Activity 2 - Designing Lessons

Skills & Strategies

Activity 2 - Designing Lessons

Information on the following slides is derived from information researched by Dr. Anita Archer, Dr. Charles Hughes, John Hollingsworth, & Silvia Ybarra

Archer, A. L., & Hughes, C. A. (2011). Designing Lessons: Skills and Strategies. In Explicit instruction: Effective and efficient teaching (pp. 23-52). New York, New York: Guilford Press.

Hollingsworth, J., & Ybarra, S. (2009). Explicit direct instruction (EDI): The power of the well-crafted, well-taught lesson (pp. 12-14). Thousand Oaks, Calif: Corwin Press.

Opening of the Explicit Lesson

Gaining Student AttentionState the Goal of the Lesson

Relevance of the LessonReview Prerequisite Skills

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Opening of the Explicit Lesson

Gain the students’ attention Try to select procedures that you will use consistently and

regularly.• This will make it clear to students what is expected of them,

saving valuable instructional time.

Teacher: “Good morning class, today we are going to start our math lesson.”

Student(s): (Students put away all non math related materials and become ready to pay

attention to the teacher.)

This may take some initial instruction at the beginning of the school year to establish this ritual. Over time, students will respond more promptly, increasing the time on task

Opening of the Explicit Lesson

Gain the students’ attention This may be necessary throughout a lesson to refocus

students to return to the instructor from a momentary change.

If students have been asked to write down a math problem and solve it and the teacher wants to continue on with the lesson, they might do the following;

Teacher: “Students, place your pencils in the tray and look up here. Let’s solve this problem together.”

Student(s): (Students put their pencils down and look up to the instructor to work on solving the problem as a group.)

Gaining student attention may necessary throughout a lesson.

Opening of the Explicit Lesson

State the goal of the lesson This allows students to know what

they will be learning in that lesson.

Teacher: “Today we are going to learn how to

write a complete sentence with a subject, verb, and predicate.”

This will help both the teacher and the students find a focus to the lesson.

Opening of the Explicit Lesson

Discuss the relevance of the target skill By discussing the relevance of the target skill, it can

increase the motivation of the students for learning the new skill.

Allow the students to come up with examples of when the skill might be used to increase student buy-in for the lesson.

Opening of the Explicit Lesson

Review critical prerequisite skills Frequently students need to have mastered previous

skills and knowledge before they are able to learn a new skill.

Knowing if your students have those skills is necessary for the instructional process.

Opening of the Explicit Lesson

Review critical prerequisite skills Identify the skills necessary to learn the new skill. Review that all students can perform prerequisite skills

before moving on with the lesson.

WHAT DOES A REVIEW LOOK-LIKE?

Opening of the Explicit Lesson

Review critical prerequisite skills A review is NOT reteaching the skill. A review is NOT simply asking students if they remember

a skill. A review is NOT asking a small group of students to

come up to the board to solve a problem.

A review makes sure that ALL students can perform the prerequisite skill.

A review is giving a task to ALL students requiring the use of the prerequisite skill.

A review is straightforward for ALL students.

Review critical prerequisite skills A quick way to review skills is to go over the previous

night’s homework.• This allows students to verify that they have

prerequisite skills.• Allows for timely evaluation and feedback of

homework.

Opening of the Explicit Lesson

Body of the Explicit Lesson

Modeling (I Do It)Guided Practice (We Do It)

Unprompted Practice (You Do It)

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Body of the Explicit Lesson

Modeling (I Do It) Modeling consists of two parts:

• Demonstrating• Describing (Think-aloud)

A Good Model is...• Clear, Consistent, & Concise• Multi-demonstrational• Involving students

Body of the Explicit Lesson

Modeling (I Do It) The teacher’s think-aloud include a clear description of how

to solve the problem. The teacher’s think-aloud should be concise and include

only those words necessary to complete the task. The steps would be easily repeatable for students.

The teacher’s think aloud should be consistent containing similar step set-ups.

Ex. “Everyone watch and listen while I solve a two digit

addition problem without regrouping. I start by looking at the one’s place and adding all of the digits in that column. Next I add all of the digits in the ten’s place.”

2 4+ 3 1 5 5

2 4+ 3 1 5

Ones Tens

STEP #1 STEP #2

Body of the Explicit Lesson

Modeling (I Do It) Include necessary demonstrations.

• Determine skill complexity• Student ease at learning new skills• Student background knowledge• The time it takes to do a model

Often a teacher of struggling students will do repeated examples. Although the teacher is becoming adept at the skill the students are not.

As soon as students demonstrate proficiency, guided practice should be initiated.

The students should then be responsible for performing the skill.

Body of the Explicit LessonModeling (I Do It)

Involve students in the model• After the initial demonstration, try including the students by

posing questions where the answers can be garnered from the first example and previous background knowledge.

Teacher: “Now I want you to help me solve the problem. (The teacher writes the equation on the board) Which column do I add first?”

Student(s): “The one’s column.”

Teacher: “What is 4 plus 1?”

Student(s): “Five”

Teacher: (The teacher writes a five under the one’s column.) “What column do I add next?”

Student(s): “The ten’s column.”

Teacher: “What is 3 plus 2?”

Student(s): “Five”

Teacher: (The teacher writes a five under the ten’s column.) “What is 41 plus 32?”

Student(s): “Fifty-five”

Body of the Explicit Lesson

Guided (prompted) Practice (We Do It) The purpose of the initial practice activities is to provide

students the opportunity to be successful and confident users of the skill.

Students often need teacher-provided prompts when practicing a new or difficult skill. These prompts are gradually withdrawn based on student performance.

We are looking for 90-95% success before unprompted practice.

Physical PromptsVerbal Prompts

Visual Prompts

Body of the Explicit Lesson

Guided (prompted) Practice (We Do It) PHYSICAL Prompts: These are often used with students

who have developmental skills, or for teaching purely motor tasks.

VERBAL Prompts: These can be in three forms;• Directives – Telling students what to do• Questions – Asking them what to do• Reminders – Reminding them what to do

VISUAL Prompts: Written and serve the same function as verbal prompts, but the responsibility to use them fall more squarely on the student if not guided to them.

Body of the Explicit Lesson

Unprompted Practice (You Do It) This should initially be done while students are still in the

instructional group. Provide students with several tasks similar to the ones

presented in the modeling/guided practice portion of the lesson.

Students should be practicing, while checking their answers and processes to make sure that students are practicing the proper skills and methods.

Give feedback as necessary when mistakes are made or when students are successful.

Body of the Explicit LessonUnprompted Practice (You Do It)

The three phases of the body of the lesson should not be static events, rather they should be fluid and flow based upon the observations of the teacher.

Each component may be repeated over several times in a lesson, or they may occur over several days.

Closing of the Explicit Lesson

Closing of the Explicit LessonThe Closing

The closing of a lesson should be brief. Depending on the content and students ability should take no more than 5 minutes.

The closing should start with a review of the material covered in the lesson

The review should be interactive. This will provide further observation that the students have gained the skill necessary to continue practicing the skill independently or for homework.

After the review, a brief preview of what is to come in the next lesson should be described.

A further option for the closing is to assign additional seatwork or homework to continue practice. This is not absolutely necessary for the closing of the lesson.

• If a new assignment is given, it may be necessary to model how the activity is done, making sure the entire class understands the expectations.

ReferencesArcher, A. L., & Hughes, C. A. (2011). Designing Lessons: Skills and

Strategies. In Explicit instruction: Effective and efficient teaching (pp. 23-52). New York, New York: Guilford Press.

Argenti, G. W. (2013). (1st ed.). Rochester, NY: Monroe #1 BOCES - RSE TASC.

Hollingsworth, J., & Ybarra, S. (2009). Explicit direct instruction (EDI): The power of the well-crafted, well-taught lesson (pp. 12-14). Thousand Oaks, Calif: Corwin Press.

A link to the lesson plan template is available

within this learning module and below.

Lesson Plan Template