kimevans

Chapters 4-6 were a continuation of units developed to show differentiation in planning and teaching.  Chapter 4 was a math unit on basic geometric concepts, Chapter 5 was also a math unit, on probability,  and chapter 6 was a language arts unit on introducing literature circles.   These units were not something I would use with my kindergarteners but looking at the unit plans and activities does help to give you ideas for areas where you might try some new ideas that you could adapt to their level.  Again these units were designed following the same format as in the previous chapters.  Each unit begins with an introduction and a pre-assessment to gauge the students starting readiness levels and culminates with a final assessment or product so students can apply what they have learned.  I noticed with each unit that the teacher took time out for reflection as she was planning the units.  One point was while designing the unit, another was after the pre-assessment, and another at the end of each unit.  I believe this helped the teacher to focus on the effectivness of each unit developed.  I also noticed how writing activities were incorporated into each unit.  These writing activities gave me ideas on how to use writing in other subject areas I teach as a part of writers workshop.  Each unit in this book also included teacher commentary.  I found this very helpful as it explained many of the reasons activities were chosen, whole group,or small groups were used, how to use differentiation within a task, or just to explain  why a particular method of teaching or organizational tool was used.  I enjoyed this book very much because it went beyond  just explaining the concept of differentiation.  It gave you lesson plans for differentiated units, samples of differentiated assignments, rubrics, and an insight into the way a differentiated classroom would look.  I look foward to starting next school year using the unit on ABC's from this book.