I think that this video did a wonderful job of explaining how to use differentiation across science content while also explaining why we should use content differentiation in our classrooms. I think that differentiation is one of the most important aspects of classroom culture. Having multiple different ways to present the same concepts helps students understand the content more deeply. It may also allow a student to understand the concept even when they didn't understand it the first way they were presented with the topic. Content differentiation helps with student engagement and reaching all areas of the academic level. Bringing students up to the board, doing labs as a class, involving every student in group work, and supporting students to use every day scientific vocabulary are all ways that a teacher can use content differentiation. It is not useful to teach every topic the same way. Constantly changing or adding new strategy creates an environment that supports engagement and facilitates learning.
The strategy that really stuck out to me was the puzzle piece idea. She had a name on the back of each puzzle piece that corresponded to a group members name. Not only did this activity get everyone at the table involved, it got them involved at a level in which they needed. The academic level of the children in her classroom was a broad spectrum, so she wrote the questions based on their academic level without telling them that was the case. I think that this is a wonderful idea and supports successful group work. Every student has to read their question to the group and answer it before they can move on. If they do not know the answer then they must ask their group for help.
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Hey Kaylie! I agree with what you are saying about differentiation. I think it is extremely important to differentiate in the classroom because everyone learns differently, so there are so many different strategies to help our students. Like you've said, I thought the puzzle idea was a great idea. I think that would really help students participate cause she assigned a student each question based on the students level. So, there will definitely be more engagement if students can answer the question and understand it rather than having general questions that might be too hard or too easy for some students and eventually lead students to not participate.
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