Most teachers differentiate support for students on a daily basis, which is informal differentiation. Formal Differentiated Instruction happens during the planning process in anticipation of students needs. Here is a powerpoint I use as part of coaching teachers on deepening their practice.

1. Differentiated Instruction:
Starting the Journey
Support by:
John McCarthy, Ed.S.
Education Consultant
jmccarthyeds@gmail.net
http://wb4all.blogspot.com

2. Norms
• Every voice needs to be heard
• Humor is nurturing
• Monitor own Zone of Proximal Growth
• Seek to understand before being
understood –Stephen Covey
(Questions are gifts)
7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Please set cell phones to vibrate or silent mode, or turn off. Thank you.

3. Objectives
– Understand the purpose and need for
Differentiated Instruction (Reflective
conversations).
– Evaluate effective strategies that support all
students (Reflective Feedback).
5U

4. If you want to feel safe and secure,
continue to do what you have
always done.
If you want to grow, go to the cutting
edge of your profession. Just know that
when you do, there will be a temporary
loss of sanity. So know when you don‟t
quite know what you are doing…
You are probably growing!
--Madeline Hunter

5. Everyone has a
unique style.

6. Learning Profile Surveys
– Label 3 dot stickers with your grade.
– Place a dot sticker on each of the 3 charts that best
describes yourself.

7. Starting Place for Differentiation
 “Differentiation is making sure that the right
students get the right learning tasks at the right
time. Once you have a sense of what each
student holds as „given‟ or „known‟ and what he
or she needs in order to learn, differentiation is
no longer an option; it is an obvious response.”
Assessment as Learning: Using Classroom
Assessment to Maximize Student Learning
Lorna M. Earl, Corwin Press, Inc.
2003 – pp. 86-87
“Zone of Proximal Growth” - Vygotski

9. Understand how to read place value
Assessment: Exit Card with 3 math problems
1. State the posted learning targets and assessment
2. Explain and demonstrate place value using: pennies &
dimes and a T-chart
3. Process: explain to a partner
4. Think Dot: Place value through 6 examples
5. Process: jigsaw group members into dot teams for each
of the 6 dots. Share solutions in dot groups.
6. Use students to represent 10s and 1s to do people
addition and multiplication
7. Process: explain to a partner
8. Students work in pairs on a series of word problems
9. Assessment: Exit Card

10. The Learning Matrix
Learning Components DI Components
• Content Readiness
--Access --Current Skill Level
• Process Interests
--Sense-making
--Choices and
• Product/ Backgrounds
Learning Artifacts Learning Profile
--Evidence
--Brain Intelligences
Relationship Building and Environment: Physical & Cultural

11. Understand how to read place value
Assessment: Exit Card with 3 math problems
1. State the posted learning targets and assessment
2. Explain and demonstrate place value using: pennies &
dimes and a T-chart
3. Process: explain to a partner
4. Think Dot: Place value through 6 examples
5. Process: jigsaw group members into dot teams for each
of the 6 dots. Share solutions in dot groups.
6. Use students to represent 10s and 1s to do people
addition and multiplication
7. Process: explain to a partner
8. Students work in pairs on a series of word problems
9. Assessment: Exit Card

13. Think Dots
• Provides up to six tasks to complete for learning skills
and/or concepts (e.g. fractions, plot analysis)
• Each task is progressively more difficult and connected
to the learning objective.
• Students are grouped by readiness, interest, and/or
learning profile.
• Students randomly pick (use a die) or choose a specific
number of tasks to complete out of those provided (e.g.
3 of 6, 4 of 6, 6 of 6).
• Teacher might assigned some of the tasks as
mandatory, and some as optional.

14. Defining Fractions
• Learning Objective: Understand the parts
and function of fractions.
• Evidence/Assessment: Exit Card with 1-4
fraction problems to solve.
• Set up activity: Students have done some
work with fractions.

15. Think Dots (Tiered 1)

16. Think Dots (Tiered 2)

17. Exploring Writer‟s Voice
• Learning Objective: Understand how
authors use voice to create interesting
writing or communication.
• Evidence/Assessment: 5 minute fast-write
describing their understanding of Author
Voice.
• Set up activity: Students wrote their
meaning of voice and shared in a class
discussion.

18. Think Dots (Tiered 1)

19. Think Dots (Tiered 2)

20. Developed by Ryan Johnson, Dearborn Heights 7, 4th Grade

21. Planning Questions
Starting Point for Unit and Lesson Planning
• What should students know, understand,
and be able to do?
• How will students demonstrate what they
know?
During Development of Unit and Lesson Planning
• What will you do for students who do not
succeed?
• What will you do for students who already
know the unit?

22. Defining Fractions
• Learning Objective: Understand the parts
and function of fractions.
• Evidence/Assessment: Exit Card with 1-4
fraction problems to solve.
• Set up activity: Students have done some
work with fractions.

23. The Learning Matrix
Learning Components DI Components
• Content Readiness
--Access --Current Skill Level
• Process Interests
--Sense-making
--Choices and
• Product/ Backgrounds
Learning Artifacts Learning Profile
--Evidence
--Brain Intelligences
Relationship Building and Environment: Physical & Cultural

24. RAFTS
• Role: Who the student must become.
• Audience: Who the message is
composed for.
• Format: Medium used to present the
ideas. 
• Topic: The message focus. 
• Strong Verb: Begin topic with action verb.
 = Addresses readiness based on complexity.
 = Deals with learning profile, such as Gardner
or Sternberg‟s multiple intelligences.

25. Sample RAFT Strips
Role Audience Format Topic
Middle School Diary Entry I Wish You Really
Semicolon
Language Arts
Understood Where I Belong
N.Y. Times Public Op Ed piece How our Language Defines
Who We Are
Huck Finn Tom Sawyer Note hidden in a A Few Things You Should
tree knot Know
Rain Drop Future Droplets Advice Column The Beauty of Cycles
Lung Owner Owner‟s Guide To Maximize Product Life
Science
Rain Forest John Q. Citizen Paste Up Before It‟s Too Late
“Ransom” Note
Reporter Public Obituary Hitler is Dead
Martin Luther King TV audience of Speech The Dream Revisited
History
2010
Thomas Jefferson Current Residents Full page If I could Talk to You Now
of Virginia newspaper ad
Fractions Whole numbers Petition To Be Considered A Part of
Math
the Family
A word problem Students in your class Set of directions How to Get to Know Me
Format based on the work of Doug Buehl cited in Teaching Reading in the Content Areas: If Not Me Then Who?, Billmeyer and Martin, 1998

26. Once upon a time,
There‟s a girl who lives in Wayne County who
always wears red hooded jackets. Everyone in
the neighborhood calls her Red Riding Hood, or
Red for short. One morning, Red asked her
mother if she could visit her grandmother.
Because of her arthritis, granny didn‟t do much
text messaging.
"That's a good idea," her mother said.

27. Red dressed in her favorite color and kissed her
mother goodbye.
“Go straight to Grandma's house," her mother
cautioned. "Don't dawdle along the way and no
talking to strange boys! Michigan Ave can be
dangerous."
“Mother," Red blushed.

28. But when Red biked along Michigan Ave she
noticed some lovely outfits and cell phone
accessories in store front windows. She forgot
her promise.
She bought red sandals and a rouge phone face
plate, listened to music on her iPod and drank a
Cola. Red was enjoying herself so much, that
she didn't notice someone approaching behind
her...

29. "What‟s up?" a wolf purred
beside her.
"I'm seeing my Granny who
lives on Hemlock, between
Payne and Barrie, near
Ford Woods Park," Little
Red Riding Hood replied,
“The red house.”

30. Realizing the time, “Oh,
I‟m late.” She excused
herself, and biked fast to
Grandma's house.
The wolf took a cab...

31. The wolf arrived at Grandma's and knocked lightly
at the door.
"Oh thank goodness dear! Come in, come
in! There‟s an e-Alert of a suspicious looking
wolf. I was so worried," said Grandma thinking
the knock came from her granddaughter.
The wolf entered the house. Poor Granny didn‟t
have time to say another word, before the wolf
gobbled her up!

32. The wolf let out a satisfied burp. He poked through
Granny's closet for a nightgown that he
liked. He added a frilly sleeping mask, and
dabbed some of Granny's perfume behind his
pointy ears.
A few minutes later, Red knocked on the
door. The wolf jumped into bed and pulled the
covers over his nose. "Who is it?" he called in a
cackly voice.
"It's me, Red.”
“Yo, ahem, come in, my dear," croaked the wolf.

33. "Granny! You sound so weird,”
Red said.
"Oh, just a touch of cold," said
the wolf adding a cough.

34. "But Granny! What big ears you have," said Red as she
edged closer to the bed.
"The better to hear you, my dear."
"But Granny! What big eyes you have."
"The better to see you with, my dear."
"But Granny! What big dentures you have," said Red her
voice quivering.
"The better to eat you." The wolf leapt out of the bed and
chased her.

35. Almost too late, Red realized that this person was not
her Grandmother, but a hungry wolf. She ran through
the house, shouting, "Help! Wolf!" as loudly as she
could, while speed dialing 911 on her cell.
A neighbor who was tending her garden heard Red‟s
cry and raced to the house as fast as she could.
A fan of the TV shows Cops and Greys Anatomy, the
neighbor tackled the wolf and performed the Hiemlich
Maneuver forcing him to spit out poor Granny who
was now in desperate need of a towel and a shower.

36. "Oh Granny!" sobbed Red, "I'll never talk to
strange wolves again."
"There, there, child. You've learned an
important lesson.
The neighbor knocked out the wolf and
drove him to the police precinct where he
wouldn't bother people any longer.
Red and Granny ate lunch and shopped at
several malls. They had a long chat.

37. RAFTS Interest: Understanding Themes
Complete one of the following giving 2-3 reasons/points:
Role Audience Format Topic
Grandma Red 1-2 minute Save lives. Don‟t
conversation talk to strangers.
Wolf Defense 1-2 minute Help me! I was
Attorney conversation framed!
Neighbor PTO Warning Strangers & Red –
Posters Beware
(A Cautionary Tale)
Wolf Oprah Memoir Save me! I‟m
Letter misunderstood.
= Interest shown here as student choice for showing what
they learned.

38. RAFTS
Complete one of the following giving 3 reasons/points:
Role Audience Format Topic
Grandma Red 1-2 minute Save lives. Don‟t
conversation talk to strangers.
Analytical
Wolf Defense 1-2 minute Help me! I was
Attorney conversation framed!
Creative
Neighbor PTO Warning Posters Strangers & Red
Practical – Beware
(A Cautionary Tale)
Wolf Oprah Memoir Letter Save me! I‟m
Creative misunderstood.

39. All Use Bloom’s Taxonomy
Sternberg’s Multiple Intelligences
• Analytical
– Abstract thinking & logical reasoning*
– Traditional notion of intelligence (predominant
instruction in Secondary and Collegiate levels)
– Verbal & mathematical skills
• Practical
– Apply knowledge to the real world*
– Street smarts
– Shape one‟s environment; choose an environment
– Contextual
• Creative
– Divergent thinking (generating new ideas)*
– Creativity
– Ability to deal with novel situations
– Alternative solutions
– Viewing from different perspectives

40. Sample RAFTS Strips
Role Audience Format Topic
Our Class Oral Response I never should have listened
Gingerbread Man
to the fox
Squanto Other Native Pictographs I can help the inept settlers
Americans
Band Member Other Band Demo Tape Here‟s how it goes
Members
Positive Numbers Negative Numbers Dating Ad Opposites Attract
Rational Numbers Irrational Numbers Song Must you go on forever?
Decimals Fractions Poem Don‟t you get my point?
Perimeter Area Diary Entry How your shape affects me
Monet Van Gogh Letter I wish you‟d shed more light
on the subject!
Joan of Arc Self Soliloquy To recant, or not to recant;
that is the question
Tree Urban Sprawl Editorial My life is worth saving
Thoreau Public of his day Letter to the Why I moved to the pond
Editor
Young Chromosome Experienced Children‟s Book What becomes of us in
Chromosome mitosis?
First Grader Kindergartner Ad What‟s best about 1st grade?

41. All Use Bloom’s Taxonomy
Sternberg’s Multiple Intelligences
• Analytical
– Abstract thinking & logical reasoning*
– Traditional notion of intelligence (predominant
instruction in Secondary and Collegiate levels)
– Verbal & mathematical skills
• Practical
– Apply knowledge to the real world*
– Street smarts
– Shape one‟s environment; choose an environment
– Contextual
• Creative
– Divergent thinking (generating new ideas)*
– Creativity
– Ability to deal with novel situations
– Alternative solutions
– Viewing from different perspectives

42. How was
Differentiation used
here?

43. How many exposures to a concept do learners
need for 80% mastery?
24
Marzano, Classroom Strategies That Work, p. 67

44. Frayer Model
Define in your own words Draw a picture
Metaphor/Poem/ Describe real-
Song world benefits

45. The Learning Matrix
Learning Components DI Components
• Content Readiness
--Access --Current Skill Level
• Process Interests
--Sense-making
--Choices and
• Product/ Backgrounds
Learning Artifacts Learning Profile
--Evidence
--Brain Intelligences
Relationship Building and Environment: Physical & Cultural

46. Planning Questions
Starting Point for Unit and Lesson Planning
• What should students know, understand,
and be able to do?
• How will students demonstrate what they
know?
During Development of Unit and Lesson Planning
• What will you do for students who do not
succeed?
• What will you do for students who already
know the unit?

47. What Differentiated Instruction…
IS
• Differentiated instruction is
IS NOT
rooted in assessment • Individual instruction
• Differentiated instruction is • Chaotic
more QUALITATIVE than • Just another way to provide
quantitative. homogenous instruction (flexible
• Differentiated instruction grouping)
provides MULTIPLE approaches • Just modifying grading systems
to content, process, and product. and reducing work loads
• Differentiated instruction is • More work for the "good" students
STUDENT CENTERED. and less and different for the
• Differentiated instruction is a "poor" students
BLEND of whole class, group,
and individual instruction.
• Differentiated instruction is
"ORGANIC".

48. Data used for
review practice
with future
curriculum and/or
students.
Summative Assessments

50. Exit Cards

51. Learning Profile Cards
Learning Styles Sternberg/Gardner
Preference MI Preference
Interests,
Hobbies, Other
Internal/External
Reading Score:
Thinker
www.protopage.com/assessmentsystem
Student’s name on back of the card.

52. 3D Experience

53. Classroom View

54. 3D Instruction
1. Identify the learning target(s)
-Start with a Bloom Verb
2. Decide on the (formative) assessment
-address the learning target(s)
3. Brainstorm 9-15 ways to teach the
concept(s) of the learning target(s)
-think outside of the box, less abstract, more practical
4. Build the lesson steps
-include 3+ ideas from Brainstorm
-include 3+ processing experiences

55. Understand how to read place value
Assessment: Exit Card with 3 math problems
1. State the posted learning targets and assessment
2. Explain and demonstrate place value using: pennies &
dimes and a T-chart
3. Process: explain to a partner
4. Think Dot: Place value through 6 examples
5. Process: jigsaw group members into dot teams for each
of the 6 dots. Share solutions in dot groups.
6. Use students to represent 10s and 1s to do people
addition and multiplication
7. Process: explain to a partner
8. Students work in pairs on a series of word problems
9. Assessment: Exit Card

56. Develop/Reinvent a Crossroad Lesson
3D Instruction

57. Develop/Reinvent a Crossroad Lesson
1. Identify the learning target(s)
3D Instruction
-Start with a Bloom Verb
2. Decide on the (formative) assessment
-address the learning target(s)
3. Brainstorm 9-15 ways to teach the
concept(s) of the learning target(s)
-think outside of the box, less abstract, more
practical
4. Build the lesson steps
-include 3+ ideas from Brainstorm
-include 3+ processing experiences

58. Lesson Gallery Walk

59. 3 Kinds of Assessments

60. Objectives
– Understand the purpose and need for
Differentiated Instruction (Reflective
conversations).
– Evaluate effective strategies that support all
students (Reflective Feedback).

61. What‟s Fair for All Learners…
Fair is not everyone doing the
same thing in the same way…
Fair is what YOU need to achieve.
Fair instruction is like the cookie jar
on the top shelf…
Some need a taller stepping stool
than others to grasp the prize.
Fair is not everybody getting the
same thing…
Fair is everybody getting what they
need to be successful!

62. Defining…
Student
Achievement

63. Planning Questions
Starting Point for Unit and Lesson Planning
• What should students know, understand,
and be able to do?
• How will students demonstrate what they
know?
During Development of Unit and Lesson Planning
• What will you do for students who do not
succeed?
• What will you do for students who already
know the unit?

64. Objectives
– Understand the purpose and need for
Differentiated Instruction (Reflective
conversations).
– Evaluate effective strategies that support all
students (Reflective Feedback).

65. ?
Feedback

67. Differentiated Instruction:
Starting the Journey
Support by:
John McCarthy, Ed.S.
Education Consultant
jmccarthyeds@gmail.net
http://wb4all.blogspot.com