Focused Learning Through Direct Instruction

Session One: Instruction That Works: A Glimpse of the Basic Components

Presented by: Doreen Fuller, Patty Garrison, Lorna Manuel
Moderated by: Nancy Silva, CTAP Region 2
Regional System of District and School Support, Region 2

Direct Instruction What Is It?

A collection of instructional practices combined together to design and deliver well-crafted lessons that explicitly teach grade level content to all students.
Hollingsworth and Ybarra, Explicit Direct Instruction, p. 12

Direct Instruction Why Embrace It?

Research

supports that direct instruction is more effective and efficient, especially for struggling students, including those with disabilities learn more when instruction is teacher centered direct instruction
Chall, The Academic Challenge: What Really Works in the Classroom

Students

DI = Effective Instruction
Explicit:

unambiguous and direct approach that supports or scaffolds learning Effective: research based proven strategies

Design and Delivery Components

Efficient:

maximizing learning in the shortest amount of time Taught at grade level

Test Scores go up when students are taught grade level content. Students perform no higher than the assignments given Students cannot learn what they are not taught.

Underlying Principles of Effective Instruction

Optimize

engagement / time on task Promote high levels of success Increase content coverage / opportunity to learn More student time in instructional groups Scaffolded instruction Address different forms of knowledge
Archer and Hughes, Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching, p. 5

DI Lesson Design Components

The logical selection and sequencing of content and breaking down the content into manageable instructional units based on students cognitive capability (e.g. working memory capacity, attention, and prior knowledge)
Archer and Hughes, Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching, p. 3

DI Lesson Design Components

Learning

Objective
Prior Knowledge

What students will be able to do at the end of the lesson

Activate

Purposely connecting new lessons to long-term memories into working memories, building information

Concept

Development

Explicitly teaching concepts in the learning objective

Lesson

Importance

Teaching why the content is important

DI Lesson Design Components

Skill

Development Practice

Explicitly teaching steps or processes. How to do it.

Guided

Working problems with students, checking for clear understanding

Lesson

Closure
Practice

Students demonstrating what they have learned before given independent practice

Independent

Having students practice what they were taught

DI Lesson Delivery Strategies

Clear descriptions and demonstrations of a skill, followed by supported practice and timely feedback
Archer and Hughes, Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching, p. 3

DI Lesson Delivery Strategies

Checking

for Understanding

Students are learning while they are being taught

Explaining

Teaching by telling

Modeling

Teaching using think-alouds to reveal to students the strategic thinking required to solve a problem

Demonstrating

Teaching using physical objects to clarify the content and to support kinesthetic learning

Interactive Participation
What previous knowledge and/or experience do you have with the components and/or strategies used in direct instruction?

References

Adams, G. L., & Engelmann, S. (1996). Research on Direct Instruction: 25 years beyond DISTAR. Seattle, WA: Educational Achievement Systems. American Federation of Teachers. (1999). Five promising remedial reading intervention programs. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved July 2004 from http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/downloads/teachers/remedial.pdf Archer, A. L. and Hughes, C. A. (2011). Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching. New York, NY: The Guilford Press. Borman, G. D., Hewes, G. M., Overman, L. T., & Brown, S. (2002). Comprehensive school reform and student achievement: A metaanalysis (Report No. 59). Baltimore, MD: Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk, Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved July 2004 from http://www.csos.jhu.edu. Carnine, D., Silbert, J., Kame'enui, E., & Tarver, S. (2004). Direct instruction reading (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Forness, S. R., Kavale, K. A., Blum, I. M., & Lloyd, J. W. (1997). Mega-analysis of meta-analysis: What works in special education. Teaching Exceptional Children, 19(6), 4-9. Marchand-Martella, N. E., Slocum, T. A., & Martella, R. C. (Eds.). (2004). Introduction to Direct Instruction. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. Science Research Associates. (2002). Reading Mastery Plus series guide, levels K-6. Columbus, OH: Author. Tarver, S. (1999, Summer). Focusing on Direct Instruction. Current Practice Alerts; Division for Learning Disabilities and Division for Research, 2, 1-4. Watkins, C., & Slocum, T. (2004). The components of Direct Instruction. In N. E. Marchand-Martella, T. A. Slocum, & R. C. Martella (Eds.), Introduction to Direct Instruction (pp. 28-65). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. White, W. A. T. (1988). Meta-analysis of the effects of Direct Instruction in special education. Education and Treatment of Children, 11, 364-374.

Strategy:
CHECKING FOR UNDERSTANDING (CFU)

Checking for Understanding

The teacher continually verifying that students are learning what is being taught while it is being taught

Why is Checking for Understanding Important?

It

is real-time information and allows the teacher to pace the lesson allows the teacher to provide examples and reteaching in direct response to students ability to answer questions

It

Why is Checking for Understanding Important?

It

allows the teacher to confirm students can do independent practice before it is assigned makes the classroom more interactive, improving student engagement

It

TAPPLE
Teach

First Ask a question Pause Pick a volunteer Listen to the response Effective feedback (echo, elaborate, explain)

Interactive Participation
What are some examples of how you implement or have seen checking for understanding implemented in the classroom?

Direct Instruction:
The Components

A Well Designed Learning Objective

What is a Learning Objective? A statement that describes what students will be able to do independently at the end of a specific lesson as a result of your instruction It contains a Concept (idea), Skill (measurable), and sometimes the Context (condition)

A Well Designed Learning Objective is Important

1. Learning Objectives ensure students are taught concepts and skills vs filling out worksheets 2. Learning Objectives make students more successful as the focus on concepts and skills are to ensure successful independent practice 3. Learning Objectives allow teachers to measure if students achieve the outcome of the lesson

A Well Designed Learning Objective is Important

4. Learning Objectives tell students what they are expected to do 5. Standards-based Learning Objectives ensure the lesson is at grade level, which is critical for appropriate learning as well as doing well on state tests

Writing Learning Objectives

1. 2.

3.

4.

Select a grade-level content standard Identify all concepts and skills in the standard Deconstruct the standard into specific learning objectives Select an Independent Practice

Moving to Independent Practice Starting with End in Mind An assignment that students complete by themselves with no help from the teacher

Why is Independent Practice Important?

It is important to provide students with additional repetitions of the lessons concept and skills so they remember them transfer information into long-term memory develop fluidity and accuracy

Interactive Participation
Type in any questions you might have about the content presented to this point in the webinar.

Activating Prior Knowledge

Teachers need to know what students already know Dont assess prior knowledge Activate it

For example:
Activating prior knowledge is not asking students if they know the definitions of herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores before they have been taught. It is asking the students about something they already know (what they have eaten) that can be connected to the lesson (herbivores, carnivores, etc.).

Why is Activating Prior Knowledge Important?

When students learn to make connections from their experience to the objective they are learning, they have a foundation upon which they can place new facts, ideas, and concepts You facilitate the brain to integrate new information with whats already known

Activating Prior Knowledge

APK should not take over five minutes. The bulk of the class time must be spent teaching students the new grade-level content (Hollingsworth, 2009).

How to Activate Prior Knowledge

Universal

Experience A prior life experience

Sub-skill

review A prior academic experience

Concept Development
A concept is..a set of objects or events that share common characteristics and a common name. In concept development students are taught the big IDEA the generalization of the lesson objective.

Why is CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT important? Allows students to make generalizations in new situations
Allows students to internalize as opposed to learning individual examples
Allows for higher student achievement on high stake state tests
Not all terms and ideas students need to learn are EQUAL. Some ideas rise to the level of CENTRAL CONCEPTS that serve as bedrocks for future teaching and learning. When students have only a hazy understanding like culture or civilization in social studies, polynomials in pre-algebra, or even alive in primary-grade science, much of their future learning, which rests on key concepts like these, will be hampered by that initial lack of definitional clarity.

- Silver, Strong, & Perini (2007), The Strategic Teacher

Concept should include:

A Bulletproof Definition

Attributes

or Characteristics

Examples

Non-examples

(whenever possible)

Example: Totalitarianism

Bulletproof Definition:
Totalitarianism -absolute control by the state or a governing branch of a highly centralized institution.

Examples:
Hitlers command of Germany during WWII

Non-examples:
Franklin D. Roosevelt and the United States during WWII

Processing Time
Think of an example of a key concepts you may have taught or will soon teach. What examples and nonexamples could you present to students to help them understand the concept?

Concept Attainment
is designed to lead students to a concept by asking them to compare and contrast examples (called exemplars) that contain characteristics (called attributes) of the concept with examples that do not contain those attributes.
- Joyce & Weil, Models of Teaching (sited in The Art and Science of Teaching by Marzano)

Importance:
teaching and convincing students that todays content is important to know.
Knowing the importance increases: Student Motivation Student Engagement Student Understanding

Include different types of reasons for Lesson Importance: Personal connect to student lives Academic connect to school Real Life connect to certain occupations or societal issues
Allow students to state their own reasons.

Example
Why

is it important to know how to use density?

Different substances have different densities, so knowing the density of a substance helps determine its identity. For example, if I am trying to figure out if my earrings are made out of gold. I can determine the mass and volume of the earrings and find out its density. If the density is 19.3 g/cm3, then they are made out of gold.

Skill Development I Do During skill development students are taught the declarative (facts and information) or procedural knowledge (how to do something) as it relates to the concept.

Guided and Independent Practice

We Do
Students perform the learned skills with teacher guidance through each step to verify theyre doing it correctly. Teacher and student are working on the same step at the same time.

Why is Guided Practice Important?

Students are doing their initial practice under direct teacher supervision.
Misconceptions and errors can be quickly corrected and reteaching can occur.

Interactive Participation
What is another reason Guided Practice is a critical component of instruction?

We Do leads to
gradual release to You Do

(Independent Practice)

Closure
Final Checking for Understanding before students are given Independent Work

Closure is important..

Answers three questions: 1. Which students have reached the objective and are ready to move on and practice independently? 2. Is more guided practice, or reteaching, necessary to some students? 3. Should the lesson strategy be altered, or can the teacher move on to another activity?

During Closure the teacher should check to see if students can: - correctly describe the concept - tell you why it is important to learn the information - successfully execute the skill.

Review of Direct Instruction Components

Learning Objective and Independent Practice Checking for Understanding Activating Prior Knowledge Concept Development Lesson Importance Skill Development Guided Practice and Independent Practice Closure

Two Stars and a Wish

What are TWO new learnings you experienced during todays webinar?

What is ONE idea you would like to learn more about?

Questions?

Improvements in teaching and learning can only come from a strategy focused on improving instruction.
Pedro Noguera

Excellence in teaching is vital to the future success of the Institute. Every single one of us needs to improve as teachers, not because we are not good enough, but because we can be better.
Dylan Wiliam

Next Webinar
Component One: A Focus on Learning Objectives and Checking for Understanding
March 15, 2011 3:30 PM 4:30 PM

Contact Information
Doreen Fuller (Shasta Hub Coordinator serving Lassen, Modoc, Siskiyou, Shasta, and Trinity Counties): dfuller@shastacoe.org Patty Garrison (Butte Hub Coordinator serving Butte and Plumas Counties): pgarriso@bcoe.org Lorna Manuel (Region 2, RSDSS Director and Tehama Hub Coordinator serving Glenn and Tehama Counties): lmanuel@tehamaschools.org