Differentiating Lesson Plans to Meet Students' Needs. Objective: "Students can draw a line of be...

1. Student 1: Eleni

1.1. Learning Profile:

1.1.1. Description

1.1.1.1. Eleni is very intelligent and empathetic student, who often asks incisive questions. Her assignments often include an artistic component (whether images are required or not). Eleni has significant parental support; although both parents work full-time, they are fully engaged with her schooling.

1.1.2. Readiness

1.1.2.1. Eleni has been a student at BIS for 4.5 years (since 2nd grade). Her previous schooling has prepared her well for the challenges of the 6th grade.

1.1.3. Interests

1.1.3.1. Eleni loves drawing and sketching, and wants to be an architect or a designer when she grows up. She loves horses, although has never ridden one, and has two younger brothers of whom she is very protective.

1.1.4. Barriers to Learning

1.1.4.1. Eleni may not be sufficiently challenged by the material as presented to the whole class.

1.2. Teaching Strategies to Meet Objective:

1.2.1. 1. Challenge Eleni to reflect on her best-fit drawing process: how she holds the pen, where she starts, what it feels like. Ask her to present her findings to the class, either as a demonstration (which can be recorded on the Smartboard) or by making an instructional video (uploaded to YouTube). If successful, this can then be used to "flip the classroom" for another class / subsequent years, and can be used as a class resource.

1.2.2. 2. Appoint Eleni as a peer tutor for students who are struggling with this skill.

2. Student 2: Jay

2.1. Learning Profile:

2.1.1. Description

2.1.1.1. Jay has ADHD and has problems concentrating and sitting still in class. He sometimes disrupts the class with unprompted outbursts. He also has difficulty getting himself organised for class, forgetting required materials or preparation. Jay's mother is very involved in his schooling and communicates frequently with his teachers.

2.1.2. Readiness

2.1.2.1. Jay has been attending BIS for the last 1.5 years. Before coming to BIS, he attended public school in the USA. He has had some problems adjusting to the IB MYP system, but his grades are now starting to improve.

2.1.3. Interests

2.1.3.1. Jay is a huge football fan, and many of his interruptions to class include arguments about football teams or WWE wrestlers. He enjoys being able to explain something to the class, but rarely gets the opportunity due to his attention problems - he often realises too late that he could contribute to the discussion. He loves his family dog, but she had to be left behind in the US.

2.1.4. Barriers to Learning

2.1.4.1. Jay's concentration problems cause him to be slow to finish his work. He also often comes unprepared to class and has problems organising himself. Despite this, his work has been improving, but he must be supported to continue this upward trajectory.

2.2. Teaching Strategies to Meet Objective:

2.2.1. 1. Use a timer for group or individual tasks when practicing drawing the line of best fit. This will help Jay keep his concentration for the duration of the task (it will be easier for him to stay on track if he knows there's only two minutes left).

2.2.2. 2. Give Jay advance notice that he will be called on later in the class to explain how to draw the line correctly. This will give him time to think about what he wants to say, and will help him stay engaged, as he is keen to demonstrate his knowledge.

2.2.3. 3. Use football statistics to generate data for the example graphs, in order to engage Jay in the process. For example, the distance covered by a specific footballer in subsequent matches can be graphed and plotted. Or, the distance from the goal can be plotted against the percentage of on-target shots, and the line of best fit can be drawn to determine the relationship between these variables.

2.2.4. 4. Put a foam mat underneath Jay's desk. This ensures that when he jiggles his leg or taps his foot while working, he doesn't disturb the class with the noise it makes.

3. Student 3: Euan

3.1. Learning Profile:

3.1.1. Description

3.1.1.1. Euan is an ELL student who needs significant scaffolding to understand the 6th-grade Science material. Although he rarely has problems communicating verbally, Euan has a limited subject-specific vocabulary. His parents both have limited English skills and communicate with the school through an interpreter.

3.1.2. Readiness

3.1.2.1. Although he is bright, Euan's knowledge of Science topics is limited. He moved to Germany from Japan 4 months ago, and his previous school did not teach Science until the 8th grade.

3.1.3. Interests

3.1.3.1. According to his intake profile, Euan enjoys music and playing football, although he does not express his interest in these topics during class.

3.1.4. Barriers to Learning

3.1.4.1. Euan's science-specific vocabulary is poor and this leads him to struggle to understand the concepts we discuss in class. He is behind the rest of the class in terms of understanding basic scientific principles (solids, liquids and gases, phase changes, etc).

3.2. Teaching Strategies to Meet Objective:

3.2.1. 1. When asking questions in class, writing the question on the Smartboard provides a verbal and written version of the question, so Euan can use Google Translate on his phone to look up words he doesn't know. Another way to achieve this is to use Socrative Teacher to poll the class, which allows him to translate the question AND his answer if necessary.

3.2.2. 2. Use many different examples of best-fit lines, good and bad, and invite the class to comment on the differences between a good and bad line of best fit. This visual comparison will allow Euan to get a "feel for it", even if he finds it difficult to describe.

3.2.3. 3. Euan can be provided with a digital graphical organiser, putting the current unit in the context of the wider curriculum and providing "flipped-classroom" tools (BrainPop, TedEd) to gain background on the major topics he's missed.