Do you work with students with a wide variety of skill levels? Do you spend hours upon hours lesson planning for them, but the constant differentiation is taking a toll? I work with nine middle school students whose skill levels range from a 10-month equivalent to a third-grade equivalent. The constant differentiation was taking a toll on me. After four years serving these students, I have found a system that works for my class and me. Read on to find out how I differentiate for a wide variety of skill levels.
1: Know Your Students
In order to appropriately differentiate for a wide variety of skill levels on your caseload, it is imperial that you know your students’ skill sets. This information can be found in your students’ Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). Of course, as you get more familiarized with your students, you will know their skills levels like the back of your hand!
2: Group Students by Skill Levels
In order to limit time spent on lesson planning, I try to group students by they skill levels. This does not mean the students are stuck to one group; rather, this should help you pinpoint what to focus on with each of your students as they are in diverse groups. I always try to stick with around 3 groups. This way, I can give each level adequate planning time.
3: Determine End Goal
Now that you have divided your students’ skill levels into manageable groups, it is time to employ backwards planning. Backwards planning is when you “start with the end” – start by identifying your target Common Core State Standards and then build your instructional activities with that end goal in mind. Factors affecting your end goal could be district curriculum, holidays, and special events.
4: Perform Task Analysis for Targeted Skill
After identifying the target Common Core State Standard, I like to perform a task analysis for the targeted skill. This allows me to pinpoint exactly where my students’ skill levels are, so that I can support them where they need me to. By performing a task analysis and plotting students’ skills against the analysis, I can provide individualized instruction to each and every one of my students.
5: Develop Your Lessons
Now that we have identified what to work with, it is time to develop evidence-based lessons. In my classroom, I like to start with discrete trial training with my students. Once they reach a certain level of mastery, we move on to application of the skills.
Example
Let’s see these tips in action! I employed the exact same methodology as I taught the Health Education unit to my Moderate/Severe Special Day Class.
1: Know Your Students – I reviewed my students’ IEP goals
2: Group Students by Skill Levels – I divided my students into 3 groups based on their skill levels.
3: Determine End Goal – I identified the following Next Generation Science Standard: 1-LS1-1: Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs.
4: Perform Task Analysis – I performed a task analysis of the standard to determine where each of my group should begin.
5: Develop Lessons – I developed three sets of lessons. One set focused on body parts identification; another set focused on body parts functions; the final set focused on body systems.
There you have it! I hope these tips and tricks were helpful. If you have any other tips and tricks, please leave them in the comment to help another fellow teacher out! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out in the comments below!
