Sandra Cultrera
Primary School Teacher
1. Know students & how they learn
Relationships are the first step to being able to differentiate teaching and learning
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Not simply through data results as a base, but starting with what they already know.
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Building upon this and plan for strategies to accommodate for students across a range of abilities.
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Integrating subjects to create new understandings: using a range of skills from Literacy, Mathematics, Art and Humanities.
Whilst in the grade 5 and 6 classroom, I was able to differentiate my teaching in a variety of ways that not only set clear learning focuses for the class as a whole, but also allowed for certain students to push themselves to reach their highest potential, and accommodated for those who naturally go beyond these learning focuses and objectives.
The ways in which I did this were simple and subtle in order to maintain social equity within my classroom environment. My lessons therefore consisted of tasks that could be expanded for those who could excel, and those who completed learning outcomes to standard or below. I did this with the use of resources such as ‘Process of Writing Cards’, Venn Diagrams, ‘Reflection Cards’ and my use of the Smart Board for visual representations. I also was able to differentiate my teaching and learning through preparing mathematics lessons that had extension activities for those who completed tasks quickly, and the use of whole class self correction of their work with my guidance.
The Process of Writing Cards were an extremely helpful tool when differentiating teaching and learning. They allowed for me to demonstrate the writing process in a range of writing genres such as exposition and informative pieces, especially the planning aspect. However, as the students began practicing their writing, some students who did excel were given the opportunity to plan minimally and go straight on with their writing in the composing and recording stages. The Process of Writing Stages were always present as a visual when doing a piece of writing, especially for those students needed to see and be reminded of the step by step process.
I also modelled the use of dictionaries whilst ‘Revising’ our work for those who were still practicing using a dictionary, in order to cover the basic foundations for students who needed extra guided assistance, compared to those students who had already consolidated the skill of using a dictionary.
Venn Diagrams allowed me to differentiate teaching, as not only was it a useful visual representation of information for students, but it was able to be expanded upon by students who had the ability to go further with their learning and presentation of their own. Before I introduced a two circle Venn Diagram during my second Religious Education lesson, I first demonstrated the use of a table to symbolise a simple version of presentation. As the lessons went further, I introduced two circle Venn Diagrams, then moved onto three circles. Venn Diagrams complimented my unit of Religious Education as the class and I were comparing three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. This allowed for students of a range of abilities to use the Venn Diagram to their own understanding with the assistance of our whole class discussions and activities.
Commercial Road Primary: Grade 3 / 4
During the Inquiry Program at Commercial Road Primary, I was presented with an opportunity to experience Inquiry Based Learning and the strategies that a team of teachers from three grade 3/ 4 classes, including myself as a student teacher, were able to implement.

The whole cohort of grade 3 and 4 students came from an extreme range of various abilities, therefore by using the Inquiry Based learning allowed for students to not only work on a project that interested them around an Indigenous Education theme, but at their own level of understanding. Students were able to present their inquiry questions any way they wished using a range of sources and technology.
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The Inquiry Program was a place based unit of work, whereby students were given a place-based experience in order to ignite student inquiry into what they were interested in learning about in regards to that place. The place that the students were introduced to was the Morwell River Wetlands that encompassed within it Indigenous culture and heritage. This was called the ‘Tuning In’ stage. From this experience, students were conferenced in regards to what they wanted to learn, and then put into groups that had the same learning theme, for example: The Dreamtime group (my group), Aborigines in sports and the Colonisation. Therefore this aided children’s learning as they were with others with similar interests. Through conferencing and lessons that I conducted within my group of nine children was where differentiated learning took place through the variety of ways students could present their work at their own emotional, physical, social and intellectual level.
I believe that in order to be able to differentiate learning and teaching to accommodate for a full range of abilities, myself as a teacher must first gain knowledge and understanding of student’s sociocultural backgrounds, social status within the classroom and beyond, and their emotional and intellectual capacities. This process takes place not only through engagement with students and building upon what they already know about a certain topic, but through engagement with parents and carers also.
Relationships with students are essential in learning how to differentiate teaching practice within the classroom. Differentiating teaching to meet the needs of a range of student abilities requires skill in order to maintain inclusivity within a learning space.
Teaching composite classes like grade one and two have encouraged me to create differentiated learning sequences, particularly within Literacy and Numeracy. I have had experience with gifted children whom needed extension and children who are well below their level standard according to data results from various testing such as MAI (Maths Assessment Interview), Fountas and Pennell and Literacy Observational surveys. Conducting assessments such as these has allowed me to use data in order to create differentiated learning sequences and conduct assessments throughout these sequences to track their success.
Within all my planning, particularly weekly planners, my differentiation of learning is present. Inclusivity within these are maintained by creating a whole class focus and then a branch of differentiated activities.
In order to accommodate for the range of abilities in the classroom, I provide supportive materials and visuals to create a confidence within the learning and working environment. Once there is a community of support, children feel free to take risks, make mistakes and apply problem solving skills to all learning areas.
These materials range from ICT and Interactive whitboard use, mathematical materials, thinking tools and anchor charts.
'Behind the Door' retell tools were a very simple way to differentiate. By adding more doors students who needed to be extended used their tool as a plan to writing a well-developed retell or narrative using full sentences and paragraphs.
If students can apply a story/content to themselves, their comprehension of it can be improved. The text- to- self- connection by Stephanie Harvey (tite of text) is one way of doing this with any text. This too can be differentiated by adding lines for writing and picture boxes.
By providing a number of ways to understand one concept or idea, students are more likely to grasp one and accept and be flexible with more.
Children can successfully learn if learning tasks have a purpose to them. Making learning and the reasons behind it visible to students gives them resposiblilty behind their own personal learning. Questioning children about the reasons why we do something is just one simple way of achieving purpose behind learning. Contemporary learning specialists Jo Osler and Tamina Taylor have worked with many schools within the Sale Diocese Victoria, including my own, in regards to creating independent thinkers and learners beginning in the primary junior years.
As the students were exposed to a range of thinking and learning tools, by the end of Term 2, grade 1/2 were deciding which thinking tool to use to present their thinking of a variety of topics within Literacy including different styles of writing such as Narratives, Retells and Recounts.
Graduate teacher, 2014 to present.
Third year practicum, 2013.
 Thinking Tools WallAs students engage with different thinking tools, they then go up on display so that students are reminded about how to use them. |  Thinking Tools TemplatesThese are always accessible for students for all learning experiences. |  Learning after Learning TaskChildren decided what learning tasks they would go on with after finishing a particular task. |
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