Lesson-level differentiation
To support teachers in providing the best possible instruction, every lesson of Amplify Science includes a Differentiation Brief so teachers can make intentional and strategic changes to the lessons, if needed, to meet the needs of their students. The Differentiation Brief describes what is built into the lesson to support diverse learning needs; highlights potential challenges teachers should be aware of; and provides specific strategies for differentiating instruction. The Differentiation Brief contains the following sections:
- Embedded supports for diverse learners: Every unit is designed with diverse learners in mind, with the goal of providing rigorous yet accessible science instruction. Each lesson is intentionally planned to provide multiple entry points for students, and to enable all students to be successful with all of the activities. This section of the Differentiation Brief highlights the scaffolds already embedded within the lesson so that teachers can take advantage of these carefully designed activities.
- Potential challenges in this lesson: Units are designed to be appropriately challenging for most students most of the time. This section of the Differentiation Brief highlights aspects of the lesson that may present particular cognitive, linguistic, or social challenges for students. Knowing these challenges in advance can help teachers plan appropriate modifications to the lesson if needed.
- Specific differentiation strategies for English learners: English learners bring a lifetime of background knowledge and experiences to everything they do. As they work to acquire a new language and new academic knowledge simultaneously, they may need specific linguistic support. This section of the Differentiation Brief points out activities that could pose linguistic challenges for English learners or reduce their access to science content, and suggests supports and modifications accordingly. These challenges include aspects of the English language (such as idioms, multiple-meaning words, multiple forms of a word, etc.) that could hold a student back from understanding the material or from expressing their ideas. Suggestions include linguistic supports to bolster students’ understanding of science content, supports for engaging with science texts, ideas for helping students participate in discussions, multiple ways students can express their ideas in writing, and more.
- Specific differentiation strategies for students who need more support: Every lesson includes ways for teachers to support those students who are struggling or who have special needs. These additional scaffolds are to be used entirely at the discretion of the teacher, and provide targeted suggestions tailored for the activities in that particular lesson. Examples include: Providing alternative means of expressing ideas for those students who do not feel comfortable engaging in whole-class discussions; reading science articles in smaller groups with additional teacher modeling; providing supplementary graphic organizers to structure student investigations; and setting attainable goals for students, such as: “It is important that students who struggle or who are intimidated by reading have a strategy for feeling successful as they read, even if they do not finish the entire text. Suggest the goal of recording at least one question about the text and completing one summary. Offer to help these students with summarizing if writing a summary seems too difficult.”
- Specific differentiation strategies for students who need more challenge: In every classroom there are students who have more background knowledge on a topic or who have had more opportunities to explore particular science ideas. These students are often ready to go beyond the ideas presented in the curriculum, or to continue working with concepts in a new way. Every lesson has ways for a teacher to expand upon the lesson, or go beyond the scope of what is expected in that lesson. Teachers can use these strategies for specific students who finish early or otherwise are looking for additional challenges, or for classes that have more time allocated to science class than is typical. The suggestions included in this section allow students to engage with content more deeply, explore the material with a new purpose, pursue more independent research on a topic, and more.