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When you’re in the classroom, teaching can feel like a balancing act. It can be tough to plan lessons that introduce new content in a clear, engaging, and helpful way for each of your students. That’s where differentiated instruction comes in handy! This style of instruction helps you tailor and customize your lessons to your students’ individual learning needs. Browse through this list for a few tips and suggestions to help you get started.

2

Give students different ways to learn the content.

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  1. Show your students a video at the beginning of the unit, or let your pupils listen to required readings on tape. You might also use charts, diagrams, or other visual aids to help present the content in a clear, interesting way. [2]
    • For instance, you might teach fractions by cutting a cake into pieces. [3]
    • You could introduce a world history lesson with an interesting documentary or historical drama.
    • Students tend to learn best when they're presented with information from a variety of angles, so get creative! [4]
3

Create a variety of different activities for your lesson.

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  1. Instead, change up the process for your lesson with different activities. You might have your students journal their thoughts, or let them discuss the lesson with a partner. [5]
    • You might divide your students into literature groups if you’re reading a specific book in class.
    • You could have students study historical queens and kings with a graphic organizer. [6]
    EXPERT TIP

    Joseph Meyer

    Math Teacher
    Joseph Meyer is a High School Math Teacher based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is an educator at City Charter High School, where he has been teaching for over 7 years. Joseph is also the founder of Sandbox Math, an online learning community dedicated to helping students succeed in Algebra. His site is set apart by its focus on fostering genuine comprehension through step-by-step understanding (instead of just getting the correct final answer), enabling learners to identify and overcome misunderstandings and confidently take on any test they face. He received his MA in Physics from Case Western Reserve University and his BA in Physics from Baldwin Wallace University.
    Joseph Meyer
    Math Teacher

    Effective teaching strategies consider a student's individual strengths. Tailoring instruction to a student's existing skills and encouraging collaborative activities can improve a student's outcome. Recognizing diverse learning styles allows for a stronger approach, fostering potential in all learners.

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6

Organize flexible groups in the classroom.

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7

Present topics in a problem-based format.

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  1. Not all students get a lot out of traditional, passive lesson plans—instead, they need to really live the material to understand its real purpose. Set up scenarios in your lessons that force students to apply their knowledge in a professional way, which can really take their learning to the next level. [10]
    • Instead of having students answer questions from a French textbook, invite them to translate a section of a French website.
    • You might give your students applied chemistry problems that a professional pharmacist or chemist might deal with.
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8

Set up different stations.

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  1. Don’t force everyone to do the same assignment at once—instead, breaks the lesson into bite-sized chunks. Assign students to specific stations, so your pupils can work on different types of tasks. [11]
    • You might send advanced students to a more challenging station, while giving struggling students more targeted assignments.
    • In a foreign language class, you might set up stations for reading, speaking, and listening. [12]
    • In a biology class, you might set up different stations that focus on the different stages of mitosis.
9

Design personalized agendas.

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  1. Agendas let you focus on an individual student’s progress, and create a lesson plan that caters to their needs and capabilities. Create a long checklist for each student, giving them a list of tasks each student must finish within 2-3 weeks. [13]
    • Some agendas might be similar, while others might be more advanced or scaled down, depending on the individual needs of the student.
    • In a chemistry class, you might give students a list of labs they need to complete within 2 weeks.
    • In a literature class, you might have assigned readings over a month-long period.
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10

Arrange long-term studies for flexible learning.

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  1. Let students pick a specific topic that they’re interested in, which they’ll focus and research on for 3-6 weeks. Then, work with each student over that time period as they complete a final project, like a presentation or paper. [14]
    • In a history class, you might let your students pick out a specific historical figure to study from a certain time period.
    • You could let your students pick out and read a book from a specific literary time period.
    • In a forensic science class, you might have students study a certain type of forensic evidence, like trace evidence or tire impressions.
12

Test students before starting a new unit.

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  1. If a student does well on the initial test, they can skip over sections of the lesson instead of relearning information they already know. After the evaluation, focus on the students who didn’t test as well. [16]
    EXPERT TIP

    Joseph Meyer

    Math Teacher
    Joseph Meyer is a High School Math Teacher based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is an educator at City Charter High School, where he has been teaching for over 7 years. Joseph is also the founder of Sandbox Math, an online learning community dedicated to helping students succeed in Algebra. His site is set apart by its focus on fostering genuine comprehension through step-by-step understanding (instead of just getting the correct final answer), enabling learners to identify and overcome misunderstandings and confidently take on any test they face. He received his MA in Physics from Case Western Reserve University and his BA in Physics from Baldwin Wallace University.
    Joseph Meyer
    Math Teacher

    Assess students early to identify important knowledge gaps. Struggling students often have unidentified gaps in foundational concepts, leading to poor performance when learning advanced topics. Circumvent this problem by assessing their skills early on, and then filling in knowledge gaps as needed.

How Do You Use Multi-Tiered Support Systems In Education?


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  • Question
    How can you meet group instructional needs in the classroom?
    Soren Rosier, PhD
    Teacher & Education Researcher
    Soren Rosier is an Education Expert based in Palo Alto, CA. He is the founder of PeerTeach, a platform that empowers students to grow their leadership, confidence, and love of math through AI-powered peer tutoring. Additionally, he is an instructor at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, where he teaches courses on designing impactful tools for learning. Before beginning his PhD, he taught middle school in Oakland, developed teacher training programs, and evaluated the efficacy of popular ed tech products at SRI International. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a PhD in Learning Sciences & Technology Design at Stanford University.
    Teacher & Education Researcher
    Expert Answer
    Before you assign group work, make sure the problem is challenging enough that it actually requires multiple students to work on it. Otherwise, you'll usually have a few students who sit back and let everyone else do the work.
  • Question
    Does tailoring instruction to learning styles help students learn?
    Soren Rosier, PhD
    Teacher & Education Researcher
    Soren Rosier is an Education Expert based in Palo Alto, CA. He is the founder of PeerTeach, a platform that empowers students to grow their leadership, confidence, and love of math through AI-powered peer tutoring. Additionally, he is an instructor at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, where he teaches courses on designing impactful tools for learning. Before beginning his PhD, he taught middle school in Oakland, developed teacher training programs, and evaluated the efficacy of popular ed tech products at SRI International. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a PhD in Learning Sciences & Technology Design at Stanford University.
    Teacher & Education Researcher
    Expert Answer
    If you try to identify what type of learning style a student has, then teach them with that method, it's going to fall flat. It's a lot more effective to teach all of your students in a variety of different ways, like having a visual representation on the wall, talking about it, then having students explain it in their own words.
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      Tips

      • Don’t pair up advanced students with students who are struggling with the material. This can make the lesson more difficult for everyone involved. [19]
      • Lean on other educational professionals, if you can. Reading, writing, and other specialists can help provide individual support to struggling students. [20]
      • Many schools have special programs designed for students with special needs who need one-on-one instruction. [21]
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