Teaching a Differentiated Curriculum at DPS

Teaching a
Differentiated
Curriculum

Teachers create a classroom /
learning environment in which they
are responding to the learning
needs of your child, rather than
teaching the class as though all
individuals are alike.

Learner variance means that
teachers do not assume that every
student begins and ends a task at
the same time.

In other words, teachers lead a
differentiated classroom.
What does this mean to you?

Children have developmental
and experiential differences,
therefore, not all children have
the same zones of proximal
development in relation to skill
and understanding.

Each child’s learning goals need to be
understood – time, materials, modes of
teaching, ways of grouping, expressing
and assessing learning will be different.

Student differences are expected,
appreciated and studied by teachers as a
basis for instructional planning. There
is a clear bond that exists between
assessment and instruction.

In other words, the teacher sees
everything a child says or creates as
useful information to better understand
and craft instruction to be more
effective.

We are learner centred in:
‐what each child brings to the task
‐what each child needs to succeed
with the task
‐what students need to be
supported for success

The classroom has flexible groupings:
‐similar academic needs
‐mixed readiness / abilities that draw on
the strengths of each student

‐ similar interests
‐ varied interests and needing to
cooperate toward completing a task
‐ similar learning patterns
‐ simply random
‐ student decided

Such flexibility of groupings enables
teachers to:
‐target teaching
‐provide access to all materials to all
individuals

‐ give children opportunities to
work in different contexts,
enabling teachers to collect rich
assessment data from these wide
range of learner contexts

The teacher’s goal is that MOST OF THE
TIME each child:
‐feels challenged
‐finds work appealing
‐grapples with information, principles and
skills that give power to understand,
apply
and move on to the next learning
stage, in the discipline being studied

Teachers are clearly the professionals who:
‐diagnose and prescribe for learning needs
‐facilitate learning
‐craft effective curriculum

BUT students are partners in
successful classrooms – they hold
critical information about what does
and doesn’t work for them at any
moment in the teaching – learning
cycle.

In other words, in our differentiated
classrooms, teachers study their
students and continually involve them
in decision making about the
classroom. As a result, children
become more independent learners.

Elements of curriculum that teachers
differentiate:
‐content – facts, concepts, principles,
attitudes and skills related to the subject, as
well as the materials that represent
those
elements.

How might teachers differentiate
access to content?

Teachers differentiate process. This is
how the child comes to make sense of,
understand and ‘own’ the key facts,
concepts, generalisations and skills of
the subject.
What is a common synonym for
process?

An effective activity or task involves
students using an essential skill to
come to understand an essential idea,
focussed on a
learning goal.

A teacher can differentiate product. We use
the term ‘product’ to refer to an item a
student can use to demonstrate knowledge
or understanding after study.
How do teachers
differentiate
product?

What are the student characteristics for
which teachers can differentiate?

Students vary in at least 3 ways that make
modifying instruction a wise strategy for
teachers. They are:
‐Readiness to work with a particular idea
or skill at a given time

‐ In pursuits or topics that
they find interesting

‐ In learning profiles that maybe
shaped by gender, culture or
learning style / intelligence preference

In summary, teachers
differentiate curriculum in terms
of:
‐content
‐process
‐product

Student characteristics mean that
teachers modify instruction in
terms of:
‐readiness
‐interest
‐learning profile