Mutchmoram - One, Two.. Infinity

Differentiation/Feedback in
Primary Math
Marian Small
February 2015
Primary strategies for DI
•  Open questions
•  Parallel tasks
Basic Principles of DI
-  Focus on big ideas
-  Choice
3
A Big idea
-  Rather than thinking about what we teach
in terms of topics, we can always have big
ideas in the background.
-  They connect ideas across and within
grades.
4
A Big idea
-  These big ideas provide the framework in
which to differentiate.
-  They also help students and teachers
build important connections.
5
Samples for Div I
•  Represent 7 as many ways as you can.
6
Maybe
Seven
IIII II
7
5+2
1¢
5¢
1¢
7
Sample
8
Samples
•  Draw a design made up of 3 smaller
shapes. It should show symmetry.
9
Maybe
10
Samples
•  How many baby steps are there in a giant
step?
11
Samples
•  Choose a number between 10 and 100
that you think is special.
•  Then choose one that you think is NOT
special.
•  What are your two numbers?
•  Why is the first one more special?
12
Samples
•  Which number doesn’t belong?
37
46
802
26
13
Sample
•  You add two numbers.
•  The answer is twice as much as if you
subtract them.
•  What might the numbers be?
Sample
•  One activity took twice as long as another.
•  Both happened between 10:00 and 11:00.
•  When might each have started and
ended?
Sample
•  You have twice as many nickels as
quarters.
•  You have three times as many dimes as
nickels.
•  How much money might you have?
Sample
•  How would you arrange 8 dots to make it
easy to tell it is 8?
Sample
•  What numbers take only exactly two words
to read them?
Sample
•  The tenth number in a pattern is 31. What
could the pattern be?
Parallel tasks
•  You offer two tasks that are similar in the
concept they deal with but where one has
details that are easier for a kid to deal with
than another.
•  For example
Maybe
•  Choice 1:Make a pattern with more
squares than triangles.
•  Choice 2: Make a pattern so that by the
time you would have seen 8 triangles in it,
you would have seen 2 squares.
Common questions
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
What shapes have to be in your pattern?
What shapes could be in your pattern?
How long was your pattern core?
Why did you make it that long?
Could your pattern have been different?
How?
Another possibility
•  Choice 1:There were 17 frogs on a log. 8
frogs jumped off the log. How many are
still on the log?
•  Choice 2: There were 20 frogs on a log. 5
frogs jumped off the log. How many are
still on the log?
Common questions
•  Is the number for your answer less than
what you started with or greater? Why?
•  Is it more than the number that jumped
off? Why or why not?
•  What operation did you use to solve the
problem? Why that one?
•  What’s another problem you could create
with the same answer?
Another example
•  Choice 1: Find objects in the room
between 5 purple rods and 8 purple rods
long.
•  Choice 2: Find objects in the room
between 20 cm and 32 cm long.
Common questions
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
Would your ruler have worked?
How do you know?
Would a shoe have worked?
How do you know?
What’s an object that would not work?
Was it too long or too short?
•  What are three objects that did work?
•  How did you make sure?
Your questions?
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