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Differentiated Spinners Revisited

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Wow!  Apparently, spinners are a hot topic.  I’ve had so many inquiries as to “where” and “how” lately that I thought I had better revisit the subject to see if I can shed some light on using spinners to differentiate instruction.
 
 
 
Spinners are a great motivator for students!  They provide a sense of play and fun and provide a kinesthetic twist to learning.  And for teachers, spinners provide a simple way to differentiate one activity to meet the readiness levels of all students.  Even better, this is an independent station that will keep them learning and engaged.  
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Students can be working on the same activity and, by providing different spinners for different children, you can simply differentiate.  
 
 
If you’re trying to wrap your head around how this might look in a lesson plan, take a look at an example below. This is how you would demonstrate on paper that you are differentiating your instruction for your administrator.
 
 
So now you’re asking, but where can I get spinners?  How do they work?  Check out this video!  
YouTube video player
 
 
 
This is probably the most asked question I get.  Everyone has their favorites, but I prefer to use  transparent spinners. (Click on the picture or the text to be linked to the ones I purchase for my own classroom.) I have several sets, they are sturdy and easy to use.  
 
 
 
There are definitely many places where you can get transparent spinners.  Sometimes you will even find them in your math kits.
 
 
 
And here’s the best part about using transparent spinners, if you simply attach them to the top of a cd case (use a piece of clear tape or better yet, hot glue!), you can easily and quickly change out spinner cards as needed.  In fact, it’s so easy, my students do it by themselves.
 
 
Don’t have spinners?  No problem.  Here a couple of other ways you can still use spinners without having transparent spinners.  Make spinners with a brad and a paper clip like below.  


Or show your students how to use a pencil and paper clip to do the same job.

 

 
I think you will soon see how easy it is to incorporate spinner fun into your instruction and see how much your students enjoy it.
 
If you’re looking for a spinner packet to get you started, please check out the one below for literacy, but just in case your interested, I have them for math, too.  Just click on the picture to get the details on all my sets.  The spinners fit a cd case perfectly and all the activities are available in black/white or choose color if you prefer.  
 
 
 
In the meantime then, please feel free to check out other posts I have done on using spinners to differentiate instruction in the classroom.  You will find the links by clicking on the pictures below.  There are two different posts that you and check out.
 
 
And the second one is Differentiated Spinners . . .huh?

If you’d like to check out all my spinner activities for Math and Literacy, just click HERE to see all the skills and activities I have available. 

 

 

 
 
 

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Marsha Moffit McGuire

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