Differentiated Instruction

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Backwards Design, Differentiated
Instruction, and Assessment… the Big
Three!

Katherine Barwin,
Principal
Essex Town School
District, July 2009
Differentiated Instruction

Simply put, means:
a) Knowing what you want students to know
and be able to do, and understanding WHY
this is important.
b) Knowing what students already know and
are able to do, relative to (a) above.
c) Mapping out a plan that ensures all students
reach (A).
The thing about DI

…as compared to “one size fits all” teaching…
DI is harder for teachers, but better for
students.
It requires planning, anticipation, and flexibility.
Luckily, you have a range of expertise in your classrooms,
technology, and a vast amount of resource (human/ material) at
your disposal in school.
A word about planning…

 Did I mention planning?
 Planning at the outset is very, very important. You
will spend a lot of time in this area. Planning,
planning, planning, revising, and planning some
more… and then you’ll start…
 We’ll have a taste of this planning over the next two
days…
 By the way… I’m a planning junkie…as you will
see…
WARNING:

 Teaching is incredibly hard work. Planning
for effective learning is even harder.

 Some of us are better at this planning than
others. Use the strengths of those around
you to determine the best way to accomplish
this planning. Start small. Move it forward.
My bias…

 If you feel it is a reasonable expectation that
all students will learn the same thing, at the
same rate, in the same way,
THEN,
You should reconsider your choice of careers.
This is the KISS version of
Assessment and DI

 These topics are vast and complicated.
 I have 2 hours approximately for each topic.
 Thus, I have sugared these two topics down
to the essentials… the KISS version… so
hold on and away we go!
Pre-assessment

 Take it.
 When you have finished, bring it up to me.
 Stay with me until I give you a task to do with a partner.
 When you and your partner have the tasks, go into a corner of
the room, read them, choose one, and talk quietly (try to not
disturb those still taking the pre-assessment)
 Keep going until I give you the signal for three more minutes.
 After three minutes, come join the group to share.
Enduring Understandings and Content
Understanding for these two days:

Enduring Understanding: Planning for success requires
looking at your context/current state (before you
start), what are the possibilities/paths to getting there
(options), what might happen during the journey
(planning for contingencies), and knowing when your
reach the desired end-state (goal).
Content Understanding: Backwards Design (UbD),
Assessment, and Differentiated Instruction are
inextricably interwoven.
Day 1 versus Day 2 objectives:

 Day 1: Solidify Backwards Design ideas
(Enduring Understandings, KUD’s) as the
building blocks of a unit, and then clarify the
three types of assessment and the purposes
of each.
 Day 2: Explore the options for DI in terms of
content, process, and product. Apply all of
these concepts to “the GRID.”
Backward Design

 This is an approach to planning for
instruction, by looking at the end-state
FIRST, and then planning backwards for that.
(hopefully, you have had a taste of this
yesterday….)

Backwards Design and DI

Backwards design, as the process for planning
your instruction, is critical because it forces
you to clarify:
 Goals (ie: Content area standards/GE stems).
 Enduring Understandings (Big ideas that will be remembered and
extend beyond just this content area)
 Essential Questions (Really “big answer” questions that will help lead
students to think deeply about the content and hook them into the
thinking process.
 What are your KUD’s? (Content understandings, knows, do’s)?
The Steps of Backwards Design
 Identify your content goals and KUD’s.
 Determine Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions
that hook the student.
 Determine the summative project/ assessment(s) that a child
will do to show that they can apply this knowledge (KUD) in a
new way.
 Plan “backwards” from this assessment. Map out the skills and
content knowledge that a child is going to need in order to be
successful at this assessment.
 Then, create your PLAN to teach/ structure learning
opportunities that will help all students learn these critical skills.
Readiness, interest, learning styles are all part of this planning.
The Principle of Backward Design
PLANNING

Student Starts with Formative Assessment
Enduring Understanding
Teacher Starts with Planning

Know Understand Do
Start with GE’s
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT -
How does he/she apply the learning in
an authentic setting?

PLANNING
What are the skills I need to teach to advance
understanding so the child can demonstrate
knowledge in an authentic setting:.
USE the GE’s

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS
How do I make sure everyone is getting it
along the way?
Explorers Unit:

Enduring Understanding: Exploration involves
risk, success and failure, and brings about
change.
Can this be applied across settings over time?
Is this a big idea?
What is the overarching
theme that can be applied
to real life?

Confucius say: ”Exploration involves risk, success
and failure and brings about change.”

Content Content
Content Knowledge Doings
Understanding What are the facts
you want the
The big ideas students to know? (ie:
These start with
worth remembering Which specific explorers? active verbs:
about the subject . What accomplishments? Locate, Construct,
When? Why important?
Read, Use, Define
American Exploration-
Content Understandings

What do I want the students to Understand about American
exploration?

 Both voluntary and involuntary migration is based upon
environmental forces such as climate, the availability of resources,
and economic opportunities as well as cultural forces including
religious and political factors.

 Geographical features and the environment shaped the patterns of
settlement, land use, and migration in specific regions of the United
States
 Humans adapt to the environments in which they live often causing
cultural shifts and broader understanding.
American Exploration- Content Knowledge
 Patterns of voluntary migration: economic and/or religious regions
 Patterns of involuntary migration: Trans-Atlantic slave trade,
resettlement/relocation, religious persecution
 The physical and cultural geographic characteristics that shaped and
defined what America is today. Mountains, climate, natural resources,
proximity to other countries, etc.
 The physical, political, and cultural characteristics of each region of the
United States that influenced migration.(ex. Westward expansion,
building or railroad, etc.)
 The contributions that various cultural groups within regions made to
the diversity of American culture. (French explorers impact on
Louisiana (Mardi Gras) French settlements along the Mississippi
whose names still exist.
Coming up with the KUD’s:

 What do you want the students to know,
understand, and be able to do at the end of
your unit (this connects with your GE’s).
 Why is this important for kids to know? So
what?
 Be sure to keep in mind the fact that these
elements will drive your assessments.
Take a peek…

 If you were doing a unit on Immigration, what
might you devise for your students as a:
 Content Understanding:
 Know:
 Do:
Bonus: What might an Enduring Understanding
for this unit be?....
(we will share some together as a class)
Assessment

 Pre-assessment: Figuring out what students
already know (readiness), and/or how they
approach learning (their affective, learner
characteristics related to learning).
 Ongoing-formative assessment: Determining
how successful they are along the way (what
is sticking, where is the confusion).
 Summative: End-state assessment…
application of the learning to new setting.
Summative Assessment

 Culminating project
 Application of learning that has taken place
(KUD’s) in a new situation
 Authentic and relevant (address the Enduring
Understanding)
 Allows for differentiation
 “Brings the learning, to this point, all
together.”
In UbD, thinking about your summative
assessment comes at the beginning…

 Once you know your EU’s and KUD’s, you
then plan for your summative assessment.
 Once you have come up with ideas for your
summative assessment, you double-check to
make sure that they are aligned with your
EU’s and KUD’s.
 Then, you identify the requisite skills/content
students need, in order to be successful in
the summative assessment.
Day 2

 Yesterday, we did the following:
– Refresher of UbD
– Solidified K-U-D
– Solidified Enduring Understanding
– Solidified what a Summative Assessment entails
(qualities of…/ evaluated some/ made revisions
suggestions)…
TODAY, we will be…

 Solidifying your ideas for the DO’s of YOUR unit
(either KUD, or Summative Assessment ideas)…
 Determining the requisite skills/content students
need to be successful at that successfully
accomplishing the DO...
 Looking at strategies for pre/formatively assessing
these…
 Looking at options for differentiation for content,
process, product.
Agenda (2 hours)

 20 minutes: Work in groups to clarify a KUD for your potential
unit, and focus on one or two DO’s. Determine the requisite
skills involved in the DO.
 10 minutes: Share some requisite skills… what does this
mean??
 20 minutes: Review pre- and formative assessments. Q and A
 20 minutes: Review DI thinking for content/process/product. Q
and A.
 45-60 minutes: Group work… continue to work on your KUD’s,
EU, and summative assessment and identifying requisite skills,
and readiness concerns. Start thinking about assessments and
content/process/product DI elements…
During end-of-class Group work/ Team
work:

 Can see me
 Can work with your group
 Can pick brains of others in the class
 Can talk to students about whether or not
your ideas for DO’s sound interesting.
Task (20 minutes)

 You will be put into groups. In your groups, each
person will take five minutes to explain at least one
K-U-D’s of their unit and/or what they are thinking
will be the summative assessment (the BIG DO).
The rest of the group will then give feedback about
whether or not the DO is clear and relates to the KU
part (if YOU had to do it, would you know what you
had to do and why?).
 Once you have feedback about the clarity of your
DO, you will list out the specific requisite
skills/content that students need to have, in order to
be able to be successful at this DO(GRID).
How to determine assessments
needed: (again, use the skills/content of your summative
assessment to start your thinking about this…what skills/content
must students have in order to be successful at the
DO?): What is your DO (describe it):

What are the requisite What are my readiness/ How can I preassess for How can I formatively
skill/content (the affect/ LS/ Intelligence this/ how have I pre- (dip-stick) assess for
KNOW/DO)? concerns about this? assessed for this? this?
Share sample of MY draft unit…

 Yesterday, we reviewed the EU’s and KUD’s
for a short unit on Literary Elements/Devices.
 Take a look at my initial planning GRID (just
look at the first two columns…
 Your thoughts? Questions??? What comes
to mind as you look at this?
Pre-assessments:

 Depend on what you are trying to learn about
the students.
 Happen at the start of the year (big,
repeating skills).
 Also happen at the start of a new unit
(discrete, new skills/content)…
 Use the information that you get from them to
guide/plan instruction.
As a MS Reading/LArts teacher…

 Beginning of the year pre-assessments: (thinking
about requisite skills and assumptions)
Reading comprehension for literal and inferential text, for both literary and informational text, at
approx. levels, to determine a baseline.
Purpose/organization/details/VT/Gum in a writing sample (Do you think you are a good reader,
explain) to determine a baseline.
Note-taking abilities
Ability to read my cursive handwriting
Use a dictionary… find a word, locate correct meaning from context.
Ability to deal with frustration (frustration assessment)
Questionnaire (nosy questionnaire) about the students interests and lives (hobbies, learning
styles, study habits, time after school, pet peeves, tv, chores, family responsibilities,
favorite movies/tv shows, etc.)
Pre-assessment for UNIT

 Pre-assess the readiness skills that you don’t
already know, related to the KUD’s and Summative
Assessment skills/content that you have identified.
 Not for a grade… culture shock for some students
(parents) if not a regular occurrence.
 To be used to plan for your instruction and to monitor
growth! As a teacher, you will want to check your
pre-assessments against your formative (ongoing)
assessments, to see what sort of growth has taken
place, and/or if anyone is “stalling.”
Formative Assessments

 Dipstick checks at frequent intervals to monitor
understanding and growth as students move along
the “got it” continuum.
 Teacher uses it to guide instruction for next
session... Next steps. Teacher gives students
feedback about their growth along the “starting,
getting there, got it!” continuum.
 Students use it as an opportunity to self-reflect on
how they feel about their learning and make plans
about next steps.
 Teacher gives FEEDBACK to students (not a grade).
Formative Assessment examples

 Exit tickets
 Review of student work.
 Skills checklists from student work
 Anecdotal records of student work
 Student questionnaires and feedback forms
 Observation checklists
 Individual check-ins with student
(written/oral)
Data collection is EXTREMELY
important!

 It isn’t enough to do these assessments. You
need some sort of a data collection system,
related to the KUD’s and points of interest, so
that you can monitor growth of students
easily.
 This will also help you group students for
either extensions or remediation (flexible
grouping).
Example of data collection form:

Purpose Organization Details VT GUM
Student
M M N M N
Mary
N B N N M
Bill
M M M M B
Joe
B N B N N
Nedim
N N M M M
Suzette
Your unit ideas:

 In your groups, continue to fill out the GRID
for the requisite skills related to your DO’s
summative assessment that you have
outlined, and consider what pre-assessment
and formative assessments that you might
want to be thinking about...
Mapping out your plan

 Differentiated Instruction usually means
looking at three areas:
• Content (Skills/content that we want students
to learn)

• Process (How students will learn this)

• Product (How students will show us that they
have learned this)
Differentiating Instruction

 Content
 Process
 Product
Content: What are we talking about?

 Content consists of ideas, concepts, skills,
knowledge that we want students learn. The
way we differentiate content is by thinking
hard about the depth and complexity of this,
depending upon what a student currently
knows and where you want him/her to move.
How can you differentiate content?

 You can tier complexity of the content (depth,
breadth). Use your standards and GE’s…
they are already tiered for you… if you look
above and below…
 You can also differentiate the source of
content (resources)…
History Historical Connections
6.4 Students identify major historical eras and analyze periods of transition in various times in their
local community, in Vermont, in the United States, and in various locations world wide, to interpret the
influence of the past on the present. This is evident when students:

Prek-4 5-8 9-12

6.4.a. Demonstrate understanding of concepts Evidence Prek-4 b. and c. applies, plus- Evidence Prek-4 b. and c. applies, plus-
of past, present and future (e.g., create time 6.4.aa. Demonstrate the ways that time has 6.4.ddd. Sequence historical eras; identify the
lines, create chronologies based on narratives, been organized throughout history (e.g. linear, characteristics of
compare and contrast family life, or school, and cyclical) and various dating system (e.g., A.D., transitions between eras, being sure to make
community life in different periods); B.C.); and connections to past and present; and
6.4.b. Examine local history by reading historical 6.4.dd. Sequence historical eras; identify the research, analyze, and synthesize historical
narratives and documents, investigating characteristics of transitions between eras, data from each era:
artifacts, architecture, and other resources that being sure to make connections to the present; VERMONT
illustrate key periods in local history (e.g., and research, examine, and analyze historical The Growth and Emergence of Modern
investigate local town's history and establish its data from each era: Vermont Era (1860-1930)
connection/place with Vermont and other VERMONT -discover the impact Vermonters made on
cultures); The Pre-Contact to 1608 Era the Civil War and the war's impact on life in
6.4.c. Investigate the impact of new knowledge -discover how Abenaki oral tradition reflects Vermont
and inventions (e.g., the knowledge of fire, the and influences their society -discover the environmental and industrial
printing press, the cotton gin, train, automobile, factors that effect the emergence of modern
textile, machine, electricity, steam); and The Colonization Era (1609-1774) Vermont (e.g. the great flood of 1927 and
-interpret the impact of resettlement on immigrations)
Abenaki, European colonizers, and the
environment
Content Differentiation continued…

 Differentiate the source of your content. For
example, if you have to extract content from
a source (text book, resources, materials),
make sure there is a wide range of sources
to choose from, in terms of difficulty.
 For example, if I am going to learn how to fix
my computer, I want the EASIEST source (a
picture book is best).
Differentiated Sources

 Different leveled texts, web sources for
information sources (example: variety of
sources on a topic put on class webpage,
variety of texts around a common theme).
English classes tend to be centered around a
BOOK (different versions of the book) OR a
GENRE -ie: historical fiction (different
choices).
Tiering by Resources (first sentence in each box)
Tier Where Plants and Animals Live
Tier I. Use picture books to help you locate 3 animals and 3
plants that live in each of the following habitats: desert,
ocean, tundra, plains. Create a poster using your
pictures where you sort them by habitat. Include labels.
Tier II. Use National Geographic Kids Magazines to help you
find pictures and information about the following
habitats: desert, ocean, tundra, plains. Create a booklet
of your habitats with pictures and write a one paragraph
summary explaining the information you found.
Tier III. Use the internet to help you find kid-friendly websites for
the following habitats: desert, ocean, tundra and plains.
Critique each website and create a reference document
for your classmates that includes important facts and
information to help them find quickly what they need.
Considerations for Content
Differentiation

 Do you have the knowledge to expand your
content expectations (especially for those
students who are at either end of a vast
spectrum)?
 Do you have the resources/materials to
access, that will help with the content
acquisition? (on-line resources, librarians,
other teachers at other grades)
Process Differentiation

 Coming up with different “ways” students can
learn the material.
 Peer learning (heterogeneous groupings or partners)
 Teacher coaching (homogeneous groups or individual help)
 Stations/centers/independent study/contracts
 Accessing learning styles/intelligences
 Scaffolding (templates, helping devices)
 Technology tools help with the process
When thinking Process Differentiation:

 You have to think about how to structure your
time, both in the day and over the week…
 How you use your human resources in the
class (you, your teaching partners, your
special educators, your students)…
 Set up a schedule that works for you, that
takes into consideration both activities and
time.
Some ideas about time…

 45 minute classroom
First 10 minutes: ongoing work (individual
or group), while teacher does a 10 minute
check-in or review with a small group who
needs more review on a particular skill from
the previous day BASED ON EXIT TIX.
Rest of your usual teaching.
Last three minutes: Give students exit tix.
A bit more complicated…

 Mini-lesson….(15-20 minutes)
 5 minute independent work…students self-
assess or teacher assesses through
observation…
 Teacher pulls the students who are
struggling into a small group…while other
students continue working and if they have a
question, they have a go-to person in the
class…
More complicated…

 Set up your class in three sections…
a) independent work,
b) station/center (ie: technology, games, manipulative
practice, etc.)
c) Rotation to teacher for explicit teaching.
Students spend 15-20 minutes rotating through each
section during a 45-60 minute class.
This works well when you are working on three
different levels of skills/content (ie: math, writing)
(a few times a week? Every day? Other????
More…

 Consider expanding your time. Can you double-
block? Can you integrate your content areas (ie: a 2
hour block to teach reading-writing-content?)?
 Can you team with another teacher, so that you can
flexibly group students into more groups and then
split/share those groups between the two of you? (ie:
on a pre-test, you see that you have five distinct
readiness levels in your class related to skills. Can
you and another teacher break the kiddos up into the
five groups, and you take three of the groups and
he/she take two?)
Sponge/ “Lag time” activities

 This is an important thing to have on-hand,
so that as students finish at different rates,
they can move onto another activity without
wasting time.
 Examples: specific skills practice (ie: cursive,
word processing), journaling, silent reading,
working on the problem of the week, contract
work, etc…
Product Differentiation

 Tiered assignments of a variety of forms…
Tiered Assignments

In a DI classroom, the teacher:
 Uses varied levels of tasks to ensure that students explore ideas.
 Uses varied levels of tasks that asks students to use skills at a level
that builds on what they already know.
 Uses varied levels of tasks that encourage student growth.

In a DI classroom, the students
 Explore the same essential ideas.
 Work at different levels of thought.
 Work at varied degrees of difficulty on their tasks.
Tiering by Complexity

Tier Read and respond to a Time for Kids article
on global warming
Tier I. Write a public service announcement using jingles,
slogans, or art to convey why global warming is a
problem and what people can do to prevent it.
Tier II. Conduct a survey of peer awareness and
understanding of global warming. Design a limited
number of questions and decide how to report your
results such as with charts or in a newscast.
Tier III. Debate the issue. How serious is global warming?
Each side should express a different viewpoint.
Provide credible evidence to support your opinions
and arguments.
Tiering by Challenge Level

Bloom’s Levels of Elementary Activities for Book Talk
Taxonomy Presentations
Knowledge List the story elements.

Comprehension Write a summary of the book.

Application Support a conclusion about a character
with evidence from the book.
Analysis Discuss the theme or author’s purpose
for writing the book.
Synthesis Create a new ending for the story.

Evaluation Critique the author’s writing and support
your opinion.
Tiering by Product
Groups are formed based on learning preference,
Tier using Gardner’s multiple intelligence
Solar System: Study of rotation and
revolution of the earth.
Tier I. Create a flip book, diagram, or model
Visual-Spatial showing the rotation and revolution of the
earth around the sun.
Tier II. Position and move three people to
Bodily- demonstrate the concept of revolution and
Kinesthetic rotation of the earth with respect to the
moon and sun.
Tier III. Make a timeline of a year detailing the
Logical- position of Vermont with respect to the sun.
Mathematical
Product Differentiation - Health

VISUAL ORAL WRITTEN KINESTHETIC

Create a story Radio-spot Brochure for a Pantomime a
board for a TV (public pediatrician’s struggle of “will”
“ad” using information with office for kids regarding smoking
few/no words to music timed, 9-16 with – including a
make the point lead-in) graphics decision with
rationale
Comic book Nightline (T. Research & Act out a skit on
parody with Koppel, with write an pressures to
smoking super teen who editorial that smoke and
heroes/heroines smokes, compares the reasons not to
tobacco farmer, relative costs smoke.
CEO, person and benefits of
with tobacco to NC
emphysema – submit for
publication
Tiering by Outcome
Tier Students use the same materials, but what they
do with the materials is different.
Pattern Block Math
Tier I. Identify all the ways you can group your pattern
blocks.

Tier II. Identify all the different patterns you can make
with your pattern blocks.

Tier III. Create a bar graph to show all the different kinds
of pattern blocks in your bag.
RAFTS

 Role
 Audience
 Format
 Topic
RAFTs as Projects (also think about them as
possibilities for a Summative Assessment)

 Students pick, or are assigned, one row on
the RAFT.
 They take a specific role.
 They address a specific audience within a
given format.
 They address a specific topic.
Creating a Raft for Immigration Unit

ROLE AUDIENCE FORMAT TOPIC

12 year old boy who Best friend in Crossing the
came from Europe in Germany Letter ocean on the ship
the steerage
Emigrants How to prepare for
Ship Captain waiting to come Booklet your trip
to America
Artist arriving at Ellis Graphic design picture postcard Wish you were
Island from France firm in NYC here
Dorothy Hargrove Mayor of NYC We are being
NYC Sophisticate Editiorial overrun by
foreigners
Father arriving in first Wife and Don’t worry. It’s
class from Italy children in Italy Letter easy to immigrate!
Math RAFT
ROLE AUDIENCE FORMAT TOPIC

Fraction Whole # Petition To be
considered part
of the family
Improper Mixed Numbers Reconciliation We’re more alike
Fraction Letter than different
A simplified A non simplified Public Service A case for
fraction fraction Announcement Simplicity
GCF Common Factor Nursery Rhyme I’m the greatest!

Equivalent Non-equivalent Personal ad How to find your
Fractions soulmate
Curriculum Compacting as Product
Curriculum Compacting:

 Curriculum compacting is one of the most common forms of
curriculum modification for academically advanced students. It
is also the basic procedure upon which many other types of
modifications are founded. Compacting is based on the premise
that students who demonstrate they have mastered course
content (through pre-assessment), or can master course
content more quickly, can “buy time” to study material that they
find more challenging and interesting (Renzulli and Reis, 1985).
This study is usually in the form of an independent study, that a
student will negotiate with a teacher (or choose from a list of
options), that related to the EU’s and Content Understandings
of a unit.
Remember what I said about Planning,
Planning, and more Planning????

 Here is a GRID that I use when I begin to OUTLINE
a unit.
 Once I fill it out, I begin to create my daily lesson
plan overview (not overly specific, but a general
planning guide for each day).
 Once I rough draft the daily/weekly schedule, I go
back to the outline and slash/edit it as needed, to fit
in with my real timeframe/schedule.
 Then, I develop the specifics of each day.
In closing…

 As you can see, there is far more to UbD, DI,
and Assessment than easily fits into this
schedule.
 Hopefully, I’ve hit the highlights for you, and
given you plenty of examples to play with.
 Sources for you, for further exploration, on
the next page…
WARNING revisited:

 Teaching is incredibly hard work. Planning
for effective learning is even harder.

 Some of us are better at this planning than
others. Use the strengths of those around
you to determine the best way to accomplish
this planning. Start small. Move it forward.
Additional Resources
Some Tiered Activity Resources include:
 Coil, C (2004) Standards-Based Activities and Assessments for
the Differentiated Classroom. Pieces of Learning

 Davidson, K.and T. Decker. (2006) Bloom’s and Beyond: Higher
Level Questions and Activities for the Creative Classroom.
Pieces of Learning.
 http://www.doe.in.gov/exceptional/gt/tiered_curriculum/welcome.html (Great
samples for grades K-12 in 3 content areas: science, math and
lang. arts.)

 Heacox, D. (2002) Differentiating Instruction in the Regular
Classroom. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing, Inc.
More resources…

 Summative assessment video (math)… this
will REALLY get you thinking about your
summative assessment!!!:
http://www.edutopia.org/mountlake-terrace-
high-school