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Differentiation

DEFINITION

In the classroom, the conscious act of adjusting content, process, or product based on a student’s readiness, interests, or learning profiles.

Today’s learners are more diverse...

Students come from vastly different cultural, social, and familial backgrounds and possess a wide range of learning potential.

WHO are these learners?

WHAT strategies does an educator need to meet the individual needs of these learners?

Who are these learners?

Understanding Multilingual Learners

These individuals are not native English speakers but are actively trying to learn the language in order to achieve success in the classroom and beyond. To gain an understanding of a specific student, teachers must consider

  • Cultural differences.
  • Past education.
  • Language similarities and differences.
  • The student’s language acquisition level.

Educators must take this knowledge and create learning activities that will meet the students where they are, provide equity, and move them closer to language mastery and educational success.

LEARN MORE: ELL Best Practices

Understanding Striving Learners

Striving learners with special needs are unique, and each have individual strengths. Learning these strengths early on allows teachers to make connections for new learning by identifying gaps in prior learning. Educators can create differentiated opportunities for students to use their strengths to learn at high levels and to demonstrate their learning despite physical or cognitive challenges.

LEARN MORE: Check Out the Immersive Reader

Understanding Advanced Learners

Teachers often forget to differentiate for advanced learners because they know these learners will “get it.” But some advanced learners are bored from a lack of challenge and from success without much effort. In order to grow and stretch the abilities of advanced learners, teachers should continually challenge students to “compete with their own possibilities rather than with a norm.”

LEARN MORE: Improving Learning Outcomes for Your Busy Students

Differentiated educational strategies to meet the needs of your students

So HOW DO educators adjust the content, the process, or the product to differentiate learning for a student?
And HOW CAN Perfection Learning® help?
Translation and Text-to-Speech Tools

The Microsoft® Immersive Reader functionality embedded in many Perfection Learning® Advanced Placement® and secondary ELA programs allows students to have content-area and literature selections translated into their native language.

Multilingual learners can view bilingual versions of a word side by side so they can use their first-language knowledge to develop their English vocabulary.

Students can both see and hear the selections modelling correct pronunciation and enhancing recall through multiple exposures.

OVER 60
languages translated.

OVER 45
languages with text-to-speech.

LEARN MORE: Check Out the Immersive Reader

Personalize Learning with Text Accessibility Tools

Educators can work with students to customize readability of content-area and literature selections based on students’ abilities and learning styles through built-in IEP and 504 accommodations.

  • Change font type and size.
  • Add line focus.
  • Apply background color.

LEARN MORE: Check Out the Immersive Reader

Enhance Learning with Content-Support Features

Interactive Advanced Placement® and secondary ELA programs from Perfection Learning® include a picture dictionary and a syllabification feature.

PICTURE DICTIONARY Provide just-in-time support at the point of need; supplement linguistic learning with visual learning.

SYLLABIFICATION Reinforce pronunciation and demonstrate how to use affixes and roots to break down new words and determine the meaning.

LEARN MORE: Check Out the Immersive Reader

Instructional Activities and Assessment

Instruction that includes scaffolded skills support, extension activities, performance tasks, and project-based assessments can provide differentiation for multilingual learners, striving learners, and advanced learners.

LEARN MORE: How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms

Collaboration for All Learners

Collaboration with a partner or in a small group allows for differentiated learning. New digital collaboration tools give all students a chance to participate, even those students who are often intimidated by contributing to the conversation.

LEARN MORE: Participate and Share with Interactive Collaboration Walls