Recently, I designed a differentiated lesson which is being used in my 6th grade math field experience classroom. I used a technology tool to support the differentiation I needed to fit the learning styles of the students in the class (5 students in an intervention class). When designing this lesson, the following considerations were made.
Evaluating and Choosing Instructional Strategies to Differentiate for and Engage Diverse Students
When planning the lesson covering comparing and ordering rational numbers, I first reflected upon the student learning syles survey and previous conversations with the student's teacher to keep in mind readiness and interests. Since the majority are a good balance between visual and kinesthetic learners, I thought a Nearpod would be an effective way to engage the learners and provide auditory supports as well for the one student that fits in that category. Differentiation can occur whole group as long as we provide a variety of ways for students to explore the content and make connections (McCarthy, 2014). Therefore, I included multiple ways for students to do this through the Nearpod. A Flocabulary (music video) and “Draw it” tool was incorporated to help students retain the meanings of the math terms and supports all three learning styles. A short, 4 minute Khan Academy instructional video is included to provide a visual as to how to work out these types of problems using color coding. The open-ended response chosen allows students to either write or record their response and will allow students to talk out their thought process with a peer then whole class to support students in collaboration and using academic language while speaking. Lastly, the "Time to Climb" and quiz activities will allow students to apply their individual knowledge so the teacher can assess what further needs students may have in regards to the skills being taught.
Assessment Differentiation
Formative and summative assessment were incorporated throughout and also differentiated. The first formative assessment piece is after the instructional video where students respond to an open-ended question where they must describe and explain the process one must go through when comparing and ordering rational numbers and then participate in a pair-share activity. Students are to enter their response digitally either by typing or they may orally record their answer using the "record" feature on the Nearpod. Student can then share their response with a partner, let them read the response or have them listen to the audio recording. Providing this choice to students helps to sustain engagement as allowing them to make the choice, helps them to relate to the content in a way that peaks their interest versus having a one size fits all assessment (Parrish, 2019). At the end of the Nearpod, there is a summative assessment quiz section that the students enter their responses individually and are multiple choice questions. This would support ELL students along with those who struggle with written expression as they are able to use the audio feature to record their response if they struggle with this skill and allows for them to practice their language skills through the pair-share part. Any student who finishes early with their assessments can toggle over to their individual learning plans in either Mypath or Khan Academy to work on individual skills in which they are struggling.
Technology Integration: Determining Appropriateness
The interactive technology that was chosen for the lesson was as previously mentioned, a Nearpod. I determined this would be an appropriate tool as students are familiar with it and how to navigate the lessons without requiring a lot of pre-teaching as to the tech tool itself. Additional technology incorporated included the Flocabulary and Khan Academy instructional video which are both on a 6th grade level, are familiar resources, and provide the visual and auditory supports students need. Both are also appropriate in length so students remain engaged and do not lose interest before moving on to the activities which accompany them. Research shows that learners begin to disengage after 6 minutes of watching instructional videos and after 9, it decreases dramatically (Farah, 2019). Therefore, the videos chosen for this Nearpod were 4 minutes or less to keep students engaged.
References
Farah, K., & Barnett, R. (2019). A 5-Step guide to making your own instructional videos. Edutopia. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/5-step-guide-making-your-own-instructional-videos.
McCarthy, J. (2014). 3 Ways to plan for diverse learners: What teachers do. Edutopia. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/differentiated-instruction-ways-to-plan-john-mccarthy.
Parrish, N. (2019). Ensuring that instruction is inclusive for diverse learners. Edutopia. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/ensuring-instruction-inclusive-diverse-learners.
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