Differentiation can be intimidating and can also feel like a box to check in a lesson plan. But it’s really just a way to make sure we reach all students: By focusing on the lesson objectives and taking away barriers that distract students, we enable them to reach the day’s learning goal. We can meet students where they are by giving them multiple ways to learn content, process, and product (Tomlinson). With students’ needs in mind, you can plan different inputs, experiences, and outcomes that will allow all your students to access the same information.

Differentiation is different from modification and adaptation:

Modification involves changing curricular materials to suit a group of students.
Adaptation is about adjusting the learning environment to make it more accessible.
Differentiation means tailoring instruction to meet specific learning needs of individual students.

Differentiating a high school world history lesson: The Atlantic Revolutions

The first step in differentiation is to make sure you understand your individual students’ needs. Look at recent assessments and students’ IEP, 504, or WIDA reports to get a good idea of the kinds of learners you’re differentiating for. Two types that may be in your classroom now are students reading below grade level and multilingual learners.¹ Let’s think of the first group as those students reading at the fifth- or sixth-grade level, with lower comprehension than fluency. For the second group, let’s focus on multilingual learners  with developing written language skills. 

With these two groups in mind, we’ll think through differentiating the Atlantic Revolutions lesson from OER Project: World History 1200. First, here’s a breakdown of choices you can make about content, process, and product. Read on to see how we’ll bring the highlighted moves to life.

Adjusting the reading level to access text

To reach this lesson’s goal, students really need to read and understand the article “The Atlantic Revolutions.” A useful feature of OER Project materials is that every article can be accessed at multiple Lexile levels—and even the lowest Lexile level version of an article will include all key content.

You have two options: You can choose the Lexile level for specific students, or you can allow students to choose. By setting the Lexile level, you’ll have a little more control over who reads which version. On the other hand, it’s valuable for students to learn how to make these choices for themselves. Encourage students to test out different versions of articles and to become aware of when they’re learning rather than frustrated. Students respond well to messages like “our class is a place to challenge yourself, and the right level for you will include some unknown words and a couple of places where you’ll pause and reread.” 

Chunking text

The text is dense—break it down! A during-reading strategy is to break the text into manageable “chunks.” In the case of “The Atlantic Revolutions,” the headers offer natural chunks. Pair students up and give them time to read the first chunk (or do a read-aloud). Then, pause for a one-minute pair share to talk through what they understand, what they wonder, and where they’re stuck.

Another option during individual reading is to have students note:

What did I just read?
Do I understand what I just read?
How does what I read relate to the overall topic?

Making a visual glossary for multilingual learners

Sometimes, we know that our MLs are getting it, but we can see that they’re struggling to put their thoughts into words. For MLs who are developing writers (WIDA Level 3), it’s important to support them with content-specific language. One way to get ready to write with content-area words is to get comfortable reading, hearing, and speaking those words. A visual glossary scaffolds students toward internalizing the meaning of vocab, which they can draw from when writing and reading.

At the top of each OER Project lesson, you’ll find vocab terms listed. Clicking one of the terms will open up the glossary on the right.

Translanguaging in a student’s home language

Access to an anchor chart when writing

Explain the causes of revolution orally

Some multilingual learners’ English language speaking skills develop ahead of their writing skills. Consider a conversation to assess their understanding of causes of revolution. This could happen informally, as you circulate the room or while the rest of the class is completing the closer activity. Asking students to explain out loud can give you insight into their thinking.

 

While differentiation can seem daunting, it's worth planning some quick strategies to support all learners. Check out the OER Project Differentiation Guide for more ideas! It’s free—like all our materials: Just log in with an OER Project account.

 

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1. We like to refer to students for whom English is a second (or third!) language as multilingual learners (MLs) rather than English language learners. For more information about multilingual learners, we recommend WIDA’s excellent article on the topic.

Cover photo: By Allison Shelley for EDUimages

 

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