiness is the ability for a student to take new information and process it in a way that changes behaviors or leads to desired academic outcomes. In essence, it is the ability for an individual to actively engage in the learning process and take personal responsibility for learned information (Achterberg, 1988). And by giving a pretest prior to implementing the lesson can help plan for student readiness, interest, and learning style. Also, by connecting what you’re teaching to real life is a fun way to get students interested in what they are learning about. I also try to find out what my students are passionate about and then use those interests as natural motivators to increase engagement. Many teachers offer student choice by providing flexible seating, choices of materials, supplies, choice of topics for research, fidgets were needed, etc. Teachers work to encourage student choice, differentiation, and independence by modifying lessons and activities based on student needs. It is also important to differentiated assessments to address the specific learning goals and individual or group differences. For example, when teaching a lesson over equal parts of a whole, teachers could implement the following strategies:

• English language learners (ELL): Word knowledge, oral administration, visuals, opportunities to listen and identify picture cards, making connections, and acting it out.
• Students with special needs: Word knowledge, oral administration, visuals, opportunities to listen and identify picture cards, and acting it out.
•  Students with gifted abilities: The choice of working independently, without manipulatives, or have them cut out two-dimensional shapes from magazine or newspaper ads. Then, they can partition them into equal parts. They can even try drawing equal thirds.
•  Early finishers (those students who finish early and may need additional resources/support): Students can create an equal parts book. Students can draw different shapes and partition them equally by coloring the parts different colors.

    Differentiated instruction with the use of technology offers the opportunity for teachers to engage students in different modalities, while also varying the rate of instruction, complexity levels, and teaching strategies to engage and challenge students (Stanford, Crowe, & Flice, 2010). Technology can help teachers facilitate an easier, more productive learning experience. And thanks to technology, teachers can customize learning for students. It enables them to improve their instruction methods and personalize learning, thus increasing their productivity and efficiency as instructors. Through these helpful tools, teachers can provide exciting activities. For example, using videos and interactive Google Slides are great ways to boost student engagement and improve learning. Also, having hands on manipulatives, such as pattern blocks can help support students during a math lesson. These helpful tools are appropriate for a diverse classroom because they offer supports for all types of learners. Overall, I feel that differentiated instruction is beneficial and allows teachers to give students the support they need. And by incorporating videos, audio pieces, visuals, and hands on activities can help create individualized learning plans for students.

 

References

Achterberg, C. (1988). Factors that influence learner readiness. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 88(11), 1426-1428.

Renzulli, J. S., & Dai, D. Y. (2014). Abilities, interests, and styles as aptitudes for learning: A

            person-situation interaction perspective. Perspectives on thinking, learning, and cognitive styles, 23-46.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2000). Differentiation of instruction in the elementary grades. ERIC Digest.

Stanford, P., Crowe, M. W., & Flice, H. (2010). Differentiating with technology. Teaching

            exceptional children plus, 6(4), n4.