Differentiation of Instruction

A couple months back, we gathered feedback on what differentiation looks like in your classroom. Kat Kuziel and I curated the list and bundled them into categories. Below is what we think is an "Oh, wow!" list full of some meaty strategies for differentiation to build upon. This list has been shown to SLT, but we hope will start making the rounds, becoming a more useful tool that continues to grow and evolve.

Student choice/Variation of activities to address student skills Having choice of direction to go with project Involved all students in a similar task with similar goals but with different means to achieve the same end Different response modalities Collaborative note-taking Collaborative annotations document Collaborate in discussions using collaborative google docs

Depth of understanding Scaffolding to increase the depth of curricular content Thinking Routines:  Headlines, Chalk Talk, Tug of War, Sentence-Phrase-Word, Color-Symbol-Image, Claim-Support-Question, What Makes You Say That? Creative design of final student products (e.g. infographics, Choose Your Own Adventure, video creation, virtual tours)*

Scaffolding Combining higher level activities/articles with the basic curriculum outline to provide enrichment opportunities for all on activities Leveling skill demonstration opportunities through choice Using different leveled articles on the same topic or theme

Grouping Small group instruction with guided practice

Formative assessments Changing the focus of lessons based upon formative data Using data to tier student project focus Reviewing assessment data and then implementing/changing instruction based on results Not planning mainly to fit in timeline, but based off of the needs of students Using pre-assessments as a way to determine areas of need and areas of strength

Design Thinking Approaching lessons with strategies that lend themselves to high student engagement Designing activities and projects with student needs and abilities in mind*

Meaningful Feedback Direct feedback to students

Metacognition Engaging students in self-reflection QFT (Question Formulation Technique)*