DIRECT INSTRUCTION - PART 3
- Karen Kauo
- Nov 12, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 6
GRADUAL RELEASE OF RESPONSIBILITY - STUDENTS “YOU DO”
Evidence shows that Direct Instruction has the best overall impact on increasing student achievement.
In Direct Instruction Part 1, we looked at the elements of a Lesson Opening and the Teacher I DO. To read about the Lesson Opening and Teacher Modeling, click HERE!
In Direct Instruction Part 2, we learned about Guided Practice WE DO with Checking for Understanding and Feedback. To read about the Guided Practice, click HERE
In the LAST blog of the Direct Instruction series, we will explore the YOU DO part of Direct Instruction.
You Do is when students begin INDEPENDENT PRACTICE to show understanding of a learned skill. You Do can be done as students working with a partner and/or independently.
DIRECT INSTRUCTION LESSON PLAN - GRADUAL RELEASE OF RESPONSIBILITY
OPENING
Inform students about what materials they will need and the expectations for behavior.
Present the Learning Target: “Today we are going to learn…”
Discuss the relevance of the Learning Target - Why is this skill important? How will this skill be used once it is mastered?
Review critical Prerequisite Skills/Background Knowledge (can be done BEFORE the lesson begins): A review can verify that ALL students can perform a needed skill.
TEACHER – I DO
Modeling - Demonstrate the skill and describe (think aloud) what is being done.
Be Clear. Be Consistent. Be Concise. Provide several models. Involve students in the models.
Ask students to help as you do the think-aloud.
TEACHER AND STUDENTS - WE DO
Guided Practice - students complete a skill with the teacher providing step by step guidance. Physical prompts, visual prompts, spoken prompts are used. The teacher monitors for student understanding and gives immediate feedback for errors.
STUDENTS - YOU DO TOGETHER
Paired or Cooperative Practice – Allow students to practice the skill and share responses with a partner or table group. Students can give each other feedback on accuracy and discuss solutions.
STUDENTS – YOU DO ALONE
Independent practice is done while still in the instructional group. Monitor students closely and give feedback. You do not want students practicing incorrectly.
CONCLUSION
Provide a review of what was learned. Involve the students as a check for understanding.
You can give a brief preview of what will be learned next.
INDEPENDENT PRACTICE
The purpose of independent practice is to confirm that students can perform a skill without any prompts. Independent practice doesn’t mean that students are working in isolation. They still need their teacher to provide corrections, encouragement, and feedback. The teacher steps in as necessary to modify instruction and offer guided help as needed.
For learning to be committed to memory, it must be practiced over and over again before the skill is moved from short term-memory to long term memory. When planning a lesson, be sure to devote a bulk of time to guided and independent practice for students to retain their learning. Change up the way you have students complete skill practice. Don’t always have them complete a worksheet or workbook page. Don’t always have them work alone. Mix it up!
“The end goal of teaching is to guide and support students so that they are able to take responsibility for their own learning” -The Classroom Instruction Book (2022) Wong & Wong
YOU DO TOGETHER – PARTNER OR SMALL GROUP WORK
Students learn and retain information better through active learning. By working cooperatively with others, they find new ways to think about their learned material and have fun bouncing ideas off their peers. Working with peers also increases student engagement. BONUS!
Incorporating partner discussion and/or group work into independent practice, takes PRACTICE! Be intentional about explicitly teaching students HOW to have productive discussions with classmates, also called Accountable Talk. You will also need to explicitly teach your expectations for group work to ensure all students are participating equally.
When students are working cooperatively to practice and solidify learning, they should be able to engage in discussion and problem solving with peers without adult interference.
When allowing students to work collaboratively together, ensure you have given CLEAR and CONCISE directions about the EXPECTATIONS for behavior & work completion.
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YOU DO ALONE
Independent Practice is not simply about your students working alone, it’s more about them applying their thinking and using their metacognitive skills to transfer the knowledge they have gained and put it into practice. They will need to take what they’ve learned and apply it to new learning in future lessons.
Breaking independent practice into chunks and checking for understanding as a whole class or giving feedback at regular intervals is helpful. This ensures that students do not practice mistakes for too long which can then become embedded. Some students may need to return to the 'we do' stage with an adult if they are not able to independently recall each step of a process.
“Seatwork” is a time when students can work independently to practice and show mastery of a skill. Often this can be done during centers or as part of a MUST DO/MAY DO list when the teacher is pulling a small group.
When students are tasked to work independently without a teacher continuously monitoring, be sure the task is one that the student is confident about completing on their own successfully, or the opportunity for teacher feedback will come soon after the task is complete.
METACOGNITION
Metacognition is a student’s ability to monitor their own learning. They reflect on their work before, during, and after a task.
“Am I completing this assignment according to the directions?”
“Have I done everything accurately?”
“Is this my very best effort?”
METACOGNITIVE PRACTICES
Success Criteria - as stated in Part 1 - Lesson Opening, the teacher should present to students what the task looks like when it is completed proficiently; this is the Success Criteria.
When you provide specific success criteria, examples of work completed at grade level, this allows for the development of METACOGNITION.
Reflection - Encourage students to regularly reflect on their learning experiences. Incorporate reflective journals, peer discussions, and exit tickets to make reflection a routine part of learning.
Metacognitive practices help students become aware of their strengths and weaknesses as learners. A key element is recognizing the limit of one’s knowledge or ability and then figuring out how to expand that knowledge. Those who know their strengths and weaknesses will be more likely to actively monitor their learning strategies.
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LESSON CLOSURE
Closing a lesson is a final opportunity to check for understanding, provide time for student reflection, reemphasize key ideas, inform students of what will come next, and tie up any loose ends from the current lesson.
Depending on the timing and pace of your lesson, you may not have time for closure, and that is OK. But closure is a good thing when it works into your time schedule.
Check out DIRECT INSTRUCTION PART 1:
& DIRECT INSTRUCTION PART 2:
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