Teaching techniques. Differentiated Process, Product, and Content - Assignment Example

? Differentiating for Learning Profile Differentiating for Learning Profile Introduction A high school oriented lesson the United States Constitution is useful to demonstrate how to differentiate based on a student’s learning profile. This particular lesson meets stated objectives by asking senior high students to analyze writings from the early days of American in order to determine the influence they had on the way the Founding Fathers crafted the Constitution. Students are then encouraged to develop critical thinking skills by looking at writings and other forms of media that influence them today, and compare that to the time of the Founding Fathers as well. All of the objectives stated in the lesson are clearly explained to the students from the outset, and the main assessment related directly back to aforementioned learning goals. Because of the varied types of writing in existence during the time the Constitution was being written, and the plethora of different messages we receive today, this particular lesson and topic provides multiple opportunities to introduce differentiated instruction into the classroom. Based upon student interest, the instructor can tailor make various videos, multi-media, technology, and print based options for the students to learn the necessary concepts for this unit. Each of these strategies would fit the stated learning outcomes (that each student will understand the influence that others have on our way of thinking) and can be aligned to cover differentiated access, product, and content. Differentiated Process, Product, and Content In considering how to apply differentiation to this lesson, it is important that teachers remember that their role is to match the interest level of each student with the mode of instruction and assessment. For this particular unit, the teacher will need to consider the types of media that most influence each student in the class. This can include taking a learning inventory, or simply through observation, but the bottom line is that the instructor needs to bring the curriculum alive to the students. Implementing the differentiation process for this unit will enable each student in the class to understand the lesson objectives, presented in the form of source documents, in their own unique manner. In so doing, it is possible for teachers to differentiate the content, process, and product for their students (Sousa & Tomlinson, 2011). The differentiation of content refers to the change that occurs in the material as it is being taught and learned by each individual student in the class. As example of this for this particular lesson would be if the classroom objective is for all students in the classroom to be able to identify the reasons why source documents influence our thinking and way of life. In order to accomplish this task, some students may choose to focus on the original writings of the day, while other may choose to use modern day media to illustrate a real life example that is relevant today. The differentiation process actually refers to the way in which each student in the class accesses the material. One study, for example, may explore various writings contained an in actual historical text, while others may choose to review video representations of the same material. This process continues with the differentiation of product, which most commonly refers to the way in which a student demonstrates what he or she has actually learned. For this unit, that will take place via the individual or group products that are presented at the conclusion of the lesson. One group or individual might choose to present a skit, for example, while other will choose to demonstrate their findings via a PowerPoint. When implementing the differentiated process, the sky is truly the limit. Conclusion As teachers decide to differentiate their lessons, they must take into account the readiness, interest, and learning profile of each individual student in the class. In this case, readiness most commonly refers to the skill level and background knowledge of the child. The high school social studies teacher will not want to introduce material that is beneath the grade level of the student. In order to a unit on the Constitution, for example, to be of any lasting value, the teacher must challenge their students by introducing assessments that target each individual learning profile at his or her own grade level. The differentiation process is well suited for just this type of task. In order to determine how to best differentiate various units and lessons, teachers will often employ diagnostic assessments. These instruments can help determine the students’ readiness to learn the material that they are being asked to master. This ‘interest’ involves covering topics that are designed to probe material that the student has expressed a genuine interest in learning. It is the role of the modern day teacher to determine what the interests of their students are, and then tailor make lessons that cover curricular issues, but in such a way that motivates the student to learn. In order to accomplish, teachers should work hard to discover what outside interests their students might have, and then strive to include these same interests in the actual unit. It is also important that the learning profile of each student include his or her learning style. This includes making note of visual, auditory, tactile, or kinesthetic learners in the class and finding out ways that each lesson can be fit to those particular learning modalities. Content for this particular unit can also be differentiated. One important way to meet this goal is to provide text and other written works that are aimed at more than one reading level. This is particular important in a class that might have second language learners or students with some form of learning disability. The information presented in class can also be illustrated in various ways, such as the whole-to-part, or the part-to-whole approach. For classes that have students from a variety of reading levels, the teacher can create a system of reading buddies to help support and to challenge students to explore various texts written during the days of the Founding Fathers. It is also important to take the content presented in class and teaching it again it in a slightly different way to students who are having difficulty understanding. This is particularly important for this lesson, as some of the texts written back in the 1700s may, at first, be difficult for some students to understand (Winebrenner, 1996). References Sousa, D. A. & Tomlinson, C. A. (2011). Differentiation and the brain: How neuroscience supports the learner-friendly classroom. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press. Winebrenner, S. (1996). Teaching kids with learning difficulties in the regular classroom. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishin. Read More