Differentiation means tailoring the instruction to meet the needs of all types of learners, each with their unique, individual characteristics. It can be applied to content or what the students need to learn, process or how the students access the content, product or how the student demonstrates understanding of the content, and learning environment or where the learning takes place.
The following are examples of DI in elementary years in special education:
Differentiating the content
Some of the best ways to differentiate content include using: (1) visuals , (2)materials at different complexity levels, and (3) spelling or vocabulary lists at readiness levels of students.
Information can also be presented both (4) visually and in audio format.
Students can be assigned (5) buddies or note takers, as another effective way to differentiate content, and can be allowed (6) grouping flexibility (independent, or small group task completion).
Differentiating the process
Differentiation can be as simple as marking the area in focus. Some students work well with a lot of content on one page, while others need more focus.
For students struggling with space organization, drawing boxes for each word works really well!
For some students, differentiation can take the form of highlighting material that has been previously written by the teacher. The student would be asked to provide the answer, the teacher records it, then the student highlights the content.
Sometimes the simple use of a finger spacer makes a huge difference for our sped students. Please note the first few rows versus the last one!
Differentiating the product
For students who struggle with writing, allowing them to present their answer in a different format means meeting their individual needs. Typing an answer versus writing it is another form of DI that can be used with special needs students.
Some students have difficulties with expressive skills. Allowing them to create a product of their learning and point instead of talking is a great way of differentiating instruction.
Differentiating the learning environment
Dividers block distractions, offer privacy and great opportunities for differentiating the learning environment for those students who need to stay focused while learning.
Low tech assistive technology devices like slant boards provide wonderful opportunities for those students who struggle with fine motor coordination.
Allowing a student to sit close to the white board or other sources of information is another way to differentiate in the classroom. It works great not only for the students with vision issues, but also for students who cannot copy from a distant source.
Flexible seating arrangements make for one of the most successful ways to differentiate the learning environment in a classroom.
Allowing students to move around when completing assignments is another great way of differentiating the learning environment, as some students learn best when they are on the move. You might not be able to do this with all your groups, as some students who struggle with ADHD might have a hard time working in such an environment.
When most teachers think of differentiating instruction, they mostly think of differentiating content, and they cringe because the issue of times comes to mind immediately after. Content differentiation is probably the most time consuming form of differentiation because it involves creating materials to support the individual needs of each student. And that is close to impossible for every student in every subject every day! The following suggestions can be used to save precious time, while addressing content differentiation:
(1). Build your resources over time. Make them durable so you can reuse in the following years.
(2). Create resources that can be used across subjects and grade levels.
(3). Borrow resources from your grade level team, teacher specialists, librarian or other special education teachers.
(4). Paras can be trained to help create instructional materials.