TOPIC 7:

DIFFERENTIATING CONTENT,
PROCESS AND PRODUCT

1
 INTRODUCTION

• It is difficult and unnatural to carve apart the curriculum elements of

content, process and product, because students process ideas as they
read content, think while they create products and generate ideas for
products while they encounter ideas in the materials they use.
• Content, Process and Product are interlinked and so it is very difficult to
separate them and differentiate within these aspects.

For example:
when the child reads something (content), the child also processes that
information (process) and what the child understands and explains
(product) is how we know the child has understood.

• Differentiating instruction is manageable by examining one element at a

time.
Tomlinson & Carol Ann, 2001

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 CONTENT

• “INPUT” of teaching and learning.

• It’s what we teach.
• What we want students to learn.

• Differentiating content can be thought in 2 ways.

1 Adapt/ modify how we

Adapt what we teach
give students access to
what we want them to
learn.
2
Tomlinson & Carol Ann, 2001

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 DIFFERENTIATING CONTENT

• Content can be differentiated in response to a student’s readiness level,

interests or learning profile.
• It can also be differentiated in response to any combination of readiness,
interest and learning profile.
• When teachers differentiate content, the same concept or skill is taught to
each student; however, the curriculum used to teach the concept or skill
might be different for different students

Tomlinson & Carol Ann, 2001

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 DIFFERENTIATING CONTENT

Readiness Differentiation Interest Learning Profile Differentiation

Differentiation
• Readiness differentiation of • Interest differentiation of • Learning profile differentiation
content has its goal matching content involves including in of content implies ensuring
the material or information the curriculum ideas and that a student has a way of
students are asked to learn to materials that build on current “coming at” materials and
a student’s capacity to read student interests or extend ideas that match his preferred
and understand it. student interests. way of learning.
• Asking yourself if materials are
at an appropriately
challenging level of
complexity, independence
and pacing.

Tomlinson & Carol Ann, 2001

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STRATEGIES FOR DIFFERENTIATING CONTENT

Providing a
Presentation
Tiered Content Variety of
Styles
Materials

Learning
Scaffolding
Contracts

Tomlinson & Carol Ann, 2001

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 STRATEGIES FOR DIFFERENTIATING CONTENT

• One way to differentiate content for heterogeneous

TIERED CONTENT classrooms is to tier content.
• When teachers tier content, all students complete the same
type of activity (e.g., worksheet, report), but the content
varies in difficulty.
• Typically students are divided into three groups based on
readiness levels.
• The activities assigned to the low, middle, and high groups
(groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively) differ in terms of complexity.

Tomlinson & Carol Ann, 2001

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 STRATEGIES FOR DIFFERENTIATING CONTENT

• Teachers can differentiate content based on readiness level,

PROVIDING A interests, or learning profile by offering a variety of materials.
VARIETY OF • This allows students to access the information in the way that works
MATERIALS best for them.
• Teachers might consider offering:

A range of textbooks Supplemental materials

• The teacher can provide texts one or two • These materials might include Internet
grade levels below and above the grade-level resources, magazines, newspapers, books on
text. CDs, videos, and computer games.
• This allows students who are struggling with the
reading level or the complexity of the skill to
access the content at the level that is best for
them.
• It also allows students who know the content or
quickly master it to have the opportunity to
work on more advanced skills. Tomlinson & Carol Ann, 2001

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 STRATEGIES FOR DIFFERENTIATING CONTENT

• When they present content, teachers should utilize a variety of

PRESENTATION presentation styles; that is, they should provide learners with a variety
STYLES of media and formats that allows students to choose what works best
for them.
• Multiple media and formats also allow students to develop a deeper
understanding of concepts by providing opportunities to interact
with those concepts in a variety of ways.
• The table below highlights different methods of presenting content.

Say It Show It Model It

• Lecture • Pictures/ graphic • Demonstrate
• Discussion • Transparency • Think aloud
• Questioning • White board • Act out
• Build/ construct
• Read Aloud • Film
• Verbal description • Caption

Tomlinson & Carol Ann, 2001

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 STRATEGIES FOR DIFFERENTIATING CONTENT

• For students who struggle with learning a new skill or content, the
teacher can provide instructional scaffolding, a process through
SCAFFOLDING which a teacher adds supports for students in order to enhance
learning and aid in the mastery of tasks.
• The teacher does this by systematically building on a student’s
experiences and knowledge as he or she learns a new skill.
• As the student increasingly masters the task, the supports are
gradually removed.
• The teacher may need to consider different ways to scaffold for
those who have difficulty reading and understanding text and for
those who have difficulty mastering a new task.

Tomlinson & Carol Ann, 2001

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 STRATEGIES FOR DIFFERENTIATING CONTENT

• A learning contract is an agreement between the teacher and

LEARNING student that specifies in writing the work the student will complete in
CONTRACT a given amount of time.
• A learning contract allows teachers to differentiate the curriculum
based on the student’s readiness level or learning profile.
• When negotiating the contract, the teacher and student need to
specify the task to be completed, when it will be completed, the
quantity and quality of the work, the criteria by which it will be
evaluated, and when appropriate the resulting grade.

Tomlinson & Carol Ann, 2001

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 STRATEGIES FOR DIFFERENTIATING CONTENT

• A learning contract is an agreement between the teacher and

LEARNING student that specifies in writing the work the student will complete in
CONTRACT a given amount of time.
• A learning contract allows teachers to differentiate the curriculum
based on the student’s readiness level or learning profile.
• When negotiating the contract, the teacher and student need to
specify the task to be completed, when it will be completed, the
quantity and quality of the work, the criteria by which it will be
evaluated, and when appropriate the resulting grade.

Tomlinson & Carol Ann, 2001

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DIFFERENTIATING PROCESS

• Process means sense-making or, just as it

sounds, opportunity for learners to process
the content, ideas and skills to which they
have been introduced.
• When students encounter new ideas,
information or skills, they need time to run the
input through their own filters of meaning.
• As they try to analyse, apply, question or
solve a problem using the material, they
have to make sense of it before it becomes
“theirs”.
• This processing or sense making is an essential
component of instruction because without it,
students either lose the ideas or confuse
them.
Tomlinson & Carol Ann, 2001

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 DIFFERENTIATING PROCESS

Process is what the teacher does and the materials

she uses to get the students to reach the
objectives.

• Process is often spoken as an activity.

• Students process and make sense of ideas and information most
easily when their classroom activities:

1. are interesting to the students.

2. call on the students to think at a high level
3. cause the students to use a key skills to understand a key idea.

Tomlinson & Carol Ann, 2001

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 DIFFERENTIATING PROCESS

• Good differentiated activities are first good activities.

• What makes them differentiated is that the teacher offers more than one
way to make sense of what’s important.

A GOOD ACTIVITY is A GOOD DIFFERENTIATED ACTIVITY

something students will make or do: is something students will make or do:

1. Using an essential skills and essential 1. In a range of modes at varied degrees of

information.
2. In order to understand an essential
idea/ principle or answer an
essential question.
sophisticated in varying time spans.
2. With varied amounts of teacher or peer support
(scaffolding).
3. Using an essential skills and essential
information.
4. To understand an essential idea/ principle or
answer an essential question.

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 DIFFERENTIATING PROCESS
Readiness
Differentiation
• Differentiating process
according to student
readiness means matching
the complexity of a task to
a student’s current level of
understanding and skills.
Interest
Differentiation
• Differentiating process
according to student
interest involves giving
students choices about
facets of a topic in which to
specialize or helping them
link a personal interest to a
sense –making goal.
Learning Profile
Differentiation
• Differentiating process
according to student
learning profile generally
means encouraging
students to make sense of
an idea in a preferred way
of learning.
Tomlinson & Carol Ann, 2001
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DIFFERENTIATING PROCESS

Examples of differentiating process:

• Using tiered activities.

• Developing personal agendas (task lists written by the
teacher and containing both in-common work for the
whole class and work that addresses individual needs of
learners).
• Offering manipulatives or other hands-on supports.
• Varying the length of time a student may take to
complete a task.

Tomlinson & Carol Ann, 2001

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DIFFERENTIATING PRODUCT

• A product is a long term endeavour.

• Product assignments should help students –
individually or in groups – rethink, use and extend
what they have learned over a long period of time.
• Products are important to represent students’
extensive understandings and applications.
• High quality product assignments are excellent
ways of assessing student knowledge,
understanding and skills.
• In differentiated classroom, teachers may replace
some tests with rich product assignments that
demonstrate what they have learned.

Tomlinson & Carol Ann, 2001

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 DIFFERENTIATING PRODUCT

1. Identify the essentials of the unit/ study. Creating a

2. Identify one or more formats or “packaging options”. powerful product
assignment
3. Determine expectations for quality in content, process
and product.
4. Decide on scaffolding you may need to build in order
to promote success.
5. Develop a product assignment that clearly says to the
students.
6. Differentiate or modify versions of the assignment
based on student readiness, interest and learning
profile.
7. Coach for success.

Tomlinson & Carol Ann, 2001

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 Thank You
Xie Xie
Nandri
Kotoluadan /Pounsikou
u n i t a r. m y
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