Teachers can Successfully Incorporate Learner Differentiation to Meet Various Learner Needs by:
Differentiating the Content
- Teachers must identify information and content that is appropriate for specific grade levels and student abilities
- The content will depend on students' interests/prior knowledge/experiences
- Learning behaviours/disabilities will need to be taken into account
- It is important to differentiate content for ELL learners in the classroom
- Choose instructional materials that will grab students' attention and is relevant (example: using a variety of picture books, objects, picture prompts, etc.)
- Time spent on mini-lessons, group work, and individual work will vary depending on student understanding
Differentiating the Process
- Allow access to variety of resources (computers, ipads, word-walls, dictionaries, and thesauruses)
- Allow time for drawing/illustrations that accompany descriptive writing, as students may have strong skills in this area - imagery in their illustrations
- Provide voice recorders for the learners who need extra help with the writing process
- Allow time for group work and independent work
-Group work helps ELL learners as they can talk with classmates as they read and write, and at the same time, they are learning the culture of literacy (Tompkins, 2014).*
- Provide templates
- Post instructions and guidelines around classroom
Differentiating the Products
- What have the students learned?
- Are students engaged? Are they working well in their small groups?
- Look at students' process of writing, has it improved?
- Can students create an image in their readers' minds?
- Look at student's individual growth, as it is never "one size fits all"
- Writing process, group work, illustrations/pictures, verbal/writing skills will be taken into account when assessing what students know, not just the final writing product
The format of this section is taken from the Tomkins (2014) textbook (differentiating content, process and product), however it is comprised of our own ideas from other education classes and classroom experiences.
* This will be further explored in "Assessment" on the following page*
- Teachers must identify information and content that is appropriate for specific grade levels and student abilities
- The content will depend on students' interests/prior knowledge/experiences
- Learning behaviours/disabilities will need to be taken into account
- It is important to differentiate content for ELL learners in the classroom
- Choose instructional materials that will grab students' attention and is relevant (example: using a variety of picture books, objects, picture prompts, etc.)
- Time spent on mini-lessons, group work, and individual work will vary depending on student understanding
Differentiating the Process
- Allow access to variety of resources (computers, ipads, word-walls, dictionaries, and thesauruses)
- Allow time for drawing/illustrations that accompany descriptive writing, as students may have strong skills in this area - imagery in their illustrations
- Provide voice recorders for the learners who need extra help with the writing process
- Allow time for group work and independent work
-Group work helps ELL learners as they can talk with classmates as they read and write, and at the same time, they are learning the culture of literacy (Tompkins, 2014).*
- Provide templates
- Post instructions and guidelines around classroom
Differentiating the Products
- What have the students learned?
- Are students engaged? Are they working well in their small groups?
- Look at students' process of writing, has it improved?
- Can students create an image in their readers' minds?
- Look at student's individual growth, as it is never "one size fits all"
- Writing process, group work, illustrations/pictures, verbal/writing skills will be taken into account when assessing what students know, not just the final writing product
The format of this section is taken from the Tomkins (2014) textbook (differentiating content, process and product), however it is comprised of our own ideas from other education classes and classroom experiences.
* This will be further explored in "Assessment" on the following page*