The pre-service teachers I work with often here me tout "Instruction is not a one size fits all approach". This notion is based on Tomilson's theory of differentiated instruction. Tomilson contends that teachers can and should provide multiple pathways to learning by differentiating three areas of instruction: content, process and product. The idea of presenting content in multiple ways can feel like an overwhelming task. Moreover some students might not find different representations of the same content meaningful or engaging. Similarly having multiple products or processes can be extremely overwhelming for new teachers to manage and be effective, especially with younger children or students who may not have the foundational skills to work independently.
Building on the notion of differentiation instruction is integrative instructional design. Similar to the idea of presenting content in multiple ways, integrative design builds on students interests and readiness and makes connections across content areas in the context of a theme or unit of study. This approach to instruction is extremely effective for English language learners who can apply academic language across content areas rather than learning new words in isolation and without meaningful experiences. Furthermore teachers can provide explicit direct instruction, and support collaborative group work experiences with exemplars, higher order questioning and resources that"fits-all" in multiple ways.
This week I had third graders build on their knowledge of multiplication/division in the context of designing a garden and determining the area each student would receive. This was part of their science unit on investigating the impact of different types of environments has on plant growth. Not only where students able to use their math knowledge to determine the area but they were able to apply calculations in a real-life situation which included students measuring the plot and using string to create equal spaces.
So where do you begin?
Use the Country Living Site for Garden Plans
Step 2 Organize: Use web-base tools to keep your project organize. To organize the sites for students to access use a tool like Symbaloo.
Step 3 Create: Then create templates for students to work independently and organize their thinking with Google Docs. With Google Doc & Slides you can give real-time feedback to your students that is captured in the cloud. This way if your project-based learning activity time is only scheduled once a week students will have a way to review feedback and work independently without wasting time reviewing expectation, criteria and next steps.
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Yes! These three steps are a must for differentiated learning in the classroom of all grade levels. Cross-content learning creates long lasting, positive effects in the education and lives of our students. I will be re-reading this post often.
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