Differentiated Instruction Made Practical

Engaging the Extremes through Classroom Routines

Rhonda Bondie, Akane Zusho

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9780815370802
• eBook ISBN: 9781351248457
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Need to decide when, why, and how to differentiate instruction in the classroom? Differentiated Instruction Made Practical introduces teachers to All Learners Learning Every Day (ALL-ED), an easy-to-use framework that enables tailored instruction for every learner. These unique, self-regulated learning routines were developed by an experienced K-12 teacher and researcher in collaboration with an educational psychology scholar. Filled with useful classroom examples, evaluation procedures, self-reflection activities, and relevant background information, this essential guide will help classroom teachers think on their feet and promote success for all students—not just the middle of the pack.

Chapter 3

Step 1
Identify OSCAR

Overview

Objective:

What are the adjustable parts of every lesson?

Think: Make a list of the parts of lessons from your school’s lesson template, a curriculum guide, or of lessons that you remember from your own schooling. Put a star next to a part that is usually consistent for all students.

Criteria:

•Identify the adjustable parts, OSCAR, in a lesson or activity.

•Explain the research of self-regulated learning in connection to adjustable parts.

•Try Classroom Routines:

• Plan—Identify OSCAR in lesson plans.

• Teach—Think, Talk, Open Exchange (TTO).

• Adjust Instruction—Criteria Checklist.

Starting Position: Exploring Successful Learning

Take a moment to think about a successful learning experience that you have had in the past. Use the individual routine List, Write, Draw to record your successful learning experience. Describe in detail what you were learning, where you were learning, who was there and teaching, why you were learning, how learning was happening, and when you were learning and for how long. Underline the parts that explain why this experience was successful. Share your experience with a friend or a colleague to determine if there are common qualities in learning experiences that successfully engage all learners. Continue asking others about their experiences until you can compile a top ten list of qualities that ensure that all learners are learning. Compare your list to the list we compiled by asking classroom teachers. We will return to this list at the end of this chapter.

Qualities of Experiences Where All Learners Are Learning Relevant Content

•Meaningful topic

•Captures interest

•Safe risk-taking

•Clear expectations

•Known product

•Community

•Engaging

•Physical or active

•Goal oriented

•Visible progress

•Ongoing feedback

From the Classroom: Oscar Teaches Us
How to Engage the Extremes

Remember Oscar? We described him in the introduction to this book—he’s the student from the Bronx who felt like he “knew nothing” when he didn’t understand lessons. Remember Oscar’s teacher, Ms. Ford? She’s the dedicated teacher who we found literally sweating, running from student to student offering help. In this chapter, we return to Oscar’s story to address the question, “How can we ensure that Oscar never leaves class confused?”

What Are the Adjustable Lesson Parts of Every Lesson?

Think for a moment about the driver’s seat in a car. Car seats adjust to ensure that all drivers, who vary on many different dimensions, can reach the controls. We can use the parts of lessons, like the levers in car seats, to make adjustments to ensure a good fit for learners. To find these parts or levers, just think of the letters OSCAR, the name of our student. OSCAR is both our student and his name is a mnemonic for the adjustable parts in every lesson: O stands for Objective, S stands for Starting Position, C stands for Criteria, A stands for Action Pattern, and R stands for Reflections. We can extend the range of students able to engage in every learning activity by adjusting one or more of these parts.

Objective

The Objective is the goal for the lesson or activity. Goals are sometimes written as “Students will be able to ____” where the teacher fills in what students will learn in the lesson. Or goals may be written from the student perspective as learning targets, such as “I can _______.” Regardless of how the goal is written, it should be visible to students like a destination on a map—clear, visible, and meaningful to achieve. Objectives may be broken down into parts, creating opportunities for students to set goals specific to their needs within the required standards. Objectives should be clear, accessible, rigorous, and relevant (CARR) for all students. Teachers can use the reflection questions in the Objective Planning Chart (see Table 3.1) to revise objectives from lesson and unit plans to increase the ways learners can relate to and use the objectives as a vehicle for engagement.

Starting Position

The Starting Position is simply taking a moment to note where you are before embarking on a journey or before trying to make a change. Think about any time that you have made a change in your life; noting a starting position was essential. Before starting an exercise program, for example, it is often useful to note your starting weight and resting heart rate so that you can judge how daily exercises impact those important markers. When you embark on a trip, noting a starting position enables you to measure the distance that you have traveled. When using a GPS, a starting position allows the GPS to recommend alternate routes.

In much the same way of these examples, starting positions provide students with a necessary marker to measure their learning. In the classroom and as we have modeled at the start of every chapter, starting positions can be as simple as asking students to circle three familiar words or star the hardest question. A simple pre-assessment where students are given two minutes to start a worksheet on their own and note progress before finishing by working at a table with peers is a common starting position that we often use in lessons. Starting positions can be completed individually or in groups to activate and further background knowledge. In addition to being essential for student learning, starting positions provide a vehicle for teachers to adjust instruction. For example, student responses to starting positions may be gathered so that teachers can make in-the-moment adjustments, such as asking students to raise their hand for the problem that looks the most challenging and then adjusting to model that problem on the board (see Table 3.2 The Starting Position Planning Chart).

Table 3.1 Objective Planning Chart

Objective
Clarity	Is the objective stated in words memorable for students? Why does this objective matter?
Access	Are attainable parts identified within goals?
Rigor	What are the challenging parts of the objective? What kind of thinking is required to accomplish this objective?
Relevance	What will students find interesting, important, and valuable in this objective? How does this objective leverage student st...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Meet the Authors
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Before You Start
• 2 Classroom Routines, Motivation, and Effective Learning
• 3 The Changing Extremes in Our Classrooms
• 4 Step 1:Identify OSCAR
• 5 Step 2:Look and Listen through Classroom Routines
• 6 Step 3:CARR Check
• 7 Step 4:SHOp Adjustments—Help
• 8 Step 4:SHOp Adjustments—Options
• 9 Agile Teacher Thinking
• 10 Closing Gaps and Extending Learning
• Glossary of Terms
• References