Differentiated instruction is an inclusive approach that acknowledges and accommodates the diverse needs, interests, and readiness of students. Implementing differentiated instruction strategies in the classroom involves making intentional adaptations to ensure all students can access and engage with the curriculum.
Essential Differentiated Instruction Strategies
Differentiation can come in as many forms as there are learners, but a few key differentiated instructional strategies can be useful for effective planning and implementation.
- Assess Student Needs: Using ongoing assessment, progress monitoring, and observation to understand the needs, interests, and readiness of students will help you determine when differentiation is needed.
- Prepare a Bank of Activities: Designing a range of instructional activities that cater to different learning needs will provide you with options to choose from for differentiation. See the examples section below for some ideas.
- Establish Grouping Criteria: Implementing flexible grouping strategies will ensure that students are grouped in ways that support their learning. This may include whole-group instruction, small-group work, peer tutoring, or individualized instruction, depending on the task and student needs.
20 Differentiated Instruction Examples That Will Maximize Learning
The following list provides examples of differentiated instruction that you can use to ensure students have choices for the way that they learn new information, practice skills, and demonstrate understanding.
1. Choice Boards
Choice boards are visual organizers that present a variety of activities or tasks related to a particular learning objective that students can choose from based on their preferences, interests, or readiness levels. During a unit on the Revolutionary War, for instance, a choice board could present the following options for students to choose from to demonstrate their learning:
- Create a newspaper article reporting on a major event from the Revolutionary War.
- Design an infographic highlighting key figures, battles, and events.
- Write a diary entry from the perspective of a soldier or civilian during the war, describing your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
- Create a map of the 13 colonies and surrounding areas during the war with labels for important cities, battle sites, and geographic features.
- Act out a skit depicting a scene from the war with historically accurate dialogue and character development.
Try our game board of learning options that you can use for classroom centers, early finishers, and even homework assignments. Students roll a die to determine which activities to complete. We've even included a blank game board option, so you can fill in your own activity ideas if you prefer. You can also check out our choice boards for differentiating instruction and our math choice boards for elementary school.
2. Tic-Tac-Toe
Tic-tac-toe organizes tasks in a grid for students to choose from. Activities vary in complexity and format, and students choose which tasks to complete—based on their interests, strengths, or areas of growth—to achieve a “tic-tac-toe” (three tasks in a row).
3. Think-Pair-Share
Think-pair-share is a routine that allows students to engage with material at their own pace and in a supportive learning environment. Students individually consider a question or prompt, discuss their thoughts with a partner, and then share their ideas with the whole class.
4. Small-Group Instruction
Small-group instruction involves breaking the class into smaller groups based on students’ learning needs, interests, or skill levels, and providing targeted instruction or activities to each group. Flexible grouping is essential to meet students’ ever evolving needs. For example, analysis of formative assessment data may show that some students in a small group have mastered long vowel sounds and are ready to move on, while others need more intensive instruction. This would indicate a need for regrouping.
5. Tiered Assignments
Tiered assignments offer learners multiple versions of a task, allowing them to work toward the same objectives, but with different levels of support or challenge. For example, the following three assignments all have the same learning objective (students will demonstrate understanding of the life cycle of a butterfly), but with different levels of support:
- Students receive pre-cut images and labels of each stage of the butterfly life cycle to paste on a diagram.
- Students receive a diagram with blank spaces for each stage for them them to label.
- Students create a life cycle poster for a butterfly, including drawings or images and written descriptions for each stage.
6. Jigsaw Method
The jigsaw method allows students to work together in small groups to master specific content or skills, while also providing opportunities for individualized learning. Students are divided into small groups, and each group is assigned a different aspect of a larger topic to become experts on. For example, when learning about ecosystems, students could be divided into the following expert groups: food chains, climate zones, species interactions, human impact, and survival strategies. Then, students from the different groups would come together to share their expertise and develop a more complete understanding of ecosystems together.
7. Curated Content
Curated content empowers teachers to personalize learning experiences by thoughtfully selecting, organizing, and adapting instructional materials to meet student needs related to skill level, interest, accessibility, inclusivity, and relevance. For example, to curate content by skill, a teacher could organize sets of practice problems on fractions into different levels of difficulty, ranging from basic operations to more complex problems involving mixed numbers. This would allow students to practice at their skill level and move forward when they are ready. To curate content by relevance, a teacher might organize case studies of innovative technology by industry and allow students to explore how technology impacts their lives and future career interests.
8. Learning Contracts
Learning contracts are agreements between teachers and students that outline specific learning goals, tasks, and expectations. Students may negotiate aspects of their learning, such as the pace, mode of assessment, or topics of study.
9. Personal Agendas
Personal agendas are task lists written by the teacher that include work for the whole class as well as personalized work that addresses the needs of individual learners.
10. Graphic Organizers
Graphic organizers are visual tools that help students organize and understand information. They can be flexibly implemented to meet various needs. For example, some learners may benefit from concept maps or diagrams, while others may prefer outlines or charts. Use the Venn diagram organizer below to help students find similarities and differences between two topics. Explore our collection of graphic organizers, along with these templates for guiding multilingual students in writing, comprehension, and more.
11. Peer Teaching
Peer teaching leverages students' interactions to enhance learning. Pairs or groups may consist of students with similar abilities working together to reinforce and deepen concepts, or they may include students with different skill levels to providing peer support and scaffolding.
12. Scaffolded Instruction
Scaffolded instruction follows a gradual release model, where teachers initially provide more support and guidance and gradually transfer responsibility to students as they gain confidence and mastery. The level of support or time spent in each stage can be adjusted based on student needs.
13. Varied Timing
Varied timing is an adjustment to the pace of instruction, assignments, or assessments. Some students benefit from extended or flexible timing to complete assignments with support while other students benefit from time to independently explore topics in greater depth.
14. Flipped Classroom Model
The flipped classroom model reverses the traditional instructional approach. Students learn new content outside of class through pre-recorded lectures, readings, or other instructional materials, typically accessed online. Class time is then used for activities, discussions, and collaborative projects to reinforce and apply the learning. This model allows for greater flexibility, personalized learning experiences, and targeted support for students with diverse needs.
15. Self-Assessment with Goal Setting
Self-assessment with goal setting empowers students to reflect on their progress, identify areas of strength and growth, and set personalized goals for improvement. Teachers can help students set achievable goals and provide guidance and resources to help them work towards their objectives.
16. Multisensory Learning
Multisensory learning engages multiple senses (such as visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile) to help students process and retain information more effectively. Offering multiple pathways for integrating sensory information—such as providing an audio recording of a passage in addition to the text—reaches more learners than providing a single sensory experience.
17. Educational Technology
Educational technology can give teachers a snapshot of student progress: how well they're grasping concepts and where they need help. Teachers can then use this data to differentiate instruction. Here are some examples of HMH programs that include differentiated practice:
- Waggle: This program for Grades K–8 automatically assigns personalized practice and differentiated ELA and math instruction based on each student’s performance.
- Writable: This writing program for Grades 3–12 provides teachers with grouping recommendations, feedback, follow-up practice suggestions, and lots of options for differentiating lessons.
- Amira: This program for Grades K–5 uses each student’s assessment results to place them into 1:1 reading tutoring. For those who also subscribe to HMH Into Reading for Grades K–6, Amira makes content recommendations based on students’ assessment and tutoring data.
18. Flexible Seating
Flexible seating involves setting up the classroom to include spaces designated for quiet work, as well as spaces for student collaboration, to be used when best suited to particular learners or tasks.
19. Interest-Based Projects
Interest-based projects allow students to explore topics or themes that align with their interests, passions, or hobbies. Students have the freedom to choose their project topic, research questions, and presentation format, tapping into their intrinsic motivation while also providing opportunities to develop critical research skills. For example, a student interested in sports might choose to create a documentary-style video on the history and evolution of basketball. A student interested in sustainable food systems might choose to develop a cookbook with recipes that include information on the environmental impact of different food choices.
20. Learning Stations
Learning stations are designated areas in the classroom where students rotate to engage in different activities or tasks related to a particular topic or skill. Stations typically offer unique learning experiences with tasks of varying complexity.
For example, a unit on “how-to” books might include the following learning stations:
- Reading Comprehension: Students read a “how-to” book and answer comprehension questions about the topic.
- Hands-On Experiment: Students follow step-by-step instructions to complete a task, such as planting a seed in a small pot.
- Writing Workshop: Students write a draft of a “how-to” book on a topic of their choice, using a graphic organizer to outline the steps.
- Artistic Expression: Students illustrate a “how-to” book cover.
Differentiating Instruction by Content, Process, Product, and Learning Environment
With so many options, it can be helpful to categorize strategies for differentiating instruction by type. While not an exhaustive list, many differentiation strategies can be grouped by the following classroom elements:
- Content: Provide varied instructional materials and resources to accommodate students’ readiness levels and interests. Example: offer reading materials at different levels, provide supplemental resources, or incorporate multimedia resources.
- Process: Adjust instructional strategies, pacing, and approaches to meet the needs of students. Example: use cooperative grouping, hands-on activities, or technology-enhanced instruction.
- Product: Allow students to demonstrate their understanding in various ways. Example: provide choices for written assignments, oral presentations, or projects.
- Learning Environment: Create an inclusive classroom space and atmosphere. Example: arrange the room to provide different seating accommodations, with considerations for accessibility, quiet areas, and collaborative learning.
Consider these suggestions and differentiated instruction examples as jumping off points—the most powerful differentiation will come from you making selections and modifications aligned to the unique needs of your students.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of HMH.
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For even more strategies to implement in the classroom, check out our differentiated instruction articles and resources.
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