Differentiated Lesson Plan Template

Pre-Planning:
OBJECTIVE CONNECTION TO ACHIEVEMENT GOAL
What will your students be able to do? How does the objective connect to your
achievement goal?

Global Benchmark: I can speak to another This connects with our Big Goal of being able
person about family members. (1.1.NM.f.) to use presentational Spanish to communicate
important aspects of who we are to others.
Student-Friendly goal:
SWBAT create a family tree that describes -Students often become nervous about presenting
influential family members. in Spanish; therefore, discussing the classroom
climate during presentations is necessary for
SWBAT present their unique family tree to student success.
their peers in Spanish. -Students invest in this project because they are able to
talk about the people who mean the most to them. I
allow them to do this in a variety of ways to ensure that
student choice is at the center of their projects.

PREREQUISITE SKILLS DIAGNOSTIC

What will your students need to know How will you assess students mastery of
to master the grade-level objective? these foundational skills?
Megan Freel 3/19/2017 3:03 PM
1. Students will take a partner quiz in Comment [1]: This part of the project was
1. Students will have to master familial titles preparation for this lesson. Students will work differentiated to allow for student choice and
prior to working on this project. preference. Students enjoyed being able to
with peers who are at a different level of choose their own medium, which invested
2. Students will have to have a sufficient mastery. This will promote excelling students them in created high quality projects, It also
understanding of using the verb SER to allowed higher-achieving students to put more
to teach their peers these fundamental skills. complexity into their work and lower achievers
describe family members 2. Students who struggle with this quiz will be to focus more on basic skills (Strategies for
personality/physical characteristics. Differentiating, 2012). However, I may have
asked to come to coach class to work on these given students too much freedom because
3. Students will have to be able to use an prerequisite skills before the family tree many of them wasted too much time thinking
artistic medium (poster, drawing, words) to of how to display their family tree. In
project. reflection, next time I will create exemplar
summarize his/her most important family projects for a variety of mediums to get
members. students thinking on the right track.
Megan Freel 3/19/2017 2:40 PM
Comment [2]: This pre assessment is
exceptionally important because it showed
where my students were at in terms of the
larger learning targets. I could see that many of
them hadnt sufficiently understood how to
describe family members. This constant use of
Johns Hopkins University School of Education assessment to gage student progress, is helpful
Lesson Plan Template in informing instruction(Ongoing
Revised September 2016 Assessment, 2012).
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Preplanning
ASSESSMENT
How will you know whether your students have made progress toward the objective? How and
when will you assess mastery?

OPTION A:
Mastery will be assessed when students present their family trees to their peers. The guidelines for
successful projects are incorporated into the rubric. Students will use this rubric as they are creating
their projects so that they clearly understand how to achieve mastery. The rubric associated with their
presentation is inserted below, students will be graded accordingly.
Megan Freel 3/19/2017 2:53 PM
Family Tree Level 0 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Comment [3]: In the future, I need to spend
Presentations: more time developing the atmosphere before
students present. Some students were highly
Professionalism: Project is Project is mostly Project is clear at Project is largely critical of each other, and at times
sloppy/unclear. Little disrespectful. If I had adequately gone over
unclear. Grammar times. Grammar is clear. Grammar is
effort displayed. audience expectations before the presentations
is largely incorrect. sufficient. close to perfect. this may have never occurred. This idea is
supported by Tomlinson who suggests that
5 family members 0-1 family 1-2 family 2-4 family 5 family members cultivating a classroom that functions as a
described: members described members described members described described collective team aiming for success is the
groundwork of a positive environment
Visual aids: No visual aids. 1-2 visual aids 2-4 visual aids. 5 visual aids. (Tomlinson 2010, page 77).

Presentation was Presentation Presentation was

Presentation: Student did not short and did not communicated professional and
present. communicate some aspects of the effectively
family tree. family tree well. communicated.

OPTION B:

Mastery will be assessed when students present their FIRST DRAFT family tree to me in a 1-1
conference. These family trees will be reviewed and then students will improve them before displaying
them on the front wall for their peers to see. The rubric associated with these projects is inserted below,
students will be graded accordingly:

Family Tree
Project Level 0 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
5 family
members 0-1 family 1-2 family 2-4 family 5 family members
described members described members described members described described
Visual aids:
No visual aids. 1-2 visual aids 2-4 visual aids. 5 visual aids.

LEARNER VARIANCE
What are your students strengths, needs, and preferences? How will you differentiate for
readiness, interest, and/ or learning profile?

Lesson Plan Template- Differentiating Instruction

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 -First, I will differentiate for students strengths and preferences by allowing them to
choose the project they feel comfortable completing. I will push students who are close to
mastery to pick option A as it requires them to think more independently and to use high-level
presentational skills to communicate in Spanish. In contrast, for students still working to grasp
basic content I will encourage them to pick Option B, which allows them more time to improve
their language skills before developing a final draft. This option also allows students to avoid
presenting to their peers, which is an extremely intimidating task for some of my scholars.
Megan Freel 3/26/2017 4:21 PM
-Next, I used the home-based seating strategy to get my students up and moving. My
Comment [4]: In the future I should create
students have the free-will to sit wherever they choose everyday they walk into my classroom, standing groups so that I know which
however, Tomlinson suggests constantly moving scholars into different places and groups in students will be working on which task ahead
order to produce higher level thinking and work. I will have students move to work so that they of time. This will help to use class time more
effectively (Tomlinson 2010, pg. 107).
are next to students working on the same project as them. This will help them to ask each other
questions and create higher-level family trees (Tomlinson and Imbeau, 2010, pg. 104).

Johns Hopkins University School of Education

Lesson Plan Template- Differentiating Instruction

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 Preplanning
KEY POINTS
What three to five key points will you emphasize?

Preplanning

Key Points:

1. Using the verb Ser to describe family members physical descriptions and personality

types

2. Using the verb Tener to describe family members hair/eye type

3. Using possessive pronouns to describe important family members (i.e. mi, su, tu, and

nuestro)

4. Using presentation skills to communicate information about ones family to peers and

instructor.

Lesson Plan Template- Differentiating Instruction

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 Lesson Cycle
OPENING (5 min.) MATERIALS
How will you communicate what is about to happen?
How will you communicate how it will happen?
How will you communicate its importance?
How will you communicate connections to previous lessons?
How will you engage students and capture their interest?
-Students will begin by grabbing their passports and working on their Hacer Ahora activity
that reviews familial descriptions (first 5 minutes)

-Leading students will go up to the board and begin translating the sentences in front of their
peers.

-Intro activities will be checked off:

-To implement a Getting To Know You Activity, I chose to invite my students to eat lunch
inside my room. I told them they had to sign up for a specific day and bring at least one
question that they had about the material or me with them (Tomlinson Pg. 81). This was
extremely successful (although slightly exhausting for me) . The results are displayed below:
Day: Students: Question Student Student found Student
(3-5) asked: wants to lunch helpful input:
return? for Spanish?
(Y/N) (Y/N)

1. Why did 4=Yes 4=No Do this

Monday MW, TJ, you decide 1=No 1=Yes more!
11:30AM TS, MB, to teach?
AM
1. What do Can you
Tuesday TR, TT, you do on 4=Yes 2=No bring us
11:30 AM RH, JS your 2=Yes food next
weekends? time if we
are good?
INTRODUCTION OF NEW MATERIAL (5 min.) MATERIALS
What key points will you emphasize and reiterate?
How will you ensure that students actively take in information?
How will you vary your approach to make information accessible to all students?
Which potential misunderstandings will you anticipate?
Why will students be engaged/interested?

Lesson Plan Template- Differentiating Instruction

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-Students will discuss the 2 objectives of the day (creating a family tree and presenting it) Megan Freel 3/26/2017 3:31 PM
Comment [5]: During this section I could
-Teacher will ask students so what? why are we doing this? Does this actually matter? have used a longer wait time. Wait time is a
crucial part of the Questioning Cycle that
-Students will discuss the skills they have learned and how all of the things we have learned allows students to Process the question
how to do are culminated in this project. (Teach For America, pg. 115). The questioning
cycle is often something I struggle with
because I too quickly move without allowing
-To hook students, I will ask them to stop and jot about the 5 most influential/important family
students
members in their lives. They will journal for 3 minutes about why these people are valuable to
them (and later use them in their project descriptions).

Johns Hopkins University School of Education

Lesson Plan Template- Differentiating Instruction

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 Lesson Cycle
GUIDED PRACTICE (15 min.) MATERIALS
How will you clearly state and model behavioral expectations?
How will you ensure that all students have multiple opportunities to practice?
How will you scaffold practice exercises from easy to hard?
How will you monitor and correct student performance?
Why will students be engaged/interested?
-Before I give my example, I will explain the directions/expectations to students for their
projects: I will allow students a few moments to decide between Option A and Option B and
explain to them that we are all reaching for the same end goals. I will invest students by telling
them this is an opportunity for them to talk about the people most central in their lives. In
addition, I will encourage students to choose option A because presenting is an invaluable 21st
century skill.

--To engage students I will show them my personal family tree in order to give them an
exemplar of what they should model after, and to continue to build personal connections with
my scholars. I will specifically use sentences using ser and tener to describe my closest
family members:

1. Mi madre tiene pelo caf. Ella es simptica y baja.

2. Mi ta es loca y inteligente. Ella es polica. Ella tiene pelo caf y corto y ojos verdes.
3. Mi hermanita es mi amiga major. Ella tiene pelo largo y bonito. Ella tiene ojos cafs.

--I will explicitly explain the behavioral expectations:

-Students will work at a level 1 voice with their peers.
-Students conversation will be focused on the project at hand Megan Freel 3/26/2017 3:47 PM
-Students will be given one minute to quickly transition to their new seats Comment [6]: Next time, I need to more
-Students will be finished with their presentations/first drafts after 30 minutes of explicitly model what level 1 noise sounds like
work time. so that my students clearly understand this
-Students will quickly move to their groups expectation. I believe this would help my class
to more often use productive noise that is
- INDEPENDENT PRACTICE (20 min.) MATERIALS reminiscent of real collaboration (Tomlinson
How will you clearly state and model behavioral expectations? and Imbeau, 2010, pg. 121).
In what ways will students attempt to demonstrate independent mastery of the
objective?
How will you provide opportunities for extension?
Why will students be engaged/interested?

Lesson Plan Template- Differentiating Instruction

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-Students will have 30 minutes to work on their projects in their groups.

-Students working on option A will be collaborating with their peers and largely working
independently to practice for their presentations.

-Students working on option B will have more teacher aid. I will spend more time working
with these students 1-1 and planning a time for our conference.

-I will walk around the classroom during this time to provide an informal assessment that
measures how well students are grappling with their work. If students are struggling to
understand the projects, I will do a re-set with the entire class to answer questions and fill these
gaps in understanding.

-When there is 10 minutes left I will encourage students working on Option A to prepare their
visual and presentation.

-After work time expires students will move back to their home seating and I will ask the
class whether we have met our first objective (SWBAT create a family tree that describes
influential family members.)

-Students who chose Option A will begin their presentations. We will pause when
there is 3 minutes left in class and continue presentations on the following day.

Lesson Cycle
CLOSING (10 min.) MATERIALS
How will students summarize what they learned?
How will students be asked to state the significance of what they learned?
How will you provide all students with opportunities to demonstrate mastery of (or
progress toward) the objective?
Why will students be engaged/interested?

-To close, students will write 2 affirmation notes as an exit ticket before they leave
the classroom. These affirmations can be sent to any peers in the room who they
noticed during work time or presentations. These simple affirmations encourage a
positive class climate and student collaboration (Tomlinson, 2010).

Lesson Plan Template- Differentiating Instruction

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References

Media- Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2012). Differentiating instruction.
Baltimore, MD: Author.

Teach For America. (2011). Instructional planning & delivery. Retrieved from
http://www.teachingasleadership.org/sites/default/files/Related-
Readings/IPD_2011.pdf


Tomlinson, C. A., & Imbeau, M. B. (2010). Leading and managing a differentiated classroom.
Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Lesson Plan Template- Differentiating Instruction

Revised September 2016
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