Use Task Cards to Give Directions to Differentiated Groups
A great way to differentiate instruction is to break students up into groups. Each group can then have a different task to work on - appropriate for their readiness, interest, or aptitude.
The problem for you is giving directions to these different groups easily, quickly, and clearly. The solution: task cards.
In general, written instructions are a must for group activities. In fact I've given up on most oral instructions for group activities for two reasons.
The students listen to the oral instructions, and then don't understand them. They then refuse to read the extra written instructions - because they already got instructions orally.
The idea of task cards is that students are divided up into groups and each group will receive its own task card describing its task. The task that you assign is where you "do" the differentiation.
For example, your Social Studies class could be engaged in creating a newspaper about the Civil War. You could break the class up into four groups, giving each group a different task card.
One group would research and write short biographies of people involved on the war - politicians, generals, etc.
One group would find or create pictures, maps, and other multimedia for the newspaper.
One group would research the "social history" of the war - conditions at war, living conditions back home, etc.
One group would write editorials about decisions made during or after the war - such as the Emancipation Proclamation.
Now you could give each student an assignment sheet with all four tasks on it and then tell the students which task they are supposed to do. This could easily result in chaos.
Instead, give each group a color. The blue group receives a blue card. The green goup a green card, so on and so forth.
On each card (a large colored index card, or a piece of construction paper with printed instructions stapled or taped on), the task receives only its individual task. As a group, they read the task, decide what to do, and divy up responsibilities.
By limiting the card to their individual task, they aren't sidetracked and/or confused by other tasks. By skipping the oral instructions, you're also freeing up more time for them to get working - since giving four sets of instructions could take a while. You can then spend your time helping the groups that need the most guidance.
The final piece is assigning students to groups. There are many ways to do it. You could write them up beforehand on the board (if you have your own room) or on a transparency sheet.
You could type up a list of students divided by group, and give that to each student (this is a good option if you have a problem with absenteeism). Or you could simply call out the names - which is ok if your students are disciplined and driven.
As with most things related to differentiation, the hardest part of task cards is the work beforehand - creating them and designing the groups. Once you hand out the individualized instructions, you're good to go.
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