Teaching · For Teachers

Differentiated Instruction Planner

Plan one goal with more than one route: tiers from this week's evidence, equally good tasks, and time with the teacher where it is needed most.

Start a planWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the For Teachers toolkit, $79 for 92 items.

Plans

Each plan keeps the goal, the tiers and a timed lesson. Load the worked example to see a 55-minute lesson in three tiers.

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What you get

Teaching · For Teachers$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A lesson plan with one goal, what changes (content, process, product or environment), the basis, the pre-assessment and each tier's task and support; a timeline that adds up against the lesson and shows student work time; six checks marked ready, not yet or not needed; and a run sheet with the tier table to print.
Who it is for
Classroom teachers of mixed-readiness classes, grades 2 to 12, and the specialists who plan with them.
Format
Browser tool with a saved record per lesson plan. Prints a run sheet with clock times, the full lesson plan, every lesson plan in a table or a blank form; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the For Teachers toolkit ($79) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The For Teachers space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Write one goal.
  2. Choose what changes and the basis.
  3. Describe each tier.
  4. Lay out the lesson and mark the checks.
  5. Print the run sheet with the tiers.

Start a plan

Differentiation that keeps the goal the same

One goal, three tiers of the same taskTierText or problemSupportProductSupportShorter passageGuided with the teacherTheme with one quoteOn targetGrade-level passagePartner and organizerTheme with two quotesStretchGrade-level passageNone; added questionTheme and how it buildsOne goal, three tiers of the same taskSupportText or problem: Shorter passageSupport: Guided with the teacherProduct: Theme with one quoteOn targetText or problem: Grade-level passageSupport: Partner and organizerProduct: Theme with two quotesStretchText or problem: Grade-level passageSupport: None; added questionProduct: Theme and how it builds
All three tiers aim at the same goal, finding a theme and supporting it. The text, the support and the depth change; the goal does not.

The core of it

Differentiated instruction adjusts content, process, product or the learning environment to students' readiness, interests or ways of working, while every student works toward the same goal. Tiers are set from recent evidence and change as that evidence changes.

Where the minutes go

The planner measures the time students spend on their tier and with the teacher in a small group. A lesson that is mostly whole-class teaching with a tiered worksheet at the end is not yet differentiated.

Sources

  1. Tomlinson, C. A. (2014). The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners (2nd ed.). ASCD.
  2. Tomlinson, C. A., and Imbeau, M. B. (2010). Leading and Managing a Differentiated Classroom. ASCD.
  3. Black, P., and Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the black box: raising standards through classroom assessment. Phi Delta Kappan, 80(2), 139-148.
  4. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Harvard University Press.

The worked examples are made up. The 60 percent and 20-minute flags are planning rules of thumb. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.