Selena Sena

Differentiated Instruction (DI) Excerpt from the USF Lesson Planning Template:
Meeting your students needs as
people and as learners

If applicable, how does this lesson connect to the interests and cultural backgrounds of your students?
-Students really like helping or teaching the students that are struggling with the content.
-The students love being able to have choice and be in control. I noticed by the amount of times they would play
Simon Says and would argue who would be Simon. I also noticed their enjoyment for choices when we gave
them a variety of options for their ice cream sundaes.
-Most of these students and the community are Hispanic decent and are very proud of their culture.
- Primary students really enjoyed activities that involved dancing and music. I learned this from their responses
to after a SEED activity I did with them.
-Intermediate students really enjoyed using technology. They love playing sports game on the Xbox and playing
a charades game on my phone called Heads Up
- The students enjoy being able to converse and talk. I noticed this with their reactions to a tongue twister I did
with them. They all wanted to participate since they wanted to speak and have people watch them do it.
Writing Instruction
After reading the original Cinderella story and another version called Adelita, a Mexican Cinderella story.
Students will be prompted to write their own short fairytale based on their home life, culture, or ethnicity.
Students will be encouraged to research on the topic they choose (technology) before writing. The students will
first write the story then the students will be given options to choose from (giving them choice) on how they
want to present their story: a book, acting it out, a song, a movie/presentation, and any other idea they could
think that can be approved by the teacher.
If applicable, how does this lesson connect to/reflect the local community?
The community of this Boys and Girls club is dominantly Hispanic, but diverse at the same time. Students are
from the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. Some students are Asian, African, and American. This
lesson will give the students the opportunity to create a product that will broadcast their diverse community and
learn about it at the same time.
This lesson also reflects the local community since most of the students are proud of their culture. This will also

give them the opportunity to research more about it and create a project that is close to their heart. I believe this
assignment is a type of assignment that can bring the community together. This can be turned into a school wide
event and students stories can be displayed in a gallery walk fashion. Family and other members of the
community can be invited to be able to see the students creations.

How will you differentiate instruction for students who need additional challenge during this lesson
(enrichment)?
In this lesson, I will give early finishers options. Students who need challenge will have the option to help other
students that struggling with the project. From my observations, the students that finished their homework,
enjoyed helping other students that were struggling. Another idea I have for students who need more challenge
would be to research more on their culture and become an expert on it. If they have enough time, they can create
a presentation to share with the class. Another idea for students who need more challenge would be to complete
an activity from a choice board that is made just for students who finish early. Some activities on this board
would include: make a poem about the weather, create a comic strip using 3 people in our class as characters,
write a persuasive essay to the principal to convince him/her to give you longer recess, etc.

How will you differentiate instruction for students who need additional language support?
Students who need additional language support will receive graphic organizers to better help them brainstorm
their story. Depending on their language proficiency, students will be allowed to orally tell their story to me
rather than write it. I believe the choices the students have to choose from for this lesson (acting it out, creating a
dance or song, drawing pictures) accommodate to ELL students since they will be able to present their story
through movement, art, or however they choose will best help them portray their understanding. I will also plan
to have pull group for this lesson for struggling/ELL students to better explain the assignment and help them
brainstorm their story.

Rubric:
Respects students cultural linguistic and family background (2d)
1=poor; The teacher candidate fails to respect students cultural linguistic and family

background.
2=limited; The teacher candidate poorly and/or inadequately respects students cultural
linguistic and family background.
3=proficient; The teacher candidate acknowledges students cultural linguistic and family
background.
4=strong; The teacher candidate clearly respects students cultural linguistic and family
background.
5=outstanding; The teacher candidate respects and takes into account students cultural
linguistic and family background.
Adapts the learning environment to accommodate the differing needs and diversity of students
(2h)
1=poor; The teacher candidate fails to adapt the learning environment to accommodate
the differing needs and diversity of students.
2=limited; The teacher candidate poorly and/or inadequately adapts the learning
environment to accommodate the differing needs and diversity of students.
3=proficient; The teacher candidate plans a strategy to adapt the learning environment to
accommodate the differing needs and diversity of students.
4=strong; The teacher candidate plans several strategies to adapt the learning environment
to accommodate the differing needs and diversity of students.
5=outstanding; The teacher candidate uses a variety of strategies to adapt the learning
environment to accommodate all the differing needs and diversity of every
student.