Differentiation Doesn’t Have to Mean Five Different Lesson Plans

Summary for Educators

Based on: Larry Ferlazzo
Source: Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day
Date: September 13, 2026
Topic: Five simple ways to differentiate instruction

THE BIG IDEA

Differentiated instruction often sounds far more complicated than it needs to be. Teachers hear the term and imagine preparing separate lessons, assignments, and assessments for every student in the room. Larry Ferlazzo’s long-running work on differentiation pushes in a more practical direction: teachers can respond to differences in readiness, language proficiency, background knowledge, and learning needs through relatively small instructional adjustments rather than creating an entirely different curriculum for every learner.

Ferlazzo has repeatedly emphasized accessible differentiation strategies, including planning ahead for varied learners, providing models and graphic organizers, giving students different ways to access material, and creating opportunities for choice. His larger message is reassuring: differentiation should make learning more accessible without making teaching unsustainable.

For school leaders, that distinction is crucial. Effective differentiation should be visible not as five simultaneous lesson plans, but as one strong lesson containing multiple pathways into—and through—the learning.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Start with the same important learning goal. Differentiation does not necessarily mean that students learn completely different content. Teachers can maintain common expectations while varying the supports students receive.

• Use scaffolds strategically. Graphic organizers, models, vocabulary supports, written directions, and examples can provide additional entry points for students who need them. Ferlazzo has specifically highlighted graphic organizers and modeling as useful supports.

• Differentiate access, not expectations. Some students may need more background information, additional processing time, or a different way to demonstrate understanding while still pursuing the same essential objective.

• Build student choice into lessons. Choice can increase both access and agency. Students might select among texts, tasks, examples, or ways of demonstrating what they have learned.

• Keep differentiation manageable. Ferlazzo’s resources repeatedly frame differentiation as something teachers can plan for without “losing your mind.” Sustainability matters; a strategy teachers cannot maintain is unlikely to benefit students over time.

WHY IT MATTERS

One of the most common misconceptions about differentiation is that good teachers must individualize every lesson for every child.

That standard is neither realistic nor necessary.

A high school teacher with 130 students cannot reasonably prepare 130 versions of tomorrow’s lesson. Even creating four or five completely separate lessons for a single class can quickly become unmanageable.

Great differentiation is usually subtler.

Imagine a lesson in which every student is examining the same essential question. Some students receive a vocabulary guide. Others receive sentence starters. Some work from the original text while others receive additional background information before reading it. Students discuss their thinking with different partners, and the teacher pulls a small group for extra modeling while other students work independently.

Everyone is pursuing the same important learning.

But everyone does not necessarily take exactly the same route.

That is a much more useful definition of differentiation for teachers—and a much more useful lens for administrators conducting classroom observations.

LEADERSHIP ACTIONS

1. Stop asking teachers for multiple lesson plans.
Instead, ask where the lesson contains flexibility for students who need more support or greater challenge.

2. Look for multiple entry points.
During walkthroughs, notice whether students have access to modeling, visuals, vocabulary support, exemplars, discussion, or other scaffolds.

3. Ask what happens when a student already knows it.
Differentiation should work in both directions. Students who have mastered the material need meaningful extension, not simply more work.

4. Normalize flexible grouping.
Students should sometimes work independently, sometimes collaboratively, and sometimes receive targeted instruction in temporary groups based on current need.

5. Protect teachers from differentiation overload.
Professional development should emphasize a small number of high-leverage practices rather than encouraging teachers to create elaborate individualized systems they cannot sustain.

6. Make formative assessment the starting point.
Teachers cannot differentiate intelligently unless they know what students understand. Exit tickets, questioning, observation, quick writes, and student work can guide the next instructional move.

LEADER REFLECTION

During your next classroom walkthrough, resist asking:

“Is this lesson differentiated?”

Instead, ask:

“What happens in this classroom when students arrive at different starting points?”

Can a student who is confused still enter the learning?

Can a student who already understands the concept go deeper?

Can an English learner access the essential ideas?

Can students explain what they are learning and select useful supports?

Those questions move differentiation away from paperwork and toward what matters most: whether every student has a realistic pathway to meaningful learning.

The best differentiated classrooms may not look dramatically different from excellent classrooms in general.

They simply operate on one powerful assumption:

Students do not all need the same thing at the same moment in order to reach the same important destination.

Original Article

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Prepared with the assistance of AI software OpenAI. (2026). ChatGPT (5.2) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com