5.

4b DI in Lesson Plans – Michelle Lau

Background
To this day, I still vividly remember one of the LA lessons my teacher has taught me early on in my childhood
when I was a new immigrant ELL student. I was just learning to recognize the letters of the alphabet, and only know a
handful of letter sounds. My class was diverse, with students ranging from ELL needs, various learning disabilities, to
those who were visually impaired and those my teacher would call, “Crazy monkeys who can’t sit still and will make me
want to retire before I am 45.”

All of us sat in single rows facing the same direction and none of us were allowed to speak to one another. I
remembered learning the “-AT” word family. There was no classroom discussion or collaboration. It was simply my
teacher writing out different “AT” words on the board and us robotically repeating each word 3 times. There was no
worksheet or follow up activity. That, sadly, was the entire lesson. Needless to say I got absolutely nothing out of that
lesson other than perfecting moving my mouth without a sound.

Differentiated Instruction (DI) Changes

1. I would go over the general concept as a whole class

a. What letter sounds do you hear when I say AT

b. What sound does AT make together
c. What words you do know that makes the AT sound (Ex: cat)
d. Draw out pictures next to each word (especially helpful for ELL students)

2. After whole class instruction, I would separate students into 3 different groups based on academic levels
a. Tiger group – meeting all academic goals and needs extra challenge
b. Jaguar group – meeting most academic goals and needs practice to reinforce what was just learned in
class
c. Lion group – struggles with keeping up with academic goals, and may need materials
adapted/modified

3. Each group will rotate through 3 different stations, spending 20 mins at each station.

Station 1 – Independent + Technology

a. At this station, students work independently and use technology to access content
b. Focus at this station is on visual and auditory learning (ex: reading/listening to books related to “–AT”)

c. Students watch a video and carefully observe pictures at their own pace. Technology benefits
everyone, especially students with exceptionalities, because it ensures that they can access the same
curriculum as their other peers.
d. Students can enlarge pictures or text, as well as pause, replay, or slow down the audio as needed
(something that all students, especially ELL students can use!)
e. At the end of the book/video, students fill out e-forms that are varied to suit the readability level of
each group. As such, students who are ready to extend their thinking are given more difficult books
and questions, while other groups are focusing on key vocabulary and pictures.
f. Early finishers can play Teach Your Monster to Read
i. It is a free online program that focuses on early literacy skills like phonics and decoding. The
program is great because each student can have their own account, so the books and games
in there are tailored to meet the individual student’s reading level.
ii. https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/
Station 2 – Hands-on Activities
a. At the 2nd station, students focus on kinesthetic and tactile modalities.
b. The activities are hands-on and manipulatives are used to help students form a stronger connection
to the content.
a. Cutting and sorting out words that are in the AT word family

c. Students are also writing down words and sentences, which can help with transferring concepts to
long-term memory (ex: rainbow writing)

d. At this station, all the wiggly-worms of your class have a chance to exert some of that bundled up
energy
e. Early finishers can build AT words using their bodies

Station 3 – Small Group

a. At the 3rd station, the focus is on interpersonal learning
b. With the teacher being the mediator, students have a chance to discuss what they have learned with
their peers as well as ask any questions they may have.

c. If a student was struggling at other stations, this teacher station provides a chance for them to ask
questions and pick up content from their peers via social interactions.
d. TIP: teachers may want to consider putting their “weaker” group at this station first to ensure they
understand the goals of the lesson
Conclusion
Differentiated instruction is implemented since all 4 DI elements are met:

4 Elements of Differentiated Instruction
1. Content
- What students need to learn and how
they will access the materials
2. Process
- activities the student engages in to
learn the content
3. Product
- how the students will demonstrate
their understanding of the materials
4. Learning Environment
- the way the classroom works and feels
How the New Lesson Plan Includes the Element
- uses reading materials at varying readability levels
- text materials is on iPads/laptops for more accessibility
- uses reading materials at the readiness of students
- presents ideas using visual and auditory modalities
- has different stations that targets different learning styles
(visual, auditory, kinesthetic/tactile, interpersonal)
- uses tired activities so that all students can learn the
same content but at different levels of support,
challenge, and complexity
- different stations allow students to experiment with
demonstrating their understanding through various
means (ex: talking to their peers and teacher, cut and
pasting a worksheet, reading to a buddy, forming a word
with their bodies, filling in an e-form)
- students feel safe and excited to learn because they know
there will be at least 1 station they like
- group names are neutral and does not single out
stigmatize anybody who may be struggling
- stations include both quiet, loud/talking, and moving
activities

References

Alphabet in Kids [Online image]. (2021). Dreamstime. https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos-alphabets-kids-

activities-image25541243

A. Tomlinson, C. (2020). What is Differentiated Instruction? Retrieved from Reading Rockets: Launching young readrs!:
https://www.readingrockets.org/article/what-differentiated-instruction

Rainbow Writing [Online image]. (2011). Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/287245282456644207/

Small Group [Online image]. (2016). Blended Learning Strategy: Small Groups and Stations.
https://www.gettingsmart.com/2016/06/blended-learning-strategy-small-groups-and-stations/

The AT Books [Online image.] (2020) Barclay House Publishing.

https://barclayhousepublishing.com/shop/ols/products/the-at-books

Whole Class [Online image]. (2016). The Heart of Literacy, Part 3: Whole Class Reading Instruction.
https://www.booksourcebanter.com/2016/04/15/heart-literacy-whole-class-reading-instruction/

Word Families AT or AP [Online image]. (2020). Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/106467978667461114/

Usborne Foundation . (2020). Teach Your Monster to Read. Retrieved from Teach Your Monster to Read:
https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/