Salus Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 hi all can someone offer some clarification to me. what is differentiation? can you share an example and what are learning styles (example?) and are they linked to differentiation? many thanks Sal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helen Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Hello Salus, Have you found our articles? Here's one that would be a good introduction to learning styles. :1b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 differentiation is changing the 'activity' to suit the needs of the child. for example a game of dominoes might have several options (pictures for the younger ones, spots for the next group, numerals for the next or even sums for the older ones ) this is a very simplified example but as you can see you are not offering exactly the same thing for the whole group, you are adapting to their ability(for those who need more help and for those who need more challenge) sometimes differentiation can be just verbal as in the amount of instruction given or the words used too 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodlands1997 Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Yep as finleysmaid said and we sometimes differentiate by outcome too so the opportunity/ activity might be the same for all eg giving lots of resources and flowers to look at (just made this up!) to create a representation of a flower but you would expect different outcomes depending on age/ability! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catma Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 What it isn't is giving more of the same, ie practising the same maths operation but just more of them for the more able. Cx 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salus Posted June 21, 2014 Author Share Posted June 21, 2014 thank you for that article and your comments. so could i differentiate an activity based on chidlrens' learning styles?if so, what would be an example? and form my understanding on CoEL, they are about HOW a child learns. Learning styles are also abut HOW a child learns and engages so what's the difference? lastly, would i need to document on the weekly plans how i differentiate activities for children? many thanks for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I suppose a visual learner would be quite happy watching and would gain as much from an activity as a kinaesthetic learner who has to be hands on. It's just knowing your children. It's a useful team exercise to try to categorise the children and it then really focuses the mind when you are planning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beau Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 The whole idea of learning styles has essentially been debunked. Offer everything in a variety of ways for the greatest success for every child. It's more important to be sensitive to an individual child in terms of how long they can concentrate, do they like to move around, do they prefer a quiet environment etc. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/finding_common_ground/2014/04/the_myth_of_learning_styles.html?intc=mrs 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Interesting reading, thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salus Posted June 22, 2014 Author Share Posted June 22, 2014 Thank you for that, very interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 surely if we make the environment engaging with a varied selection of activities some linked this would allow all the children to have the opportunity to learn. We have children who don't like getting dirty but when we introduced mud well they are in there with the rest of them. I don't like the idea of putting children's learning into little boxes. they need new experiences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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