Language Arts:
Name famous American authors
Names of storybook characters
Name words that rhyme in groups of 3
Name of titles of children’s storybooks

Math:
Name geometric shapes
Name different kinds of numbers
Name different math processes

BrainSavvy – Magnetic Teaching Tool

BrainSavvy addresses multiple intelligences and differentiated instruction, because you are addressing all learning styles:

· BrainSavvy is visual - students see their immediate progress,
· BrainSavvy is tactile - students physically move their team brain for a correct answer
· BrainSavvy is auditory – students communicate with questions and answers
· BrainSavvy is kinesthetic – students feel self-esteem, support and success.

BrainSavvy – Magnetic Teaching Tool

Includes:
· Magnetic board to display along with Team brain pawn magnets
· Colored sorting chips for randomly sorting a class into “long-term” teams (manipulatives)
· Two dice – one with numbers and one with colors (tools/manipulatives)
· Colored markers for coloring in the ribbons on the dry-erase BrainSavvy Track with the winning/leading team color

“My professor used the game to break us up into random teams on the first day. We weren’t too happy about it, but we soon developed team spirit.”

“The color thing was interesting. Our team was the blue team, and yep, we were laid back yet, our team won in  the end.”

According to Tomlinson (1999), there are 3 principles for differentiated instruction: 

(1) intelligence varies, it is fluid and multifaceted,

(2) the brain hungers for meaning,

(3) participants learn best with moderate challenges. 

One creative process that can easily be incorporated into a differentiated classroom is collaboration.  Collaboration is a purposeful relationship formed to solve a problem, to create or discover something, to change something or to review something.  Collaboration involves sharing responsibilities; it involves each team member being equal and contributing to the process.  Participants learn about themselves in collaborations.  They learn to identify each other’s strengths and talents as well as increase self-esteem by sharing and achieving a common goal.  They gain social capital be productively contributing to a team.           Creating an environment that is relaxed and focused makes effective collaboration an art, not a science.  Collaborative environments are designed to support the various processes of interaction – conversations, sketches, arguments, agreements.  Collaborations are creative because they result in something new.  In collaborative activities, participants learn:  to deal with differences, to recognize each other’s strengths, to show respect by acknowledging contributions of all group/team members, to take turns, to gain practical experiences in dealing with people who are culturally, academically or physically different from themselves, to engage in the process of sharing their experiences and ideas Some positive outcomes from a collaborative learning environment are: