Differentiation Strategies
Low-Prep Differentiation Strategies:
- Choices of books
- Homework options
- Use of reading buddies/partners
- Varied journal prompts
- Orbitals
- Varied pacing with anchor options
- Student-teacher goal setting
- Work alone/together
- Whole-to-part and part-to-whole explanations
- Flexible seating
- Varied computer programs
- Design-A-Day
- Varied supplemental materials
- Options for varied modes of expression
- Varying scaffolding on same organizer
- Let’s Make a Deal projects
- Computer mentors
- Think-Pair-Share by readiness, interest, learning profile
- Use of collaboration, independence, and cooperation
- Open-ended activities
- Mini-workshops to reteach or extend skills
- Jigsaw
- Negotiated criteria
- Explorations by interest
- Games to practice mastery of information and skill
- Multiple levels of questions
There are a number of strategies that require more planning, time, and expertise. Consider the following.
High Prep differentiation strategies:
- Tiered activities and labs
- Tiered products
- Independent studies
- Multiple texts
- Alternative assessments
- Learning contracts
- 4MAT
- Multiple-intelligence options
- Compacting
- Spelling by readiness
- Entry points
- Varying organizers
- Lectures coupled with graphic organizers
- Community mentorships
- Interest groups
- Tiered centers
- Interest centers
- Personal agendas
- Literature circles
- Stations
- Complex instruction
- Group investigation
- Tape-recorded materials
- Teams, games, and tournaments
- Choice boards
- Think-Tac-Toe
- Simulations
- Problem-based learning
- Graduated rubrics
- Flexible reading formats
- Student-centered writing formats
Please understand that there is no such thing as a perfect teacher, a perfect lesson, a perfect learning activity, or a perfect learner. All teaching strategies must be selected within a certain context where teachers may draw from dozens of information sources to make decisions. A DI approach that expected teachers to know everything and plan for every possible scenario would be unrealistic and undoable. Teachers who differentiate notice certain patterns, or trails, that learners prefer taking along the path of progress to the destination. As teachers learn more about what works for a particular student or group of students, anticipation of needs becomes far more realistic.