Individual differences have intrigued and challenged educators for centuries. On the one hand, the understanding and application of this concept motivates our profession. On the other hand, practical responses to individual differences have almost entirely eluded us.
(Pat Burke Guild and Stephen Garger, Marching to Different Drummers, ASCD, 1998, p. 2)
 | Differentiated Curriculum on The Learning Place |
Your one-stop shopping place for information about differentiation is on the Learning Place. This webpage is available from the Gifted and Talented Professional Learning Community within Education Queensland's The Learning Place. The Differentiated Curriculum Pages offer extensive, practical information, strategies and resources on:
| A definition for curriculum differentiation |
| Guidelines, frameworks and models for designing differentiated units |
| A range of strategies for implementing differentiated programs |
Follow the link above and look in the G and T Programs Link from the blue menu on the left of the page- click on Differentiated Curriculum to find the above resources.
| The Maker Model PowerPoint Presentation (106 KB) |
The Maker Model of Curriculum Differentiation allows for differentiation through content, process, product and learning environment. This Power Point Presentation (196 KB) provides simple information on the Maker Model and offers practical strategies and suggestions for differentiating your curriculum.
| Maker Model- Summary |
This summary from David Farmer explains the Maker Model of differentiated curriculum in simple terms. Useful as a handout for teachers.
| Bloom's (Revised) Taxonomy Web Page |
Bloom's (Revised) Taxonomy is an excellent vehicle for devising a differentiated curriculum, not only for gifted students but for all individual students in your classroom. By creating tasks at various levels of the taxonomy and therefore requiring students to think at different levels a variety of student abilities can be catered for. By using the Bloom's/ Multiple Intelligence Matrix, multiple "smarts" at different levels of thinking can be catered for.
Link here to visit Kurwongbah's Bloom's (Revised) Taxonomy page and related resources.
| Catering for Gifted Students in Unit Planning: Models and Strategies of Differentiation (557 KB) |
This PowerPoint Presentation includes a number of definitions of differentiation, looks in-depth at the Maker Model, includes a list of online and print resources as well as other suggestions for curriculum differentiation. A useful presentation to use when introducing staff to the concept of curriculum differentiation. Due to its size it may take a few moments to download. (Created by Alison Rose and Denise Tarlinton).
| Differentiation Resources on the Internet |
There are many resources available of the Internet that deal with differentiating the curriculum. These are some of the ones that we have found particularly helpful and informative.