Tips for Using Differentiated Leveled Practices in your Math Classroom

A tiered assignment or "leveled practice" is a differentiation strategy designed to ensure that all learners work with critical knowledge, understanding and skills that are essential the assignment but at varying degrees of difficulty that is appropriately challenge to the individual student.

The goal of a tiered assignment is to ensure that each student has to stretch a bit to complete the work but is able to do with appropriate effort and support.

In a differentiated classroom, a teacher uses varied leveled of tasks to ensure that all students explore ideas and use skills at a level that builds on what they already know and encourages growth. While students work at varied degrees of difficulty on their tasks, they all explore the same essential ideas and work at different levels of thought. 

Tiered Lessons Are: 

•  A form of differentiation
•  Driven by pre-assessment
•  Assignments that provide equally interesting and engaging activities for all learners
•  Fair in terms of work expectations and time needed (not simply more or less work) 

Tiered Lessons Are NOT: 

•  The only kind of differentiation, although it is foundational starting point
•  Locking students into “ability boxes” because groupings should be flexible and vary according to the academic tasks 

Tiering can be based on challenge level, complexity, resources, outcome, process or product (Hexacon, 2002)

• By Challenge Level: You can use Bloom’s Taxonomy as a guide to develop task at various challenge levels:
• By Complexity: When you tier an assignment by complexity, you provide varied tasks that address a student’s level of readiness.
• By Resources: This method is when a teachers uses materials at various reading level levels and complexity to tier the lesson by resources.
• By Outcome: From basic to advance tasks. Students all use the same materials but what they do with the material is different.
• By Process: Students work on the same outcomes but use a different process to get there.
• By Product: Student produces reflect their learning preference and interest. You can use Garner’s multiple intelligences as a guide

Like peeling back the layers of an onion, unpacking a learning standards can help uncover various levels of information that is key for differentiation. I would highly suggest using the following questions to a guide the  process of unpacking a learning standard. It would also be very useful to complete this template as a math department, grade-level team or co-teaching team.

Here are four helpful questions to ask when examining a learning standard from your state or a specific learning goal from a curriculum:

1. What thinking processes are involved? (Check the verbs: analyze, compare and contrast, investigate, demonstrate, and so on.)
2. What key vocabulary must be learned?
3. Can you identify what the thinking level/depth of knowledge would be for a student? Thorough reading of standards will tell if there are several steps or methods of understanding that students must demonstrate.
4. What kind of supports can a student access? For example, can a calculator be used? Will Internet or primary resources be accessible?

Another great resource to use while taking a closer look at a learning standard is the following pdf titled “Glossary of Verbs Associated with the New York State Next Generation Mathematics Learning Standards”. Although this particular resource focuses on the verbs included in New York State Standards it can be use to unpack a learning standard in another state. This document outlines the key vocabulary that is used in these learning standards and what they mean in a math context. Meaning, if you wanted to know what it truly means for a student to “analyze” in math or “justify” in math, you can take a look at the link above. 

1- Think about Outcomes:

•  Select learning goals. This could be based on upcoming learning standards in the curriculum or a particular skill that is essential for all students.

2- Think about your Students:

• Pre-Assess students’ grasp of those goals. Here are a couple ways you can get some data on what student’s already know: 
• Exit Ticket
• Observation
• Interest Survey
• Any other formative assessment data you have on this particular skill/learning goal

3- Think of a Base Activity:

• This will be a common experiences for all students to initiate the lessons. Here are a couple ways to begin your tiered lesson:

•  Problem of the Day
•  Frontload Vocabulary
•  Error Analysis Sample Problem
•  Explicit Mini Lesson with Direct Instruction

4- Create Tiered/ Scaffolded Assignments:

• Design several equally respectable tasks to meet the same learning goals with varying degrees of challenge and support

•  Tier 1 (Below Grade Level): It can be helpful to break apart abstract and difficult concepts into smaller chunks for students. You can include intentional visual aids and meaningful prompts to help support students understand difficult concepts without them becoming frustrated.
•  Tier 2 (On Grade Level): On- Grade level students benefit from tiered assignments because the task you create for them provide the right amount of challenge and are neither too difficult or too easy for them.
•  Tier 3 (Above Grade Level): Look for ways to make this task a bit more complex and challenging for them. You may want to add open-ended or research-based activities. Students who are above grade level benefit from tiered assignments because they are provided a learning experience that challenges them to think critically and creatively. 

Examples of Differentiated Leveled Practice for Algebra 1

If you’re interested in implementing tiered assignments in your math lass but do not have the time to reinvent the wheel check out these differentiated practice activities for Algebra 1. You can click on the hyperlinks provided or the images.

• Properties of Real Numbers: 3 Levels
• Solving Multi Step Equations: 3 Levels
• Solving Inequalities: 3 Levels
• Identifying Functions: 3 Levels 
• Evaluating Functiond: 3 Levels

Talk Soon Teacher Besties!

Stephanie Marrero

 Founder & CEO of Algebra Made Simple LLC

✏️ Website: workshops.algebramadesimple.com 

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*Differentiating Instruction in the Regular Classroom: How to Reach and Teach all Learners, Grades 3 -12, Diane Heacox, EdD, Free Spirit Publishing