Tiered Instruction: It’s easy. It’s fun

1. Tiered Instruction: It’s easy. It’s fun Susan Baum College of New Rochelle sbaum@cnr.edu

2. What is tiering? • Whole group teaching activity with one learning outcome • Multiple levels of the learning activity levels

3. We know you have been having a fun time here in Paris. Please create a picture post card with a message on the back of the picture. Your writing directions are in the your envelope. Postcard from MAIS

4. Descriptive writing • In your message, write two sentences describing the scene or some feature in your picture. Think descriptively using size, color, and texture words. Write another sentences telling the reader what the scene or some feature of the scene is similar to. • Please create a riddle about something in your picture. Use enough descriptors so the reader can visualize the scene and guess what it is. • Create a poem describing the scene in your picture. Use similes and personifications to paint a vivid picture for the reader.

5. Why should we tier? • Blends assessment and instruction • Allows students to begin learning where they are • Allows students to work at appropriate challenge level • Provides success for all students (Adapted from Tomlinson, 2001)

6. Tiered Instruction More Abstract Multiple Steps Higher Level Thinking Concept Lesson or Skill Start Here Simpler More Concrete Lower Level Thinking

7. Tiering considerations:content, process, product, environment • Simple to Complex • Levels of thinking • Concrete to abstract • Dependence to independence • Facts, concepts, principles • Readiness levels for accessing information

8. Steps to tiering • Clearly identify learning outcomes • Design teaching activity for whole group • Select learning activity appropriate for most of the students (What do you expect most students to be able to do?) • Select another activity that is more difficult • Select another activity that is simpler

9. Analyze this • The teacher wanted to involve students in a culminating activity to assess the ability of the class to use fractions and percents. • She also wanted to include a writing component that accompanied the activity

10. Would you rather climb Mount Rainier?We will take you there!

11. There is gear to get.

13. There are scale models to make. • Mt. Everest 29,028’ • Mt. Mc Kinley 20,320’ • Mt. Rainier 14,410’ • Backbone Mountain 3,360’

17. There is process to describe…….

20. There is food • To taste test • To tally • To calculate the percentage brand for each person. • To order for the trip.

22. There is weight to calculate If you weigh >120 lbs you can carry 33% of your body weight. If you weigh = or < 120 lbs you can carry 25% of your body weight. How much gear can each individual carry? How much gear can the entire group carry?

24. There is a budget to prepare. • Plane tickets • Motel rooms • Gear • Food • Permits • Negotiation, and division, addition, subtraction, multiplication and percents…….

26. and routes to plan. • Sea level to Paradise is 105 miles. • If we do it in 5 days it is ___% and ___ miles / day. • If we do it in 4 days it is ___% and ___ miles / day and we get 1 day to goof off. • If we do it in 3 days it is ___% and ___ miles / day and we get 2 days to play.

29. Everyone goes on our rope team !

31. Some strategies to sample • Readiness groupings • Think tac toe options

32. Masai Math Masai Mara, Kenya

44. Tiered lesson in mathDistance, rate and time • Teaching activity: whole class lesson: Brainstorm questions relating to distance, rate, time. Develop a math problem from one of the questions. • Learning activities, divide class into three levels: expert, emergent, novice. Tier by complexity. Expert group: another problem with at least three steps and one piece of extraneous information. Emergent group create problem similar to model but solve for different unknown. Novice, work with teacher on problem but each step is sketched.

45. Choice Boards • Creating Think Tac Toe Assignments • Use Bloom’s Taxonomy • Consider color coding • Think about placement of choices.

46. Think Tac Toe

47. Think Tac Toe

48. Think Tac Toe

49. Bloom’s Taxonomya basic framework to integrate thinking into your classroom. Evaluation Synthesis Analysis Application Comprehension Knowledge

50. Levels of thinking Cue Words Sample Products Student Behaviors Evaluation Judge, justify, persuade, prioritize Editorial, verdict, debate, evaluative report Judges the value, adequacy, quality or importance Synthesis Design, create, invent, plan, compose A plan, a formula, an artistic product, poem Writes a well organized theme, formulates a plan Analysis Classify, infer, compare, outline, characterize Survey, graphs, diagram, outline Distinguishes between facts and inferences, uses logical thinking Application Demonstrate, dramatize, compute, apply, use Diary, map, puzzle, lesson, collection Applies concepts and skills to new situations Comprehension Paraphrase, summarize, tell, review, explain Report, chart, demonstration, skit Understands facts, interprets material, translates Knowledge Define, Describe, label, list, memorize, match Labels, lists, definitions, reproduce Knows terms, facts, methods, concepts