Bringing the meat and potatoes to DI FLEXIBLE GROUPING Bringing the meat and potatoes to DI

Flexible grouping Teachers, bring the meat and potatoes of Differentiated Instruction to your students. Engage them in small group activities and instruction in a systematic and motivational way. Learn how flexible grouping allows for more differentiation, when to incorporate flexible grouping, the advantages and cautions inherent in such a system, and practical, easy, and fun ways to design and manage your groups.

Today’s Agenda Introductions Definition and purpose Grouping structures Research Formative assessment Managing flexible groups DI strategies that support flex groups Closure

Desire experience creating flexible groups that increase knowledge Group Resume By alphabet groupings Identify and brag about your group’s resources Should include any information that promotes subgroup as a whole Topics can include: background, experience, positions, accomplishments, hobbies, families, etc. TEACHERS R US Berks IU Objective Desire experience creating flexible groups that increase knowledge Qualifications 12 years teaching Masters Degrees Some knowledge of DI Hobbies include: skiing& reading

Knowledge Transfer

Whole group-set the stage for flexible grouping Description Rationale DI connection When to use it Advantages Cautions

Flexible Grouping Occurs when there is a whole group assessment or instruction initially; and then the students are divided by their need for either review, Re-teaching, practice, or enrichment. Such grouping could be a single lesson or objective, a set of skills, a unit of study, or a major concept or theme. Flexible grouping creates temporary groups for an hour, a day, a week, or a month or so. It does not create permanent groups.

Take a look Readiness Interest Learning profile Group Arrangements (like/unlike/size) Teacher choice Student choice Random

Planning for Grouping: Questions to Consider When does grouping benefit students? When does grouping facilitate instruction? Which activities lend themselves to group work? How do you determine group membership?

When does grouping benefit students? When the task requires input from different types of learning styles and perspectives. When the subject matter is new for all students. When it allows gifted students to be engaged in real learning.

When does grouping facilitate instruction? When it: allows both for quick mastery of information and ideas allows for additional exploration by students needing more time for mastery allows for both collaborative and independent work gives students and teachers a voice in work arrangements allows students to work with a wide variety of peers encourages teachers to “try out” students in a variety of work settings keeps students from being “pegged” as advanced or struggling

Grouping and the Gifted Student The gifted student ranges in his/her strengths and weaknesses just as do all students Students are different from each other and challenged when provided programming at the appropriate level of instruction Teachers must look at each student individually MCPS content curriculum contain adaptations that are suitable for the gifted student in the cluster grouped classroom Flexible Grouping for the delivery of instruction is the cornerstone of appropriate differentiation for the gifted student

Which activities lend themselves to group work?

Group Work - Old and New Traditional Cooperative Groups Task is usually a project Some students do more work and take most responsibility Some students are ignored by others in group Some students feel success, others feel frustration Each student cares most about what he/she learns and what grade he/she receives Task may be a project, brainstorming, problem solving Shared work and responsibility Participation of all students is encouraged Each student’s ideas and work are valued Students care about group learning

Activities for Heterogeneous Grouping Open ended activities with use of strategies such as critical thinking,, development of concepts and generalizations Multidisciplinary themes When presenting new content Examples: Hands on Science experiments, and current events activities

Appropriate Activities for Heterogeneous Grouping: Critical Thinking Concept and Generalization Whole Language Experiences Multi-disciplinary Units Open ended discussions Examples: Hands-on science experiments and Current event discussions

Appropriate Activities for Homogeneous Grouping: Drill and Practice Math computation Studying for recall type test Answering comprehension questions about a novel

Turn and talk Proximity partner Turn to partner to review lecture guide

Spotlight Share One member of pair called on to answer Major point Misconception Concern

Group Membership Can be determined by: Readiness Interest Reading Level Skill Level Background Knowledge Social Skills

Grouping Method TAPS Teacher Assigned Student Selected Random

Creative ideas for forming groups Popsicle sticks with names – last one picked chooses group Clock partners Stickers on card, find matching sticker Birthdays in seasons Puzzle pieces Team hiring and resumes

Other resources for forming groups Use contribution reminder cards Pass out colored chips and put in center after each contribution Rank students by ability and put in array of 3 across Group reflection form – use a rubric

And the research says… Text-based seminar Read the article

Text-based Seminar All read pp. 1 &2, 26-29 Divide the article into 4 parts (Models 1-4) Each member reads a section After reading, discuss this framing question: How can flexible grouping increase achievement in my class? Protocol: Each person in group refers to one quote from the text and explains how this quote supports their response to the framing question. Other members take turns in responding to group members’ quotes.

Take a look Watch the video Trio learning

Rotating trio exchange Sit in groups of 3 Assign each a 0, 1, or 2 Discuss the following question: How does heterogeneous grouping support higher level thinking of all members? Rotation: 1’s move clockwise, 2’s move counterclockwise, 0’s stay put

Continue the triad discussion What first steps will you take to employ flexible grouping? What barriers might hinder the implementation of flexible grouping and what can you do to remove those barriers? How can a teacher ensure the appropriate level of challenge for each student?

PRE-ASSESSMENT The purpose of pre-assessment is to determine what students know about a topic before it is taught. Pre-assessment will help the teacher determine flexible grouping patterns and should be used regularly.

Equity

Pre-assessment Strategies Teacher prepared pre-test KWL Charts /Graphic Organizers Writing Prompts/Samples Guess Box Student demonstrations and discussions Student products and work samples Show of hands/EPR Every Pupil Response Standardized Test Data Teacher observation/Checklist

Formative assessment Assessment for learning is any assessment for which the first priority in its design and practice is to serve the purpose of promoting pupils’ learning. It thus differs from assessment designed primarily to serve the purposes of accountability, or of ranking, or of certifying competence. An assessment activity can help learning if it provides information to be used as feedback, by teachers, and by their pupils, in assessing themselves and each other, to modify the teaching and learning activities in which they are engaged. Such assessment becomes ‘formative assessment’ when the evidence is actually used to adapt the teaching work to meet learning needs. Black, Harrison, Lee, Marshall & Wiliam, 2002

Types of formative assessment Long-cycle Span: across units, terms Length: four weeks to one year Impact: Student monitoring; curriculum alignment Medium-cycle Span: within and between teaching units Length: one to four weeks Impact: Improved, student-involved, assessment; teacher cognition about learning Short-cycle Span: within and between lessons Length: day-by-day: 24 to 48 hours minute-by-minute: 5 seconds to 2 hours Impact: classroom practice; student engagement

Aspects of formative assessment Where the learner is going Where the learner is How to get there Teacher Clarify and share learning intentions Engineering effective discussions, tasks and activities that elicit evidence of learning Providing feedback that moves learners forward Peer Understand and share learning intentions Activating students as learning resources for one another Learner Understand learning intentions Activating students as owners of their own learning

Examples of formative assessment Learning intentions “sharing exemplars” Eliciting evidence “mini white-boards” Providing feedback “find it and fix it” Students as owners of their learning “colored cups” Students as learning resources “pre-flight checklist”

Activity Regroup by job alike groups Identify formative assessment strategies useful in your class

Management of Groups Goal of the Activity Total number of Pupils in Class Number of Groups Number of Students in a Group Roles within the Group Teacher Role

Management strategies Chart of management ideas

6 Hat Thinking In groups of 6 Read the article from one of 6 roles Discuss using references that support your own role

Exit cards What stands out as new knowledge for you? What questions do you still have? Other comments?

Assessment What questions remain? Name tag mix-up

Complex Instruction Complex Instruction evolved from over 20 years of research by Elizabeth Cohen, Rachel Lotan, and their colleagues at the Stanford School of Education. The goal of this instruction is to provide academic access and success for all students in heterogeneous classrooms. Research has documented significant achievement gains in classrooms using such curricula. Complex Instruction (CI) has three major components.

Multiple ability curricula Development of higher-order thinking skills through group work activities organized around a central concept. The tasks are open-ended, requiring students to work interdependently to solve problems. The tasks require a wide array of intellectual abilities so that students from diverse backgrounds and different levels of academic proficiency can make meaningful contributions to the group task.

Instructional strategies Teacher trains the students to use cooperative norms and specific roles to manage their own groups . Teacher is free to observe groups carefully Provide specific feedback

Treat status problems The more that students talk and work together, the more they learn. Students who are social isolates or students who are seen as lacking academic skills often fail to participate and thus learn less than they would if they were more active in the groups. Teachers use status treatments to broaden students' perceptions of what it means to be smart, and to convince students that they each have important intellectual contributions to make to the multiple-ability task.

Processing Individual and Group accountability activities which reflect the success of: The student The group The objective for the teacher planned activity Practice designing flexible grouping structure for given set of classroom data & lesson

Station activity Investigate DI structures that support flexible grouping Anchor activities Tiered lessons Stations/Centers Rotate every 20 minutes

PMI Chart Plus (+) Minus (-) Interesting Station Tiered lessons Anchors

Assessment In the acronym TAPS, which word(s) do(es) not allow for differentiation? T/F: Flexible grouping implies putting students into ability groups. Name at least 2 DI strategies that support flexible grouping. What are 2 problems for historically based arguments for heterogeneous classrooms?

Assessment responses T – total group F - many reasons for grouping arrangements Compacting, Complex instruction Struggling learners must be met where they are. Advanced learners often given more work, asked to be peer teachers, or left alone as they are already up to par.

Summarize In job-alike groups Create 30 second commercial Reasons to support or oppose flexible grouping

Keeping flexible Exercise the strategy Switch your groups regularly Have fun!

Thank you! Please complete the evaluation Contact me with any questions barbara.launi@rtsd.org

Flexible Grouping for the delivery of instruction is the cornerstone of appropriate differentiation for the gifted student as well as all students. The use of Flexible Grouping assures Success for Every Student.

Readiness group tasks Cooperative grouping strategies Group members’ roles Learning styles inventory http://www.metamath.com/multiple/multiple_choice_questions.html

Modality preference groups Visual Auditory Hands-on Find cooperative group strategies from handouts and on-line resources. Make a chart. Put the group roles from the resources on the chart. Participate in lecture-format and complete chart of strategies. Finish the chart with group roles. Make index cards of cooperative group strategies with purpose on back. Make a charades game of group roles.

Agenda Microlab – How do we honor all learners in variable grouping? Read all about it! Share Evaluation

Today’s Agenda, continued Sit in groups (by modality preference) Learning styles activity on management of flexible groups Brainstorm ideas for grouping by readiness, interest, & random Whole group share – dot vote