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Leveled readers

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Retelling
Graphic Organizers

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When I was a teacher, I differentiated my centers. There were three colors, and students were assigned a color based on their ability level or what skill they needed to work on. They knew which activity they could do at the center without my help. They never knew what the color meant, they just knew they had to do the green activity if they had a green sticker on their center folder.

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Some students may be overstimulated by the amount of work to be done. It can be overwhelming to see the whole task at once. I often physically cut a worksheet into 2-4 pieces and offered students one piece at a time. After each piece was done, the student had an organic opportunity for movement to get the next task. This was great for students who needed support focusing.

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Offer various types of seating such as on the rug, in chairs, on medicine balls, on a bench etc. This allows for independent thinking or collaboration. Along the same lines, taking learning outside can stimulate our cognitive thinking in different ways and allow students to get creative.

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I enjoy differentiation. I'd like to believe that most teachers differentiate without even realizing what they are doing. As far as differentiating the environment is concerned, I like ABC Walls that are dubbed as word walls (word walls should be at eye level and run horizontally). ABC Walls with sight words, spelling words, student names, etc. help students become independent learners. Additionally, ABC Walls should include pictures when applicable. Yes, this means pictures of the students next to their name.

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As a principal I often saw teachers using student choice boards or menus to have students determine a way to complete an assignment. In the primary grades these are very popular when practicing spelling words or vocabulary.

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Differentiated Instruction

Elementary students have a better chance of showing what they've learned when they have a choice about how to show it.

©Shutterstock/Monkey Business Images

Most classrooms are filled with students of varying academic abilities. Even within a gifted and talented classroom like mine, the ability levels can range drastically. As teachers strive to meet each student's individual needs, differentiation is key because it's about giving more opportunities for students to grow to their highest potential, and it is beneficial for all students.

In the digital era, we can provide all of our students with technological ways to enhance their learning, no matter their academic label. Every student is different and needs to be offered a variety of ways to show what they've learned in a way that reflects their individuality.

One way to differentiate within the curriculum is to provide students with choices for completing an assignment. Students learn in various ways, and we can let them show their learning in various ways. When I give my students a choice on how they'll complete a project, they have to meet certain criteria, but I allow them to find an outlet they find most enjoyable, such as creating a Google Slides presentation, a trifold board, or a pamphlet. Giving students a choice allows them to take ownership of their learning as well as create a product that feels authentic to them. They work on something that they're good at creating, or try something they want to get better at.

An excellent way to ensure differentiation is to have each student create an e-portfolio-a technology-based assessment tool that collects a student's authentic work samples, providing a quick way for a teacher to assess growth and skills. In a sense, the e-portfolio is a window into a student's learning, one that allows the student to choose what to include.

An e-portfolio can follow the student across grades, too. And once the time is spent creating one, the process of adding content becomes easier and quicker as the student adds to it in later grades. Since e-portfolios offer a way for students to show authentic learning, they allow students to exhibit their individual growth through their academic experiences.

Differentiating by Giving Choices

The best way to differentiate instruction is to give students a choice in how they show their learning. All students learn in their own way, and they need to be able to show their individual skills and interests. As long as they're able to demonstrate a certain skill, assessment should be more about the process than the product.

Giving choices may seem like more work for the teacher, and it can be, but it's also worthwhile because it encourages more students to take more ownership of their learning.

Adding a technology component to an assignment can drastically increase student engagement, especially if they haven't been given such options in the past. Using a novel app, such as Flipgrid, adds an element of fun while also giving students practice with tech skills.

But technology is not the only way to provide choice-try using choice boards, which provide students with many options for presenting content. Students may present the water cycle stages in a song, for example, or create a comic that lays out those stages. Such choices can be fun for the students, and can show teachers hidden talents their students possess that they wouldn't see otherwise.

Differentiating With Portfolios

Few applications offer the opportunity for students to reflect on their learning, but pushing students to do that is important in getting them to think about how they learn best and take an active role in their own learning. Quick assessment applications such as Flipgrid and Kahoot allow for student reflection, but the e-portfolio-which showcases an individual student's personality-is even better.

With e-portfolios, students reflect on their learning while putting their own mark on their assignments. Students are able to showcase their learning and the process they used to create their final product while individualizing it with their likes and interests.

A teacher may require some items to be present-such as name, class section, pictures of hobbies, or content-related materials-but seeing the ways that students make the e-portfolio their own is what a teacher wants. The e-portfolio is a tool that students can use to express their thinking in a way that is unique to them.

Teachers can assess e-portfolios to measure growth and skills instead of just knowledge of course content. Students are able to take ownership of what they have learned, choose how they present the content, and take control of their learning.

Differentiating allows students to have their voice heard, which can lead them to become self-motivated learners. And that in turn can help increase both their learning growth and their self-awareness of that growth.

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Elementary students have a better chance of showing what they're learning when they have a choice about how to show it.

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Have a variety of books available to students. Have books with pictures, no pictures, audio books, books with props, etc.

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As a teacher I had these available to students that did not want to read loud enough for others to hear them. This was especially helpful for second language learners that were still in the "silent period".

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Some students need visual representation of the steps required for an activity. Visual instructions show them what to do first, second, third. This can provide a struggling student with the opportunity to be independent.

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Have you ever considered letting a student sit under their desk? Some students find better focus when they are under a table or desk during independent work time. The reduced visual stimulation and increased sensory input from the floor can add minutes of focus on a task.

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Planning was tedious, but I differentiated by including learning stations and small group guided instruction. When I taught Elem., I did this by content; when I taught MS and HS, it was one content area, but it occurred in all seven classes. Monday was used for introducing or front load content (I DO) modeling, then on Monday and throughout the week, there was guided and independent practice, including students working together. When planning, I thought of two theorists: Bruner and Vygotsky, and considered Bloom's Taxonomy in everything.
-Dr. Ramirez-Espinola

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Some call them menus, but we called them Task Cards. *Great Idea, no matter their name.

Students could choose their tasks in learning centers, but they had to complete all 4 of them by the end of the week. These tasks were differentiated by color. The teacher knew levels of difficulty, but the students did not know. There were always two required tasks, but students were able to choose an order.  Some Task Cards had options for exit tickets and students were able to choose how they would be assessed. This was a little easier with 2nd grade and up. The ECE needed more guidance. Dr. E

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Some great websites include book lists (picture books) for ice breakers, modeling, or front loading in content across the curriculum that teachers can use EC-12. ELLs can connect with content when teachers provide a springboard to activate schema. Diverse Literature is a crucial component for differentiation. It also provides visual and audio aids/modeling. Dr. E

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This is an important component to learning. Even as students move from elementary to high school, there should be environmental "positives" in the classroom. Elementary teachers have this down, but other than ELAR teachers in upper grades, more work needs to be done to convince MS and HS teachers to include a couple of instructional support posters or positive poster messages, a student wall, and maybe a classroom library with newspapers, books, and other reading materials. I decorated my MS and HS classrooms. I may have not gone as detailed as I did when I taught Elementary, but I still included items older students would like. Dr. E