Differentiation with a Twist

by Anthea Manderson,
Teacher of Science

We all differentiate our lessons but do we ever look at it as a fun activity rather than scaffolding or giving students different tasks? One way I differentiate exam style questions is by assigning each question a points value based on difficulty.

I allow students to choose which questions they answer and the person with the most points wins a small prize. In terms off using this to differentiate…… well, there are many ways this can be used. You could assign a target number of points a student has to get based on their target grade.

You could refer back to a previous test score and say all students under a certain percentage are not allowed to answer 1 point questions. You could link it to whether students are on target or not and assign a number of points they must achieve based on that. The uses are endless.

This also works well to differentiate between ability sets. You assign the GCSE Grade 7-9 and A-level questions to 3 points, the GCSE Grade 5-6 to 2 points and the Grade 1-4 1 point and use one set of questions with all of your classes; again differentiating the task accordingly to fit within your lesson. Once the resource has been produced, it is very flexible and has many, many uses in the classroom. Students find this activity engaging as it brings a competitive element to the lesson and gives students a choice in how they learn and what sort of challenge they are facing.