Differentiated Instruction: Add UbD to Your Tool Box!

1. Differentiated Instruction:Add UbD to Your Tool Box! Mary L. Bettez Sandra Clunan

2. Change is inevitable – except from a vending machine! Robert C. Gallagher

3. Session Goals • Responsive Teachers • Review development of stage 1, 2, and 3 of Understanding by Design • Theory into Practice – “So how do I do it?” • Connect best practices with the four elements of Differentiating Instruction and Understanding by Design (Environment, Content, Process, Product)

5. 6 feet 2 inches in height So awkward that she trips going up the stairs Alcoholic, drug addict Wears mouth braces 4 feet 7 inches Olympic gold medal winner with a perfect 10.0 in parallel bar Sunday school leader Competes in Miss Teenage America Portrait of a Thirteen Year Old

6. Turned off and looking forward to quitting school Unable to read the comic page Has trouble with whole numbers A regular in juvenile court Already a mother of two Curious and enthusiastic learner Reads the Wall Street Journal Can solve geometry problems An Eagle Scout Still plays with dolls

7. “Twin Sins”Sin One • Sin One: “Activity Oriented” • Occurs more widely at elementary and middle levels. • Teacher planning is focused on activities that are engaging, hands-on, and kid-friendly. • Okay as long as activities are purposefully focused on clear and important goals and if they yield appropriate evidence of learning.

8. Sin Two • Sin Two: “Coverage” • Occurs more widely at the secondary and collegiate levels • Teacher planning means reviewing the teacher’s edition and teaching involves a chronological march through the textbook. Covering the textbook vs. teaching for learning of all important content, checking regularly for understanding and making needed adjustments. • Okay to use textbook as a resource, but not the syllabus

9. Responsive Teachersrecognize that… • Good instruction begins with the focus on the student, not the content. • Students vary in biology, degree of privilege, positioning for learning, and preference. • Learning happens within students, not to them. • The implementation of patterns of instruction serve multiple students.

10. Social Context • All of the members of the classroom are working within and helping to create the social context, and the nature of that context determine its members’ abilities to remain engaged in their studies. …..which means….

11. …More than Academics are involved in the Educational Process • The classroom itself is a social context in which students learn both academic and social lessons about…. • Appropriate behavior in various contexts; • About one’s self as a learner and one’s position in a status hierarchy; about relationships with other students; about the relative value of competition and cooperation, and about friendship. • Responsive Teaching

12. So, being a responsive teacher…I would like to know who wants to go camping?

13. Power Thinking

14. Creating a Positive Social Climate • Learning each student’s name • Who would like to go camping? • Alliteration • Developing Class Norms • Power Thinking Continuum • 3=33 • Rules, Procedures, and Class Expectations • Icebreakers

15. How does this connect to DI? • The influences of Social Context, Learning Structures, Rules and Procedures, and Classroom Climate directly impact student learning and achievement. • Teachers’ decisions have an impact on students’ perceptions and student engagement. • Teachers and students make up a social context that can influence each other’s motivation, attitudes, and self-perceptions.

16. Icebreakers • Alliteration (Camping Trip) • Class Line Ups/Value Lines • Bingo/People Hunt • Fact or Fiction – Who am I? • Alligator River/Fall-out Shelter Inhabitants • Step Up to the Line • Symbol Cards • 3 Truths and a Lie • KWIZ/4 Corners (Pop Culture)

17. Accountable Talk • I want to add to… • I want to build upon… • I would like to tie into what … just said… • I want to disagree with…because… • I agree with… • I can connect this to… • I do not understand, could you tell me more about… • Could you clarify your statement… • My evidence is… • On page ___ it says…

18. So…now what?

19. Review the Understanding by Design Process

20. Stage 1: Identify Desired Results • Content Standards: • What BIG IDEA do I want students to understand? • What “Essential Question” will lead to that understanding? • What key knowledge and skills will students acquire as a result of this unit and what should they be able to do as a result of such knowledge and skill? What BIG IDEAS are embedded in the content standards?

21. Exemplary Essential Questions • Arithmetic (numeration) • Can everything be quantified? • Arts (visual and performing) • Where do artists get their ideas? • Culinary Arts • What makes a safe kitchen? • Dance • How and what can we communicate through the “language” of dance? • Economics • What determines value? • Foreign Language • What distinguishes a fluent foreigner from a native speaker?

22. Geography • How does where we live influence how we live? • Government • How should we balance the rights of individuals with the common good? • Health • What is “healthful” living? • History • Whose “story” is it? • Literature • Can fiction reveal “truth”? Should a story teach you something? • Mathematics • When is the “correct” answer not the best solution? • Music • How are sounds and silence organized in various musical forms?

23. Physical Education • Who is a “winner”? • Reading and Language Arts • How do you read “between the lines”? • Science • To what extent are science and common sense related? • Technology • What are the pros and cons of technological progress? • Writing • Why do we punctuate? What if we didn’t have punctuation marks? Tomlinson and McTighe (2006) Integrating Differentiated Instruction +Understanding by Design, ASCD.

24. Essential Questions Essential questions are used as a means of framing the big ideas that we want students to come to understand. So….teaching for understanding demands particular roles for students and teachers alike. Students are obliged to think, question, apply ideas to new situations, rethink, and reflect. Teachers are expected to stimulate thought, show examples and counterexamples, ask probing questions, set up authentic applications, play devil’s advocate.

25. Let’s look at it another way… Essential questions bring subject matter (content) to life through our teaching. If the content we study represents the “answers,” then what were the questions? In this respect, the questions stimulate student thinking about the reasons for the content, leading to a deeper understanding of its importance. Then, teaching for understanding in skill and process oriented subjects cultivates a meta-cognitive awareness of how and why specific skills are beneficial and when best applied.

26. For example… Essential Question: What might happen if people become too powerful? How might a country (or state) keep government leaders from abusing their power? Are there ways that power can be controlled? Content: U.S. Government; 3 branches of govt. Big Idea/Understanding: The need for a distributed system of checks and balances for controlling power, because unchecked power may lead to abuse of power.

27. Another example… Essential Question: How does what you read influence how you read? How do effective writers hook and hold their readers? Content: Reading genres; text structures; reading comprehension strategies; writing concepts and techniques; authors’ style; voice; genre; organizational structures; idea development; audience consideration; hooks, etc. Big Idea/Understanding: Reading – The way you read is influenced by the type of text you are reading. The way you write depends upon your larger purpose.

28. The “Ladder” is a flawed metaphor for learning. Students do not need to learn important facts before they can address the more abstract concepts of a subject. Similarly they do not need to master discrete skills before they can be expected to apply them in a more integrated, complex, and authentic way. Just as toddlers do not wait to master the rules of grammar before they begin speaking, neither must any school-age learners fully master the fundamentals before attempting to use them.

29. Stage 2: Determine Acceptable Assessment Evidence • Through what authentic performance tasks will students demonstrate the desired understandings? • Use essential questions to guide the development of performance tasks. • Essential questions guide and scaffold learning tasks. • By what key criteria will “performance of understanding” by assessed?

30. The Six Facets of Understanding • When we truly understand, we • Can explain • Can interpret • Can apply • Have perspective • Display empathy • Have self-knowledge

31. Assessment Type Categories • Worth Being Familiar With • Traditional quizzes and tests (paper-pencil; selected response; constructed response) • Important to Know and Do • Traditional quizzes and tests and Performance tasks and projects • Enduring Understanding • Performance tasks and projects (open-ended; complex; authentic

32. Inauthentic Work Fill in the blank Select an answer from given choices Answer recall questions at end of chapter Practice decontextualized skills Diagram sentences Authentic work Conduct research using primary sources Debate a controversial issue Conduct a scientific investigation Solve “real-world” problems Do purposeful writing for an audience Inauthentic Versus Authentic Work

33. Using GRASPS to Design Authentic Performance Assessments • G – Goal: The goal of the performance • R – Role: The role of the student as they carry out the performance • A – Audience: The target audience to which the finished product/performance will be presented • S – Situation: The context • P – Product or Performance: The result of the performance task or activity • S – Standards for Success: The criteria by which the product/performance will be judged

34. Stage 3: Develop the Action Plan • What learning experiences and instruction will enable students to achieve the desired results? • This stage addresses the concerns for both content and students and combine in a plan for responsive teaching. • How will all the activities tie in to: • Content • Process • Product • Environment

36. So, how do I do it?

37. First: Content Strategies • What really matters in learning? • Determine what students should know, understand, and be able to do. • State Standards • Content Strands • Grade Level Expectations • Curriculum • State provocative, essential questions that will guide students’ exploration of the big ideas.

38. Ways and Means of Differentiating InstructionTomlinson & McTighe, ASCD 2006 • Pre-Assessment: • How will you diagnose students prior knowledge and skill levels? • K-W-L Chart • Misconception check • Pre-test • Informal Q & A • Skills check • Other:________

39. Ways and Means of Differentiating InstructionTomlinson & McTighe, ASCD 2006 • Content – Input • Develop context • Use varied materials (e.g., texts for different reading levels, audio-visuals). • Use varied teaching methods/strategies (e.g., manipulatives, group activities). • Target instruction to readiness levels (e.g., directed skill teaching, enrichments). • Provide scaffolded support (e.g., graphic organizers, step-by-step process guide). • Cooperative Literacy • Directed Reading Sequence

40. Second: Process Strategies • Strategies that help students make-meaning of content or ideas. • Key components – • Are interesting to students • Call on the students to think at a high level • Causes the students to use a key skill(s) to understand key ideas

41. Uncovering the content is like an iceberg. A certain portion is visible above the surface of the water, but we cannot fully comprehend the iceberg without going below. Just as the bulk of the iceberg lies beneath the surface, the most powerful “big ideas” of content areas reside below the surface of basic facts and skills.

42. Ways and Means of Differentiating InstructionTomlinson & McTighe, ASCD 2006 • Process • Use flexible groupings (e.g., skill groups, interest groups). • Use varied teaching methods/strategies (e.g., manipulatives, group activities). • Create learning stations (e.g., self-paced centers, computer-based tutorials). • Establish learning contracts (e.g., self-directed practice, independent project). • Allow student self assessments and goal setting (based on established criteria).

43. Learning logs Journals Graphic organizers Creative problem solving Learning centers Interest centers or interest groups Learning contracts Literature Circles Role playing Cooperative learning Debate Jigsaw Think-pair-share Mind-mapping Model making Labs Tiered assignments Socratic seminar Carousel Other Which strategies do you use in your classroom?

44. “…it’s crucial to remember that it’s the quality and focus of what students do… invite more flexible and responsive sense-making…” Tomlinson, How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed Ability Classrooms. (2001)

45. Third: Product Strategies • Culminating projects that ask the students to rehearse, apply, and extend what he or she has learned in the unit • Performance Tasks • Academic Prompts • Tests and Quizzes • Observations and Conferences • Informal Checks

46. Ways and Means of Differentiating InstructionTomlinson & McTighe, ASCD 2006 • Product • Provide tiered assignments/tasks using the GRASPS elements. • Assignments with choices • Allow appropriate student choices (e.g., product TIC-TAC-THINK, interest based). • Student choice – Geared toward interest, learning style, abilities

47. More Product Examples • Student work showcased • Varied student work • Different group work activities/end products • Different forms of assessment • Every student has opportunity to succeed • Use of technology to complete work

48. Fourth: Learning Environment • The way the classroom looks and feels • Students should feel affirmation, affiliation, a sense of contribution, growing autonomy, accomplishment, and shared responsibility for the welfare of the group • Routine/Expectations/Rules • Movement/Materials Distribution • Dignity, respect, safety, and value are evident in the classroom • Balance on individuals and the group as a whole

49. Learning Environment • Accountable Talk • Comfortable • Organized • Consistent • Positive displays of student work • Choice • Flexible • Established Norms • Teacher is approachable • Listening

50. There is an important psychological principle that cognitive development is inseparable from social and cultural development…This view of learning places social interaction at the heart of learning. Henry Trueba, Dean College of Education University of Wisconsin Madison