Chances are, the students in your classroom have different ability levels and learning needs. However, your list of standards that are expected to be mastered isn’t budging. So how (and why) can you meet these different needs while ensuring that the content is understood by everyone in your class?
Research Supports Differentiation
Part of the answer comes in understanding what modern research has to say. Classroom practices change over time, so staying current is important. There’s a reason we don’t participate in things like popcorn reading from the textbook anymore, right?
This article in Edutopia warns against the danger of oversimplifying when differentiating, explaining that former ideas of differentiation (which included allowing below-level students to understand only very basic concepts) can deny students authentic, rich learning experiences that advanced learners have access to. The point, instead, is to give all students an opportunity to analyze, evaluate, and create while meeting their academic needs.
A recent systematic review of many differentiated studies found that the most common modern strategies that help to meet student needs involve content differentiation, various grouping arrangements, and the monitoring and assessment of students.
The Depth and Complexity Framework is a research-based approach to eliciting critical thinking by examining topics through different lenses, such as details, rules, ethics, and multiple perspectives. When used in the classroom, assignments and projects can be tailored to student interests and strengths.
Classroom Tips and Activity-Based Examples
So, how can we put these ideas into practice in the science classroom? Let’s look at some ideas for common activities!
It’s worth mentioning first that differentiation in ALL of the scenarios we will discuss still requires monitoring and questioning by the teacher. Walking around, seeing what’s going on, and intervening if needed is key!
The most important differentiation that you can provide happens in the moment. Noticing a student who is struggling and asking a clarifying question is invaluable. So is seeing a student breeze through an activity and asking them something that requires deeper thinking. On-the-spot adjustments make a huge difference in student understanding!
Slides and Notes
- It’s important to present slideshows as a discussion, so that you can involve all levels of students in conversation for engagement.
- While discussing content from a slideshow, note-taking options can be differentiated. Your students who need the most help may receive pre-filled notes so that they can focus on the content, while other students receive notes with blanks to be filled in periodically. Students who don’t need support may have outline-style notes that are mostly blank, to fill in with their own ideas. Science Penguin includes these differentiated options with our Slides and Notes resources!
Interactive Notebooks
- Modeling a teacher notebook on the document camera is a great way to keep all learners on track as notebook pages are completed.
- For students who need more support, you can pre-write some sentence stems or questions in the writing area before copying their pages.
- Purposefully including all student levels in the discussion while creating a notebook page together can also hold students accountable.
- Students reflect in their notebooks in ways that make sense to them. Some students might use a sentence stem or draw a picture, while others create elaborate pages to show their learning.
Labs and Stations
- Having group roles can adjust the responsibilities within mixed-ability groups, without taking away accountability. These can speak to different personality types, and the different roles working together help ensure that everyone is on track.
- You can also add written support to lab or station pages, such as sentence stems or clarifying questions, so you can copy only for those who need it.
- Consider allowing students who need more support to use resources such as science notebooks or study guides.
Sorts
This is one activity where it might be beneficial to use ability-based groups or partners.
- You can take away some cards for students who might need more support, so that they have more time to analyze and discuss. Make sure to leave in several difficult examples, because they still need exposure and practice!
- For students who are above level, you can add a challenging reflection question for them to discuss or respond to in writing. Specific challenge examples can be tough to come up with! Here are a few examples:
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- After sorting objects as solid, liquid, or gas, create a triple Venn diagram to compare and contrast each state of matter.
- After sorting items to analyze whether they primarily reflect or refract light, make a list of things that each category’s items have in common.
- Analyze any exceptions to the rule in a sort, explaining why an item may be different from others in its section while also explaining why it fits.
Assessments
- Using a screen reader is helpful for students who need read-aloud accommodations. All Science Penguin assessments in Google Forms format (along with other question-based resources, like Task Cards) can be used with various screen reader programs. You can also read aloud questions to students who require that accommodation.
- Once the assessment has been administered, you can analyze the data to identify any reteaching needs and inform future instruction. It’s a smart idea to pull a small group and reteach concepts to students who are not successful on an assessment, to ensure that they understand the content after extra explanation and practice.
Ideas for Flexible Grouping Days
Not all science lessons follow a format in which students complete the same activity at the same time. This is especially true for days after the content has been initially explored. Students can be grouped based on common needs. On these days, you might consider these options for differentiation:
Below-Level Students: These students need the most support. Pulling a small group gives you the most bang for your buck here. Reteaching vocabulary and concepts through Science Sorts and Small Group activities can ensure solid content understanding.
On-Level Students: The goal here is to practice while increasing rigor. Task Cards and other resources that expose students to content-based questions are great ways to practice a range of topics. This could also be a time for on-level students to complete Science Stations independently while the teacher works with a small group.
Above-Level Students: These students could benefit from moving a bit beyond the standard, since they’ve already mastered content. Critical Thinking Projects, which include a variety of topic choices and output options, are perfect for exploring challenging yet relevant content. Digital Choice Boards also provide choice-based resources for different creative outputs.
With these differentiation strategies for routine activities and flexible grouping days, all learners can have their needs met in different ways.
Science is definitely not one-size-fits-all, but by planning ahead to meet different needs and intervening in the moment to support students, everyone can be successful!
-Holly Hall, Curriculum Director
