Differentiation

Facts and Information:

• The U.S. population lives in multiple places, which can be grouped into three major categories: urban, suburban, and rural areas.

• Urban areas, or cities, are land areas with many buildings and other structures used for residences, businesses, and industrial sites. Urban most often utilize public transportation, such as buses, subways, or trains and also have high population densities. Buildings are often located closer together and higher than buildings in suburban or rural areas.

• Suburban areas are on the outside of cities. People residing in suburban areas usually commute to the cities for jobs. Sometimes suburban areas have trains and buses that bring people to and from the cities. Buildings in suburban communities are usually lower and farther apart than buildings in cities. The suburbs offer the same services as cities, including schools, health care facilities, and public works.

• Rural areas are large amounts of land with lower populations than urban or suburban areas. Buildings are usually far apart and some rural communities share hospitals or schools. Rural communities can be far from urban areas. Rural communities can be farmland, but also include woodland forests, plains, deserts, and prairies.

What Students Should Understand

• The differences between Urban, Suburban and Rural communities in terms of building density, population density, animals, environment.

• Why people congregate in certain areas; access to water, ports, desirable weather, etc.

• Where most food is grown and how the system of transport takes place.

• The reasons why people transport to work or school from their homes.

What Students Should Be Able to Do

• Conduct guided research via the library or internet in order to study their community’s past. Describe the transition from rural, to suburban, etc., and population growth. Analyze how the community has changed over time.

• Design their own “community,” based upon their knowledge of the three main areas. Students should be able to draw icons and various objects associated with each community.

• Verbally compare and contrast the three main areas. Be able to discuss ideas such as population density (tightly compacted in city, each successive area is spread out more than previous area)

• Become familiar with the associated vocabulary terms.

• Express the key ideas and vocabulary in writing, sharing their family’s journey to the community, and if they have ever lived in an alternate type of community.

Strategies for Various Learning Needs

• Compacting for gifted and talented students:

These students will be assessed prior to beginning of unit via method of an online multiple choice test to determine his/her level of knowledge on the material to be studied and determine what he/she still needs to master.

Once knowledge of material has been assessed, create alternative plans for what the student needs to know, and excuse the student from studying what he/she already knows. Examples could include excluding the students from vocabulary tests, or portions of writing assignments.

Create plans for freed-up time to be spent in enriched or accelerated study. Plans could include assigning a more difficult writing assignment which falls under the subject of city, suburban, rural. In addition, a more-detailed map assignment could be given.

• Tiered assignments for students performing below grade level:

These students are assessed via initial assessment methods to test previous knowledge. This will be provided via online multiple question, fill-in-blank assessments. Assessments will also be based upon previous writing assignments and samples, projects, etc. Students will be instructed on essential skills that are provided at different levels of complexity, abstractness, and open-endedness. The curricular content and Objectives are the same, but the process and/or product are varied according to the student's level of readiness. The corresponding lessons would:

Focus task on a key concept such as verbalizing the differences between the communities.

Use a variety of resource materials at different levels of complexity and associated with different learning modalities, such as online interactive games, videos with simpler details and vocabulary

Adjust task by complexity, abstractness, number of steps, concreteness, and independence to ensure challenge and not frustration. This will include allowing the students to write smaller writing assignments, simpler sentence structure, paying attention to “big ideas” versus picking apart grammar and spelling, allowing more basic drawings of their communities.

• Independent Study/Contracts

The student and teacher identify a topic of interest to the student, which will fulfill the stated standard. If the topic is an alternate topic, together they plan a method of investigating the topic and decide upon the outcome of the independent study. The result of the project will be based on the needs of the student and the curricular content. Guided by the teacher and structured by timelines, process logs and/or journals, the student documents the process and completes his or her own research on the topic and develops a product to share with classmates. This student will relate their topic to the topic presented in class, in order to create a cohesive unit within the classroom.

• Learning centers for ELL students and students performing below grade level

A learning center is a classroom area that contains a collection of activities and/or materials designed to teach, reinforce or extend a particular skill. These centers will include enrichment in vocabulary and sentence structure, which will in-turn help these students construct their writing assignments. This can include online learning activities, activity books, and assistance in working on their assignments (a classroom aid or volunteer will help with this).

Focus on important learning goals such as being able to describe the three areas, in simple sentence structures if necessary, visually represent the areas in their own “communities.”

Include activities that vary from simple to complex

Provide clear directions

Have a record keeping system

Address a wide range of reading levels, learning profiles, and student interests

Include activities that vary from simple to complex

Provide clear directions

Have a record keeping system

Adjusting questions

Flexible Grouping

Adjusting questions- sample question structures for multiple learners

• For basic learners: What type of community do you live in? Do you know any friends or family in a different type of community?

• For more advanced learners: Tell me about a time when you've taken a trip to another type of community. What did the journey look like?

• For the most advanced learners: Why do you think it’s important to have various types of communities? Can you imagine what life would be like if only one type of community existed? What would our lives be like?

• For basic learners: Describe what you think it would be like to walk through the streets of a busy city. What types of sounds would you hear? Would it be noisy or quiet? Would the sidewalks be typically crowded?

• For more advanced learners: Tell me why the stars at night are not as visible as when you are out in the rural areas. .