Differentiating for Student Readiness and Interest

  

Differentiating for Student Readiness and Interest
For this assignment, you will be given a scenario that describes
two very different students that you may have in your classroom. Based
on the information, you will develop appropriate ways to differentiate
content, process, and product based on student readiness and interest.

Scenario:
You are a fifth grade teacher and are preparing to teach the students a
unit on matter. In this particular lesson, you will introduce to the
students the structure of an atom, which includes protons, electrons,
and neutrons. You already conducted a pre-assessment and you found that
most students were familiar with the word atom, but were not
particularly strong in knowing the parts of an atom. Mary loves science
and was the only student who shows that she already has a good
understanding regarding the structure of an atom. You also know that
Davion is an average student who is very capable of learning the
content, but it is a struggle to motivate him when teaching science
because he does not care for the subject and thinks it is boring. In
conducting an interest survey in the beginning of the year, you know
that Davion is really interested in comics.

In reviewing this scenario, you will determine how to effectively
differentiate for content, process, and product based on student
readiness and student interest for Mary and Davion. Your assignment
should include the following:
Based on what Mary knows about the atom, explain how might you
differentiate for student readiness based on content, process, and
product? Think about what you want Mary to learn and how you plan to
teach it (content), the activities she will engage in (process), and how
she might show what she has learned in a different way (product). See
Chapter 5 of your text for support and ideas. Considering Davion’s interest in comics, explain how you might
differentiate for student interest based on content, process, and
product. Think about how you might differentiate the way you teach atoms
to Davion (content), the activities you may engage him in to help him
make sense of the content (process), and the options he has to show he
has mastered the objective (product). See Chapter 6 of your text for
support and ideas. Explain your rationale of your differentiated approach for each
student and how it will support these two students in your classroom
for learning about the structure of an atom. Consider how your selection
in content, process, and product for Mary and Davion differ for the
rest of your class. How do the options you provide for Mary and Davion
align with their readiness level and interest? Be sure to use evidence
to support your ideas.
You have two options in completing this task:
Write a two- to three-page paper (not including the title and references pages).
Here is an example of the Week 3 Written Assignment option.(Will be attached)
Develop an eight- to ten-slide PowerPoint presentation (not including the title and references slides).
Here is an example of the Week 3 Presentation option.(Will be attached)

You must reference the course text and at least one additional scholarly
source using the Ashford University Library. You must include title and
references pages or slides regardless of which option you choose. For
information regarding APA formatting, visit the Ashford Writing Center,
located under the Learning Resources tab in the left navigation of the
online course.
edu382_week_3_assignment.pdf

edu_382_week_3_assignment_option_b.pdf

Unformatted Attachment Preview

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Differentiating for Student Readiness and Interest
Differentiating for Student Readiness and Interest
Student
EDU382: Meeting the Need of Diverse Learners
(CXF1522A)
Instructor Beyer
2015
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Differentiating for Student Readiness and Interest
Differentiating for Student Readiness and Interest
There are three differentiable elements that impact curriculum. These three elements
are content, process, and product. When considering student readiness these elements can be
differentiated o support growth (Sousa & Tomlinson, 2011). The following contents of this paper will be
used to examine two
specific students, at different levels of readiness, and how content, process, and product impacts
the learning experience.
Content can be considered as the “meat and potatoes” of a lesson plan. Content is
ultimately the knowledge, understanding, and abilities (KUD’s) that is being taught. The content
can be differentiated in two ways. The “meat and potatoes” can, itself, be modified. (Meat and
carrots or tofu and potatoes) This means that the actual materials being taught can change. Or, a
second way to differentiate is for the teacher to modify the means by which the material is
shared. Some ways to differentiate content include:

Use of video images to supplement text

Offering demonstrations to provide an example of application of abstract ideas

Bookmark a university website so advanced learners so they may take advantage of
expert level discussion regarding the topic of interest (Sousa & Tomlinson, 2011).
The process can also be referred to as “sense making activities”. This occurs after the
student has stopped receiving the information and begins to practice the information. Activities
help students to make the information their own and promote critical and abstract thinking.
Process is when the students integrate the knowledge, understanding, and skills into providing
solution a d conceptualization. Some examples of differentiation in process include:
3
Differentiating for Student Readiness and Interest

Providing other models or scaffolding to make tasks accessible

Increase or decrease the number of facets in the task

Ask students to work with partners to solve a problem versus working alone
Finally the product element of the curriculum is a way in which the student exhibits
understanding and comprehension of the lesson unit. The product may also be referred to as the
summative assessment. Products are basically how a teacher knows if the student has
successfully learned the content. Some ways to differentiate product include:

Provide more check in dates

Ask students to set personal goals for their products

Use community mentors to support or extend student understanding (Sousa & Tomlinson, 2011)
There are a few objectives when developing lesson plans. Knowledge and skills are
obvious objectives. A third kind of objective is attitude. “Good attitudes toward learning always
assist pupils to achieve more optimally” (Marlow, 2004). This fact supports greatly the need to
account for, not only readiness but also student interests. A student who is interested in the
subject and topic is more likely to have a good attitude towards the lesson.
As it is with the cases of Mary and Davion, the students differ greatly in readiness and
interests. Mary loves science and already has a foundational knowledge for the content of matter,
specifically the structure of an atom. Davion is not a huge fan of science and knows very little
about the desired content. It will be profoundly important to find ways to differentiate the three
elements to accommodate each learner and ensure that they are challenged properly to promote
growth.
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Differentiating for Student Readiness and Interest
Let’s first consider how to optimize Mary’s learning experience. Considering Mary enjoys
the subject and is advanced in her base knowledge, it will be important to challenge her
appropriately. Providing Mary with internet resources (content) will help her to explore the
subject on her own and provide access to a more advanced discussion outside of grade-level text.
In order to differentiate the process for Mary, the teacher will instruct her to buddy up with
Davion. Since Mary enjoys the subject and already has developed KUD’s regarding the topic, it
will be beneficial for her to be in a position to share her enthusiasm and act as a peer mentor.
Finally, in keeping in line with the content, Mary will be provided with more complex resources
to meet her reading levels.
To differentiate these elements for Davion, the teacher will need to consider his lack of
interest as well as his lack of motivation. Davion is an average student and so his KUD’s are
within in normative ranges. The content will not need to be altered greatly however will need to
account for lack of interest/motivation. One way to do this is to augment the more complex text
with video images. Keeping in mind that Davion has an interest in comics; a video with
illustration may play to his interests and stimulate cognitive involvement. To modify for process
for Davion, he would buddy up with Mary. Working as a team will allow Davion to explore
common and varied interests with Mary as well as play an intricate part. The assignment for the
pair would be to develop a poster illustrating and narrating the structure of an atom. This
partnership will allow Davion to express his KUD’s of the lesson through artistic representation
and allow Mary to share her advanced perspective. Finally to differentiate for product, the
teacher can check in more often with Davion. Checking in will ensure that Davion is staying
engaged and on task as well as assessing his progress within the lesson plan.
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Differentiating for Student Readiness and Interest
These three elements have a variety of options for differentiation. In order to ensure
that the students are challenged and therefore growing academically, it is important to interpret
pre-assessments for curriculum building. As illustrated within this paper, two students at
different levels of readiness and with different interests can work cohesively for a common goal.
Creative lesson development can ensure that students, such as Mary and Davion meet lesson
goals, participate in their education, and become part of a community.
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Differentiating for Student Readiness and Interest
References
Marlow, E 2004. Psychology of Lesson Plans and Unit Development. Reading Improvement.
(EJ709532), Database: ERIC
Sousa, D. A. & Tomlinson, C. A. (2011). Differentiation and the brain: How neuroscience
supports the learner-friendly classroom. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
Atoms:
A Differentiate
Lesson Plan
Scenerio

You are a fifth grade teacher and are preparing to teach
the students a unit on matter. In this particular lesson, you
will introduce to the students the structure of an atom,
which includes protons, electrons, and neutrons. You
already conducted a pre-assessment and you found that
most students were familiar with the word atom, but were
not particularly strong in knowing the parts of an atom.
Mary loves science and was the only student who shows
that she already has a good understanding regarding the
structure of an atom. You also know that Davion is an
average student who is very capable of learning the
content, but it is a struggle to motivate him when teaching
science because he does not care for the subject and
thinks it is boring. In conducting an interest survey in the
beginning of the year, you know that Davion is really
interested comics.
Differentiated Classroom






Content-what the teacher wants the student to
learn and resources to accomplish the task
Process-activities designed so students use skills
to make sense out of information
Products-demonstration of what students learn
Environment-change lighting, eliminate visual
distractions, use casual seating
Readiness-student’s ability level for increased
learning
Learning Profile-how an individual student learns
How to differentiate a lesson for student readiness based
on content, process, and product

To form a curriculum for a differentiate
classroom you must slip the curriculum
into three parts
 Beginner
 Approaching
 High Degree
Levels in a single Curriculum

Beginner
 Student is only familiar with the subject name and not the
context.
○ Lesson should provide only basics and subject specifics

Approaching
 Student is quite familiar with the subject knows more then
just the basic idea
○ Lesson should provide them with more details of the subject

High Degree
 Student is very knowledgeable of the subject but not quite
mastered it
○ Lesson should provide them with what they were not familiar
with in the pre-assessment
Teaching the Diverse class
Most students
are familiar
with the
subject but not
knowledgeable
 Mary is quite
knowledgeable
about the
subject
 Davion is a
struggle to
motivate but
very interested
in comics

 Using Small Groups who have similar
abilities
 Use more complex or straightforward
directions for some students
 Assigning different homework
 Use materials at many different reading
levels
 Tiering learning contracts
 Providing support for students having
difficulty
 Assigning varied work
 Helping students with key points of
lesson who have difficulty with weak
subject vocabulary
How to Show what they have learned
Oral Reports
 Group Projects
 Art projects
 Book Reports

Engagement and Focus




Not all students are going to
enjoy the subject being taught.
Finding a students interests
can mold the lesson into
engaging the entire class
In the scenario Davion’s early
interest survey he stated he
was really interested in comics
While others are closely
mastering the subject
In the scenario Mary is well
knowledgeable of the subject
Engaging Davion
Content- Use video or cartoon images to
augment complex text
 Process- Ask Davion to work with
another student with the same interests
to create a comic book about the subject
 Product-Provide check in date in case
they have difficulty staying on track

Engaging Mary
Content- Book mark a university website
 Process- Use expert level rubrics to
guide the work
 Product- Let her be a class mentor to
support her understanding and extend it
to other students.

Incorporating lesson for the
whole class



Content- offer
demonstrations during a
lecture so that students can
see a concrete application of
an abstract idea
Process- Provide additional
models or other scaffolding
to make a task accessible
Product-Provide morecomplex or less-complex
resources for students based
on their reading levels
Engaging all students

Creating a classroom with a
differentiated classroom
guarantees success for
every child. Also addressing
a students interests and
abilities keeps them
engaged in the subject. This
leads to better engagement,
productivity, and
achievement, and
motivation.
Refences
Jansen, B. A. (2009). Differentiating
Instruction in the Primary Grades with the
Big6[TM]. Library Media Connection, 27(4),
32-33.
 Sousa, D. A. & Tomlinson, C. A.
(2011). Differentiation and the brain: How
neuroscience supports the learner-friendly
classroom. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree
Press.
 All images were retrieved from Word-clip
art

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