Graduated Difficulty

Description

Graduated Difficulty is a strategy best suited for the parts of a unit or lesson cycle devoted to practice and assessment. The teacher provides three or more problem sets or tasks for students to complete. Each set or task is intentionally created at increasing difficult levels. Students evaluate each level and decide which one is most appropriate for them to complete. The teacher also provides an answer key or rubric for each level to allow students to check the accuracy of their work.

Why it works...

Graduated Difficulty provides students with choice, the opportunity to set goals, and challenges to push them during learning. Each of these three characteristics is aligned with research and promotes positive student outcomes.

How to plan it...

1. Create three tasks around the content covered. These tasks should exist at three different difficulty levels.
   1. Easy enough for the entire class to complete with little difficulty.
   2. Difficult enough to challenge most students, but not so challenging that they give up.
   3. Difficult for everyone and requiring a deep understanding of the content for success.
2. Create an answer key or rubric that students can use to self-assess their work.
3. Set aside time for reflection so students can think about their thinking as part of the process. Create questions to support reflection related specifically to the content.

Tech integration...

Create a Google site with a page for each problem set. Students have access to the problems and answer key on the site. Once completed, students reflect on their experiences through Flipgrid.