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Good morning everyone, I am currently in the MAT program seeking elementary certification. The only experience I have had in a classroom is through my observation hours, so you can imagine all the questions I have daily. I have been in the program for about a year and a half and I am nearing the end. Throughout my courses, it seems that I have struggled with differentiation the most. I understand the concept and the importance behind it, but I struggle with creating unique ways to differentiate material. Since we have began this Science course I have been thinking about ways to differentiate Science experiments. I want to ensure that I will engage each of my future students in the most creative ways possible. So for my fellow experienced teachers I pose the following question. 1. What are some unique ways to differentiate material, Science experiments in particular?

Hi Megan - congratulations on being this close! I understand why you are anxious about differentiation - it can be a daunting prospect! Until you know who your students are, it is hard to know how to differentiate your instruction. A typical class will contain some students who are above grade level, some who are below and most who are on level. Your group could include inclusion students and ELLs. No one is able to make that many different plans! What most of us do is to create a basic plan first, for the on-levels. Now think of those who are above level and tweek the plan to make it not harder, but in more depth. For belows and ELLs, I try not to think of making something easier, but to give them a challenge they are able to complete. Hope this helps. Good luck!

Hi Megan,
Sheila made some great suggestions. There is an article that may be of help as well:
Teaching by Tiering . It contains some great ideas for structuring a lesson at multiple levels so that each student has an opportunity to work at a moderately challenging and developmentally appropriate level of ability.
I am hoping that others will share how they differentiate instruction for science investigations in the elementary classroom.
Thanks,
Carolyn

Hi Megan, This is something I encountered quite a bit when I taught 6th grade. Differentiation is something that I still feel I don't do as well as I would like. However, there were some things that seemed to work in regards to meeting the variety of needs in my classroom. 1. Provide options. We did an inquiry activity where we researched the ecosystem around our school. We began with simply identifying biotic and abiotic factors. Eventually, students were to create a food web that showed how the energy moved among organisms and then share how the abiotic factors affected the relationships (if at all). For my lower level students, their food web consisted of a couple food chains. The more advanced the student, the more complex their food web and description(s) would be. It seemed to work pretty well. 2. Assign roles to students for activities. This helped involve each student in the experiment. Each student had a "job" and then had to share how their "job" contributed to the success of the experiment. 3. Have a variety of reading material available. When covering Space, I made sure that there were books on a variety of reading levels for students to access. This way, when we did more group-oriented activities (such as experiments), each student came with helpful background information. This also helped to fuel questions from students and lead to meaningful discussions. 4. Science journals. When done well, journals can be an AWESOME tool for differentiation. You can conference with students throughout the semester to set goals and expectations in regards to what should be included in their journals. Our journals stayed pretty personal, unless students wanted to share their entries with the class. Great safe space to share ideas in their own way (multiple representations!). Those are just a few ways I worked to help differentiate in my classroom. Hope that helps! Tamara