Differentiated Lesson Plan Example: Tiered by Readiness, Interest and Product

A differentiated lesson plan keeps one learning goal for every student and changes the path to it: the amount of support (readiness), the context students work in (interest) and the way they show what they learned (product). The plan below shows how that looks in a real 3rd grade math lesson on the area of rectangles, from a two-minute pre-check to three tiered tasks and a common exit check. If you’re looking for a list of strategies rather than a full lesson, see our guide to differentiation strategies. This article puts those strategies together into one complete plan you can copy.

The three ways to differentiate in one lesson

• Readiness: Students start the practice at different levels of support or challenge, based on what they already know. This is where tiering happens.
• Interest: Students choose a context that matters to them, such as a garden, a game board or a classroom, while practicing the same skill.
• Product: Students choose how to show their understanding, such as a drawing with labels, a short written explanation or a recorded explanation.

You don’t need all three in every lesson. This example uses all three so you can see how they fit together.

The lesson at a glance

Grade and subject: 3rd grade math, 50 minutes.

Standard: Relate area to the operations of multiplication and addition; find the area of a rectangle with whole-number side lengths by tiling it and show that the area is the same as multiplying the side lengths (Common Core 3.MD.C.7a). Use your state’s equivalent.

Learning goal: I can find the area of a rectangle by multiplying its side lengths and explain why it works.

Success criteria: I can (1) find the area by counting square units, (2) find it by multiplying length times width and (3) explain why both give the same answer.

Materials: Square tiles, grid paper, rectangle cards with and without grid lines, three tiered task sheets, interest-choice context cards, exit tickets.

Step 1: Pre-check (the day before, 3 minutes)

Give a quick two-question check:

1. A rectangle drawn on grid paper, 4 squares by 3 squares. “What is the area?”
2. A rectangle with side lengths labeled 6 cm and 4 cm, no grid. “What is the area? Show how you know.”

Sort the responses into three groups:

• Group A: Can’t yet find the area even with the grid, or counts the perimeter instead.
• Group B: Counts the grid correctly but can’t solve the rectangle without a grid.
• Group C: Solves both, possibly by multiplying.

These groups are flexible and only for this lesson. Tomorrow they may change.

Step 2: Whole-class mini-lesson (12 minutes)

Everyone participates. Keep it short.

Hook: “Our class wants to cover the reading rug area with square carpet tiles. How many tiles do we need?” Show a rectangle on the board.

Model: Tile a 5 by 3 rectangle with square tiles under the document camera. Count all tiles (15). Then point out the rows: “I have 3 rows of 5. That’s 3 times 5, which is 15. Counting and multiplying give the same answer because each row has the same number of squares.”

Guided practice: Students build a 4 by 2 rectangle with tiles at their tables, count the squares and write the multiplication sentence. Ask two students to explain why multiplication works.

Step 3: Tiered practice (20 minutes)

All three tiers practice the same goal: finding area by multiplying side lengths and explaining why. The difference is the support.

Tier 1 details: Students build 4 rectangles with tiles from cards (3 by 2, 4 by 3, 5 by 2, 6 by 3). For each, they count the squares, then write the rows and columns as a multiplication sentence. The teacher works with this group first, using the sentence frame: “There are ___ rows of ___ squares. ___ times ___ equals ___.”

Tier 2 details: Students start with 2 rectangles on full grid paper, move to 2 where only the edges are marked with tick marks and finish with 2 that have only side labels. They compare answers with a partner and talk through any differences.

Tier 3 details: Students find areas of 4 labeled rectangles, then solve two problems like “A rectangle has an area of 24 square units. One side is 6. How long is the other side?” They finish by writing a short explanation for a younger student: “Why can you multiply to find area?”

After 10 minutes at the Tier 1 table, the teacher moves to check on Tiers 2 and 3.

Step 4: Interest choice (built into the tiers)

Each tier’s task sheet uses rectangles, but students choose the context from three cards: a vegetable garden, a video game map or a new classroom. The numbers are the same; the story changes. A student working in Tier 2 might find the area of “the tomato bed” while another finds the area of “level 3 of the game map.” Choice like this costs almost nothing to plan and raises engagement noticeably.

Step 5: Product choice (last 5 minutes of practice)

To show their thinking about why multiplication works, students choose one product:

• A labeled drawing with rows and columns marked.
• Two or three sentences in writing.
• A short recorded explanation on a classroom device.

All three are judged by the same criterion: does the student connect the rows of squares to the multiplication?

Step 6: Exit check (5 minutes, everyone)

All students complete the same exit ticket:

1. Find the area of a rectangle 7 units by 3 units.
2. Explain in a sentence or a drawing why you can multiply to find the area.

Using a common exit check tells you whether every student reached the goal, regardless of tier. For more formats, our exit ticket examples include options for drawings and oral responses.

Step 7: Plan tomorrow from the exit tickets

Sort exit tickets into three piles: got it, almost, not yet. Tomorrow’s warm-up and groups come from these piles, not from yesterday’s pre-check. Some Tier 1 students will be ready for grid-free rectangles; a few Tier 3 students may need to revisit the explanation.

The reusable template

Including students with IEPs and 504 plans

Differentiation and accommodations work together. Before the lesson, check each student’s IEP or 504 plan and write the required supports into the plan: for example, a student who needs reduced copying gets the task sheet pre-printed, a student with extended time gets the exit ticket the next morning if needed, and a student who uses a calculator for computation uses it in all tiers. If a student’s goals are modified, follow what the team has written; don’t change grade-level expectations on your own.

Mistakes to avoid

• Different goals for different tiers. Tier 1 shouldn’t be “count squares” while Tier 3 is “find area.” All tiers aim for the same goal with different support.
• More work as challenge. Tier 3 should be more complex, not longer.
• Fixed groups. If the same students are always in Tier 1, the plan isn’t responding to what they learn.
• Skipping the common check. Without it, you can’t tell if every student met the goal.
• Planning every lesson this way. Save full tiering for lessons where the pre-check shows a wide range.

Where this fits in a unit

A tiered lesson usually sits in the middle of a unit, after students have some background and before the final task. Our comparison of unit plans vs lesson plans shows how to place lessons like this one in a larger sequence.

Plan differentiated lessons faster

Writing three tiers, context cards and a common exit check takes time. An AI lesson plan tool can draft a differentiated lesson from a goal and grade level, with tiered tasks and product options, and you adjust the levels to your pre-check results. A worksheet tool can generate the tiered task sheets with the same problems in three versions.

For more templates, standards alignment and planning routines, visit our full lesson planning guide.