P4 Low and High Prep Differentiation Strategies
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Low and High Prep Differentiation Strategies
Differentiation strategies can require varied amounts of preparation time. High-prep strategies often require a teacher to both create multiple pathways to process information/demonstrate learning and to assign students to those pathways. Hence, more ongoing monitoring and assessment is often required. In contrast, low-prep strategies might require a teacher to strategically create process and product choices for students, but students are allowed to choose which option to pursue given their learning profile or readiness level. Also, a low-prep strategy might be focused on a discrete skill (such as vocabulary words), so there are fewer details to consider. Most teachers find that integration of one to two new low-prep strategies and one high-prep strategy each quarter is a reasonable goal.
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Low Prep Strategies |
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Varied journal prompts, spelling or vocabulary lists |
Students are given a choice of different journal prompts, spelling lists or vocabulary lists depending on level of proficiency/assessment results. |
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Anchor activities |
Anchor activities provide meaningful options for students when they are not actively engaged in classroom activities (e.g., when they finish early, are waiting for further directions, are stumped, first enter class, or when the teacher is working with other students). Anchors should be directly related to the current learning goals. |
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Choices of books |
Different textbooks or novels (often at different levels) that students are allowed to choose from for content study or for literature circles. |
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Choices of review activities |
Different review or extension activities are made available to students during a specific section of the class (such as at the beginning or end of the period). |
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Homework options |
Students are provided with choices about the assignments they complete as homework. Or, students are directed to specific homework based on student needs. |
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Student-teacher goal setting |
The teacher and student work together to develop individual learning goals for the student. |
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Flexible grouping |
Students might be instructed as a whole group, in small groups of various permutations (homogeneous or heterogeneous by skill or interest), in pairs or individual. Any small groups or pairs change over time based on assessment data. |
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Varied computer programs |
The computer is used as an additional center in the classroom, and students are directed to specific websites or software that allows them to work on skills at their level. |
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Multiple Intelligence or Learning Style options |
Students select activities or are assigned an activity that is designed for learning a specific area of content through their strong intelligence (verbal-linguistic, interpersonal, musical, etc.) |
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Varying scaffolding of same organizer |
Provide graphic organizers that require students to complete various amounts of information. Some will be more filled out (by the teacher) than others. |
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Think-Pair-Share by readiness, interest, and/or learning profile |
Students are placed in pre-determined pairs, asked to think about a question for a specific amount of time, then are asked to share their answers first with their partner and then with the whole group. |
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Mini workshops to re-teach or extend skills |
A short, specific lesson with a student or group of students that focuses on one area of interest or reinforcement of a specific skill. |
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Orbitals |
Students conduct independent investigations generally lasting 3-6 weeks. The investigations “orbit” or revolve around some facet of the curriculum. |
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Games to practice mastery of information and skill |
Use games as a way to review and reinforce concepts. Include questions and tasks that are on a variety of cognitive levels. |
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Multiple levels of questions |
Teachers vary the sorts of questions posed to different students based on their ability to handle them. Varying questions is an excellent way to build the confidence (and motivation) of students who are reluctant to contribute to class discourse. Note: Most teachers would probably admit that without even thinking about it they tend to address particular types of questions to particular students. In some cases, such tendencies may need to be corrected. (For example, a teacher may be unknowingly addressing all of the more challenging questions to one student, thereby inhibiting other students’ learning and fostering class resentment of that student.) |
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High Prep. Strategies |
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Cubing |
Designed to help students think about a topic or idea from many different angles or perspectives. The tasks are placed on the six sides of a cube and use commands that help support thinking (justify, describe, evaluate, connect, etc.) . The students complete the task on the side that ends face up, either independently or in homogenous groups. |
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Tiered
assignment/ |
The content and objective are the same, but the process and/or the products that students must create to demonstrate mastery are varied according to the students’ readiness level. |
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Independent studies |
Students choose a topic of interest that they are curious about and wants to discover new information on. Research is done from questions developed by the student and/or teacher. The researcher produces a product to share learning with classmates. |
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4MAT |
Teachers plan instruction for each of four learning preferences over the course of several days on a given topic. Some lessons focus on mastery, some on understanding, some on personal involvement, and some on synthesis. Each learner has a chance to approach the topic through preferred modes and to strengthen weaker areas. |
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Jigsaw |
Students are grouped based on their reading proficiency and each group is given an appropriate text on a specific aspect of a topic (the economic, political and social impact of the Civil War, for example). Students later get into heterogeneous groups to share their findings with their peers, who have read about different areas of study from source texts on their own reading levels. The jigsaw technique allows you to tackle the same subject with all of your students while discreetly providing them the different tools they need to get there. |
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Multiple texts |
The teacher obtains or creates a variety of texts at different reading levels to assign strategically to students. |
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Alternative assessments |
After completing a learning experience via the same content or process, the student may have a choice of products to show what has been learned. This differentiation creates possibilities for students who excel in different modalities over others (verbal versus visual). |
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Modified Assessments |
Assessments can be modified in a variety of ways – for example by formatting the document differently (e.g. more space between questions) or by using different types of questions (matching vs. open ended) or by asking only the truly essential questions. |
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Learning contracts or Personal Agendas |
A contract is a negotiated agreement between teacher and student that may have a mix of requirements and choice based on skills and understandings considered important by the teacher. A personal agenda could be quite similar, as it would list the tasks the teacher wants each student to accomplish in a given day/lesson/unit. Both Learning contracts and personal agendas will likely vary between students within a classroom. |
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Compacting |
This strategy begins with a student assessment to determine level of knowledge or skill already attained (i.e. pretest). Students who demonstrate proficiency before the unit even begins are given the opportunity to work at a higher level (either independently or in a group). |
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Literature circles |
Flexible grouping of students who engage in different studies of a piece of literature. Groups can be heterogeneous and homogeneous. |
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Readers’ Workshop (Writers’ Workshop is a parallel strategy) |
The Readers’ Workshop approach involves students in three types of activities:
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Stations/ |
A station (or simply a collection of materials) that students might use independently to explore topics or practice skills. Centers allow individual or groups of students to work at their own pace. Students are constantly reassessed to determine which centers are appropriate for students at a particular time, and to plan activities at those centers to build the most pressing skills. |
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Tape recorded materials at different levels |
Books on tape are purchased or (created by the teacher) so that students can listen to the book being read aloud to them while they follow along in the text. This is often done at a listening station, where tapes of books/information on various reading levels are available. |
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Tic-Tac-Toe Choice Board (sometimes called “Think-Tac-Toe”) |
The tic-tac-toe choice board is a strategy that enables students to choose multiple tasks to practice a skill, or demonstrate and extend understanding of a process or concept. From the board, students choose (or teacher assigns) three adjacent or diagonal. To design a tic-tac-toe board: - Identify the outcomes and instructional focus - Design 9 different tasks - Use assessment data to determine student levels - Arrange the tasks on a tic-tac-toe board either randomly, in rows according to level of difficulty, or you may want to select one critical task to place in the center of the board for all students to complete. |
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Choice Boards |
Work assignments are written on cards that are placed in hanging pockets. By asking students to select a card from a particular row of pockets, the teacher targets work toward student needs yet allows student choice. |
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