Jennifer Zaffetti

Professor Little

Strategies for Differentiating the Grade Level Curriculum

August 7, 2016

Tiered Assignment

Instructional Objectives/Preparation and Readiness

For this assignment, I have chosen to modify an existing lesson plan on sequencing.
While researching lesson plans for elementary school students, I found ReadWorks.org, a
website that offers teachers sample lessons and units that are suitable for grades K-6. I chose a
lesson plan for first graders that adheres to the Common Core English Language Arts Standard
of, “Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message
or lesson” (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2). The objective of this lesson, taken directly from the
original lesson plan is: Students will “use sequence words to retell a story.” Students will be
assigned tiers based on their level of readiness. Tier one will be for students of lower readiness,
tier two will be for students of grade readiness, and tier three will be for students of higher
readiness. After the completion of this lesson, students should have a better understanding of
how to appropriately retell a story using the key words: first, next, then, and last.

Source of the original lesson plan: http://www.readworks.org/lessons/grade1/sequence/lesson-3

Introduction

The teacher will begin the lesson by asking students if they know the definition of
“sequence words,” or if they could share examples of sequence words. The teacher will then
explain how sequence words are used to order the events that happen in a story. After having a
whole class discussion, the teacher will read My Apron by Eric Carle. The teacher will model
how to appropriately retell a story by retelling My Apron using the following sequence words:
first, next, then, and last. From there, the teacher will read Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin
Henkes. Once the story is finished, each student will be assigned to a tier based on their level of
readiness. The students will gather into three groups (one group for each tier), and then,
independently, complete a given assignment that is best suited according to their level of
readiness.

Materials: My Apron by Eric Carle, Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes, the three tiered
assignments listed below, Kitten’s First Full Moon Exit Ticket, and pencils
Description of Each Tier in the Assignment Structure

Tier One

Students in tier one will be expected to remember the events of Kitten’s First Full Moon.
They must complete the following worksheet:

The directions ask students to correctly sequence the events of the story by labeling each
picture with either first, next, then, or last.

Source of images: Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes

 Tier Two

Students in tier two will be expected to recount the events of Kitten’s First Full Moon.
They must complete the following worksheet:

The directions ask students to create four pictures to sequence the story. The students
must then appropriately fill in the words, first, next, then, and last, in the blank spaces
underneath each picture.

Source: http://www.readworks.org/lessons/grade1/sequence/lesson-3
 Tier Three

Students in tier three will be expected to apply their understanding of sequencing words
to create their own story:

The directions ask students to get creative by imagining themselves as the kitten from
Kitten’s First Full Moon. They must draw and label four pictures as a way to retell their
adventure. Afterwards, they must then appropriately fill in the words, first, next, then, and last, in
the blank spaces underneath each picture. When designing this assignment, I was sure to add
“Caution” so that students would be aware that their adventure must be clearly sequenced
(pictorially) for the reader to follow.
Closing Activity/Description of Assessment Process

In order to assess whether or not students have met the objective (successfully using
sequence words to retell a story) I have created the following exit ticket:

While creating the exit ticket, I referred back to chapter three of Fair Isn’t Always Equal.
According to Wormeli, the exit ticket, which is a summative assessment, must “match objectives
and experiences” (27). I purposefully connected the start of the lesson back to the end of the
lesson by asking students to list four sequencing words. The teacher can determine the success of
the lesson based on how many students are able to correctly answer the exit ticket questions. As
for grading, the teacher must assess the student’s assignment and not the student’s exit ticket. The
teacher should be grading the assignment based on accuracy- how many questions did the
student answer correctly? Instead of just writing a letter grade, the teacher should also provide a
grade interpretation which Wormeli describes as, “the process [the teacher] went through to
create the interpretation for the student” (93). However, the grade interpretation would be more
beneficial to tiers two and three in which the teacher must judge the student’s work. As
mentioned previously, the exit ticket should not be graded. The teacher should use the tickets to
assess her own teaching. The students’ answers reflect whether or not the lesson plan was
effective.

Source of exit ticket template: http://quotesgram.com/quotes-exit-tickets/

Additionally, the lesson plan involves students working independently so that the teacher
is available to roam around the classroom and address any questions as needed. While the
teacher is roaming, she can make observations on student progress. The teacher must be open to
flexible grouping. If the teacher observes a student struggling with the tier three assignment, then
the teacher should provide that student with the tier two assignment. The article, “Flexible
Instructional Grouping,” describes how “Students are grouped according to their learning needs,
strengths, and preferences. Grouping is changed regularly to match student needs to the task at
hand” (86). Consequently, for this lesson plan, the teacher must be willing to change the tiers
(based on levels of readiness) of students in order to match the needs of students.

Tier Analysis

I wanted to avoid having any “fluff” assignments. Each tiered assignment relates back to
the learning objective of using sequencing words to tell a story. In fact, all of the directions
include either the term, “sequence words” or the actual sequence words of “first, then, next, and
last;” this inclusion reminds students of the learning objective and keeps them focused on the
learning goal. In regards to how the tiers differ, referring to Tomlinson’s equalizer, tier one is
more structured while tier three is more open. According to How to Differentiate Instruction in
Mixed-Ability Classrooms, tier one is “fairly well laid out for [students], where they don’t have
too many decisions to make” (48). These students are simply piecing together the events of the
story using pictures. On the contrary, tier three is “ready to explore… when modeling has served
its purpose, it’s time to branch out and get creative” (48). These students are creating their own
adventures as if they were the kitten from the story, and then using sequence words to explain
their adventures. As a way to ensure that the three tiers are appropriately differentiated, I returned
to chapter five of Fair Isn’t Always Equal. Wormeli advises teachers to “avoid a potential pitfall
with tiering, {by being] sure to stay focused on one concept or task” (57). For this lesson plan, I
stayed focused on the concept of using sequencing words to retell stories. Wormeli goes on to
discuss ways “to increase the complexity of an assignment” by encouraging teachers to
“manipulate information rather than just echo it” (57). I wanted to avoid increasing just the
volume of the work for more advanced students, so I took Wormeli’s advice and manipulated the
information about sequencing words to create three separately tiered assignments to match three
separate levels of student readiness.