Differentiating Instruction in the Regular Classroom: How to Reach and Teach All Learners, Grades 3-12 [Paperback]

Diane Heacox (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2001 | ISBN-10: 1575421054 | ISBN-13: 978-1575421056 | Edition: 1

Some children learn easily, while others struggle. How can teachers make sure that every child has opportunities to develop his or her talents? The answer is differentiation: changing the pace, level, or kind of instruction in response to learners' needs, styles, and/or interests. In this timely, practical guide, Diane Heacox presents a menu of strategies for any teacher faced with a spectrum of student needs and styles. Some are quick and easy-differentiating discussions, creating tiered assignments. Others are more comprehensive-matrix plans for designing curriculum units, "one-sentence lesson plans" that encompass content, process skills, and evidence of learning. Individual chapters focus on evaluation in a differentiated classroom and how to manage both behavior and work tasks. Diane describes ways to get to know your students and recognize that all have strengths and limitations. Not every gifted student is always ready for higher-level thinking; not every child with learning differences is always incapable of succeeding in a "higher group." Any curriculum can be differentiated-even a standard or mandated curriculum. Drawing on Bloom's Taxonomy, Gardner's Multiple Intelligences, other experts in the field, and her own experience in the classroom, Diane explains how to differentiate instruction in a wide variety of scenarios to provide variety and challenge in how teachers teach and in how students learn. Templates and forms simplify planning; examples illustrate differentiation in many content areas. Recommended for all teachers committed to reaching and teaching all learners. Includes reproducibles.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Differentiating Instruction in the Regular Classroom: How to Reach and Teach All Learners, Grades 3–12 by Diane Heacox is a practical guide for teachers new to or interested in the process of differentiation. Drawing on Bloom’s taxonomy, Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, and other experts in the field of educational psychology, Heacox presents several practical strategies and ideas that teachers can use to differentiate instruction at any level in any curriculum…The reader will come away with some good, practical suggestions for increasing the challenge level for gifted students.

Heacox successfully makes the point that a key feature of differentiation is its flexibility and widespread applicability. In summation, strengths of the book include the simple format of the book, the variety of strategies presented, and the distilled, easy-to-use versions of instruments used to gather information about students and their learning styles and preferences. A majority of the tools and strategies can be used in any content area at any grade level. Furthermore, the book has many reproducible, ready-to-use forms and templates. These templates are not only useful to teachers new to differentiation…they’re relevant for teachers who have been differentiating instruction for many years.—Journal for the Education of the Gifted

“At this time of increasingly standardized approaches to instruction and assessment, Diane Heacox's book brings education back to how it works best: Actually responding to children rather than simply responding to curricular mandates.”—Jane Bluestein, Ph.D., author of Creating Emotionally Safe Schools

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Diane Heacox, Ed. D., is an Assistant Professor of Education at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota, where teaches undergraduate and graduate courses. Previously she was a K-12 instructional specialist and classroom teacher.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Free Spirit Publishing; 1 edition (October 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1575421054
• ISBN-13: 978-1575421056
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #212,366 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Diane Heacox, Ed. D., is an Assistant Professor of Education at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota, where teaches undergraduate and graduate courses. Previously she was a K-12 instructional specialist and classroom teacher.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Place to Start, November 30, 2006

By 

Geek Chick (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Differentiating Instruction in the Regular Classroom: How to Reach and Teach All Learners, Grades 3-12 (Paperback)

Differentiation is one of the current buzzwords, and lots of people talk about it...in theory. It's really difficult to find ANYONE who talks about it in PRACTICE. Heacox, while still heavy in theory, goes farther than any other authors I've read so far on the subject in actually giving teachers usuable tools for curriculum writing and developing. Could there be more immediately applicable things? Of course. Still, it's come the closest to giving teachers some tangible strategies and activities that I've found.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, July 22, 2005

By 

J. I. Racioppo (CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Differentiating Instruction in the Regular Classroom: How to Reach and Teach All Learners, Grades 3-12 (Paperback)

I purchased this book last winter, hoping it would provide additional valuable insight into ways to differentiate within my 5th Grade classroom. I was sorely disappointed, however. I found the book to only "skim the surface" of the entire concept of differentiation in general. It was more of a broad-based introduction for a new teacher, rather than a valuable reference tool.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New to differentiation?, June 27, 2007

By 

M. Music (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Differentiating Instruction in the Regular Classroom: How to Reach and Teach All Learners, Grades 3-12 (Paperback)

I found this book to be terrific! It answered all of my questions. I used the student survey with my 9th grade students and they loved it! I even use the matrix plans for every unit I teach. This book covers it all - placing students in groups (how to place students in groups using differentiation), tiering assignments, grading (is differentiation fair), classroom management (how do I manage 30 students doing 30 different activities), and special populations (exceptional, gifted, and regular education). I have read other books on differentiation put out by ASCD, but this one you can really apply to your classoom!