Assignments: How Does ‘Choice’ Make a Difference?

Cindy Riedl
Jun 07, 2010

Take a moment to think about what it would be like to go to a restaurant that did not provide a menu. Instead of having the opportunity to select from a variety of different options, a four course meal is delivered to your table as soon as you take a seat. It is called ‘Pot Luck' or the ‘Experience' - your tastes and food preferences do not matter. If it is steak, it is served one way, crispy on the outside and bloody in the center. What do you mean you mean you want your money back? First off, you might be a vegetarian or possibly you don't eat meat that will bleed all over your plate. What if you had loose dentures - this kind of steak would be out of the question. There is a good chance that this dinner is not the delectable experience that you had hoped it would be. Salivation has stopped! Where is the motivation to return, let alone stay long enough to pay the bill?

Now relate choice to assignments where student interest, readiness and learning preference are not considered. It is important to remember that no matter what your students' ability levels may be, all the students sitting in any given classroom are not alike and still need some degree of differentiation in order to achieve to their highest potential. The use of differentiated assignments that focus on the same standards enable all students to show their knowledge and/or skill, sometimes by choosing how they want to explain their understanding or sometimes by having a little extra support or challenge. Differentiating assignments creates equity in the classroom with high quality, relevant assignments for all students. At-risk students receive additional supports that assure success and greater challenge is added for those students working above grade level. Differentiating assignments increases the engagement of all students!

The key to developing manageable differentiated assignments is to have the same expectations for all students that can be graded using the same critera or rubric. In other words, you should guarantee that all students are answering the lesson essential question and have reached an understanding of the standard(s).

Identifying the new critical content and skills for an acquisition lesson is essential before considering the assignment. If it is going to be an Extending Thinking assignment, students also must have a lesson in the use of the Extending Thinking strategy before the assignment to ensure that they understand the expectations of that particular strategy before refining or deepening the level of understanding of the newly learned content and/or skill.

There are many types of ways to differentiate assignments. Most teachers are familiar with the R.A.F.T. (Role/Audience/Format/Topic) Students take on the role to address a given audience on your topic using a particular format. I use R.A.F.T. to help students get comfortable with making choices that are appropriate for them. It takes a little modeling and encouragement but soon they adjust and actually look forward to having the opportunity to choose how they will respond to the content. When possible, examine the examples and directions for effectively using R.A.F.T. in the K-5 or 6-12 Differentiated Assignments books.

After a comfort level has been accomplished with R.A.F.T., I introduce Tiered Assignments that require the use of an Extending Thinking Strategy to develop an engaging task that clearly focuses on key essential concepts. After I have created this task, I think about variation among my students who will be completing the learning task and adjust the task to appropriate challenge for different learners. Then I match each student to the appropriate task.

The R.A.F.T. and Tiered Assignments are just two ways to differentiate assignments. Learning-Focused Differentiated Assignments notebooks will provide many other examples and techniques for differentiation strategies. Keep in mind that you are not expected to differentiate all assignments. Concentrate on differentiating assignments that extend thinking with higher level thinking strategies. Provide variety and choice with clear and high expectations to allow students to express their understanding of the content, concepts or skills.