Philip Cummings's List: Instructional Strategies

Rationale:
Cubing is a strategy designed to prepare students in reading and writing (Cowan & Cowan, 1980, Vaughan & Estes, 1986). In writing it can be used as a pre-writing activity to stimulate students' thinking about a topic. In reading, cubing can be used to strengthen students' comprehension of a topic or concept and help expand students' understanding of a topic, concept, character, and/or text from various perspectives. Many teachers create a visual (cube) prop so students have something tangible to work with. Teachers can use the cubing as a post-reading strategy to discuss issues that lead students to think critically about the topic under study. A teacher can use the strategy with the whole class, as small group work, and/or on a one-on-one basis. Almost any topic can be cubed. Cubing requires students to apply information they have been studying in new ways. The cubing method can also be modified to allow the teacher to create his or her own parameters or perspectives.

A handy pdf providing an overview of Cubing and ThinkDots to assist in differentiated instruction provided by Diane Tusing, Michelle Loudermilk, and Terry Smith.

RAFTing is a technique that can be used in any subject area to help vary writing assignments and increase the writing proficiency of students.

RAFT is an acronym for Role, Audience, Format, and Topic.  In a RAFT, students take on a particular role, develop a product for a specified audience in a particular format and on a topic that gets right at the heart of what matters most in a particular segment of study.

A great Bloom's Taxonomy tool for creating differentiated lessons.