An ASCD Study Guide for Differentiation in the Elementary Grades

Although you can think about many of this guide's questions on your own, we recommend forming a study group with grade-level colleagues who have read (or are reading) Differentiation in the Elementary Grades, or using this guide as you read and reflect on the book in a professional learning community (PLC).

Introduction: Differentiation Gets an Upgrade

1. The book begins with a description of diversity in today's schools. What does diversity look like in your classroom? How have you or your school "handled" that diversity? How successful have these approaches been?
2. Examine the table (Figure I.1) on page 2. Which ideas represent commonly held beliefs about differentiation among various stakeholders (teachers, administrators, parents, and students) in your school? Where might these beliefs come from? What other ideas would you add to the table?
3. On pages 3–4 the authors identify five practices that impede true differentiation. How common are these in your school? For you? Which ones are the most challenging to upgrade?
4. Each chapter in this book is framed with a question. Use these questions as reflection or discussion prompts, focusing first on your own beliefs and practices.
5. What are your hopes for the content and ideas in this book? What do you want to better know, understand, and be able to do as a result of reading it?

Chapter 1. Building a Healthy Classroom Community

1. Consider the bullet points on pages 10–11. Which of these practices do you already embrace? In which of these practices might you be able to take a "next step"?
2. On page 11, the authors assert, "Cultivating relationships is not an August-to-September 'event'; rather, it is a process that continues until the last day of school." Which instructional routines or strategies do you already use that build a sense of family throughout the year? Why do you believe they are effective?
3. Think about your students, past and present. Is there one who stands out as displaying a growth mindset? A fixed mindset? Why? Hypothesize about the factors that may have contributed to these students' beliefs about themselves and their potential.
4. The authors present the definition and potential advantages of flexible grouping on pages 12–13. Assess your own grouping practices in light of this discussion. Which kinds of groupings do you most often rely on? Which kinds of grouping might you try more frequently?
5. Review the "Community-Building Upgrade" at the end of Part 1. What does this scenario reveal or show? What are the implications or take-aways for your own practice?
6. Examine the strategies for building family ties (pp. 18–28) and fostering a growth mindset and introducing differentiation (pp. 29–37) in Part 2 of this chapter. Which strategies might you adopt or adapt? Confer with your colleagues to avoid overlap.

Chapter 2. Articulating Learning Goals

1. Revisit the first sections of this chapter. How do you think about what you teach? What guides your decisions about what to teach? What are some steps that you take—or can take—to make sure that your curricular planning stays on course?
2. This chapter highlights the power of using concepts to frame, focus, and prioritize curriculum. Use the prompt "[topic/focus/text], a study in [concept]" with your own curriculum. Which concepts seem particularly fitting? What effect does this have on your thinking about what you teach? How might an emphasis on concepts influence how your students engage with and learn the content?
3. The authors compare learning to building a brick house, with students needing mortar (understanding goals), bricks (knowledge goals), and tools/processes (skill goals). Which of these kinds of goals do you tend to emphasize in your planning and teaching? How might incorporating all three kinds of goals change both what you think and do and how students learn?
4. How is the quality of learning goals connected to differentiation? Why do learning goals matter for differentiation? What role do they play?
5. Review the "Learning Goals Upgrade" at the end of Part 1. What does this scenario reveal or show? What are the implications or take-aways for your own practice?
6. After reviewing the examples of learning goals in both Part 1 and Part 2 of this chapter, draft your own set for a lesson or unit. Use the Checklist for High-Quality Learning Goals (pp. 58–59) for additional guidance or to offer feedback on a colleague's draft.

Chapter 3. Constructing Useful Pre-Assessments

1. This chapter explains the purpose and benefits of pre-assessment. How well do these ideas fit with your own understanding of and experiences with pre-assessment?
2. After reading "Frequently Asked Questions About Pre-Assessment" on pages 77–81, which questions do you believe best address your own or other teachers' concerns?
3. Examine the examples of pre-assessments on pages 90–101. Are these similar to or different from other pre-assessments you have used or seen? How so? Which examples (or parts of examples) seem most applicable to your own curriculum?
4. Review the "Pre-Assessment Upgrade" at the end of Part 1. What does this scenario reveal or show? What are the implications or take-aways for your own practice?
5. Use the planning template on page 87 to design your own pre-assessment for an upcoming unit or set of lessons. Administer it to one class and reflect on the results. How effective were your prompts at eliciting useful information? What do the patterns in students' responses suggest you do (or not do)?

Chapter 4. Providing Interactive Learning Experiences

1. The authors suggest using essential questions to increase student engagement by fostering relevant connections. Study the examples and frames in Figures 4.1 and 4.2 on page 107. Which essential questions could you use "as is" from Figure 4.1? Which frames from Figure 4.2 seem most helpful for helping you create your own essential questions?
2. Which of the challenges to incorporating interactive learning described on pages 109–115 resonates most strongly with you? Which strategies seem most promising for overcoming that challenge?
3. What is the difference between lessons that are interactive and lessons that are differentiated? What is the connection between interactivity and differentiation?
4. Review the "Lesson Plan Upgrade" at the end of Part 1. What does this scenario reveal or show? What are the implications or take-aways for your own practice?
5. Find and examine the strategies you identified in response to question 2 (above) in Part 2 of this chapter. How might you adopt or adapt those strategies? Confer with your colleagues who examined different strategies to glean additional ideas.
6. Survey the Questioning Frameworks on pages 161–168. How might one or more of these frameworks work in concert with the strategies you discussed in question 5?

Chapter 5. Checking for Understanding Using Formative Assessment

1. How do you typically gauge the success or effectiveness of a lesson? Given the authors' definition of formative assessment on page 171—as well as their discussion of practices frequently confused with formative assessment on page 172—what practices do you (or other teachers) sometimes mistake as formative assessment?
2. On page 173 the authors assert that formative assessment should be used at pivotal points of the lesson. To determine pivotal points, teachers can ask themselves, "What must students really 'get' before they can move forward in their learning? What misconceptions could prevent future learning from taking hold? Which skills must students demonstrate if they are to build on those skills with further steps?" Think of a lesson or unit you will teach this year and identify the pivotal points where you plan to check student learning through formative assessment.
3. Read "Is Formative Assessment Really Worth It? and Other Questions and Concerns" on pages 177–180. Which questions best speak to your or other teachers' concerns? How would you expand on the answers provided? What other questions does this Q&A raise? If you are discussing this book with colleagues, use the ideas in the Q&A to role-play and problem-solve around an imagined conversation on formative assessment.
4. Review the "Formative Assessment Upgrade" at the end of Part 1. What does this scenario reveal or show? What are the implications or take-aways for your own practice?
5. Examine the strategies for formative assessment as well as the formative assessment prompts in Part 2 of this chapter. Which examples might you adopt or adapt? Confer with your colleagues to brainstorm additional ideas.

Chapter 6. Differentiating According to Student Readiness

1. The authors distinguish readiness from ability. How do they define each term? Do these distinctions matter? Why or why not? What connections can you see between such distinctions and the ideas about mindset in Chapter 1?
2. Describe the relationship between student readiness and formative assessment, as well as between formative assessment and differentiating for student readiness.
3. Review the procedure for seeing and addressing patterns in readiness as revealed by formative assessment on page 206. Using this process to analyze formative assessment results. What patterns can you discern? What might you do to address the patterns you've discovered? The answer may arise easily from surveying formative assessment results. If not, decide which strategies from this chapter might help you address those patterns.
4. The authors assert, "Respectful tasks are the insurance policy of differentiation." Use the criteria for respectfully differentiated tasks outlined on page 214 to evaluate and adjust a set of readiness-based tasks. If you are reading this book with colleagues, ask them to engage in this process with your tasks as well. Discuss areas of overlap and divergence in your evaluations.
5. Review the frequently asked questions about readiness differentiation on pages 216–220. Which questions best speak to your or other teachers' concerns? How would you expand on the answers provided? What other questions do these FAQs raise? If you are discussing this book with colleagues, use the ideas in the FAQs to role-play and problem-solve around an imagined conversation on readiness differentiation.
6. Review the "Readiness Differentiation Upgrade" at the end of Part 1. What does this scenario reveal or show? What are the implications or take-aways for your own practice?
7. Examine the strategies for delivering readiness differentiation in Part 2 of this chapter. Which examples might you adopt or adapt? Confer with your colleagues to brainstorm additional ideas.

Chapter 7. Differentiating According to Student Interest and Learning Preference

1. On page 253 the authors assert, "Fun is merely 'fluff' if it doesn't cause students to grow in their understanding, knowledge, and skills." Consider the activities you use that students find fun. Is that enjoyment funneled toward important learning goals? If not, how might you tweak those activities to make sure students emerge with important understanding, knowledge, and skills?
2. Study the suggested strategies for activating personal interests and situational interests on pages 254–257. Which of the suggestions might you adopt or adapt to infuse more student interest into your lessons?
3. There are three "higher-prep" interest strategies highlighted in this chapter: RAFT, Learning Menus, and Choice Boards.
   

   * With which of these strategies are you already familiar? What new layers do the overviews, templates, and examples add to your previous understanding?

   
   

   * Which of these strategies are new or most intriguing to you? Examine the overviews, templates, and examples for ideas about how you might use these techniques in your instruction. Target specific units, lessons, or routines for which these strategies might be a good fit.

4. What do you think about the authors' encouragement to regard learning preferences as yet another way to provide choices to activate situational interest? How does this mesh with your own notion of learning profile?
5. There are two "higher-prep" learning-preference strategies highlighted in this chapter: TriMind and Entry Points.
   

   * With which of these strategies are you already familiar? What new layers do the overviews, templates, and examples add to your previous understanding?

   
   

   * Which of these strategies are new or most intriguing to you? Examine the overviews, templates, and examples for ideas about how you might use these techniques in your instruction. Target specific units, lessons, or routines for which these strategies might be a good fit.

6. Review the frequently asked questions about designing tasks differentiated according to student interest and learning preference on pages 263–265. Which questions best speak to your or other teachers' concerns? How would you expand on the answers provided? What other questions do these FAQs raise? If you are discussing this book with colleagues, use the ideas in the FAQs to role-play and problem-solve around an imagined conversation on differentiating according to student interest or learning preference.
7. Review the "Preference-Based Differentiation Upgrade" at the end of Part 1. What does this scenario reveal or show? What are the implications or take-aways for your own practice?
8. Use the overviews, templates, and examples in this chapter to design or upgrade a task differentiated according to interest or learning preference. Make sure all of the task options could be evaluated using the same rubric or checklist (see examples on pages 306 and 307).

Chapter 8. Considering the Nuts and Bolts of Implementing Differentiation

1. Which of the management "roadblocks" resonated most with your experience as a teacher? Which strategies seem most promising for circumventing those barriers?
2. What connections do you see among the management suggestions offered in this chapter and the ideas and strategies presented in the rest of the book? In what ways are instruction and management interdependent?
3. Which of the figures in Part 1 of this chapter seem the most promising? How might you adopt or adapt them for use in your classroom?
4. Review the "Management Upgrade" at the end of Part 1. What does this scenario reveal or show? What are the implications or take-aways for your own practice?
5. Examine the additional management strategies in Part 2 of this chapter. Which examples might you adopt or adapt? Confer with your colleagues to brainstorm additional ideas.

Conclusion: How Can I Continue to Upgrade?

1. After considering the way this book has discussed differentiation, what do you think? Do most teachers already differentiate? Do you?
2. How can you further upgrade your efforts to differentiate? What might you stop doing? Start doing?
3. Which of the "perpetual beta" practices represented by the "Before Upgrade" and "After Upgrade" scenarios in this book (recapped on pages 336–337) represent things that you do—or would like to do—as you grow in your own skills with differentiation?

Differentiation in the Elementary Grades: Strategies to Engage and Equip All Learners was written by Kristina J. Doubet and Jessica A. Hockett. This 350-page, 8.5" x 11" book (Stock #117014; ISBN-13: 978-1-4166-2454-7) is available from ASCD for $31.96 (ASCD member) or $39.95 (nonmember). Copyright © 2018 by ASCD. To order a copy, call ASCD at 1-800-933-2723 (in Virginia, 1-703-578-9600) and press 2 for the Service Center. Or buy the book from ASCD's Online Store.