Examples of ways to differentiate instruction

TeachersFirst's Thinking Teachers who write our resource reviews often have suggestions that have worked in their classrooms. Open the reviews to the "more" view to see ideas for using specific resources as tools to differentiate for a variety of learners. Alternatively, use the keyword search tool at the left of this page to search for a curriculum topic and the term "differentiate." For example, search fractions differentiate (with "all the words" selected for the search).
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LibreTexts - LibreTexts
Grades
10 to 12In the Classroom
LibreTexts is a bonanza for AP and teachers of gifted students. Take advantage of the free texts, course outlines, and homework resources to differentiate instruction and provide lessons for advanced students. Choose resources from LibreTexts for use in any classroom to supplement current materials. As part of career-planning activities, ask students to browse through topics that interest them. Encourage students to collaborate with others with similar career interests, both in the classroom and globally. Extend learning by suggesting that students participate in Ted-Ed Clubs, reviewed here. These Clubs allow participants to share in global meetings with peers that have a common interest. As students learn more about their chosen field, encourage them to interact with members of your community to ask questions and perhaps job shadow as a way to understand the career through personal experience. If using course materials and textbooks found on LibreTexts, this is the perfect opportunity for students to ask clarifying questions from their mentor. Enhance learning by making students the experts. Ask them to present their career findings using a multimedia tool like Sway, reviewed here, to share the information learned with peers.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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FluentKey - Fluentkey, LLC
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Use FluentKey to easily differentiate world language lessons for students and allow them to progress at their own speed. Help ENL/ESL students master English using videos and quizzes based on their knowledge level. This is also an excellent tool to provide language learning experiences based on student interests. Even if the language isn't included with the videos on the site, find and upload videos for student use and add quizzes along with additional content. As students become proficient in a new language, encourage them to share their knowledge using a variety of multimedia tools. Annotate images using Google Drawings, reviewed here, create an audio recording of conversations, or use PhotoCollage, reviewed here, to create the collage. As students become more proficient in their new language, ask them to record short podcasts with a podcast creation tool like Podcast Generator, reviewed here, and share tips and advice with their fellow students.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Classkick - Andrew Rowland and Peter Do
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Use Classkick in class, for blended learning or remote learning since you can see all students working from anywhere. Use Classkick to differentiate instruction based on students' current performance. Many students are motivated to learn at their own pace using online tools, and Classkick is an option providing lessons in a different format than currently available. If not using Classkick whole - class, it provides many options for helping and enhancing learning for individual students, use for homework, or as a temporary option for providing instruction to home-bound or remote learning students . As students learn through this type of management system, ask them to use a portfolio tool such as Majara, reviewed here, to document and reflect upon their learning process.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Construct3 - Construct.net
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Include Construct3 with your other options for teaching coding to students. Take advantage of the included levels to differentiate learning based on knowledge of coding. If you are uncomfortable with coding, enlist students to become technology coaches in your classroom to teach and share their knowledge with others. Use and share Google Forms to create how-to guides for students to get started including images with tips and suggestions. Ask "in-the-know" students to enhance their learning and create one-page websites using Jimdo, reviewed here, sharing advice for individual games included in Construct3. As students become familiar with coding, have them use FlexClip, reviewed here, to extend their learning by creating simple explainer videos detailing how to build and share personalized games.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Write and Improve - Cambridge English
Grades
5 to 12In the Classroom
Feedback on this site is based on the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) scale, learn more about it here. Include this site with your other resources for practicing and teaching writing as you challenge students to improve feedback scores. Take advantage of the different levels to differentiate practice for all students. Ask students to analyze their writing before hitting the feedback button as a self-reflection tool. As students improve writing, use a digital portfolio tool like Seesaw, reviewed here, and upload all revisions. Also, use Seesaw for students to share their thoughts on their writing and individual progress.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Periodic Videos - Periodic Videos and The University of Nottingham
Grades
7 to 12In the Classroom
Include this resource with your other materials for teaching about the periodic table and chemical elements. Customize any of the lessons within TED-ED to meet your lesson objectives. Register for a free account, then follow the steps to duplicate and edit the lesson to meet your needs and share with students. Be sure to share this site with students to use as part of their review and learning activities. Share all of your bookmarked sites with students using a bookmarking tool like Raindrop.io, reviewed here. Raindrop.io includes tools for collaborating and sharing online resources and provides the ability for you or your students to add notes and comments to shared resources. Include this site and others to provide differentiated learning activities for your students using Symbaloo Learning Paths, reviewed here. In addition to web resources like Periodic Videos, Symbaloo Learning Paths provides options for including quizzes, uploading documents, and more to create an entire unit in one place. Instead of a final assessment using a paper and pencil quiz, ask students to modify their learning by creating explainer videos about elements using Clipchamp, reviewed here. If you are unsure about how to assess multimedia projects, find many ideas for implementing rubrics for assessment along with examples and online tools at TeachersFirst Rubrics to the Rescue reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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History Tech - Glenn Wiebe
Grades
7 to 12In the Classroom
Bookmark this site to reference throughout the school year. Use the keyword search option to find ideas for specific units or technology tools to use. Use a bookmarking tool like Wakelet, reviewed here, to collect and share information from this blog along with your other resources. As you gather lesson ideas and create your unit, use Symbaloo Learning Paths, reviewed here, to create differentiated lesson activities for your students.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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CanFigureIt Geometry - CanFigureIt LLC
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Include this site with your other tools for teaching and practicing geography concepts. Be sure to share with students on your webpage or blog for easy access at any time. Apply for the Proof Ninja Educator Program to take advantage of the additional features for monitoring student work. Introduce this site to your students on your interactive whiteboard as you work together to learn geometry concepts. Ask students to show proofs and justifications using the program and take a screenshot of their work. Ask students to include their screenshot within a Google document and share their problem-solving process. This site is an excellent way to differentiate learning for different levels of student understanding. Encourage students to create explainer videos using Clipchamp, reviewed here, to modify their learning and to share their understanding with their fellow students. Include those videos on your website for all students to review and access.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Open Middle - N Johnson, R Kaplinsky, B Anderson, D Luevanos, and Z Miller
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Bookmark this site to find math problems correlating to your teaching standards or content. This site is perfect for finding materials to differentiate instruction with different student ability levels. Have students share their results and discuss their problem-solving process on your interactive whiteboard. Take screenshots of the different solutions and include on your class website. Another option is to take a picture of student's written solutions, then use Voxer, reviewed here, to extend student learning by having them add an audio recording describing their mathematical thinking. Share their Voxer to your student's digital portfolio on Seesaw, reviewed here, or another portfolio creation site. As students become more proficient in sharing their mathematical thinking and problem-solving activities, consider using their math talks as part of an ongoing podcast using Buzzsprout, reviewed here, as a way to extend student learning and promote math conversations and help students understand that there may be many different ways to arrive at the right answer to a problem. Buzzsprout features free and easy to use tools including the ability to create and schedule podcasts to be released on any date and time you desire.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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ReadingIQ - Age of Learning
Grades
K to 6In the Classroom
Take advantage of this free reading program to differentiate reading materials for your students both by ability and interests. Set up your program then share learning goals with your students and parents. Engage students use by using the free interactives and printables from ReadWriteThink, reviewed here, and have students create story maps, book covers, and much more as part of their retelling and summarizing activities. Create shared class activities using a video response tool like Gravity, reviewed here, to enhance student learning by asking students to share short book talks about their favorite books read on the site. Take learning even further by creating ongoing podcasts discussing favorite books and characters using Buzzsprout, reviewed here. Buzzsprout makes it easy to create and share podcasts by offering scheduling options to meet your needs.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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oodlu - Wayne Holmes and Douglas Lapsley
Grades
2 to 12In the Classroom
Use oodlu to differentiate learning in your classroom. Assign questions sets to different groups of learners according to their specific needs. Be sure to show students how to log in and access questions (if your class is remote learning, show students the log in, etc. by using a video conference room such as Zoom, reviewed here, and then include a link to the site on your class webpage for students to play at home. At the end of your unit, enhance learning and augment technology use by asking students to plan a multimedia presentation using a tool like Milanote, reviewed here, where you can turn your notes into a storyboard for this project! Extend learning and modify technology use by having students use the Storyboard to create a multimedia presentation with a tool like Sway, reviewed here, to share their learning. Have students include text, images, videos, and a link to oodlu learning games in the Sway.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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SummarizeThis - Iris Reading
Grades
5 to 12In the Classroom
Introduce SummarizeThis to students working on research projects as a way to quickly determine the content and viability of using websites. Use to differentiate instruction with students. Use with learning support students as a resource to make content more accessible. Use the summaries when teaching how to summarize in an ELA class. Compare the summary you create as a class or in small groups with the "automated" one. Are there subtleties or important distinctions that this tool misses? As a challenge for your more critical thinkers, have them try to figure out what signals the tool uses to create its summary.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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MySciLife - TeachersFirst
Grades
6 to 9In the Classroom
Join MySciLife to bring excitement and energy to your science classroom. As you complete activities in the platform, use a concept mapping site like MindMup, reviewed here, to replace paper/pencil version of a concept map. Alter students' learning by asking them to create and share infographics based on their research and sharing of ideas. Canva, reviewed here, is an easy to use site for creating infographics using pre-made templates or from scratch. Take student learning to a whole new level by redefining it and having them create a game-based learning activity for their peers using Symbaloo Learning Paths, reviewed here. Symbaloo Learning Paths offers many options for creating differentiated learning using video, quizzes, and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Open Up Resources Math Curriculum - Open Up Resources
Grades
6 to 8In the Classroom
Include this site to supplement your current grade 6-8 math curriculum. Use the resources to differentiate instruction for gifted students in lower grades or as remediation for struggling students in older grades. Be sure to take advantage of the family materials providing explanations of math content and strategies for problem-solving. Use the student materials for differentiating instruction or as homework. Have students share their math explanations and strategies with video explanations using a tool like Flip, reviewed here. Flip provides a tool for video responses to a question along with comments from peers. Take student learning a step further and ask them to create and share their own math problems along with suggestions for learning. Use a tool like Sway, reviewed here. Sway is a presentation tool that offers multimedia options including text, video, and images.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Moonshot Learning - Moonshot Learning
Grades
9 to 12In the Classroom
Use Moonshot Learning activities across the curriculum and to differentiate instruction based on student interest. Many of these activities are perfect for extension activities and for use with Gifted students. After completing activities found on this site have students create a multimedia presentation using Genial.ly, reviewed here. Genial.ly allows you to add polls, audio, videos, embeds, web links, PowerPoint, PDfs, and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Twitter Chat: Differentiating Instruction: Practical Ideas for Teachers - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
View this chat to learn more about differentiation and tools to help you engage and differentiate for the various levels and interests in your class.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Data Analysis and Probability Resources - Grades 3-5 - TeachersFirst
Grades
3 to 5In the Classroom
Share the resources with students for additional practice, remediation, enrichment, or advancement. Display resources on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use these tools in your BYOD classroom to differentiate for math class.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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OneHistory - Hilary Mac Austin and Kathleen Thompson
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Bookmark OneHistory as a resource for primary sources when teaching American History and as an excellent tool for finding information featuring diversity throughout the years. Have students create a multimedia presentation using Google Drawings, reviewed here. Google Drawings allows you to annotate an image with links to videos, text, websites, and more. Not familiar with Google Drawings? Watch an archived OK2Ask session to learn how to use: OK2Ask Google Drawings, here. Challenge students to find a photo (legally permitted to be reproduced), and then narrate the photo as if it is a news report. Take advantage of the high interest, low readability level stories on the site to differentiate for the variety of reading levels in your classroom and to include informational (nonfiction) reading standards.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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TeachersFirst's Math Resources for Algebra - Grade 6-8 - TeachersFirst
Grades
6 to 8In the Classroom
Introduce these resources on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Share the resources on your class website for students to use for remediation or review. Share tools on your interactive whiteboard or in your BYOD classroom. Use these sites to differentiate for students in pre-algebra and algebra.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Math Resources for Algebra - Grades 9-12 - TeachersFirst
Grades
8 to 12In the Classroom
Share these resources on your class website for students to use for remediation or review. Share tools on your interactive whiteboard or in your BYOD classroom. Use these sites to differentiate.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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