STRUCTURING AND DELIVERING YOUR LESSONS

RATIO • Push more and • Tip 1: Unbundle: Break questions into

more of the smaller pars to share the work out to more
cognitive work students and force them to react to one
out to students another
as they are o Example: Instead of “Who can
ready, with the tell me the three dimensions of
understanding a cylinder?” try a sequence like
that the this:
cognitive work  “How many dimensions
must be on- to a cylinder, James?”
task, focused,  “Good. What’s one
and productive. dimension, Shayna?”
 “And what’s another,
Diamond?”
 “That leaves what,
Terrance?”
• Tip 2: Half-Statement: Express half of an
idea and ask a student to finish it.
o Example: “So the next step is to
combine sentences with a…tell
me please, John”
• Tip 3: What’s Next? Address both how to
solve a step and what step comes next.
o Example: “Okay, John, what do
I do first?”
• Tip 4: Feign Ignorance: Turn the tables,
and pretend you don’t know.
o Example: “So, now I can just
add my numerators?”
o Example: “A theme is just a
summary of what happens in
the story, right?”
• Tip 5: Repeated examples: Ask students
for an example that’s different form the
first.
o Example: “Who gets exploited
in Macbeth? Follow-up
question: “Who gets exploited
more subtly? Repeatedly? With
or without knowing it?”
• Tip 6: Rephrase or add on
o Teacher Example 1: “You are
correct, but rephrase that.”
o Teacher Example 2: “Who can
 give her a word to use that will
help make her answer better?”
• Tip 7: Ask whys and hows
• Tip 8: Ask for supporting evidence
(especially helpful during reading comp
exercises)
• Tip 9: Teach habits of discussion
o The following phrase starters
can be helpful to use in
interacting
 I agree with X because…
 I want to say more about
what you said…
 That’s true because…
 I understand what you’re
saying, but I have a
different opinion [point of
view][…
 What evidence can you
give to support your
opinion?
CHECK FOR • Effective • Tips for gathering data…
UNDERSTANDING Check for o Ask yourself: what’s the hit rate
Understanding or percentage correct? If it’s too
equals high (close to 100%) that
gathering data means it’s not rigorous enough.
constantly and If it’s too low (below 67%), then
acting on them students aren’t getting it
immediately. o Take a “statistical sample” of
the room (ask a sample of
students from across the
spectrum of likely skill…e.g., 2
low-performing students, 2
middle students, and 1 high
performer)
o To ensure reliability, ask follow-
up why and how questions as
often as you can.
o Make sure that some of your
CFUs are as rigorous as the
exam questions that students
will see on their exams
o When writing CFUs onto slates,
be sure that students can’t
cheat by observing others’
answers before writing their
own
• Tips for responding to data…
o Tip 1: Respond quickly to
misunderstandings
o Tip 2: Reteach by identifying
and reteaching the problem
step
o Tip 3: Reteach by identifying
and explaining difficult
vocabulary or terms
o Tip 4: Reteach at a slower pace
o Tip 5: Reteach using a different
order
o Tip 6: Reteach identifying
students of concern
o Tip 7: Reteach using more
repetitions
TAKE A STAND • Push students • Individual Examples
to actively o “She said 9 times 9 is 81. That’s
engage in the not right, is it, Valeria?”
ideas around o “How could she check her work
them by to see if she’s right, Alaina?”
making o Follow-up: “Why is your thumb
judgments down, Keisha?”
about the • Class-wide Examples
answers their o “Thumbs up if you agree with
peers provide. Alex’s answer”
o “Stand up if you think Jamie is
correct”
o “Show me on your hand which
answer choice you think is
correct”
ENGAGING STUDENTS IN YOUR LESSONS
COLD CALL (View • In order to • Tip 1: Make it predictable: If you cold call
the clip “Calling make engaged for a few minutes of your class almost
on students to participation every day, students will come to expect it
see an example) the and change their behavior in advance.
expectation, • Tip 2: Make it systematic: Signal to
call on students that these calls are about your
students expectations, not about individuals.
regardless of Communicate that they are universal and
whether they impersonal through your tone and
have raised consistency
their hands. • Tip 3: Keep it positive: Remember that
the goal is for students to get the answer
right, not learn a lesson by getting it wrong
• Tip 4: Use the sequence “Question.
Pause. Name”: Doing so ensures that
every student hears the question and
begins preparing an answering during the
pause that you’ve provided.
• Tip 5: Mix it with other engagement
strategies: Cold call is often most effective
when its interspersed with whole-group
checks for understanding
CALL AND • Ask students a • Strategy 1: Repeat—Students repeat
RESPONSE question and what their teacher has said or complete a
have the whole familiar phrase that he or she starts
class call out • Strategy 2: Report—Students who have
the answer in already completed problems or questions
unison on their own are asked to report their
answers back (e
o Example: “On three, tell me
your answer to problem #3”
• Strategy 3: Reinforce—Teacher
reinforces new information or a strong
answer by asking the class to repeat it
o Example: “Can anyone tell me
what this part of the expression
is called? Yes, Trayvon, that’s
the exponent. Class, what’s this
part of the expression called?”
• Strategy 4: Review—Ask students to
review answers or information from earlier
o Example: How do we say
“Where are you from” in
Spanish again? Now how would
you respond to that question in
Spanish?
• Strategy 5: Jazz it up
o Ask subgroups within the class
to respond in unison to some
cues (e.g., boys respond to the
question, followed by the girls,
followed by the front half of the
room and the back half of the
room, etc.)
o Add a physical gesture:
Example—during a lesson on
preterite v. imperfect, have
students form a “P” shape with
their hands to signal preterite or
an “I” shape with one hand to
signal “Imperfect” while calling
out the correct form of the verb.
PEPPER • Activity where • Tip 1: Use it as a warm-up activity: it’s a
the teacher great way to engage students in fast-paced
tosses review of old topics
questions to a • Tip 2: Keep it fun and unpredictable
group of o Pick Sticks: Randomize the
students checks for understanding
quickly, and through the use of popsicle
they answer sticks or by drawing names out
back. The of a hat
teacher does o Head-to-head: Have two
not slow down students stand up to answer a
or engage or question. The student who gets
discuss an the correct answer first remains
answer standing to compete against a
new challenger
o Sit down: All students begin by
standing and the teacher
peppers them with quick
questions. Students “earn their
seats” (get to sit down) by
answering the question