Differentiation is a pretty big hype word in the education field right now. A lot of words get tossed around year in and year out, and we as teachers can hardly remember one trendy education term from the next sometimes. But the word 'differentiation' is one that has stuck around, and quite frankly, should stick around in my opinion.
Throw the term around in an interview, and you instantly impress. Show your administrator during an observation how well you differentiate math and reading, and you pass with flying colors. But can you really differentiate with everything?
It's not an easy task that's for sure - especially with a class of 26 or 27.
Yeah, that was happening last year and we survived to tell the tale.
But sometimes it doesn't have to be as complicated as it seems.
Towards the end of school last year, I was at a dinner meeting with one of our administrators and other teachers from around the school discussing and reflecting on the math program we had all taken part in throughout the year. We somehow got on the topic of what it truly means to differentiate, and what administrators are looking for when they come into your classroom for observations. It was brought up and asked that if students are participating in leveled math groups, rotating or not, is that considered differentiation. Leveled groups must mean you're differentiating.
But not so much.
Our administrator went on to explain.
Although your kids are divided into groups based on their levels of understanding, if the students are all doing the same thing as they rotate through the center, it's not a true representation of differentiation.
I kinda had one of those light bulb moments - the AH HA! moment you always want your students to have. I felt like this wasn't surprising information, but it kinda just put things into perspective. Sometimes it seems like you need to be doing a million different things, a hundred different centers, creating thousands of different activity baggies for your kids to use, putting on the ultimate dog and pony show that makes your classroom go round. But that wasn't the case. A lot of us teachers seemed to have gotten lost in this concept, and really lost the true meaning of differentiation.
My administrator went on to give us an example.
A fifth grade teacher gives her students a choice menu during reading.
The kids are not rotating in leveled groups, wondering around the room, maybe doing what they're suppose to or maybe not. While the teacher pulls her leveled reading groups, the others are staying at their seat or participating in an activity around the room that THEY CHOSE that correlates with their leveled reading book. Each student has been given a menu to decide what activity fits their own learning style. Why does this seem so less stressful than a class of 26 fifth graders rotating around a classroom every 15 minutes?
-----------------
Piggybacking off of the differentiation kick above, I wanted to share another one of my TpT products that I absolutely loved using with my kids!
That's right - a choice menu - you can even differentiate your spelling practice!
Included in the packet are E I G H T different choice menus for your students to practice with each week. There is a full size version, plus a half size version for easy printing! (Because paper is gold and ink is diamonds where I'm from...)
Also included are three blank spelling tests for the end of the week - tests for ten words, fifteen, and twenty - also copied as full sheets OR half sheets for printing ease.
And not to mention - 19 spelling activities that correlate with the spelling menus!
Activities include Words on a Roll with dice, ABC Order, Spelling Pyramids, Word Search, Rainbow Words, Poem Party, Rhyme Time, Fan Mail, and MORE!
And to help your kiddos track their spelling progress - data charts for the kids to record their spelling test results each week. A sure way to help truly put into perspective how they're performing on these tests - especially great for us visual learners!
In my second grade classroom, I assigned a new spelling menu each week with their homework packets. Students had to complete three assignments of their choice from the choice board with their weekly assigned spelling words. Each week I rotated through the spelling menus to make sure the kids were always having new fun activities to practice with at home.
As for the spelling activities, I would use them as a center activity if we were rotating that week. They could also be used for early finishers too! The possibilities are almost endless with this unit, and a sure way to get your kids excited (and differentiated) with their spelling words!
Snag this unit in my TpT store H E R E.
You can find this product along with many others in my TpT store by clicking H E R E.
No comments :
Post a Comment