Today’s classrooms are beautifully diverse. Students bring a wide range of skills, abilities, language proficiencies, learning preferences, and interests with them into the learning environment. While this diversity is a strength, it also makes whole-group, teacher-led, one-size-fits-all instruction problematic. Too often, teachers are given a curriculum that is designed this way, and as a result, they feel pressured to “teach to the middle.” This inevitably leaves some students behind, feeling lost, while others are left without the challenge and rigor they need to remain engaged. The teacher-led station in the station rotation model addresses this challenge. When a concept, skill, or process is particularly challenging or difficult, teachers can use this station to differentiate Tier 1 instruction, making it more effective and more inclusive than traditional whole-group instruction.
By shifting key moments of instruction into a small group setting, the teacher-led station ensures that every learner is seen and supported. This is why I often say it’s where the magic happens in a station rotation. Unlike whole-group instruction, the teacher-led station ensures that every student receives dedicated time in a small group, where instruction can be adapted to meet their unique needs. Teachers can adjust content, process, and support to ensure learning falls within each student’s zone of proximal development.
Strategies for Differentiation at the Teacher-led Station
The teacher-led station is incredibly versatile. It is a space where teachers can adapt instruction to meet students where they are in their individual learning journeys. Teachers can adjust this station based on pre-assessment or formative assessment data, the demands of the curriculum, or their students’ needs. This adaptability is what makes the teacher-led station so powerful.
Let’s explore some of the different ways that teachers can use this station to actively engage students and differentiate the experience.
#1 Differentiated Direct Instruction
When teachers differentiate direct instruction, they present the same material to all students but adjust the level of rigor and the way it is delivered so it meets learners where they are. In a whole-group lesson, it’s nearly impossible to make these adjustments in real time because of the sheer range of needs and abilities in the room.
At the teacher-led station, by contrast, the small group format makes differentiation practical. Teachers can adjust the pace, layer in scaffolds such as visuals or manipulatives, or extend the challenge for students who are ready to delve deeper. This ensures that instructional time is meaningful for every learner, whether they require additional support to grasp the concept or more complexity to stay interested and engaged.
The value of differentiated direct instruction at the teacher-led station is that it ensures every student gets access to grade-level concepts and skills in a way that matches their current skill level and learning needs. By adjusting rigor, pacing, and supports, teachers can keep learning within each student’s zone of proximal development, preventing frustration while still promoting growth.
Let’s imagine a fourth-grade math class is working on adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators. At the teacher-led station, the teacher will have three different groups rotating through. Each group works with the teacher for about 20 minutes, focusing on the same goal: adding and subtracting fractions. However, the way it is taught and the materials used will be different for each group.
Group 1: Students Needing Support
This group needs to build a strong conceptual understanding before they can move to abstract symbols. The teacher provides fraction tiles or fraction circles as hands-on tools, making the instruction more concrete. For example, the teacher will model solving a problem like 1/5 + 2/5 by physically placing the 1/5 tile and the 2/5 tile on the table and adding them.
While doing this, they will ask, “We have one fifth and are adding two more fifths. How many fifths do we have now?” The teacher will emphasize that the denominator doesn’t change, only the numerator. Students will use their own set of tiles or fraction circles to practice combining and separating fractions with the teacher’s guidance.
Group 2: Students at Grade Level
This group is ready to connect the concrete concepts to the abstract equations. The teacher uses visual models, such as number lines or shaded rectangular models, on whiteboards to illustrate concepts. They present a problem like 3/8 +4/8 and have students draw a model to represent the problem, showing how they combine the shaded parts. Then, the teacher guides them in connecting their drawings to their written equations. The goal of this group is to bridge the gap between visual representation and mathematical equations.
Group 3: Students Needing a Challenge
This group has a solid grasp of the core concept and is ready to apply it in more complex ways. During this rotation, the teacher introduces word problems and multi-step tasks. For example, the teacher may present a problem like “Sara drank 3/10 of her water bottle. Then her brother drank 5/10 of it. How much water did they drink in total? What fraction of water is left?” The goal is to help students apply their understanding to solve problems that require more than one step, reinforcing their fluency while pushing their critical thinking skills.
#2 Needs-Based Instruction
Needs-based instruction involves designing the teacher-led station to target specific gaps, misconceptions, or readiness levels revealed by pre-assessment or formative assessment data. Whole-group lessons make it difficult to address varied instructional needs.
At the teacher-led station, teachers can group students by instructional need and target the skills or concepts to ensure all students are making progress toward firm standards-aligned goals. This ensures no one is sitting through instruction they do not need, and everyone is getting instruction and support that feels purposeful.
The value of need-based instruction at the teacher-led station lies in its ability to make learning efficient and personalized. Students spend time on what matters most for their growth, and teachers can make better use of limited instructional minutes.
Whole-group lessons make it difficult to address varied instructional needs. The teacher-led station allows teachers to respond directly to those differences, designing instruction that targets what each group needs. This responsiveness prevents students from sitting through lessons that do not apply to them, instead providing instruction that feels purposeful and personalized.
In a 7th-grade English language arts class, a series of diagnostics on grammar and sentence structure reveals three distinct student groups with varying instructional needs. This data allows the teacher to design a teacher-led station that provides targeted and distinct instruction to each group.
Group 1: Foundational Skills
This group of students needs a review of the basic parts of speech and their function in a sentence. The teacher will lead a hands-on activity where students work with short sentences on sentence strips. Using different colored highlighters or markers, students will identify and label each part of speech. The focus is on solidifying the foundational understanding of each word’s role in each sentence.
Group 2: Sentence Structure and Combining
This group has a solid understanding of the parts of speech and is ready to work on sentence combining and creating more complex sentences. The teacher will provide several simple sentences on index cards or sentence strips. The group will work together to find ways to combine the sentences into a single, more sophisticated sentence. The teacher will introduce and practice various combining strategies, including the use of conjunctions and dependent clauses.
Group 3: Sophisticated Grammar Concepts
These students have demonstrated mastery of both basic and complex sentence structures and are now ready to explore the nuances of the author’s voice and style. The teacher will provide short passages of text that feature both passive and active voice. The students will work in pairs to identify examples of each and discuss the impact. The teacher will explain the difference between passive and active voice and guide a discussion about when and why an author might choose to use one over the other. The goal is to move beyond simple identification to analytical application.
#3 Differentiated Modeling Sessions
When teachers use modeling, they make their thinking visible by demonstrating how to approach a task, process information, or apply a strategy or skill. In a whole-group setting, this is a one-size-fits-all experience that moves too quickly for some and too slowly for others. The complexity of the text, task, problem, or prompt may also be too easy for some students or too challenging for others.
At the teacher-led station, teachers can tailor modeling to the needs of a small group. They can choose texts or tasks at the right level of complexity, decide how much of the process to model, and adjust the scaffolds they provide. For some students, heavy modeling and sentence starters may be essential. For others, more opportunities for pair practice may be more appropriate.
The value of differentiated modeling at the teacher-led station is that every student gets to see strategies in action in a way that matches their level of readiness and understanding. When working with a small group, teachers also gain a more accurate understanding of who can understand and apply what they are learning before being asked to work independently.
A fourth-grade English language arts teacher could use differentiated modeling sessions to help students identify explicit information in a text and draw inferences from details in the text. This is a critical skill for reading comprehension. When pulled into small group modeling sessions, the teacher can be strategic about their approach, the texts they use, and the level of support and scaffolds they provide.
Group 1: Below-Grade-Level Readers
The teacher uses a simplified text with a clear, linear structure. The think-aloud focuses exclusively on identifying information that is stated directly in the words on the page. As the teacher reads the text aloud, they pause regularly to use a highlighter to physically mark important explicit information that appears in the text. The goal is to develop the foundational skill of reading for specific details before progressing to inferential thinking.
Group 2: At-Grade-Level Readers
The teacher uses a grade-level text and employs a think-aloud strategy to demonstrate to students how to identify explicit details and make a simple, logical inference. The teacher has students complete a simple graphic organizer with two columns. Column one is labeled “Explicit: What the Text Says,” and column two is labeled “Inference: What I Can Figure Out.” As they work through the first part of the text, the teacher guides the group in filling out a chart to capture what they are learning. Then the teacher pairs students strategically in the small group to continue reading the text and filling out the chart with their partners. The teacher watches, collecting valuable formative assessment data, and provides additional support as needed.
Group 3: Above-Grade-Level Readers
The teacher uses a more challenging text with more nuanced language and sophisticated structure. They use a think-aloud to demonstrate how to connect specific textual evidence with the broader background knowledge to draw conclusions. The teacher starts by conducting a think-aloud with a small portion of the text, then challenges the students to actively engage with the text, finding subtle clues and making inferences supported by multiple pieces of evidence. The small group then shifts from teacher-led modeling to student engagement, with pairs of students working together to apply what they have learned while the teacher listens and supports as needed, asking follow-up questions to drive deeper thinking.
#4 Small Group Discussions with Depth of Knowledge (DOK) Questions
Discussion helps students process, question, and deepen their understanding. However, in whole-group discussions, the same confident students often dominate while quieter students silently fade into the background.
At the teacher-led station, discussions are more intimate and inclusive. Teachers can ensure that every student has space to contribute. They can also use Webb’s Depth of Knowledge (DOK) framework to differentiate the level of questioning. Some groups may need recall-level questions to build confidence, while others are ready for strategic or extended thinking. Teachers can also add scaffolds, like sentence frames, graphic organizers, or talking chips, to help students engage successfully.
The value of small group discussions at the teacher-led station lies in providing all students with the opportunity and support to think critically, share ideas, ask questions, and practice academic discourse at a level that feels both appropriate and challenging.
History Example
Think about a high school history class discussing the French Revolution. The teacher comes prepared with questions at various depths of knowledge to challenge different groups, depending on what they seem ready for as the discussion progresses. For example, they might use DOK 1 questions, such as “What were the main causes of the French Revolution?” with one group, while another group tackles a DOK 3 prompt like “Why did the revolution shift from reform to radical change?” The goal for the teacher is to avoid pigeonholing a group of students at a particular level of rigor, but instead to have a collection of questions at different levels of complexity and use the conversations as they unfold to make informed decisions about which questions to ask a particular group. The preparation before the discussion is key!
#5 Formative Feedback on Work in Progress
Feedback is most effective when it is timely, specific, and actionable. When the focus in classrooms is on whole-group instruction, feedback usually happens after the work is collected. At that point, it’s too late for students to use the feedback to improve their work. It also means teachers spend significant time giving students feedback outside of class during their evenings and weekends.
At the teacher-led station, teachers can embed feedback into the learning process. They can read drafts of student writing, examine problem-solving steps, or review projects in progress as students work, offering suggestions students can immediately apply. By moving feedback loops into the classroom and narrowing the focus of feedback (e.g., clarity of ideas, word choice, structure), teachers can make feedback personal and meaningful.
The value of formative feedback at the teacher-led station is that it saves teachers hours of work outside of class and provides students with the support they need when it matters most – as they work. Students feel supported rather than judged when feedback is provided before they submit their work for assessment. They are also more likely to understand their strengths and the areas where they need to invest time and energy to improve, which helps them to better understand themselves as learners.
Writing Example
Let’s consider a group of high school students who are writing an argumentative essay on the topic “Should social media companies be held responsible for the spread of misinformation?” Students have written a draft of their introduction paragraph with a thesis statement and the first body paragraph. At their first small-group feedback session for this essay, the teacher explains to the group that they will focus exclusively on reviewing the thesis statement and the first topic sentence. As the teacher jumps in and out of digital documents leaving feedback, students begin working on their second body paragraph. The goal is for the teacher to have dedicated time to give feedback while students have time to make progress on the assignment.
Teachers can provide all students with feedback on the same element of their work, or they can personalize feedback to specific elements based on a student’s writing ability. Some students may benefit from feedback on foundational aspects of writing, while others may be ready for feedback on more complex elements.
Wrap Up
Differentiation doesn’t have to feel overwhelming and unrealistic. The teacher-led station makes it possible to differentiate consistently and effectively. It gives teachers the time and space to tailor instruction and support in ways that whole-group lessons simply can’t. It creates the opportunity to adjust the rigor and complexity and provide the necessary support, guidance, and feedback.
The teacher-led station is not about doing more; it’s about doing what matters most, better. By shifting key moments of instruction, modeling, discussion, and feedback into small groups, we ensure that every student has access to the challenge and support they need to make progress toward standards-aligned learning goals. When used intentionally, the teacher-led station makes differentiation sustainable for teachers and creates more inclusive, responsive, and student-centered classrooms.
Want to Make Time for Small-Group Instruction?
If you’re looking for a better way to meet the needs of all your students, reclaim your time for small-group instruction, and design more intentional learning experiences, I wrote The Station Rotation Model and UDL: Elevate Tier 1 Instruction and Cultivate Learner Agency for you!
School leaders interested in using the book for a staff-wide study can place a discounted bulk order for 10 or more copies. If you and your teachers need additional support, I offer customized professional learning that is hands-on, practice-based, and tailored to your team’s needs. Together, we can support your teachers in developing their UDL practice, differentiating instruction more effectively, and elevating Tier 1 instruction. We can even utilize the Station Rotation Model to create space for Tier 2 support and Tier 3 intervention within general education classrooms.
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