The 4 P's of Differentiation
Presentation - Content can be varied in your lessons for individual students or groups of students (such as when the class is broken into homogeneous math and reading groups.) Of course often, you are going to want all your students to learn the same content. And another way of modifying your lesson presentation for your students, is varying your lesson for different learning styles. Some students can listen to the teacher and follow what she's saying with ease. For most of us however, visuals will help us retain the information. For elementary students, tactile learning plays a big part in their education as well. As I plan my lessons, I try to ask myself if I incorporated this in my lesson. "Were they able to see it? Were they able to touch it?"
Procedure - This is during the actual learning process, when the students are exploring and actively learning. There are different ways you can modify the work procedures. A student might actually have assistance from a para or teacher while they work, for example. They might also be allowed to utilize manipulatives or other physical tools. They may also be given more time. This can also mean allowing flexibility so that students can adapt their learning to a way that interests them. In reading, students can chose books about topics they find particularly appealing. Students can also get control over the order in which they schedule the tasks they are meant to complete.
Product - This refers to the way we assess the students. This can mean a project or worksheet. It can also mean a test. Tests are often the most frequently modified demonstrations of learning. An example of this is a student that might need the test read to her by a para-educator. It is important that we don't allow a student's struggles in one skill area affect an assignment or test that is measuring another skill. I choose to have students create a map to test their understanding of maps in Social Studies but I have a student who has severely underdeveloped fine motor skills, his map creation might be more an indication of this than what I'm trying to assess (i.e. his understanding of maps.) To get a more accurate picture of a student's level of mastery, we can offer assistance with other skills not directly related that might interfere with our assessment (i.e. reading ability or fine motor skills.) It's also a good idea to assess a skill in multiple ways, for this same reason. Finally, we can allow students to customize projects to eliminate lack of motivation as an interfering factor in our assessment.
Place - Some students will need their learning environment adjusted to suit their needs. This is especially true of students with autism or with beyond average physical limitations. However, all students can benefit from flexibility in this area. Many teachers have created flex seating as an example this. Having a desk set off in a less distracting spot in the classroom can be a good option for a student with focusing issues. Having low music or white noise might help with this as well. Some students work better without added stimulus. Others, need that stimulation. This is the reason one might see rubber balls in place of traditional seats in the classroom. Its a non distracting way for a student to get the stimulus they need. I am a big fan of adapting things so that they work the for students. The work from the student will tell whether it is in fact "working." For one student that same rubber ball is a toy, for another it's a tool.
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Tomlinson, C. (August 2000). Differentiation of Instruction in Elementary Grades. ERIC Digest. Retrieved from ERIC database. (EDO-PS-00-7)