Differentiated Instruction
Differentiated instruction is the manner in which each teacher modifies the core curriculum and designs strategies to
address the unique needs of gifted students.
Differentiation of curriculum is dependent on these principles:
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Differentiation is based on the core or basic curriculum.
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Differentiation is affected by the dimensions of depth, complexity, novelty, and acceleration.
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Differentiation should be an integral part of, rather than an adjunct to, the core curriculum.
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Differentiation modifies what students will know (content), how students will think (critical, creative, and
problem-solving skills or processes), how students will access and use resources (research skills) and how
students will summarize and share their learning (products).
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Differentiation should be available to gifted and advanced students as well as any other students who evidence a
readiness for the same experience.
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Differentiation can be facilitated through flexible grouping and regrouping of students for each task or group of
tasks based on need, interest, and ability.
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Differentiation should be provided consistently and should be accompanied by high standards of performance.
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Differentiation must include teacher instruction and should not be assumed to be self-taught by students.
One way in which differentiated instruction is accomplished is through the integration of the depth and complexity of
principles, theories, and generalizations into the core curriculum. SAUSD GATE curriculum is structured
around iconic teaching which means that our teachers utilize icons, or symbols, which represent the different aspects
of depth and complexity.
Below, you will find a brief description of the elements of depth and complexity , along with their easily identifiable
icons that are useful in the classroom.
Depth
Complexity
Depth
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Identify the Rules:
Through the use of this icon, students are instructed on how to define the organizational elements affecting the
specific curriculum which is being studied. This process requires the identification and description of
factors, either human-made or natural, which affect the information at hand.
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Statement of Trends:
This icon encourages the identification of changes over time. Students are instructed on how to note
factors or events - social, political, economic, geographic - that cause effects to occur or happen.
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Ethical Considerations:
Students are instructed to identify and analyze the possible rights and wrongs of a given idea or
event. This allows them to determine the elements that reflect bias, prejudice and
discrimination. Through this focus on ethics, students develop the ability to state pro and con arguments
in terms of ethics.
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Note the Patterns:
This icon is used to instruct the students to identify the recurring elements or repeated factors of an event or
idea. It also focuses on the order of events which occur. Finally, students are asked to identify the
pattern and to predict what comes next.
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Recognize the Details:
This icon involves elaboration of an idea or event. The student's ability to describe something is integral
in the learning process thus the teacher encourages the students to elaborate and describe.
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Language of the Discipline:
Instructors encourage the use of appropriate language when addressing specifics in the curriculum. Part of
being a scholar requires the use of appropriate terminology.
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Define Unanswered Questions:
What ideas are unclear? What information is unclear? What don't we know? What areas have not
been explored or proved yet? Do any of our conclusions need further evidence or support? These are
questions which arise when using this icon in discussion of an area of curriculum.
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Big Idea:
The big idea is in other words a generalization, principle or theory about the curriculum being
studied. The students are directed to:
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make a conclusion from evidence that explains a collection of facts or ideas
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explain a group of facts or ideas with a summary statement
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identify a rule or general statement based on repeated/recurring observations of data, information or
collection of ideas
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Complexity
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Over Time:
Time changes everything. This icon encourages the students to identify and describe the effects that time
has on the curriculum being studied. Since some things change throughout time and others do not, students
are asked to identify these elements. They are instructed to explain how and why things change or remain
the same.
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Multiple Perspectives:
Students are encouraged to look at ideas and events from different perspectives. It is important for the
students to understand that not everybody looks at things the same way. A common technique used to aide the
students to look through another's eyes is the use of:
Think like a(n)...
historian
anthropologist
economist
archeologist
etc.
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