1. Tiered: Lessons and Assignments
February 2009
TAG Office
Note to TAG coordinators/IFs: Anything in the slide notes written in italics is information or directions to you.
Anything not italicized is what you can read as notes to your audience. 1

2. Characteristics of Gifted Students Grouping Strategies
In our last episodes…
Characteristics of Gifted Students
Grouping Strategies
This slide is designed to facilitate a game to review Characteristics and Grouping Options. You may skip over this game if you are not doing a review at this time with your staff.
Directions:
1. Find the Workshop Bingo game board in your packet on page 6.
2. Fill out your BINGO card with numbers 1-25, omitting one number- writing a “Free” in that space.
3. Grab a sheet of paper from the middle of the table. Tear the paper in half and write a large T one half page and a large F on the other half. Make it dark enough for me to see your letter clearly.
Ask a question from the BINGO list.
Hold up your T or F card that answers this question.
Give the correct answer. Pick a number from the envelope for them to cross off.
If your answer is correct, mark off this number on your card:
Read another 3 questions and repeat crossing off numbers on board.
More questions will be asked throughout the workshop.

3. The Big Picture
As we look at PD this year for differentiation strategies, our focus today is on Tiered lessons and assignments.

4. And Now…Back to our regularly scheduled program
Read slide
We bring you Tiered Assignments

5. Tiered Assignments (Lessons or Activities)
Tiered assignments are a differentiation strategy where learning tasks and projects are developed, based on assessed student need.
Tiered assignments are intended to provide a better instructional match between students and their needs.
Tiered assignments are based on students’ common learning needs, based on pre-assessment.
If we expect continuous progress from students, they need to be challenged appropriately according to their ability to master intellectual, physical, emotional, and social tasks at progressively more difficult levels.
BINGO: 3 more Questions 5 5

6. At the end of this TAG Episode
Participants will
Define Tiered Lessons (or Activities)
Experience a Tiered Activity
View multiple ways to Tier
READ Slide

7. Students arrive with varied
Why Tier?
Students arrive with varied
Cultural and linguistic backgrounds
Learning opportunities and experiences
Interests
Readiness levels
Teachers vary
TASK for different levels
PROCESS for different levels
PRODUCT appropriately to demonstrate learning
As we know: READ or paraphrase slide
We know that most of you have been varying assignments as best practice. We are providing a common message so that every teacher in the district is receiving the same information. 7 7

8. Tiered Chocolate Activities
Make a list of descriptive, sensory and/or comparative words to describe your chocolate.
Create 3 SIMILES to help someone understand how you feel about your chocolate.
Create a warning label to attach to your chocolate.
Finish these analogies:
Chocolate is to stress as ___________
Is to ___________________.
Chocolate is to happiness as ________
ALLOW 15 Minutes
At your table, there is an envelope with 6 different activities, centered around the key concept “Attributes of Chocolate”.
Take a moment to make sure you all know what is in the envelope and then divide the cards so everyone at your table has a different activity.
Take two minutes to complete your activity independently. You may write directly on the card.
After 2 minutes…..
Move to assigned groups to compare your work to others who worked on the same activity. Before we conclude, tables will share out responses. (Designate where in the room each group will meet to share their common activity.)
Share out several responses.
Sample questions for whole group:
Did any of you work on an activity with which you weren’t comfortable?
Is it ok for teachers to assign a tiered activity to a student? Why or why not?
What would a teacher do if he/she realized they had assigned the inappropriate level of work to a student?
What if a student does something totally unrelated to the attributes of chocolate? 8

9. There are multiple methods for designing Tiered Assignments
Tier by….
Challenge level (Depth)
Complexity
Resources
Outcome
Process
Product
There are many ways to tier assignments, but today we will focus mainly on 2: Resources and Product.

10. In designing a Standards-based tiered lesson:
Start with grade-level standards, concepts or skills
Modify the content into two to three progressive levels of depth and complexity
Differentiate by process, product, resources or outcome
Read first bullet.
Note to presenter: You need to click again to make the arrows visible.
Research, Interview, Read book, Use Internet….
Perform, create, present, write….

11. Example of an Elementary tiered assignment: Grade 1- Insects
THE STANDARD L3. Explain why plants and animals reproduce their own kind
Strategic: Observe and show structures of an insect larva and of an insect adult (mealworm, wax worm, milkweed bug, silkworm or butterfly)
On-level: Show the life cycle of a wax worm (mealworm, milkweed bug, silkworm or butterfly)
Advanced: Compare the stages of the life cycle of a wax worm to the life cycle of another insect
Notice the standard is the same for every level.
Based on pre-assessments, some students will need scaffolding before they can explain “why” organisms reproduce their own kind. Therefore, the strategic level supports the standard for future lessons. This is not the only opportunity for students to meet the standard. 11 11

12. Example of a Mid-level tiered assignment: Grade 4- Land and Water
Create an informational brochure meeting E2 Standard: Identify causes of Earth’s surface changes—Identify effects of wind and water on Earth materials using appropriate models:
Strategic: informs classmates about how land features (shape of the land, angle of slope) affects the flow of streams and amount of soil runoff.
On-level: informs classmates about how land features and human activities (dams, removing/planting vegetation) interact to affect the flow of streams and erosion and deposition.
Advanced: presents various positions about human activities affecting water quality and makes a recommendation
Here’s an example of a mid-level assignment using the land and water science kit curriculum. 12 12

13. Example of a High School tiered assignment within a Standard:
HS.1 Structure and Function: HS.1.PS.1 Describe the atomic model and explain how electron configuration is related to the Periodic Table and to chemical properties. Compare and contrast the atomic model, electron configuration and chemical properties of an alkali metal, halogen, and noble gas and explain the placement of each in the periodic table. Based on the atomic model, electron configuration and chemical properties of an alkali metal, halogen, and noble gas, explain the placement of each in the periodic table and create a method for describing the chemical properties of other elements based on their relative position to these elements in the periodic table.
This is a high school example of tiering.

14. Tiered by Resources
When you choose materials at various reading levels and complexity of content, you are tiering by resources.
Use this when there is an activity in which varied resources could be matched with student needs and readiness.
This tiering option can be presented as a choice to students, based on their different learning styles and preferences.
Read first sentence.
Tiering by resources is used for leveled reading groups, based on pre-assessment.
The science libraries that accompany the PPS kits also provide different levels of reading materials for students.
Giving students different resource options not only meets different student needs, but also helps motivate students to feel that they are in control of much of their own learning. 14 14

15. Examples of Elementary Tiering by Resources
Leveled reading books
Different print resources: newspapers, newsletters, magazines, or primary sources such as diaries and journals
Different technological resources: computer programs, web searches, etc.
Interviews: work with community mentor
or expert in a particular field
These are some examples of how you can tier by the use of different resources.
See pages 7a, 8, and 9 of the Take-Away Packet for examples of tiered resources and materials provided by the Literacy and Math TOSAs.
Notice the referral to the Differentiated Instruction and Leveled Readers sections of the teacher’s guides. The leveled readers are great examples of providing tiered resources to reading lessons and the DI section has examples of tiered products.

16. Tiered by Product
At times, you may form groups based on learning preferences.
Once again, giving students options to show their understanding helps them feel more in control of their own learning, thus providing incentive to produce quality products.
As with tiering and choices of resources, students benefit from selecting from a list of options to show their learning.

17. Example of an assignment tiered by Product
Choose a way to represent the main character in the story:
Musical- Develop a song/rap to represent the main character.
Verbal/Linguistic- Write an acrostic poem describing the main character.
Logical- Diagram the main character’s relationship with others in the book.
Notice the different intelligences incorporated into this choice of products. Howard Gardner’s work on different learning styles and intelligences tells us that students do have strengths in the ways they learn. 17

18. Product Brainstorm Go-Around One Protocol
Person 1 reports one idea that he/she has recorded.
While person 1 reports, other group members listen attentively, but do not question or comment.
When person 1 finishes, person 2 reports one of his/her recorded ideas while rest of group listens attentively.
Repeat until all group members have reported.
The group discusses ideas that were reported.
Go-Around Protocol: Ask for 1-2 minutes of silence for participants to brainstorm ideas by themselves.
In the Take-Away Packet, please look again at slides 11 and 12. We would like you to brainstorm products that would show a student’s knowledge of the standard, content or skill at each level of the assignment.
EL. Slide: Notice the words “Observe and show the structures….”
“Show the life cycle of….”
“Compare the stages of….”
What products could be offered to students to show their learning the content?
MDL Slide: What other products could be offered for student choice?

19. Using a Teacher’s Edition for Support
Does the activity help the student reach the standard?
Is the activity basic or advanced?
Do the suggested extensions offer more depth and more complexity, or just more work?
Are there multiple activities that provided opportunities for tiering the
content to support the standard?
When using a teacher’s edition for support, you might ask yourself these questions to guide your instruction.

20. Caution:
Be sure that the tasks you design are truly more advanced and not simply MORE work.
READ
BINGO: Ask 3 or 4 more questions

21. Matches individual need to content
How do tiered activities meet the needs of Special Ed, ESL, Gifted, and General Ed students?
Rate
Level
Read this slide, but reiterate that rate, level and the matching of need also apply to ESL Special Ed and Gen Ed students.
Matches individual need to content 21

22. Rubrics General enough to apply to all tiers
Key concepts are clear and included
The Standard that students need to meet is clear
Students understand how the varied activities, resources, products, etc help them demonstrate key concepts or State Standards
Make sure the key concepts are
evaluated separately from the
quality criteria
This is just to reiterate the main ideas of rubrics. When developing rubrics for tiered assignments, make sure you use the SAME criteria for all assignments. The rubric is not tiered. 22

23. Rubrics Quality, Effort, or Career Related Learning Standards (CRLS)
Criteria for Quality of Product, Measured Effort, or CRLS is separate from the evaluation of proficiency in meeting the standard.
Neat, Organized, On- Time work is recognized, but not directly tied to meeting the Standard.
The Standard that students need to meet is clear.
Key Concepts are included, but general enough to apply to all tiers.
Regardless of assignment, activity (or “tier”) students understand how their work demonstrates the standard.
Standards-based scoring of a differentiated activity can be fairly easy to evaluate. Make sure the criteria for showing knowledge of the key concepts are clear, and give the same value for each individual assignment that follows the criteria.
Quality Criteria are listed and evaluated so that students know their work needs to meet quality standards.
Keep CONTENT evaluations and QUALITY evaluations separate. 23

24. Additional Resources for Tiered Assignments
Differentiating Instruction in the Regular Classroom by Diane Heacox
How to Differentiate Instruction in the Mixed- Ability Classroom by Carol Ann Tomlinson
Tiering Assignments & Compacting Curriculum: It’s for Everyone! By Lynda Rice
These books are available for check-out from the TAG Office. Contact your TOSA. 24

25. Take-Away Packet
All of the handouts provided in your Take-Away Packet are available from our website
Look in Educator Resources
Resources for Tiered Assignments
Tiered Assignments ppt
K-5 w/common message
Links: 25