RUNNING HEAD: DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

Differentiated Instruction
Liz Finck
Regent UniversityIntroduction
Every person was made uniquely and perfectly in the image of God. There are no
two people that are exactly the same, which also means there are no two students that
learn exactly the same. Differentiation is vital for a classrooms success. As a teacher, my
purpose is to meet each students needs as learners in order to equip them with the skills
necessary for them to be successful learners. This can be accomplished in a multitude of
ways and must be well organized is be truly successful.
Rationale
The first artifact I present is a lesson plan that provided a multitude of
differentiation opportunity. The lessons focus was the Preamble of the Constitution of
the United States. The Preamble is often a document that is difficult for students to form a
complete understanding of. The lesson provides the meaning of the preamble via many

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methods such as a video, class deciphering conversation, illustration and written

products. This lesson made it possible for me to reach all type of learners in a short
amount of time. During independent practice students broke into groups to re-write an
assigned section of the Preamble. For this assignment, I decided to group students by
their reading abilities. I found this to be extremely important due to reading and
understanding vocabulary skills played a key role in completing this assignment. I gave
my higher groups a section that was more challenging and presented difficult vocabulary.
On the other hand, I gave the lower groups sections that had simpler vocabulary. Since I
group students by ability, I was also able to provide more guidance to groups that
required it because I did not have to worry much about my higher groups.
Once students had rewritten their sections, they were asked to illustrate what they
believed their section meant. This provided an opportunity for students who strengths
were in visual learning and display to shine. As seen in artifact two, once the groups had
finished their sections, the class as a whole worked to put our newly written Preamble in
the correct order that correlate with the authentic Preamble of the Constitution.
Reflection
My first student teaching placement was in a fifth grade inclusion class. I learned
quickly that it was impossible to teach material only by one method. This forced me to
differentiate my lessons from the beginning, which later made differentiation to come
with ease. Each of my students was created perfectly and uniquely in the image of God. I
believe that all students have the ability to learn, but that their learning process are just as
unique as them. My goal as a teacher is to determine what those learning processes are in
order for me to promote the necessary skills for my students to become successful

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learners. I learned in numerous courses at Regent University that differentiation does not
have to be overly complex but that it can be simply how I group students or the amount
of guidance a student is provided. As time goes on, I believe I will find differentiation to
come more natural and will incorporate it in my lessons without much thought.
Differentiation is the foundation of the success of a lesson. Students must be
provided information in a multitude of ways in order to meet all of their learning needs.
During the Building the Preamble lesson, students were given the opportunity to
interact and to present that material in many different ways. As a teacher my prime goal is
to learn how my students are unique and how I can meet the needs that they present in
order to promote the skills necessary for them to succeed.