January 20, 2021
Good morning everyone today we are going to talk about differentiation of teaching practices in the classroom. Today I've given a sample Lesson plan on the topic of empathy in the school culture. I will go over the basics of what that Lesson plan would cover as well as how it could be modeled and geared towards students of varying levels including levels caused by English language learning or physical or learning disabilities.
To begin I'm going to cover what will happen in the classroom. Students will be tasked when they walk in to create a concept map defining the term empathy in that concept map they should include words that they associated with the word empathy as well as actions. Afterwards the students will be paired to share their ideas of what empathy is. As a team they will then look for the best examples that they could find of what empathy is through the form of a picture this could be searched on Internet or it could be taken from their own reels of photos from their camera it's up to the technology in the classroom. They will then be paired into groups of varying levels and share their picture with that group the group should be around four or five students they will discuss how these pictures represent empathy and what their ideas of empathy are they the same as other groups or not? They will then choose the best representation of empathy from the paired groups to the larger group and create a presentation to the rest of the class explaining why this best represents what empathy is. After the presentations are done the students as a class will vote for which picture represents empathy the best that students will then give that picture to the teacher who will print it out as a poster in to be posted in the classroom as a reminder of what empathy is. By the end of class students should be able to identify what empathy is they can model what it is like to be empathetic towards others and plan to show how they can be empathetic towards others in school
the way that this will be differentiated in class depends on the learners of any classroom for this I've used the model that there are six English language learners and there are five with physical disabilities with four with learning disabilities one of those with learning disabilities is also an English language learner. The way I could differentiate to these different groups is so that it's a small tweak that would be go unnoticed, but it would be helpful to those groups. for example, the ELL students will have the definition of empathy on the board. They will also through sharing their concept Maps with a partner will be able to compare their thoughts of what empathy is to what their partners thoughts of what empathy is so that they can self-correct if this does not work it could also happen in the latter group stage when they are sharing why their pictures are of the best examples of empathy. For those with physical disabilities such as paralysis hearing impairment or blindness they will be seated closer to the speaker if they have hearing impairment or ambulatory disabilities. Instructions will be written on the board and or PowerPoint presentation. An auditory device with a recording of the instructions will be given to the blind student. Those with learning disabilities will be monitored as much as the ELL students. These students will be asked to check in with the teacher between each transition into group works to make sure that they are on task. The whole time the teacher should be monitoring closely the group work and be giving groups guiding questions period these guiding questions could take the form of ‘how does that make you feel?’ ‘why is empathy important?’ ‘how can we show empathy in our schools?’.
This has been a fun exercise in how to differentiate class group work settings for multiple different learners within the same class if you have any questions or comments or inputs always feel free to leave a comment below. Have a great day!
Grade 10 Ethics
Lesson Objectives:
1. Students can identify what empathy is.
2. Students can model ways in being empathetic towards each other.
3. Students plan on how to empathetic towards others at our school.
Lesson:
Period 1
Students individually make concept maps on what empathy is while drawing examples. (10 minutes)
Students then share their maps with a partner. (5 minutes)
Partners than look for or take pictures of examples of empathy (internet or camera) (10 minutes)
Partners share their work with a group of 5 students (5minutes).
Period 2
Group decides which partners photo is the best example of empathy: (5 minutes)
Group presents photo to class and explains why it is the best example of empathy. (20 minutes)
Class decides which group had the best example. That example is then sent to the teacher to printout and make a poster to be hung on the wall. (5 minutes)
Homework: Reflection on how empathy is an important value to have in a school’s culture
Differentiation:
ELL: definition of empathy will be shown through a power point presentation with pictures modelling empathetic acts. Teacher monitoring the room will check in with ELL students while they are mapping the concept.
Physical Disabilities: Students with hearing impairment will have instructions written and posted through the power point presentation and be seated close to the instructor. Student with vision impairments will receive an audio recording of the instructions that have been given orally. Those with ambulatory difficulties will be seated at the front of the class for ease of access to the instructor.
Learning difficulties: Students with learning difficulties will be monitored by the instructor and given similar support as the ELL students. Those with ADHD will be asked to report to the teacher their findings after each interval.
References
“5. Pre-Assessment Ideas - Differentiation & LR Information for SAS Teachers.” Google Sites, sites.google.com/site/lrtsas/differentiation/5-preassessment-ideas.
Ascd. “Differentiation: It Starts with Pre-Assessment.” Differentiation: It Starts with Pre- Assessment - Educational Leadership,
www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/dec13/vol71/num04/Differentiation@_It_St arts_with_Pre-Assessment.aspx.
“Assessment: In Depth.” Reading Rockets, 16 Oct. 2020, www.readingrockets.org/teaching/reading101- course/modules/assessment/assessment-depth#top.