Differentiated Lessons for Every Learner

The extension lessons in this book encourage teachers to move beyond solely accelerating standards. The lessons allow for learning beyond grade level while still embedding enrichment and critical thinking throughout all the content areas. The authors describe this process by incorporating open-ended opportunities to meet the standards through multiple pathways, more complex thinking applications and real-world problem-solving contexts. The authors have identified the Depth of Knowledge (DOK) level for each learning activity in every extension lesson. They describe how this delineation helps teachers easily identify the levels of activities to direct students to after completing formative assessments. The authors guide teachers on how to group students based on pretest results and how to allow students to determine their own challenge levels. Regardless of the method used, they show how it is helpful for both teachers and students to clearly see the progression of complexity within each lesson. The authors demonstrate how the progression of complexity within the DOK levels builds students’ awareness of their own learning needs. They model how self-reflection is invaluable in students’ learning processes. Teachers using this book learn the importance of providing students opportunities to reflect on their thinking on a daily basis to foster self-regulation and deepen their understanding of the content being addressed.