This booklet helps teachers understand how to increase student motivation and interest and how to design lively, creative, and interactive lessons that will enrich learning. Chapter 1, "The Differences That Impact Learning," describes the differentiated classroom and provides teachers with an understanding of the many variations of how children learn. It focuses on instructional needs, multiple intelligences, learning modalities, cognitive levels, student backgrounds, and personal interests. Chapter 2, "Teaching with a Differentiated Approach," focuses on teaching strategies for differentiated instruction (cooperative learning, individual learning, learning centers, technology tools, and textbooks) and presents the differentiated instructional design matrix. Chapter 3, "Planning Guide for Differentiated Instruction," provides practical decision-driven planning tools. The guide has three sections: Desired Results, Lesson Design, and Evidence of Learning. Each section is divided into three columns. Column one contains a series of questions related to differentiated instruction and learning outcomes. Column two contains information and data to facilitate answering the planning questions in column one. Column three contains notes and comments related to the differentiated instructional design process. (Contains 17 bibliographic references.) (SM)