Differentiated Instruction and Resources

Differentiated Instruction is composed of many Pieces.

Why is Differentiated Instruction such a hot topic?
It is THE bridge from Content to Learner.

• Educators need many Pieces - different kinds of instructional and assessment strategies and a variety of differentiated resources that address the wide range of knowledge, ability levels, interests, and learning styles students bring to the classroom.
• Teachers require a variety of research-based instructional strategies and resources for all students in order to meet benchmarks, standards, and provide enrichment and acceleration.
• Strategies and materials must support the accountability component of educating students.

What are Research-Based Differentiation Strategies? Accountable, teacher-tested instructional strategies that address a variety of student characteristics and promote student achievement.

• One of the Pieces is Research-Based Instructional Strategies. These strategies differentiate Content, Process, and/or Product.
• After pre-testing, Content may be remediated, accelerated, or enriched using basic or more complex resources. Examples of strategies are acceleration, compacting, flexible pacing, and introduction of more complex concepts.
• Process is differentiated by addressing different learning styles, levels of thinking, and kinds of thinking. The content is not different. Teachers may use Bloom’s Taxonomy, Higher Level Questioning, CPS, Williams’ Taxonomy, etc.
• Product is differentiated by addressing different learning styles and providing choice in variety and different levels of complexity of products.

Other Differentiation Strategies

What are Differentiated Resources? They are resources that address the wide range of knowledge, ability levels, interests, and learning styles students bring to the classroom and that address different instructional strategies.

One of the Pieces offered by Pieces of Learning is a wide selection of differentiated resources especially designed for the Differentiated Classroom including:

• Differentiating the Process
• Differentiating the Content for Primary High Ability Thinkers
• Differentiating the Content and Process through Questioning
• Differentiating Using Various Research-Based Strategies
• Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Assessment
• Rubrics
• TWO Essential Resources for new and experienced educators
   

Once I have the Strategies for Differentiated Instruction and Differentiated Resources – Where is the “How-To”?

Pieces of Learning’s Professional Development Presenters

· A final Piece is highly qualified Staff Development in Differentiated Instruction.

· For 17 years our expert presenters have explored with teachers Differentiated Instruction in the content areas. They present the practical application of those strategies and differentiated resources so teachers can walk into the classroom the next day ready to begin Differentiated Instruction. Meet our Presenters.

Other Differentiation Strategies

Acceleration                               Curriculum Compacting

Flexible Grouping                       Literature Circles

Mentoring                                   Contracting

Independent Study                      Telescoping

Post-holing                                  Learning Centers

Tiered Instruction                        Tic-Tac-Toe Choices

Differentiated Assessment            Brain Compatible Learning

Collaborative Learning                Project Based Learning

Inquiry Based Learning               Creative Problem Solving

• Differentiating the Process: Our Math Rules! series seeks right answers, but the focus is the differentiation of the process to arrive at the right answer as well as enriching the content.

• Differentiating the Content for Primary High Ability Thinkers: Our P.E.T.S.(TM) (Primary Education Thinking Skills) series presents activities to teach different kinds of thinking skills to young students; the content is differentiated for high ability thinkers and various instructional strategies including Telescoping and Enrichment are used. Another practical resource: Demystifying Differentiation in Elementary School

• Differentiating the Content and Process Through Questioning: Our Thinking Skills series includes Asking Smart Questions, Questioning Makes the Difference, Active Questioning, and The Quick Question Workbook, all presenting Questioning strategies to use with any content area, thus differentiating the content and process.

• Differentiating Using Various Research-Based Strategies: Our Postscards From . . . series uses Bloom’s Taxonomy, Williams’ Taxonomy, SCAMPER, Tic-Tac-Toe, Choice, and Creative Problem Solving Strategies to differentiate process. Another practical resource: Demystifying Differentiation in Middle School

• Bloom’s Taxonomy:  Bloom's & Beyond and Differentiating Lessons Using Bloom’s Taxonomy.

• Assessment: To address Instructional Strategies (Tic-Tac-Toe, Individual Lesson Plans, and Tiered Assignments) and Assessment in a variety of ways is our Best Sellers Activities & Assessments for the Differentiated Classroom & Successful Teaching in the Differentiated Classroom

• Rubrics: The Products Tool Bag series and Solving the Assessment Puzzle: Piece by Piece provide rubrics for 100s of products. Use the Product Criteria Cards to create rubrics.

• TWO Essential Resources for new and experienced educators: Teaching Tools for the 21^st Century & Successful Teaching in the Differentiated Classroom assist teachers as they begin their journey into Differentiation. It puts theory into practice that you can use tomorrow. The author addresses and illustrates Differentiation in a standards-based world.

More Differentiated Resources

On-Site Staff Development Consultants/Speakers

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