Guiding Questions for Articles



Guiding Questions for Articles

Tomlinson, Carol A., and Caroline C. Eidson. Differentiation in Practice. Alexandria, Virginia USA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2003.

Tomlinson refers to four elements that help students take charge of their own learning: trust, fit, voice, and awareness.

Building Trust

Students have to know that they are valued and respected for their knowledge. Trust is built when teachers listen with respect, support student success and allow student input into the classroom routines.

Ensuring Fit

Learning must fit the student. Nobody would expect a student to run a marathon wearing ill-fitting shoes. Mathematics classrooms can sometimes feel like a marathon to students. If teachers can find activities that fit them, they allow them to participate, too. Ensuring fit means setting tasks that are not beyond the “zone of proximal development” of students. (a concept developed by the Russian psychologist and social constructivist Lev Vygotsky (1896 – 1934))

Strengthening Voice

Empowerment promotes the engagement of students in their own learning. By soliciting student feedback and honouring their opinions and ideas, teachers nurture student voice in the classroom.

Developing Awareness

“Real learners understand how learning works.” (Tomlinson) Awareness of the criteria for success clarifies goals and allows students to plan and measure their own successes.

|Questions for participants: |

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|Select one of the four elements and discuss how effective teachers promote this element in a differentiated classroom. |

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|How would a grade 6 teacher use this element to foster communication and problem solving in the mathematics classroom? |

Pierce, Rebecca and Adams, Cheryll. Using Tiered Lessons in Mathematics. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School. October, 2005.

This article defines differentiation and develops a model for implementing differentiation in the classroom based on observations of successful teachers.

The Circle Map integrates four elements: classroom management, anchor activities, instructional strategies and assessment.

Questions for Participants:

Choose one of the four components of a circle map. Explain how this component is used to support a differentiated classroom.

How could you use the authors’ model to plan a tiered lesson? Using one of the examples of tiered lesson as well as your curriculum document or Math Makes Sense, plan a tiered lesson with your students in mind?

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