Running Head: BEGINNING DIFFERENTIATION 1

Week 2, Assignment 2B: Beginning Differentiation

Candee Edgar

MAT 674 Differentiated Instruction

Dr. Beth Cameron

National University

September 16, 2018

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Beginning Differentiation

Differentiation in the classroom is a way for teachers to change their instructional strategies

to help individual students reach their own academic success. As teachers begin to differentiate

content, they must take inventory of their students and ask themselves which students are ELL,

special needs, and/or advanced or gifted. After gathering data about each student’s strengths,

abilities, disabilities, interests, talents, and learning capabilities, the teacher can begin to plan for

differentiation for special populations. I will address five means by which a teacher can

differentiate a math content presentation along with subsequent learning activities for each of the

following special populations: English Language learners, special needs students, and advanced

and/or gifted students.

The math content addressed will be CA Math Common Core State Standard: Grade 1

Measurement and Date: Tell and write time. During this math unit, as students are beginning to

tell and write time to the hour and half-hour using analog and digital clocks, to make content

more comprehensible, I will use a variety of ways to differentiate. To differentiate for the ELL

population, I will pre-assess to determine what the ELL students already know, and this will

allow me to match what they need for appropriate learning activities. If the ELL students are not

able to count by 5s to 60 and write their numbers from 1 to 12, I would differentiate by adapting

the learning target for these students to telling and writing time to the hour until they have

developed the necessary pre-requisite skills. Another differentiation of instruction would be to

front load the new vocabulary: time, o’clock, hour, minute, analog, and digital. Pre-teaching

these vocabulary words for the ELL students using sensory and visual graphics and providing the
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students with their own set of word cards with visuals provides them with additional support and

reinforcement and also serves as differentiation of instruction. During the math content

instruction, the ELL students will receive more explicit, clear instructions along with modeling

using more visuals and Spanish-English cognates to give them a better understanding of the new

math concept and vocabulary. During the guided practice activity when students are to

demonstrate and show how to tell time to the hour, the ELL students will use a small analog

clock, a manipulative with different colored hands on the clock for the hour and minute hands, to

allow them to show their understanding of how to display time. Another way to differentiate for

ELL students is to deliver the new content in “chunks” and allow ELL students to digest a little

at a time and then continue to build their knowledge and understanding of the material (Marzano,

2007).

Heacox states that in working with special needs students, it is important to incorporate all

recommendations from each student’s existing IEP or 504-plan and use this information to guide

in differentiation (Heacox, 2012). In working with the math content of telling time to the hour

and half-hour, differentiation of instruction for special needs students would be to consider

scaffolds that can be put into place to assist students based on their special needs in the learning

of new math concept and vocabulary. As an introduction to this lesson, a short, age-appropriate

video of telling time would serve as a material scaffold to assist the special needs student in their

learning. During modeling and guided practice when working with students who are special

needs, tactile-kinesthetic learners, manipulatives of small analog clocks can give students a

hands-on way to practice showing and telling time to the hour and half-hour. Using visual

representations of analog clocks showing time to the hour and half-hour can help special needs

students to check and compare the time they are showing on their small clocks for accuracy. As
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suggested by Heacox for special needs students, assign “study buddies” to help with directions as

necessary (Heacox, 2012). As students are working during their guided practice activity with

their clocks to show time, a special needs student could be assigned to a study buddy to help with

his/her understanding and modeling of what is expected during this activity. In working with

students who are on the autism spectrum or have behavior disorders, to provide optimum

opportunity for them to learn the new math content, these students must be provided a quiet

space for the special needs student who is easily distracted to be able to focus on the new content

being taught. Another very important differentiation for special needs students is more practice

and frequent reinforcement with continuous monitoring of their progress. Many times constant

reinforcement and positive feedback will give the special needs students the encouragement

needed to continue to work hard and push forward. Another way to differentiate for the special

needs student is to allow them to “think aloud” and to restate the math concept which they are

learning in their own words.

As stated by Heacox, “Gifted students have specific learning differences that call for specific

differentiation techniques. Simply increasing challenge and variety may not be enough.”

(Heacox, 2012). We must tune in to the advanced and/or gifted students’ needs and do frequent

assessments to differentiate for their success. Differentiation for a gifted student in math during

the math concept of telling time to the hour and half-hour could be in the form of having the

advanced or gifted student put their clock and clock-reading skills to practice by solving real-life

math word problems on the gifted student’s math level which is a form of compacting the

curriculum. Prior to the lesson, meeting with the advanced and/or gifted learner and giving them

a choice about the assignments which they can complete for the lesson is a form of

differentiation; maybe the student is artistic and could illustrate the class schedule with pictures
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for the wall pocket chart. Another form of differentiating would be to provide an advanced

and/or gifted student with math computer programs that are on the student’s math level which

would allow the student to work independently on developing his math skills while the other

students are being taught the math concept. Heacox also suggests that the key to successfully

differentiating for a gifted student is personalization and makes a reference to Robert Eberle’s

creative thinking checklist, SCAMPER, to help teachers develop appropriate ways to plan how

to differentiate for the advanced and/or gifted learners (Heacox, 2012). Pretesting and

compacting the math content provides the foundation for effective differentiation of instruction

for the advanced and/or gifted students.

As teachers become more aware of their special populations’ needs, they will be able to help

create more academically, responsive classrooms filled with differentiated instruction. Obtaining

information and skills from this course, on-going professional development, and more years of

teaching experience will allow me to build and polish my skills in differentiating instruction to

meet the needs of each individual student.

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References

Heacox, D. (2012). Differentiating Instruction in the Regular Classroom. Minneapolis,

Minnesota: Free Spirit Publishing.

Marzano, R. J. (2007). The Art and Science of Teaching: A comprehensive framework for

effective teaching. Alexandria, Virginia: ASCD.