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For differentiated teaching to work successfully requires attention to 3 aspects:
I recently carried out an English lesson on Directions to a Year 5 (age 10) class. The target for the week was to be able to give directions from our school to a nearby mall. Listed below is the differentiated activities part of the introductory lesson. It included activities that targeted students’ audio, visual and kinesthetic styles of learning which maintained their attention, interest and enthusiasm and was designed according to their attainment.
For the lower attaining learners, I cleared out an area in the classroom and used masking tape along the square tiles (4x4 tiles) on the floor to make it into a coordinate map. I had 16 grid blocks outlined. In every random block, using a marker, I added in a landmark and drew a simple diagram representing the landmark (ie mall, park, library, school etc). Their activity was to work in pairs. While one student gave verbal directions, the other had to listen and follow the directions by walking along the masking tape to reach the landmark. They then swopped roles.
The middle attainment students were sat at the front of the class on the carpert and played a game of directions on the Interactive white board that tested their speed and accuracy. (ie use the shortest route to get Sally to the library) Each game lasted about a minute and was played by one student at a time while the others attempted each example on their whiteboards if it was not their turn.
The higher attaining learners first played a customized game of directional snakes and ladders. They then had to talk about how they would get to the mall using directional language and thereafter write their directions step by step on their white boards. Once they had discussed this in their group, they entered their attempts into their books.
