by Pieces of Learning Staff Development Presenter Carolyn Coil
Texas Legacy Award Finalist 2005
Differentiating curriculum and instruction is an absolute necessity for today's teachers. With such a diverse group of students in every classroom, it is essential that teachers differentiate curriculum to meet student needs. At the same time, their job is to teach everyone the standards, and to reach, challenge, and motivate all students.
All teachers would agree they have not been given standardized students, and thus they should differentiate. But many are at a loss as to how to begin the task. It is easy to acknowledge that students have different learning styles and modalities, different levels of readiness and ability, and different interests and skills. It is much more difficult to decide how to design daily instruction and curriculum units to meet these needs.
And once the curriculum is differentiated, how will teachers assess the many varied products and performances that are done by students? They want to assess accurately and fairly, but how can that be done if they are differentiating the learning activities for their students?
Pieces of Learning's #1 Best-Selling Book shows you how!
49 units are written in three of the most popular formats for differentiated instruction:
- Tic-Tac-Toe
- Individual Lesson/Unit Plans
- Tiered Lessons and Units
Every activity in each of the 49 units has a corresponding mini-rubric for assessment. Using these models, you can assess each of the differentiated activities fairly and accurately.
Activities & Assessments for the Differentiated Classroom contains more than 100 differentiated products and performances. The units cover topics in math, reading, science, writing, social studies, language arts, visual arts, performing arts, and health.
The accompanying CD includes the entire book in PDF format. Download any of the 49 units of work and use the activities and assessments immediately. The CD also includes customizable WORD forms to write your own activities and assessments. Use the units in the book as patterns for writing units with your own state standards, content, process, and products.
