Enrichment is necessary, and as teachers we need to address the students who need support in deeper thinking opportunities when they master content. One idea is to create general task cards that elevate thinking about content when students complete their work and need to be challenged. There are resources online where STEM questions aligned to the higher order thinking skills of Bloom's Taxonomy. which we can pose to students who need more challenging activities about similar content.
For example, in some disciplines, questions can ask students to explain their thought processes in writing to build on their higher-order reflection skills. Students can create their questions on content and evaluate how their questions or responses are valid or necessary. Suppose our formative assessment data demonstrates there are a group of students that need enrichment. In that case, we have an opportunity to create a task for students to complete weekly that incorporates all disciplines engaging students in a thematic and cross-curricular assignment that elevates thinking.
This process is a differentiation of instruction, which we strive to do for all learners. The next time you are designing a lesson or unit of instruction, think about how you are differentiating so that all students are challenged at the appropriate level of instruction.
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