Differentiated Instruction

On Thursday I had the opportunity to attend a workshop about Differentiated Instruction.  I figured it couldn't hurt as I have an inclusive classroom and could use some more helpful hints on differentiating things for my students.  We had a wonderful presenter.  Her name was Terri Ward and she is a college professor at The College of St. Rose.  It is a coeducational college which means they offer inclusive courses!  She told us that in her current courses she has a wide range of student abilities.  She has students with physical disabilities such as CP and she has students with intellectual disabilities who read on a Kindergarten level.  It is very apparent that she has to differentiate her instruction in a variety of ways.  Instead of just telling us about these activities, she had us preform them, which is great for me, I learn best hands on!  There are a couple of activities that I plan to use in my room from now on. 

My favorite new thing I learned about was Layered Curriculum.  This is a wonderful idea that gets every student, no matter their ability, engaged and learning about the topic.  There are basically 3 different levels in the curriculum; the A layer, the B layer and the C layer.  Much like Bloom's Taxonomy, each level becomes more advanced.  So, at the A level you would have very concrete knowlegde based activities.  At the B level you would create activities at a higher level.  Lastly, on the C level you would have the most abstract, involved activities.  To give you more information and a sense of what this would look like on the Kindergarten level take a look at this example:  Shapes.  Dr. Kathie Nunley hosts a wonderful website, help4teachers, that hosts a variety of these ideas K-12.  I hope you are able to find some great ideas there!

How do you differentiate your instruction if you have to?  I'd love to hear some more great ideas!