Practical Approaches to Stretch and ChallengeSimple Methods and Activities to Enhance Motivation and Achievement

Warmer Task

If you did this task with your students:

• What opportunities are there for stretch and challenge

• Name other examples of starter activities & how they support stretch and challenge

Suggestions

Collaborative discussions

Peer learningDrawing on

prior knowledge

Student-centred

Timed activities

Analysing own practice

through discussion

Directed questioning

Structure of the session:

• We’ll demonstrate activities that can be used for stretch and challenge and allow you opportunity to reflect on how these approaches could be used in your own practice.

http://bytheway.edublogs.org/2014/06/27/woodward-1988-loop-input/

Outcomes

• Identify approaches for stretch and challenge you

can try in your practice

• Explain the role of stretch and challenge in

classroom practice

• Decide on one approach you can try with your

students

The Origins of Stretch and Challenge

‘Differentiation suggests that you can challenge all learners

by providing materials and tasks on the standard at varied

levels of difficulty, with varying degrees of scaffolding…

Teachers can encourage student success by varying ways in

which students work: alone or collaboratively, in auditory or

visual modes, or through practical or creative means.’

Carol Ann Tomlinson (2000)

Pace, stretch and challenge: Why Bother?

Inspectors found in their evaluation of 2013-14 that high performing teachers:

‘Set relevant and interesting assessments that encompass a wide range of research and

presentation skills, provide challenge for learners at all levels and have a strong link to their future career

aims. They provide high quality feedback that is focused sharply on further skill development.’

(Ofsted, 2014)

Professional Standards

4. Be creative and innovative in selecting and adapting strategies to help learners to learn

5 Value and promote social and cultural diversity, equality of opportunity and inclusion

8 Maintain and update your knowledge of educational research to develop evidence-based practice

9 Apply theoretical understanding of effective practice in teaching, learning and assessment drawing on research and other evidence

Differentiation through:

Looking at the resources on Differentiation and Blooms Taxonomy :

• Which approaches you would like to try and how they can help you stretch and challenge a specific group or individual?

• Option: Use Google Images to find an image showing Bloom’s Taxonomy that you find useful.

Differentiation through:

Task, outcome, time allowed

Different preferences and support needs

Differentiate feedback and

individual targets

Categorize the approaches and discuss how they could work for you? And where do they fit with Blooms Taxonomy

If you did this task with your students:

• What opportunities are there for stretch and challenge in this task

• Name other examples of where you have differentiated by task

Suggestions

Different task for different

groups

Peer learningMaking links

to current experience

Student-centred

Timed activities

Analysing own practice

through discussion

Q&A through whole class feedback

Target setting and questioning

As teachers we tend to ask questions and tasks in the

"knowledge" category 80% to 90% of the time. These questions are not

bad, but using them all the time is, as it doesn’t encourage our students to develop their higher order thinking

skills.(Bloom, et al., 1956)

Review Task

Outcomes

• Identify approaches for stretch and challenge you can try in your practice

• Explain the role of stretch and challenge in classroom practice

• Decide on one approach you can try with your students

Next Steps

• Which activity or approach will you take away and try?

• How will you stretch and challenge a specific learner next lesson?

• What was useful or interesting about today?

Tomlinson, C.A. (2000) How to Differentiate Instruction: Reconcilable Differences? Standards-Based Teaching and Differentiation, vol 58.pp 6-11

Ofsted (2014) Teaching, Learning and Assessment in Further Education and Skills – What Works and Why, Manchester: Ofsted

Bloom, B. S. Engelhart, M. D. Furst, E. J. Hill, W. H. Krathwohl, D. R. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. Handbook I: Cognitive domain. New York: David McKay Company

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