This slideshow is part of the series: A Pathway to Differentiation. It is a professional growth opportunity designed for the secondary teaching staff of Shakopee Public Schools.

1. A Pathway to Differentiation:
Differentiating a Lesson Plan
Sean M. Hildebrandt
Secondary High Potential Specialist
Shakopee Public Schools
Shakopee, MN 55379
Phone: (952) 496-5768
Email: shildebr@shakopee.k12.mn.us

3. oTeachers teach better when they
systematically study their
students (Souza & Tomlinson, 2011) to
create differentiated, learner-
centered classrooms.
oDifferentiated instruction increases
stimulation by responding to
students’:
Readiness
Interests and/or
Individual learning profiles
oBrain studies suggest stimulating
environments maximize learning
(Rao, 2010; Shaw, 2006)

4. Differentiation is a teacher’s
response to learner needs
shaped by mindset and
guided by general principles.
Teachers can differentiate
through content, process, or
product according to
students’
readiness, interest, or
learning profile.
- Carol Ann Tomlinson (1999)

5. Consider the Content & Literacy
standard(s) being addressed. Will all
students learn the same material?
(Content)
Consider the students ability levels.
Can you teach the material in the same
way to all students? (Process)
Consider the assessments. How will
students demonstrate mastery?
(Pre/Form/Sum & Product)

6. Consider the physical
environment. What conditions
are needed for the lesson?
Consider classroom behaviors.
Will affective issues interrupt the
lesson?
Consider materials available.
Will materials force changes in the
process?

7. What is being taught? Select the
common core (literacy/content)
standards to address
Pre-assess to identify students
prior knowledge base
Design flexible opportunities via:
Alternative mini-lessons
Enrichment projects
Accelerate curriculum
Tools: Learning contracts,
curriculum compactor, richer &
deeper text

8. Process: How the students are
taught.
Plan varied activities based on:
Readiness: matching complexity of a
task to student's level of skill and
understanding
Interest: give topic choices so that
students make personal connections
to a specified goal.
Learning profile: match activity to
student’s identified learning modality
or interest, or intelligence preference. Bloom’s New Taxonomy

9. Product: How the
demonstrate content
or skill mastery.
Design project menus that
take student interests
& learning preferences
into account
Tools: Tic-Tac-Toe
menus & project
matrixes
ideabackpack.blogspot.com

12. Differentiation & the Brain: How Neuroscience Supports the
Learner Friendly Classroom, David A. Sousa & Carol
A. Tomlinson. (2011).
Shaw, P., Greenstein, D., Lerch, J., Clasen, I., Lenroot, R.,
Gogtay, N., et al. (2006). Intellectual ability and
cortical development in children and adolescents.
Nature, 440, 676-679.
Rao, H., Betancourt, L., Giannetta, J. M., Brodsky, N. L.,
Korczykowski, M., Avants, B. B., et al. (2010). Early
parental care is important for hippocampal
maturation: Evidence from brain morphology in
humans. Neurolmage, 49, 1144-1150.