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The focus group of learners that I have chosen for this differentiated series of lessons is a
group of six high achieving students. These students tend to learn new material faster than
their same age peers and are able to deal with concepts that are possibly too complex and
abstract for their same age peers. At the school, the inquiry topic was marine life, and I
noticed that these students were extremely interested in this topic as I saw them reading
books about marine life in their spare time, silent reading time, and during library visits.
They often discussed with each other about the topic and shared the new information they
were learning from the books. These students are kinaesthetic and tactile learners, I noticed
that this group would become uninterested and unmotivated during lessons that had a large
focus on observation, where they would observe the teacher doing something, rather than
being able to do it themselves. As the students are able to learn new material faster than
others, understand more complex ideas, and based on the student’s readiness, the students
need to have the opportunity to expand on their current knowledge. This group of high
achieving students often completed their work quickly and to a high standard, but they
were unable to take a lot of ownership for their learning as majority of the work was
scaffolded by their teachers as this was what other students needed.

The students in this group had an inquiry focus on marine life, therefore, I have added in
extra content in their science lesson to include an experiment on how fish sink and float in
the water. The learners are currently learning about various marine life in other curriculum
areas but were not learning about it in their science lessons. Tomlinson and Imbeau (2010)
state that high achieving students can often learn subjects and knowledge in a disconnected
way, but by letting them discover connections across other areas of their learning can be
exciting and challenging for them. By adding in the extra content about how fish float and
sink in the ocean, it will provide the students with a greater challenge. Rather than having a
science lesson just on whether objects float and sink, and the causes of this, making a
connection with their marine life inquiry they are already focusing on will enhance their
learning. In order for students to learn, the content of what they are learning needs to be
relevant to the students and connected to the world that they know and what they are
learning about (Tomlinson, 2014). Tomlinson (2014) also states that the information and
ideas that the students are learning will become more memorable and important to them
when the content is dynamic, intellectually intriguing, and personal. Students who are able
to understand and grapple with more abstract content and tasks, are often more satisfied
when they are given the opportunity to do so, therefore by adding in the more abstract
content about fish in the ocean that links with the original science lesson, the students are
more satisfied and eager to learn. These students also have a greater want and desire to
explore the topic in greater detail and needs the support and the chance to do so
(Tomlinson, 2005). Teachers are able to provide these advanced learners with access to
important information about what they are wanting their students to learn, and they can
provide this through a variety of materials and mechanisms for students to acquire this
knowledge and understanding (Tomlinson, 2014; Tomlinson & Allan, 2000).

I believe the change in process is justified because as these students are high achievers and
they are kinethestic and tactile learners, they tend to become uninterested when they are
just observing rather than being hands on. Tomlinson (2014) describes process as “activities
designed to ensure that students use key skills to make sense of, apply, and transfer
essential knowledge and understandings” (p. 18). By acknowledging the learning profiles of
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these students, providing them with a hands-on process will enhance their capacity to learn
as they prefer to be hands on rather than observe the teacher (Strickland, 2007). As a result
of this, these students are more likely to be more highly engaged and will be more readily
able to make sense of the concepts, apply the information and transfer this knowledge into
other aspects. If we want students to retain, understand, and use ideas, information, and
skills then we must give them ample opportunities to make sense of or “own” these ideas,
information, and skills through involvement in complex learning situations (Tomlinson,
2014). By completing the experiment on their own and as a group, they are engaging in a
complex learning situation where the teacher provides the students with clear expectations
and instruction about what is needed for the process, but the students are given the
opportunity to execute the task on their own (Tomlinson, 2018). Tomlinson and Allan (2000)
suggest that for high achieving learners, teachers are able to differ the amount of support
they provide. By decreasing the amount of teacher support, it can enable students to have a
greater opportunity to learn. Tomlinson (2014) also states that advanced learners often
need to be provided with processes that are more complex, open-ended, and abstract. The
process of allowing the students to execute the two experiments on their own as a group,
creates a more complex process for the students, and also gives them the opportunity to
make sense of and “own” the knowledge, skills, and understandings they gain from the
process.

Tomlinson (2014) states that products are “vehicles through which students demonstrate
and extend what they have learned” (p. 18). For high achieving students, the original
product of a graphic organiser was too simple and did not provide enough of a challenge for
the students to accurately show what they had learned. It also hindered the opportunity for
the students to extend on what they had learned. I believe that if the students were only
provided with the graphic organiser, they would quickly lose motivation and it would limit
the amount of knowledge and understanding that they would retain. With the removal of
the graphic organiser, the teacher support and scaffolding aspect is removed as well
because they are no longer provided with a framework or structure. This then will
encourage the students to think more creatively and critically for themselves, rather than
relying on others. To differentiate the product in response to student readiness, the degree
of difficultness of what product the students are supposed to produce can be adjusted. A
product that is suited to the student’s readiness, learning profile and interests can enable
students to rethink what they have learned, extend their understanding and skill, and
become involved in both critical and creative thinking (Tomlinson & Allan, 2000). Tomlinson
and Allan (2000) also suggest that another way to differentiate a product is to allow the
students to express what they have learned, and the understandings gained, is to provide
the students with the opportunity to present their learning in varied ways. Therefore, by
providing the students with a product where they have to create a project to show what
they have learned is more suited to these students and enables them to extend their
knowledge and understandings about what they have learned. By allowing learners the
freedom to choose what to work on, will allow the students to seek out questions that they
are highly motivated to pursue, therefore, the students are more likely to succeed and
retain the information.
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The learning environment is seen as a vital aspect to student success in a differentiated

classroom, the learning environment “has an impact on students’ affective needs and that
affect, in turn, plays a role in cognition and learning” (Tomlinson, 2014, p. 15). Instead of
students completing a graphic organiser independently, students are working in pairs to
create a project that demonstrates their learning. Flexible grouping is refered to by
Strickland (2007) as a classroom practice where students experience a range of
differentiation options and grouping configurations. Students are not always working in
groups, but may sometimes work as a whole class, alone, with a pair, or in small groups.
These flexible groups can be assigned based on readiness, interest, and their learning profile
and they can either be chosen by the teacher or chosen by the students themselves.
Through the practice of flexible grouping, these high achieving students are able to
experience various ways of working and view themselves and others in new perspectives,
find and discover new interests, and new ways of looking at their strengths and weaknesses.
Students learn differently and perform differently when placed in different circumstances,
and by adding in the aspect of flexible grouping by pairing up the students, they will be able
to discover a variety of new ideas, knowledge and ways of seeing things (Strickland, 2007;
Tomlinson, 2014).

The assessment in this series of lessons has been differentiated by changing the assessment
from correctly filling out a graphic organiser about the two science experiments to the
students’ peer assessing each other following the presentations of their projects and
receiving feedback from their teacher. Using a graphic organiser to assess the students’
knowledge they have gained from the lessons can be ineffective. This is because little to no
feedback is given to the students following completion, which results in the students not
receiving any valuable feedback as to what they have done well and what they can do to
improve. Hill (2016) states that assessment should result in feedback that will assist the
students to make progress in their learning. The feedback from the teacher should have a
strong focus on the learning intentions that were set for the task, and needs to provide
clear, specific information about how the learner is coping and how to adjust their
performance in order to progress further. Therefore, the teacher providing feedback for the
students upon completion of their project and their presentation, these students will have a
greater outlook on their achievements and what they can and need to do to progress
further in their learning. Through peer assessment, peers can help these students to review
their work and help them identify their strengths, learning needs as well as providing them
with some possible useful learning strategies. Peer assessment is not only valuable for the
students receiving the peer feedback, but it also valuable for those giving the feedback. This
is because they will be able to see the commonalities between their work and others, they
will be able to see what others struggled with and other strategies used that could be
applied to their own work (Wanner & Palmer, 2018).
The lessons have been adapted to support their level of readiness, interests and learning
profiles. Extra content has been added in to create more challenge for the students, as well
as pique their interests and make the content more relevant for them. As the students are
kinesthetic and tactile learners, the students have been allowed to be more hands on and
complete the experiments themselves rather than observe to enhance their motivation and
the amount of knowledge and skills they will retain. The product that the students will need
to produce has been differentiated to allow for a greater challenge and allow the students
to extend their knowledge and skills more instead of writing in a graphic organiser. The
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students have also moved from working independently to working in pairs to enhance their
learning environment. Working in pairs can be beneficial for students as they can begin to
see things from various perspectives and learn other ways of learning. Finally, the
assessment has been changed from just seeing whether the students have filled in a graphic
organiser correctly, to providing the students with effective feedback and feedforward from
the teacher and their peers. Overall, the series of lessons for this science unit has been
differentiated to better enhance the learning of a group of high achieving students.

References

Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research,
77(1), 81-112. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/4624888

Hill, M. (2016). Using classroom assessment for effective learning and teaching. In D. Fraser,
& M. Hill (Eds.), The professional practice of teaching in New Zealand (5th ed., pp.
154-179). South Melbourne, Australia: Cengage Learning

Moltzen, R. (2011). Qualitative differentiation for gifted and talented students. In R. Moltzen
(Ed.), Gifted and talented; New Zealand Perspectives (3rd ed., pp. 276-303).
Auckland, New Zealand: Pearson

Strickland, C. A. (2007). Tools for high-quality differentiated instruction. Alexandria, VA:

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

Tomlinson, C. A. (2005). Quality curriculum and instruction for highly able students. Theory
into Practice, 44(2), 160-166. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/3497034

Tomlinson, C. A. (2014). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all

learners (2nd ed.). Retrieved from
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/auckland/reader.action?docID=1709534&p
g=56&tm=1497994351969

Tomlinson, C. A. (2018). Complex instruction: A model for reaching up – and out. Gifted
Child Today, 44(1), 7-12. doi:10.1177/1076217517735355

Tomlinson, C. A., & Allan, S. D. (2000). Leadership for differentiating schools & classrooms.
Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

Tomlinson, C. A., & Imbeau, M. B. (2010). Leading and managing a differentiated classroom.
Retrieved from
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/auckland/detail.action?docID=624062#

Wanner, T., & Palmer, E. (2018). Formative self-and peer assessment for improved student
learning: The crucial factors of design, teacher participation and feedback.
Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 43(7), 1032-1047. doi: 10.1080/02602
938.2018.1427698