Development Lesson 3
Objective
Participants will begin to gather supplemental activities, and differentiate instruction to provide for a variety of learners.
Introduction
Providing instruction for and teaching to the middle is a thing of the past. Teachers can no longer teach one lesson and hope that the instruction reaches most or all of the students. Each student is entitled to an education, and this education may be different than that of another student in the same class. Differentiated instruction will help teachers meet the needs of all students, though their needs may be different. Strategies like multiple forms of assessment, formative assessments, flexible groupings, progress monitoring, targeted instruction, and many others, can be used to differentiate instruction for all types of learners, from learners with special needs, to gifted students (Taylor-Cox, n.d.)
Teachers must also make sure that they are meeting all IEP and 504 goals, which includes modifications on assessments. Some students receive extra time, others simplified instructions, and so on. In this lesson, you will work to create lesson plans that meet the learning needs of all students, and will make any necessary modifications to instruction and assessments provided by the Big Ideas Math program.
To enhance your learning for this lesson, read | this article on differentiating mathematics instruction for all learners.
Tasks
- Watch this video about what differentiated math instruction. Pay close attention to the discussion of turning abstract ideas to concrete ideas, and allowing students to demonstrate his/her understanding.
- Visit | NCTM's website for some tips on differentiated learning.
- Read through the suggested modification for your chapter/lessons on the Big Ideas Math website. These are under the "Differentiating the Lesson" tab. Feel free to explore other resources in the Response to Intervention section of the Teacher Resources.
- Revisit your graphic organizer from lesson 2. What weaknesses did you notice that need to be addressed by either supplemental activities or differentiation of instruction? Take this opportunity to take notes in the third column about the changes you will make to these materials and activities to address the weaknesses.
- Edit your lesson materials and assessment to reflect the changes that you proposed on the graphic organizer.
- Create a draft of a lesson plan for your learning segment. These lesson plans do not need to be formal. Feel free to use any lesson plan template that you are comfortable with. You can even edit the lesson plans provided by Big Ideas Math.
- Post in the discussion tab on the Lesson 3 page. What changes did you make to the lesson plan? Did you add any outside materials? If so, why? What modifications did you make to differentiate instruction? Respond to at least two of your peer's posts. Provide some feedback about their instructional decisions, and make suggestions.
In Preparation for Lesson 4...
Start thinking of the instructional technologies that you will incorporate during your lesson segment. What resources do you have available in your classroom? What resources would best support the Big Ideas Math program?
In Lesson 4, you will make further instructional decisions, specifically about 'how' you will teach the lesson.
To go on to Lesson 4, click here.
To return to the course introduction, click here.
To view the portfolio page for this course, click here.