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Somewhere between 75% and 85% of a child’s waking hours are spent outside of school. Therefore, engaging with parents, carers and guardians is integral to the success of a school as a central contributing factor in our school culture.

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This first blog is a series of blogs focuses on improving parental engagement to support behaviour.

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Is it time to get started with artificial intelligence? These 20 AI "first steps" for teachers will catch you up to speed.

If you've heard the buzz about artificial intelligence (AI) and want to better understand it -- and its implications on the classroom, guess what?

You're in the right place.

Generative AI (AI that generates, or creates something for us) has potential for lesson prep, for instruction ... even for student learning.

It's more than a "tool students will use to cheat."

But we also have to be careful. AI isn't without its controversies and concerns.

In this post, we'll share with you several "first steps" you can take as an educator to get up to speed with artificial intelligence -- to see how it fits and if it's something you want to use.

Read through the summary of any step that interests you.

Click the title of that "step" -- or the resource at the bottom of the "step" -- to dive deeper.

Some have videos and slide presentations. Watch or flip through slides to learn.

The post is broken into three parts: 1. Learn about AI; 2. Learn about classroom AI tools; 3. Consider AI's implications on school.

Let's get started with part 1!

If you're getting started with AI and want some foundational information about it, this is a great stop. This collection of resources -- presented by Code.org, ETS, ISTE, and Khan Academy -- includes video conversations with AI trailblazers and educators. The videos -- "Demystifying AI for Educators," "Transforming Learning with AI," and more -- will kickstart your understanding of AI and its implications on education.

Maybe ChatGPT (or other AI assistants) have caught your eye -- but large language models still feel like they run on fairies and magic dust. If that's the case, check out this video (7:21) where the CTO of OpenAI and a CEO of an AI company break the technology down. It's one of several videos offered by Code.org about how AI works.

3. Read this AI prompting guide slide deck

Once you try out an AI assistant like ChatGPT, you start to realize ... the better you prompt it, the better results you can get. Want to level up your prompting skills? Use this prompting guide slide deck (also embedded below) to learn the basics about interacting with these AI models that ChatGPT and other AI assistants use.

4. Compare the four major AI assistants

Ever since ChatGPT was released in November 2022, tech companies have rushed to catch up -- and to improve their own AI assistants. Lots of tools have come on the market, but these main four have proven to be the most capable to this point (all with a free and paid premium version):

So ... which one do you use? You don't have to pick just one. And you may find that you like one for certain tasks over the other.

The best way to find out is to use them. Try this: Open all four in separate tabs. Give all of them the same prompt (ask them to do the same task). Then look at the results. Once you do this a handful of times, you start to see how they respond -- and how they're different.

Bonus: Want to explore a different AI assistant that more accurately reflects the experience, culture, and history of Black and brown people? Check out Latimer.ai (with free and paid/premium versions). (Thanks to Dee Lanier for sharing Latimer!)

5. Ask an AI assistant for a unit plan -- then follow up with replies for more specifics.

Once you've tried out an AI assistant, you might come to a conclusion ... it didn't give you exactly what you were looking for.

That's OK! (If you feel that way, trust me ... we've all been there.) You don't have to write the perfect prompt to get what you're looking for.

If your AI assistant didn't give you what you need, just tell it what you want to be different and it'll change its response.

Important to know: Your interactions with an AI assistant like ChatGPT are like a conversation. You don't have to get the perfect prompt the first time. Plus, the AI assistants answer your prompts originally every time, so if you ask it again, it will likely give you a unique response that might be more like what you want.

A good place to start: Ask it for a unit plan about a topic you'll be teaching -- and then follow up with replies to get more and more specific. Ask it things like, "What would day 2 in that plan look like?" "What are some discussion questions I could ask my students during that conversation?" "What are some project ideas that would support this unit?"

PART 2: Learn about classroom AI tools

Presentation slides are a big part of many classrooms. Teachers and students face two common problems with them, though ...

Slides are time-consuming to create.

They're not very interactive for students.

Thankfully, Curipod ( curipod.com) can help with BOTH of these.

Just tell Curipod what you want to build a lesson about. Include any objectives or standards you want to meet. It'll create a short slide presentation about that topic with text, facts, images, and more. (And remember, AI helps us create a first draft, so if it isn't exactly what you want, you can always change it.)

And to make the lesson more interactive, just add one of the many slide types that Curipod offers, including polls, students writing feedback, word clouds, and more.

As a high school Spanish teacher, I've used LOTS of songs to help my students learn new language concepts. And I've written some short songs of my own. (No, they weren't any good ... but yes, they were effective!)

Why? Put it to a beat and it'll stick in your students' memory. Research has connected educational songs and student achievement.

Suno (suno.com) uses AI to create songs based on whatever content you choose -- and composes the lyrics and music in seconds so you can press play and listen.

Use it to write a song about something that happened in history -- or in current events. Use it to write a song about covalent bonds or the printing press or economics concepts. Or use it to write a special song on a student's birthday -- or to celebrate an important occasion for your students!

When students learn something new, we want it to stick. We want them to understand how the pieces fit together -- and how it connects to other parts of life.

MirrorTalk ( MirrorTalk.ai) creates instant custom questions about whatever students are learning. Then, it creates an in-depth AI analysis of student responses to show gaps in understanding or next steps.

Students tell MirrorTalk what they're working on or what they're learning. Then, MirrorTalk uses what students said to create questions for them to ask to dive deeper.

If you use Google Workspace, one thing you probably love about it is that everything is in one place. You don't have to hop from one product or app to another. All your Google stuff is in Google.

If you live your life in Google, you might as well add the AI superpowers of Brisk Teaching.

Brisk Teaching ( BriskTeaching.com) is a Chrome extension that adds a little "B" icon in the bottom right corner of your Google products. Click that little icon -- it's the Brisk Teaching button -- to open up all sorts of AI capabilities like ...

Create (quizzes, rubrics, lesson plans, exemplars, etc.)

Give feedback on student writing

Inspect student writing process (in the version history)

Change grade level of text

Turning students loose on a commercial AI chatbot like ChatGPT can come with risks. Many non-education AI companies aren't that interested in student data privacy. Plus, there can be no way to know how the AI is interacting with students -- or how students are interacting with AI.

Thankfully, there's a safer alternative -- and one where you can program the chatbot to interact with students in a certain way.

SchoolAI (SchoolAI.com) lets you create Spaces, custom student-facing chatbots that interact with students how you want. Write the instructions for a Space the same way you would write a prompt for an AI assistant.

When you give your students a link to that Space, they can interact with the AI with your specific instructions. Plus, you can watch a transcript of student interactions with the AI -- and SchoolAI will summarize your students' interactions.

Teachers can spend countless hours looking for the right image for a learning activity, a slide presentation, or a lesson. Now, AI offers a new option to save you time and get exactly what you want.

AI image generators like Ideogram ( Ideogram.ai) can help. Users create a text description of the image they want. Then, AI image generators like Ideogram create an image.

I've used images created by Ideogram for students to describe in my Spanish classes. They can be used to illustrate all sorts of concepts -- and even provide images for students to critically analyze to look for inaccuracies and inconsistencies.

Microsoft Designer (designer.microsoft.com) is a very capable AI image generators with lots of fun modes. But one of its features really sets it apart ...

If you create a prompt you really like to create an image, you can share it with friends -- and let them fill in the blanks to customize it for themselves.

Think of it as a "Mad Libs"-style prompt where you fill in the blanks with what you want.

It's a great way to get beginner AI users comfortable with generating images. It can also streamline image creation to save time.

13. Try out new AI features in edtech tools you already use

Lots of new AI-powered edtech tools have popped up recently. You can't seem to avoid the words "powered by AI" or "AI features" anymore. This has brought lots of new players into the educational technology landscape.

But pay attention ...

Lots of your favorite tried-and-true edtech apps are adding AI features, too. You just might not have noticed them yet.

Look around in Google and Microsoft products. But also look at other third-party edtech tools like Quizizz, Padlet, and others for new features you didn't have before. If you want new AI features, you don't always have to find an "AI app". They might already exist in your favorite tech tools!

PART 3: Consider AI's implications on school

Yep, this is my book ... and there's a good chance I wrote it for YOU.

It's targeted toward busy teachers who are just starting to learn about AI. In this book, you'll learn about ...

the implications of AI in education and in classrooms

practical ways AI can support teaching and learning

how to maintain academic integrity in the face of AI and cheating

the AI-powered future our students face (and how to prepare them)

You can find AI for Educators in paperback, Kindle ebook, and Audible audiobook on Amazon.

Are you in any leadership position in education and involved with decision-making related to AI? This FREE community / email newsletter is for YOU.

AI for Admins connects you with a community of like-minded educators who are trying to set students and teachers up for success in an AI world.

The AI for Admins email newsletter shares news, ideas, and solutions for educators by educators. The community is a forum-style discussion board where you can interact directly with other educators from around the world.
Join the AI for Admins community / email newsletter here.

Our students will face a future unlike ours -- especially with the implications of growing artificial intelligence.

How can we prepare them for this future? (Hint: It isn't just "teaching them more about artificial intelligence.")

Some timeless skills -- like emphasizing process over product -- and some new skills will set them on a solid path to success.

Schools are starting to confront the challenges -- and opportunities -- that AI presents to education. Lots of discussions need to take place.

But what specifically should we be talking about?

Sure, let's talk about behavior we want to avoid. But what does responsible AI use look like? How can we set students on a course to success -- academically in school, but also in life?

Let's have these conversations in staff meetings -- but also with students.

18. Consider how much AI use is appropriate in learning tasks

When AI tools like ChatGPT were released, one of our first thoughts as teachers was -- "Students are going to use this to cheat."

But how much AI use constitutes cheating? And in what ways should we encourage students to take advantage of AI? (Let's remember -- spell check runs on AI, and it's been standard in word processors since 1995.)

This graphic ( available as a PDF download here) shows a spectrum of AI use in a student writing assignment. The graphic can encourage conversations with students, with staff, and even with parents.

PS: There's a whole chapter about this graphic and academic integrity with AI in my book, AI for Educators.

Anyone who uses AI in their lives should be aware of the dangers. One of those dangers: AI might portray a world that doesn't exist -- or encourage a world that puts marginalized people at a disadvantage.

Here's what Rebecca Heilweil writes in this Vox article :
Humans are error-prone and biased, but that doesn't mean that algorithms are necessarily better. Still, the tech is already making important decisions about your life and potentially ruling over which political advertisements you see, how your application to your dream job is screened, how police officers are deployed in your neighborhood, and even predicting your home's risk of fire.

But these systems can be biased based on who builds them, how they're developed, and how they're ultimately used. This is commonly known as algorithmic bias. It's tough to figure out exactly how systems might be susceptible to algorithmic bias, especially since this technology often operates in a corporate black box. We frequently don't know how a particular artificial intelligence or algorithm was designed, what data helped build it, or how it works.

Education author and speaker Rick Wormeli writes that we should keep student learning paramount in a world with more and more AI at our fingertips.

In this article, Wormeli suggests that we keep eight principles in mind in classrooms and schools. They include: not short-cutting important thought processes for students, asking students to create a first draft on their own first, and revisiting what learning really means periodically.

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Is it time to get started with artificial intelligence? These 20 AI "first steps" for teachers will catch you up to speed.If you've heard the buzz about

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Setting the Tone for the First Lesson of the Year

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Setting the Tone for the First Lesson of the Year

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To start the academic year off well, approach your high school students in ways that make them feel seen and create excitement about the subject matter.

monkeybusinessimages / iStock

There are few lessons as special as the first lesson of a new academic year. While success in teaching happens in the aggregate-and is rarely derailed by any single lesson, even those we feel could have gone better-the very first lesson feels a little different. This is because it is different.

The first lesson is an opportunity to welcome our students to our classrooms and to share with them the excitement (and trepidation) of a new academic year. It's an opportunity to get to know our students and for them to get to know us. We set the tone for the year by beginning to build the routines and habits that shape our classrooms. What we do in this first lesson reverberates in all of those that follow.

In this article, I'll outline four of my best strategies for getting the most out of your first lesson. Whether you're teaching an entirely new class for the first time or rejoining a class that you taught last year, these strategies are sure to set you and your students up for success.

1. Meet Them at the Door

Make sure that you're waiting at the door of the classroom to greet your new students. As they arrive, say hello to each student personally, asking for their name if you haven't taught the class before. Direct them to head into the classroom and to find their desk, which you should label beforehand.

Most obviously and fundamentally, it gives you the opportunity to acknowledge each student personally. It tells them that they matter to you and creates, from the first second, an inclusive and welcoming space. They are seen and they matter.

If you're asking for their name, it gives students the chance to tell you how they prefer to be known. Often, a name as it appears on a register is not the student's preference. Jot down what they say on the class roster (which I have with me on a clipboard) so that you can begin to address them in the manner they prefer as soon as the lesson begins.

A more practical reason for meeting students at the door is to control the flow of entry into the classroom. It means the door doesn't become a bottleneck and students will enter, one by one, in a calm and orderly fashion.

There are a few reasons for doing this:

2. Give Students Something to Think About

If you're waiting at the door for students to enter, this means you're not in the classroom teaching. Make sure that there is something on the desk for students to complete. It should be self-explanatory and self-contained so students don't feel the need to get back up and ask you a question. While they're working on this, you can continue to greet students as they arrive.

My preference for this first task is either a retrieval activity from the last academic year (so long as I am confident that they will know it) or a list of some books I read over summer, with space for students to write down what they read and/or what they most enjoyed about your subject in the previous year.

3. Make Names a Priority

Aiming to learn the names of your students as quickly as possible is always one of my top priorities. It helps to build a strong relationship with the class, but also, just as important, it enables a whole host of routines I rely on in my teaching. It is hard to cold call if you don't know the name of the person you wish to ask.

The important work of learning names begins in the first lesson. Keep your clipboard with you during the lesson (with their preferred names now added), and make a conscious effort to refer to it during questioning. Let students know this is what you're doing and why you're doing it. Invite them to correct you anytime you get a name wrong. At the end of the first lesson, I always make a big deal of moving around the room and trying to name every student correctly. I don't always get this right, but it's surprising to find how quickly you can do it.

4. Make the Subject Matter

As well as sending a signal that each student matters as an individual, you also want them to understand that your subject matters. It's why you're all gathered together, after all. Therefore, make sure that you always begin with something that's academically substantive.

In my own subject of English, I always begin by teaching a poem. It is discrete and exemplifies many of the skills that characterize the overall discipline; I'm able to build a quick snapshot of the class's current ability in order to inform future planning; and it allows plenty of scope for rich and interesting discussion.

During the discussion, continue to systematically use and rehearse student names, but also begin to introduce students to high-leverage routines you know you're likely to use a lot: turn and talk, cold call, mini-whiteboards. As you do it for the first time, narrate what you're doing and how you'd like the routine to work in all future lessons.

The first lesson matters, and you can ensure that it does in all the right ways. Set the tone you want to permeate all the lessons that will follow it: inclusive and purposeful, welcoming and rigorous.

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Setting the Tone for the First Lesson of the Year

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To start the academic year off well, approach your high school students in ways that make them feel seen and create excitement about the subject matter.

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Just because they’re engaged, it doesn’t mean they’re learning

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Just because they’re engaged, it doesn’t mean they’re learning

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Carl Hendrick, Wellington College, UK; Author

Jim Heal, Deans for Impact, USA

One of the difficulties with determining what is effective in a classroom is that very often, what looks like it should work does not and vice versa. Take, for example, the notion of engagement. On the surface, this would seem like a necessary condition for learning. However, there is some evidence that it may not be a sufficient one. Graham Nuthall explores this dichotomy in his seminal book The Hidden Lives of Learners (Nuthall, 2007, p. 24):

"Our research shows that students can be busiest and most involved with material they already know. In most of the classrooms we have studied, each student already knows about 40-50% of what the teacher is teaching."

Nuthall's work highlights the fact that students are keen to busy themselves doing tasks that give the appearance of learning but which actually might just be disposable activities that do not engender long-lasting and durable learning. In addition, there is the fact that students' prior knowledge about a particular domain is really the key element in terms of how their learning will progress. As Tricot and Sweller (2014, p. 9) point out, 'when performing a cognitive task requiring domain specific knowledge, the presence or absence of this knowledge is the best predictor of performance'. Without knowing what students know or don't know, teachers might not be putting students in a place where they are transforming their understanding of a particular concept, and what might look like learning might in fact just be keeping busy.

There is also the distinction made by Nicholas Soderstrom and Robert Bjork (2015) that learning and performance are not the same thing. Performance is short-term (e.g. the score on a test) while learning is long-term (e.g. what you remember and can use tomorrow, next week, next month...). The notion that one can enter a classroom and somehow see learning is a misguided one, and as Rob Coe (2013) points out, engagement is often a poor proxy for learning. Teachers can be labouring under the delusion where '"I have taught it" becomes a proxy for "they have learned it", without a need for any independent check on what (if anything) has actually been learned' (Coe, 2013, p. 12).

Here is where the science of learning is so important: it allows us to circumvent these cognitive biases and see the forest for the trees. As Soderstrom and Bjork remind us, 'how we learn is often vastly misaligned with our metacognitive assessments of how we think we learn' (Soderstrom and Bjork, 2015, p. 32).

So, what does an applied understanding of learning science look like in practice? What does it mean to differentiate between surface engagement and actual learning - to prioritise substance over performance? To answer such questions, we might consider the following example.

Imagine that you are an English teacher part-way through a unit on different authorial styles and you wish to deepen student understanding of that content. You scour the internet for available resources and narrow your search down to the two options seen in Figure 1. Which would you choose and why?

Even though there is a range of contextual factors to bear in mind when making a decision of this nature, there is nevertheless a correct answer in the eyes of learning science - and that is Activity 1.

A number of good reasons point to why, chief among them the depth of processing required to complete the first task rather than the more surface-level acts required for the second. In Activity 1, students are essentially provided with examples and non-examples of various authorial styles all at once. The opinion pieces are examples of persuasive writing but are not primarily informative in function. By contrast, the news article is an example of an informative piece that does not display the same features of persuasive writing. Each writing type can be defined as much by its difference to the other as by its own innate features.

By engaging in Activity 1, students can come to know what each style of writing is (and is not) by appreciating differences across the examples; they can move beyond the surface phenomena of the texts and examine underlying components by seeing how each functions differently than the other; and they can tie those features back to an emerging framework in which the categories 'inform' and 'persuade' populate a mental model that might figuratively be entitled 'authorial styles'.

Having used comparison in the early part of the task to understand what informing and persuading look like in use, the final question invites students to transform a piece of writing through a series of modifications borrowed from another approach - to amend 'inform' such that it becomes closer to 'entertain'.

This is where the rubber of stylistic understanding hits the authorial road: by inviting an act of The processes of applying learning to new situations that both demonstrates and deepens the to-be-remembered features of each writing style. At this point, a third writing type is invoked so that students avoid the temptation to 'parrot' the style of the examples already provided. Instead, they must now appreciate that writing styles are made of parts that can be not only deconstructed but also reconstructed - and that they as learners can acquire the tools for doing so.

Success in Activity 1, and an evolving understanding of the target content, is impossible without directing students' attention in such a way as to invite understanding and comparison of the authorial features on display.

Success in Activity 2 requires only that students recognise the surface features of each authorial style to the extent that they can be categorised and sorted into their corresponding P-I-E buckets. Attention need not be paid to comparing features across the styles, be they surface or underlying, since at no point is a student prompted to justify why they placed an example of a given authorial style into a given category. This, combined with the lack of an opportunity to try out their emerging understanding through any act of transfer, means that there exists no distinct opportunity for students to show what they know and how they know it. The result is a task that directs attention to surface-level phenomena and which more likely fosters surface-level engagement as a result.

To put it another way, it is impossible for students to complete the first task without coming to some appreciation of the intended takeaways of the lesson, whereas students could engage in the second task without ever turning their attention to the concepts at hand - and certainly not with a depth of thought that would lead to meaningful or durable understanding.

The above example recently featured in a paper published by Deans for Impact (2020), examining the extent to which over 1,000 teaching candidates in the US understood and were able to apply learning science principles. The paper stated that only 22 per cent of surveyed future teachers picked Activity 1. One lesson to take from this appears to be that all teachers, for better or worse, operate according to a mental model guiding their practice. The instructional choices that teachers make every day are grounded in this mental model, which might figuratively be entitled 'what good teaching looks like' - all of which invites a question: for a given teacher, what does that mental model consist of and what is informing its development?

One clue might reside in the open-ended responses collected from those who selected the second option as the preferred task in the recent Deans for Impact (2020) survey:

I selected this answer because it helps visual learners as well as those who need to write things down, ensuring that everyone can better comprehend the information.

The second activity seemed to be more fun and engaging. Students learn the best when they don't know they're learning.

It is more inclusive to visual learners as the first activity is advantageous to audible learners.

I am a hands-on person.

I think I would have learned better using this activity.

Because it easier.

1 is very boring, I didn't even want to read the questions. 2 is more inviting, seems more hands-on and is more inquiry learning.

Option two seems more hands-on and memorable

More student-centred. Encompasses more learning styles Theories relating to the idea that individuals learn best in... .

Students are more likely to write meaningful responses in chart form versus paragraphs. Most students dislike writing prompts. Charting makes it more manageable.

Well-intentioned though the reasoning found in these responses may be, they contain no shortage of the kinds of edu-myths that pervade the teaching profession - a reality that might say as much about the models of teaching that those candidates had been exposed to and socialised to see as 'engaging' as anything else.

To put a finer point on why one of these tasks is better supported by learning science than the other, we can turn to Figure 2 and what Dan Willigham (2009, p. 7) has referred to as 'just about the simplest model of the mind possible'.

One way of interpreting this model is as follows:

We all exist in an environment and, while the stimuli in our environments are plentiful, we only actually attend to a few of them at a time

The stimuli we attend to enter our working memories; those we don't attend to do not

Once in working memory, we think about or 'process' these stimuli

Some - sadly not all - information that enters our working memory makes it into our long-term memories; what we don't process in some way is lost

Later, when we are trying to make sense of other new information that we encounter from the environment, we often rely on information that we have in long-term memory to help us understand it, thus we retrieve it from long-term memory and transfer it into working memory as necessary.

Given the above articulation of 'the simple model of the mind', it would therefore be reasonable to assume that if attention is a finite resource - and we can only encode what we have first paid attention to and thought about deeply - then a core part of teaching is supporting students in thinking about to-be-remembered content and not other things. Therefore, teachers should design tasks that require students to focus their attention on the meaning of the content in question.

This is why Acitvity 1 is the right answer.

The contrast between knowing which is the better task and which is not becomes starker still when we consider how such choices might typically play out in practice. Teachers tempted by 'Activity 2' tendencies open themselves up to false-positive feedback loops in which students appear successful and present as engaged, all of which the teacher interprets as a sign of learning.

Students might feel inclined to approach the teacher at the end and thank them for a great class; the next parent-teacher conference might result in hearing those perennially sought-after words: 'My son/daughter absolutely loves your lessons.' And why wouldn't they? Playing sorting games is fun and provides the illusion of progress.

All of this is made possible because of a dissembling force at work - a force that confuses 'what looks like it should work' with 'what actually works', and which conflates 'I have taught it' with 'they have learned it'. The outward-facing indicators of 'success' in a task, or unit, or school year, or school career are taken as proof positive that durable learning is taking place under the surface. Compelling outward indicators of engagement only serve to affirm the belief.

Such misunderstandings of engagement and progress have the power to do lasting damage, since the results of the disconnect (students who didn't learn what was hoped) are often discovered only when it is too late. Indeed, such gaps and missed opportunities may never be fully revealed, as the diminished attainment of the student is attributed to other factors, further shrouding the root cause of the problem.

Much has been written about what it would take to close the gap between theory and practice in education. Instead, we should perhaps take on a gap of a different sort: a gap grounded in cognition and perception, existing between the espoused intentions of a lesson, unit of learning or curriculum and that which plays out in its enactment. A gap that could begin to close once we as teachers apply the lessons of learning science and use them to illuminate the difference between the surface phenomena and underlying structures of our practice.

References

Coe R (2013) Improving education: A triumph of hope over experience. Inaugural lecture, Durham University. Available at: www.cem.org/attachments/publications/ImprovingEducation2013.pdf (accessed 11 August 2020).

Deans for Impact (2020) Learning by Scientific Design. Austin, TX: Deans for Impact.

Nuthall G (2007) The Hidden Lives of Le arners. Wellington, NZ: NZCER Press.

Soderstrom NC and Bjork RA (2015) Learning versus performance: An integrative review. Perspectives on Psychological Science 10(2): 176-199.

Tricot A and Sweller J (2014) Domain-specific knowledge and why teaching generic skills does not work. Educational Psychology Review 26(2): 265-283. DOI: 10.1007/s10648-013-9243-1.

Willingham D (2009) Why Don't Students Like School? American Educator (Spring): 4-13.

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Just because they're engaged, it doesn't mean they're learning

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Carl Hendrick, Wellington College, UK; Author Jim Heal, Deans for Impact, USA One of the difficulties with determining what is effective in a classroom is that very often, what looks like it should work does not and vice versa. Take, for example, the notion of engagement.

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5 Back to School Prompts That Aren't "What Did You Do This Summer?"

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5 Back to School Prompts That Aren't "What Did You Do This Summer?"

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Start building that community from day one! 

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Start building that community from day one! 

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Student Self-assessment... is it possible?

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Student Self-assessment... is it possible?

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The topic of grading and assessment is a deep well for me. I was an English teacher in a classroom for 26 years, and in each of those years I changed at least one aspect of my assessment/grading practice.

In year 21, I finally nailed an approach that had eluded me for two decades: students successfully, meaningfully, and joyfully evaluating their own work.

Let me be clear...my early attempts at student self-assessment were woefully misguided and entirely inadequate. I gave vocabulary and grammar quizzes and had students correct them. Not only was this a ridiculous practice, it was a distinct failure (eventually, I stopped giving vocabulary and grammar quizzes).

I also had students put together a tiny "portfolio" of journals and evaluate the portfolio. Miserable. I had students evaluate their own essays, without appropriate scaffolding or instruction. Epic fail!
I knew that these approaches failed because:
1. The kids didn't understand why I was asking them to evaluate themselves, and I couldn't properly articulate why. Truthfully, at the time, I think I was overwhelmed by paperwork.

2. The self-assessment attempts didn't improve subsequent performance.

3. The students and I both felt a little cranky and dispirited afterwards.

A further confession: I did not start teaching with a solid background in education. Rather, at university I studied adolescent psychology and English literature, so as a new teacher I didn't have the tools to craft an effective grading/assessment protocol.

But, by my 21st year, I had taken so many classes and so thoroughly immersed myself in the educational literature and research - and, frankly, was so rich in failure! - that I was able to see a path forward.

The changes I made that year were transformational...the best I'd ever managed. My students were markedly calmer, happier, and focused. That calm and focus was reflected in their academic performance, their behavior in class, and in student evaluations. It was the beginning of the best teaching of my career.

If I were to boil down the most essential change I made - the one that made a significant difference in outcomes - it was this: I asked students to explain their thinking.

It sounds simple, and it is! Here's my process:

1. Before students started a writing project, I'd ask them to identify which of 3 learning targets they were going to focus on in the project (roughly, these were big idea, details, and mechanics).

2. Students wrote at least two to three versions of their projects, getting scaffolded feedback from peers along the way.

3. When students turned in their work to me, I made comments on the work (no grade attached) and asked students to make revisions.

4. After the revisions were made, I asked students to evaluate their work on the rubric for the specific learning target on which they'd focused. Here's an example of a learning target and its rubric:
I can explain my big idea using specific details or examples.
5. Then I met with each student to discuss the revisions and the grade. It was in these conferences that I asked students to explain their thinking. The first level of explanation was in showing me their revisions and indicating why they'd made those choices. The second level of explanation was showing me their own evaluation of the work and backing up their evaluation with specific references to their writing.

For example, if a student felt they'd achieved at a "mastery" level on "details," they'd highlight their project to indicate those details that met the rubric criteria. Here's an excerpt of student writing, highlighted to indicate the details they felt they included (from an assignment to write a story in six sentences).

Meetings powered by students

One of the reasons these meetings were effective is because students were the engine at every step: they decided what to focus on as they wrote, they made decisions about how best to demonstrate their understanding of the learning target, and finally they used the rubric and the evidence in their work to evaluate their performance.

There's another reason having students explain their thinking was transformative. In effect, students were teaching me about their work. Teaching others is like a superhighway to understanding. For instance, I did not deeply understand grammar until I had to teach it. Similarly, students did not deeply understand why they were making certain choices in their writing until they had to explain those choices to me and evaluate the work product themselves.
Stephanie Farley has been an English teacher and independent school administrator for 27 years. Interested in instructional design, assessment, feedback, and grading, she has served as a Mastery Transcript Consortium Site Director and has been on a number of California Association of Independent Schools accreditation committees.
Reaping the rewards of all this work

Once I gave up responsibility for "explanation," especially as it related to grades, my students were far less anxious and far more confident. In fact, they had the confidence that only comes from competence in a given endeavor. And, it turns out, competence is highly motivating!

You know that swagger that some kids have when they're really good at something? By the spring of each year, the majority of my students rocked into class with that telltale swagger, because they felt good about their work and knew that each day of English class would allow them to grow their skills just a little bit more. They had earned their confidence.

In this new year, as you think about how to motivate your students through the short, dark days that lead up to the next break, I encourage you to try just this one thing: ask students to explain their thinking. You'll likely be pleased with the results.

Stephanie's first book is Joyful Learning: Tools to Infuse Your 6-12 Classroom with Meaning, Relevance, and Fun (Routledge/Eye On Education, 2023). She has created professional development for schools around reading and curriculum and coaches teachers in instruction, lesson planning, feedback, and assessment. Visit her website Joyful Learning and find her other MiddleWeb articles .

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A Small + Mighty Grading Change: Student Self Assessment

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It took Stephanie Farley 21 years to solve the student self-assessment equation. The answer? Teach students to explain their thinking as they revise and improve.

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Explore how educators can guide all students, regardless of their developmental starting points, to become productive and engaged learners.

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Back to school is a special time of year. Sure, it means the end of summer break, but it's also a time for new beginnings. It's a time to get back into the regular cadence of the school schedule.

This is a crucial time of year for setting expectations -- for students, for teachers, for everyone in the school setting.

It's a time to set routine -- to get some repetitions with how the class will run day by day, week by week.

And, of course, it's relationship-building time! We want to get to know our students. They want to know more about us. And they need to get to know each other to build the classroom community.

Below we have curated over 80 back to school activities for any classroom. Scroll down for tons of ready-to-use lessons along with tutorials, templates, and examples to make planning this year a little easier.
What are your back to school ideas? Please share them in a comment at the bottom of the post!

80 back to school activities for any classroom
Click on any picture below to jump directly to that section or use the drop down menu to browse the table of contents.

Scroll down orclick here to see our ideas for welcoming students back from break or starting a new semester.

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Back to school is a special time of year. Sure, it means the end of summer break, but it's also a time for new beginnings. It's a time to get back into

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We live in a time of sensory overload where we're constantly being bombarded with information. And, unfortunately, students are also experiencing this same phenomenon while still trying to make sense of the world around them. How do we combat the associated brain drain and mental fatigue? We integrate microlearning into the classroom setting!

Defining Microlearning

The term "microlearning" refers to the intake of any highly focused, bite-sized educational content. At its core, microlearning is a way of delivering tidbits of important information that usually gives learners the ability to customize their own education and work at their own pace.

Although the term was officially coined in the 1960s by renowned scholar Hector Correa, the movement picked up speed first in the 1990s and then again in the 2010s with the growing popularity of the smartphone. Nowadays, we're exposed to microlearning every day without even realizing it!

Benefits of Microlearning in the Classroom

From educational video clips to gamified quizzes and assessments, microlearning has tons of great applications for K-12 teachers. In fact, microlearning has been proven to help students with improved retention of information, increased engagement in classroom activities, more flexibility and control (which leads to a higher sense of self), and access to customized, differentiated learning pathways.

Integrating Microlearning into Your Lesson Plan

So, the question is then, "How can I integrate microlearning into my classroom and give my students the best shot at success?"

There are several ways to weave microlearning into your existing lesson plans! Here, we'll provide some ideas for including microlearning strategies from warm-ups to homework and beyond.

Warm-Up Activities

Utilize microlearning strategies and classroom tech to bring warm-up activities to life!

Create introductory videos that provide background information and relevant data. Use the video to spark interest, then end with a slide introducing the question or topic you'll cover in class.

Gamify your warm ups by utilizing a quiz application like Kahoot! or by creating bellringers for your specific subject and grade level.

Self-Study

Microlearning makes education available around the clock! Plan a mix of homework and study techniques to better your students' engagement and keep them interested in the material.

Encourage regular 5-minute study sessions to improve retention in an easy way. You can use an app like Flashcard Factory or Quizlet to keep students engaged.

Find and introduce relevant podcasts. Sometimes, all it takes to get back on task is to hear a different voice discuss the topic for a few minutes. Some educational podcasters even provide snack-sized content for this very purpose!

Quick Assessments

It's been proven in countless studies that continued exposure to material drastically improves retention. Make regular, short quizzes to drive home your lessons!

Use AI to make a YouTube quiz for a quick, gamified way to check students' progress and help them see the material another time. Plus, for those students with testing anxiety, a quick, gamified quiz may feel lower stakes than a more traditional assessment.

Tips and Tricks for Using Microlearning in the Classroom

When integrating these microlearning strategies into your lesson plan, it's important to keep a few best practices in mind. Always remember to:

Keep content specific and concise. Microlearning sessions should last no longer than 15 minutes and should only focus on one clearly defined topic.

Use a variety of formats. Utilizing the same app or platform every day is likely to get old fast for both you and your students. Shake things up with videos, quizzes, podcasts, and more.

Make sure your content is age-appropriate. Some external content, like podcasts or YouTube videos, may be geared toward different age groups or contain inappropriate material. Always vet your sources and watch the content yourself before sharing.

Encourage active participation. If your students aren't engaged with the material, they're not going to retain it. If you're having trouble getting students to focus, try incentivizing the material with small prizes or homework passes.

And, most importantly, have fun with it! If you're having fun while creating lessons, your students are more likely to enjoy them, too.

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Shake Up Your Lesson Plan with Microlearning in the Classroom

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Improve students' retention and engagement by implementing microlearning in the classroom, from video warm-ups to digital reviews.

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This or That Questions for Elementary Students

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This or That Questions for Elementary Students

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Samantha Cleaver, PhD, Special Education & Reading Intervention

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400+ This or That Questions To Get Students and Teachers Talking

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Questions to encourage debate or discussion or to simply break the ice.

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EDITABLE BACK TO SCHOOL ACTIVITIES FOR LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

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EDITABLE BACK TO SCHOOL ACTIVITIES FOR LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

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It's almost time for back to school. Can you believe it? I sure can't. Summer has flown by, as per usual, but I sure hope yours has been fantastic.

Teaching Vocabulary in the Early Years

With the first few weeks of school in mind, I've created these three editable activities specifically for preschool to kindergarten grade levels to reinforce school vocabulary. Why the focus on language here? Students must have a solid vocabulary base to support reading comprehension. So working on building vocabulary with early emergent readers is vital to the development of reading skills and the love of reading.

Second Language Development

These activities can also be used for second language learning and vocabulary acquisition. For example, they're great to use in bilingual or dual language classrooms. Since the teachers can share these items and use them in their language of instruction, these games can greatly aid in language transfer between two (or more) languages.

Three Back to School Activities

Take a look at these ready-to-use bingo cards, flashcards, and "I Have, Who Has" game cards. You can edit these activities to add or change anything you see fit. I purposefully didn't include words on these cards since the focus is oral language, but once you are working on letter-sound correspondence (like beginning sounds, etc.), you can certainly add the text. Additionally, you can replace my photos with photos you (or the students) take of these items in your classroom.

Unpopular opinion alert! There are some truly beautifully made, very cute templates and resources out there, and I appreciate them. But I did not make these activities very cute (outside of the title page) on purpose. Because I don't believe that students really need them to be or that it really helps the learning. In fact, keeping things plain and simple is often best, especially for young students learning foundational oral language and reading skills.

Here is the school supply vocabulary I used:

Back to School Supplies Flashcards

When introducing vocabulary, I liked to use real objects or flashcards with real photos of the objects on them. Here are very simple flashcards that can be used in a variety of ways.
Ideas for Using these Back to School Flashcards:

Mystery Box: I loved using the mystery box to introduce new vocabuarly. I would sing a little mystery box song (that I completely made up) and pull a card out of the box for the students to identify. When I was teaching pre-K students, this was one of their favorite things.

Matching/Memory Game: Print out two sets of cards and place them all face down. Have students take turns turning over two cards at a time. If the two cards chosen match, they can be left face up. If the two cards do not match, they should be turned face down. Continue until all matches have been found.

Kim's Game: Place three cards in front of a student face up. Have the student close his/her eyes. Remove one card from the group. When the student opens their eyes, ask them to tell you which card is missing. This game can be differentiated by varying the number of cards, the number of cards you remove, and by mixing the cards up after you remove cards.

Supply Hunt: Have students draw a flashcard from the mystery box and then find the object(s) in the classroom. This is a great way to help students get to know where supplies are!

Back to School Supplies Bingo

Get out some beans, counting bears, counters, or counting bugs, and play back to school bingo with your young learners. Five cards are included in this template, but you can certainly add more by duplicating sheets and moving around (or adding to) the images to make the new cards unique. I loved playing bingo in small groups, and I often used it as an informal assessment for listening comprehension and took anecdotal notes. Can students identify objects when they hear the vocabulary word? This game will show you. You can use the flashcards as support for language learners when playing this game (but only if needed). If a student needs support, just say the word, hold up the flashcard, and encourage the student to say the word and find the image on their card. This is a game that can really be used with any vocabulary, including numbers, shapes, and colors!
Additional Back to School Bingo Ideas:

School People Bingo: Switch out the images with pictures of classmates, teachers, and school staff to help students get to know each other and those around them.

Classroom Jobs Bingo: Use the images you have on the jobs chart to help familiarize students with the classroom jobs.

Around School Bingo: Use images of various spots on campus (cafeteria, playground, classroom, library, etc.) and in your classroom (centers, carpet, small group table, etc.) to help students recognize and learn school spaces.

"I Have, Who Has?" Cards

This game was a favorite in my pre-K classroom. It really motivated students when it came to speaking! Just follow the instructions below with your small group, and let the speaking, listening, and vocabulary reinforcement begin.

Do you have other ideas for ways to use these three activities for back to school bonding and language acquisition? Please share with us in the comments.

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Three Editable Back To School Activities For Language Development

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Here are three back to school activities (and extra ideas!) to get early learners and language learners exploring their classroom and school.

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Don’t know a morpheme from a phoneme? Find out what these and other words mean in this glossary of commonly used terms related to reading, literacy, and reading instruction.

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Academically engaged

Students are academically engaged when they are participating in activities/instruction in a meaningful way and understanding the tasks in which they are involved.

Academic English

The English language ability required for academic achievement in context-reduced situations, such as classroom lectures and textbook reading assignments. This is sometimes referred to as Cognitive/Academic Language Proficiency (CALP).

Accuracy

Accuracy is the ability to recognize words correctly.

ADD

See attention deficit disorder.

Adequate yearly progress

An individual state's measure of yearly progress toward achieving state academic standards. "Adequate Yearly Progress" is the minimum level of improvement that states, school districts and schools must achieve each year.

ADHD

See attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Advanced phonics

Strategies for decoding multisyllabic words that include morphology and information about the meaning, pronunciation, and parts of speech of words gained from knowledge of prefixes, roots, and suffixes.

Affixes

Affixes are word parts that are "fixed to" either the beginnings of words (prefixes) or the endings of words (suffixes). The word disrespectful has two affixes, a prefix (dis-) and a suffix (-ful).

After reading comprehension strategies

Strategies that require the reader to actively transform key information in text that has been read (e.g., summarizing, retelling).

Aligned materials

Student materials (texts, activities, manipulatives, homework, etc.) that reinforce classroom instruction of specific skills in reading.

Alliteration

The repetition of the initial phoneme of each word in connected text (e.g., Harry the happy hippo hula-hoops with Henrietta).

Alphabetic principle

The understanding that spoken words are made up of sounds that can be represented by letters in print.

Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)

The Americans With Disabilities Act gives civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities similar to those provided to individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, and religion. It guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in public accommodations, employment, transportation, state and local government services, and telecommunications.

Ample opportunities for student practice

Students are asked to apply what they have been taught in order to accomplish specific reading tasks. Practice should follow in a logical relationship with what has just been taught. Once skills are internalized, students are provided with more opportunities to independently implement previously learned information.

Analogy

Comparing two sets of words to show some common similarity between the sets. When done as a vocabulary exercise this requires producing one of the words (e.g., cat is to kitten: as dog is to _____?).

Analogy-based phonics

See phonics.

Analytic phonics

See phonics.

Antonym

A word opposite in meaning to another word.

Assistive Technology (AT)

See Assistive Technology Glossary

Attention deficit disorder (ADD)

Attention deficit disorder is an older name for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is the inability to use skills of attention effectively. Studies suggest that five to ten percent of children, adolescents, and adults may have ADHD.

Automaticity

Automaticity is a general term that refers to any skilled and complex behavior that can be performed rather easily with little attention, effort, or conscious awareness. These skills become automatic after extended periods of training. With practice and good instruction, students become automatic at word recognition, that is, retrieving words from memory, and are able to focus attention on constructing meaning from the text, rather than decoding.

B

Background knowledge

Forming connections between the text and the information and experiences of the reader.

Base words

Base words are words from which many other words are formed. For example, many words can be formed from the base word migrate: migration, migrant, immigration, immigrant, migrating, migratory. Also called a free morpheme.

Before reading comprehension strategies

Strategies employed to emphasize the importance of preparing students to read text (e.g., activate prior knowledge, set a purpose for reading).

Bilingual education

An educational program in which two languages are used to provide content matter instruction. Bilingual education programs vary in their length of time, and in the amount each language is used.

Blend

A blend is a consonant sequence before or after a vowel within a syllable, such as cl, br, or st; it is the written language equivalent of consonant cluster.

Blending

Combining units of sound (syllables, onsets and rimes, phonemes) to form a word.

Bloom's Taxonomy

A system for categorizing levels of abstraction of questions that commonly occur in educational settings. Includes the following competencies: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

Book parts

A component of concepts of print, knowledge of book parts includes the ability to identify front and back covers, title, author, illustrator, spine, and title page.

C

Central auditory processing disorder/deficit (CAPD)

Central auditory processing disorder occurs when the ear and the brain do not coordinate fully. A CAPD is a physical hearing impairment, but one which does not show up as a hearing loss on routine screenings or an audiogram. Instead, it affects the hearing system beyond the ear, whose job it is to separate a meaningful message from non-essential background sound and deliver that information with good clarity to the intellectual centers of the brain (the central nervous system).

Chunked text

Continuous text that has been separated into meaningful phrases often with the use of single and double slash marks (/ and //). The intent of using chunked text or chunking text is to give children an opportunity to practice reading phrases fluently. There is no absolute in chunking text. Teachers should use judgment when teaching students how to chunk. Generally, slash marks are made between subject and predicate, and before and after prepositional phrases.

Chunking

A decoding strategy for breaking words into manageable parts (e.g., /yes /ter/ day). Chunking also refers to the process of dividing a sentence into smaller phrases where pauses might occur naturally (e.g., When the sun appeared after the storm, / the newly fallen snow /shimmered like diamonds).

Coaching

A professional development process of supporting teachers in implementing new classroom practices by providing new content and information, modeling related teaching strategies, and offering on-going feedback as teachers master new practices.

Coarticulation

When saying words our mouth is always ready for the next sound to be made. While saying one sound, the lips, tongue, etc., are starting to form the sound to follow. This can distort individual sounds during speech because the sounds are not produced in isolated units (e.g., ham- the /m/ blends with the /a/ to distort the vowel). This process is called coarticulation. Because of coarticulation, some children have difficulty hearing the individual sounds in words and the concept of phonemes needs to be explicitly brought to their attention through instruction.

Cognates

Words that are related to each other by virtue of being derived from a common origin (e.g., 'decisive' and 'decision' or education (English) and educación (Spanish).

Coherent instructional design

A logical, sequential, plan for delivering instruction.

Comprehension

Understanding what one is reading, the ultimate goal of all reading activity.

Comprehensive/Core Reading Program (CRP)

CRP is the initial instructional tool teachers use to teach children to learn to read including instruction in the five components of reading identified by the National Reading Panel (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension), spelling, and writing to ensure they reach reading levels that meet or exceed grade-level standards. A CRP should address the instructional needs of the majority of students in a respective school or district.

Comprehensive Intervention Reading Program (CIRP)

These programs are intended for students who are reading one or more years below grade level, and who are struggling with a broad range of reading skills. Comprehensive Intervention Programs include instructional content based on the five essential components of reading instruction integrated into a coherent instructional design. A coherent design includes explicit instructional strategies, coordinated instructional sequences, ample practice opportunities and aligned student materials. Comprehensive Intervention Programs provide instruction that is more intensive, explicit, systematic, and more motivating than instruction students have previously received. These programs also provide more frequent assessments of student progress and more systematic review in order to insure proper pacing of instruction and mastery of all instructional components.

Comprehension monitoring

An awareness of one's understanding of text being read. Comprehension monitoring is part of metacognition "thinking about thinking" know what is clear and what is confusing as the reader and having the capabilities to make repairs to problems with comprehension.

Comprehension questions

Address the meaning of text, ranging from literal to inferential to analytical.

Comprehension strategies

Comprehension strategies are techiniques to teach reading comprehension, including summarization, prediction, and inferring word meanings from context.

Comprehension strategy instruction

Comprehensive strategy instruction is the explicit teaching of techniques that are particularly effective for comprehending text. The steps of explicit instruction include direct explanation, teacher modeling ("think aloud"), guided practice, and application. Some strategies include direct explanation (the teacher explains to students why the strategy helps comprehension and when to apply the strategy), modeling (the teacher models, or demonstrates, how to apply the strategy, usually by "thinking aloud" while reading the text that the students are using), guided practice (the teacher guides and assists students as they learn how and when to apply the strategy) and application (the teacher helps students practice the strategy until they can apply it independently).

Concepts of print

The knowledge that printed words carry meaning, and that reading and writing are ways to get information. Includes knowledge of the parts of a book, directionality, print structure, and features of a text.

Connected text

Words that are linked (as opposed to words in a list) as in sentences, phrases, and paragraphs.

Consonant blend

Two or more consecutive consonants which retain their individual sounds (e.g., /bl/ in block; /str/ in string).

Consonant digraph

Two consecutive consonants that represent one phoneme, or sound (e.g., /ch/, /sh/).

Context clues

Context clues are sources of information outside of words that readers may use to predict the identities and meanings of unknown words. Context clues may be drawn from the immediate sentence containing the word, from text already read, from pictures accompanying the text, or from definitions, restatements, examples, or descriptions in the text.

Continuous sounds

A sound that can be held for several seconds without distortion (e.g., /m/, /s/).

Continuum of word types

Words can be classified by type according to their relative difficulty to decode. Typically this continuum is listed from easy to difficult, beginning with VC and CVC words that begin with continuous sounds and progressing to CCCVC and CCCVCC words.

Cooperative learning

Cooperative learning involves students working together as partners or in small groups on clearly defined tasks. It has been used successfully to teach comprehension strategies in content-area subjects.

Coordinated instructional sequences

Coordinated instructional sequences take into consideration how information is selected, sequenced, organized, and practiced. Coordinated instructional sequences occur within each component of reading where a logical progression of skills would be evident: easier skills are introduced before more difficult skills, so that skills build progressively. The other way coordinated instructional sequences are evident is in the clear and meaningful relationship or linking of instruction across the five components of reading: phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension. If students orally segment and blend words with the letter-sound /f/ during phonemic awareness instruction, then we would expect to see it followed by practice in connecting the sound /f/ with the letter f. This would be followed by fluency practice in reading words, sentences, and/or passages with the letter-sound /f/. Spelling practice would include /f/ and other previously learned letter-sounds.

Core instruction

Core Instruction is instruction provided to all students in the class, and it is usually guided by a comprehensive core reading program. Part of the core instruction is usually provided to the class as a whole, and part is provided during the small group, differentiated instruction period. Although instruction is differentiated by student need during the small group period, materials and lesson procedures from the core program can frequently be used to provide reteaching, or additional teaching to students according to their needs.

Cumulative

Instruction that builds upon previously learned concepts.

D

Decodable text

Text in which a high proportion of words comprise sound-symbol relationships that have already been taught. It is used for the purpose of providing practice with specific decoding skills and is a bridge between learning phonics and the application of phonics in independent reading.

Decodable words

These words contain phonic elements that were previously taught.

Decoding

The ability to translate a word from print to speech, usually by employing knowledge of sound-symbol correspondences. It is also the act of deciphering a new word by sounding it out.

Derivational affix

A prefix or suffix added to a root or base to form another word (e.g., -un in unhappy , -ness in likeness).

Diagnostic

Tests that can be used to measure a variety of reading, language, or cognitive skills. Although they can be given as soon as a screening test indicates a child is behind in reading growth, they will usually be given only if a child fails to make adequate progress after being given extra help in learning to read. They are designed to provide a more precise and detailed picture of the full range of a child's knowledge and skill so that instruction can be more precisely planned.

Dialogic reading

During story reading, the teacher/parent asks questions, adds information, and prompts student to increase sophistication of responses by expanding on his/her utterances.

Differentiated instruction

Matching instruction to meet the different needs of learners in a given classroom.

Difficult words

Some words are difficult because they contain phonic elements that have not yet been taught. Others are difficult because they contain letter-sound correspondences that are unique to that word (e.g., yacht).

Digraphs

A group of two consecutive letters whose phonetic value is a single sound (e.g., /ea/ in bread; /ch/ in chat; /ng/ in sing).

Diphthong

A vowel produced by the tongue shifting position during articulation; a vowel that feels as if it has two parts, especially the vowels spelled ow, oy, ou, and oi.

Direct instruction

The teacher defines and teaches a concept, guides students through its application, and arranges for extended guided practice until mastery is achieved.

Direct vocabulary instruction

Planned instruction to pre-teach new, important, and difficult words to ensure the quantity and quality of exposures to words that students will encounter in their reading. Direct vocabulary instruction aids reading comprehension.

Directionality

A component of concepts of print, directionality includes nowledge about how to read an English book or text, including: read top to bottom, read left to right, identify first and last word, tracking, and return sweep.

Domain-specific words and phrases*

Vocabulary specific to a particular field of study (domain), such as the human body (CCSS, p. 33); in the Standards, domain-specific words and phrases are analogous to Tier Three words (Language, p. 33).

During reading comprehension strategies

Strategies that help students engage the meanings of a text (e.g., asking questions at critical junctures; modeling the thought process used to make inferences; constructing mental imagery).

Dyslexia

Dyslexia is a language-based disability that affects both oral and written language. It may also be referred to as reading disability, reading difference, or reading disorder.

E

Editing*

A part of writing and preparing presentations concerned chiefly with improving the clarity, organization, concision, and correctness of expression relative to task, purpose, and audience; compared to revising, a smaller-scale activity often associated with surface aspects of a text; see also revising, rewriting.

Elkonin boxes

A framework used during phonemic awareness instruction. Elkonin Boxes are sometimes referred to as Sound Boxes. When working with words, the teacher can draw one box per sound for a target word. Students push a marker into one box as they segment each sound in the word.

Embedded phonics

See phonics.

Emergent literacy

The skills, knowledge, and attitudes that are developmental precursors to conventional forms of reading and writing.

Emergent reader texts*

Texts consisting of short sentences comprised of learned sight words and CVC words; may also include rebuses to represent words that cannot yet be decoded or recognized; see also rebus.

Empirical research

Refers to scientifically based research that applies rigorous, systematic, and objective procedures to obtain valid knowledge. This includes research that: employs systematic, empirical methods that draw on observation or experiment; has been accepted by a peer-reviewed journal or approved by a panel of independent experts through a comparably rigorous, objective and scientific review; involves rigorous data analyses that are adequate to test the stated hypotheses and justify the general conclusions drawn; relies on measurements or observational methods that provide valid data across evaluators and observers and across multiple measurements and observations; and can be generalized.

Encoding

The ability to translate language into print (writing).

English language learner (ELL)

English language learners are students whose first language is not English and who are in the process of learning English. Defined by the U.S. Department of Education as national-origin-minority students who are limited-English-proficient. Often abbreviated as ELLs.

Error correction

Immediate corrective feedback during reading instruction.

ESL

ESL is the common acronym for English as a Second Language, an educational approach in which English language learners are instructed in the use of the English language.

Etymology

The origin of a word and the historical development of its meaning (e.g., the origin of our word etymology comes from late Middle English: from Old French ethimologie, via Latin from Greek etumologia, from etumologos 'student of etymology,' from etumon, neuter singular of etumos 'true').

Evidence*

Facts, figures, details, quotations, or other sources of data and information that provide support for claims or an analysis and that can be evaluated by others; should appear in a form and be derived from a source widely accepted as appropriate to a particular discipline, as in details or quotations from a text in the study of literature and experimental results in the study of science.

Explicit

Explicit instruction is step-by-step, and the actions of the teacher are clear, specific, direct, and related to the learning objective.

Expository text

Reports factual information (also referred to as informational text) and the relationships among ideas. Expository text tends to be more difficult for students than narrative text because of the density of long, difficult, and unknown words or word parts.

Expressive language

Language that is spoken.

F

Fidelity of implementation

The degree to which instruction follows the intent and design of the program.

Figurative meanings

Language that departs from its literal meaning (e.g., The snow sparkled like diamonds; That child is a handful.).

Five components of reading

Phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

Flexible grouping

Grouping students according to shared instructional needs and abilities and regrouping as their instructional needs change. Group size and allocated instructional time may vary among groups.

Floss rule

Words of one syllable, ending in "f", "l", or "s" - after one vowel, usually end in "ff", "ll", or "ss" (sounds /f/, /l/, /s/).

Fluency

Fluency is the ability to read a text accurately, quickly, and with proper expression and comprehension. Because fluent readers do not have to concentrate on decoding words, they can focus their attention on what the text means.

Fluency probe

An assessment for measuring fluency, usually a timed oral reading passage at the student's instructional reading level.

Focused question*

A query narrowly tailored to task, purpose, and audience, as in a research query that is sufficiently precise to allow a student to achieve adequate specificity and depth within the time and format constraints.

Formal assessment

Follows a prescribed format for administration and scoring. Scores obtained from formal tests are standardized, meaning that interpretation is based on norms from a comparative sample of children.

Formal English

See standard English.

Frayer model

An adaptation of the concept map. The framework of the Frayer Model includes: the concept word, the definition, characteristics of the concept word, examples of the concept word, and non-examples of the concept word. It is important to include both examples and non-examples, so students are able to identify what the concept word is and what the concept word is not.

Frustrational reading level

The level at which a reader reads at less than a 90% accuracy (i.e., no more than one error per 10 words read). Frustration level text is difficult text for the reader.

G

General academic words and phrases*

Vocabulary common to written texts but not commonly a part of speech; in the Standards, general academic words and phrases are analogous to Tier Two words and phrases (Language, p. 33).

Generalization

The ability to use a learned skill in novel situations.

Grapheme

A grapheme is a letter or letter combination that spells a single phoneme. In English, a grapheme may be one, two, three, or four letters, such as e, ei, igh, or eigh.

Graphic and semantic organizers

A visual framework or structure for capturing the main points of what is being read, which may include concepts, ideas, events, vocabulary, or generalizations. Graphic organizers allow ideas in text and thinking processes to become external by showing the interrelatedness of ideas, thus facilitating understanding for the reader. The structure of a graphic organizer is determined by the structure of the kind of text being read: maps, webs, graphs, charts, frames, or clusters. Semantic organizers are graphic organizers that look somewhat like a spider web where lines connect a central concept to a variety of related ideas and events.

Graphophonemic

The relationship between letters and phonemes.

Guided oral reading

Instructional support including immediate corrective feedback as students read orally.

Guided practice

Students practice newly learned skills with the teacher providing prompts and feedback.

H

High frequency irregular eords

Words in print containing letters that stray from the most common sound pronunciation because they do not follow common phonic patterns (e.g., were, was, laugh, been).

High frequency words

A small group of words (300-500) that account for a large percentage of the words in print and can be regular or irregular words (i.e., Dolch or Fry). Often, they are referred to as "sight words" since automatic recognition of these words is required for fluent reading.

Homograph

Words that are spelled the same but have different origins and meanings. They may or may not be pronounced the same (e.g., can as in a metal container/can as in able to).

Homonym

Words that sound the same but are spelled differently (e.g., cents/sense, knight/night).

Homophone

Words that may or may not be spelled alike but are pronounced the same. These words are of different origins and have different meanings (e.g., ate and eight; scale as in the covering of a fish; and scale as in a device used to weigh things)

I

IDEA

See Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

IEP

See Individualized Education Program.

Idiom

A phrase or expression that differs from the literal meaning of the words; a regional or individual expression with a unique meaning (e.g., it's raining cats and dogs).

Immediate corrective feedback

When an error occurs, the teacher immediately attends to it by scaffolding instruction (i.e., gradual release of responsibility).

Immediate intensive intervention

Instruction that may include more time, more opportunities for student practice, more teacher feedback, smaller group size, and different materials. It is implemented as soon as assessment indicates that students are not making adequate progress in reading.

Implicit instruction

The opposite of explicit instruction. Students discover skills and concepts instead of being explicitly taught. For example, the teacher writes a list of words on the board that begin with the letter "m" (mud, milk, meal, and mattress) and asks the students how the words are similar. The teacher elicits from the students that the letter "m" stands for the sound you hear at the beginning of the words.

Important words

Unknown words that are critical to passage understanding and which students are likely to encounter in the future.

Independent(ly)*

A student performance done without scaffolding from a teacher, other adult, or peer; in the Standards, often paired with proficient(ly) to suggest a successful student performance done without scaffolding; in the Reading standards, the act of reading a text without scaffolding, as in an assessment; see also proficient(ly), scaffolding.

Independent reading level

The level at which a reader can read text with 95% accuracy (i.e., no more than one error per 20 words read). Independent reading level is relatively easy text for the reader.

Independent-instructional reading level range

The reading range that spans instructional and independent reading levels or level of text that a student can read with 90% to 95% or above accuracy.

Indirect vocabulary learning

Indirect vocabulary learning refers to students learning the meaning of words indirectly when they hear or see the words used in many different contexts - for example, through conversations with adults, through being read to, and through reading extensively on their own.

Individualized Education Program (IEP)

An individualized educational program describes the special education and related services specifically designed to meet the unique educational needs of a student with a disability.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is the law that guarantees all children with disabilities access to a free and appropriate public education.

Inflectional suffix

In English, a suffix that expresses plurality or possession when added to a noun, tense when added to a verb, and comparison when added to an adjective and some adverbs. A major difference between inflectional and derivational morphemes is that inflections added to verbs, nouns, or adjectives do not change the grammatical role or part of speech of the base words (-s, -es ,-ing, ¬ed).

Informal assessment

Does not follow prescribed rules for administration and scoring and has not undergone technical scrutiny for reliability and validity. Teacher-made tests, end-of-unit tests, and running records are all examples of informal assessment.

Informational text

Non-fiction books, also referred to as expository text, that contain facts and information.

Initial instruction

First line of defense to prevent reading failure for all students. Instruction is provided in the whole group (class) and small group (differentiated) setting. A core reading program is the instructional tool used for initial instruction in Florida's Reading First initiative.

Instructional design

Instructional design in reading refers to the process of translating key learning objectives and goals into a delivery system to meet those goals. When we discuss the instructional design of a reading program, we are referring to the underlying framework of a reading program, the way the curriculum is constructed.

Instructional reading level

The level at which a reader can read text with 90% accuracy (i.e., no more than one error per 10 words read). Instructional reading level engages the student in challenging, but manageable text.

Instructional routines

Instructional routines include the following sequence of steps:

Explicit instruction

Modeling

Guided practice

Student practice, application, and feedback

Generalization

Intensity

Focused instruction where students are academically engaged with the content and the teacher and receive more opportunities to practice with immediate teacher feedback.

Intervention instruction

Intervention instruction is provided only to students who are lagging behind their classmates in the development of critical reading skills. This instruction will usually be guided by a specific intervention program that focuses on one or more of the key areas of reading development. This type of instruction is needed by only a relatively small minority of students in a class. In some cases, students in 2nd and 3rd grade may have lagged so far behind grade level development of reading skills that very little content from the grade level comprehensive core program is suitable for them. In these cases, students may need to receive instruction guided by a comprehensive intervention program that is specifically designed to meet their specific needs while at the same time accelerating their growth toward grade level reading ability.

Intervention program

Provides content for instruction that is intended for flexible use as part of differentiated instruction and/or more intensive instruction to meet student learning needs in one or more of the specific areas of reading (phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension). These programs are used to provide targeted, intensive intervention for small groups of struggling readers.

Invented spelling

An attempt to spell a word based on a student's knowledge of the spelling system and how it works (e.g., kt for cat).

Irregular words

Words that contain letters that stray from the most common sound pronunciation; words that do not follow common phonic patterns (e.g., were, was, laugh, been).

ISD

ISD is a common acronym for Independent School District.

K

K-W-L

A technique used most frequently with expository text to promote comprehension. It can be used as a type of graphic organizer in the form of a chart, and it consists of a 3-step process: What I Know (accessing prior knowledge), What I Want to Know (setting a purpose for reading), and What I Learned (recalling what has been read).

L

Language learning disability (LLD)

A language learning disability is a disorder that may affect the comprehension and use of spoken or written language as well as nonverbal language, such as eye contact and tone of speech, in both adults and children.

LD

See learning disability.

Learning communities

A group in which educators commit to ongoing learning experiences with a deliberate intent to transform teaching and learning at their school or within their district.

Learning disability (LD)

A learning disability is a disorder that affects people's ability to either interpret what they see and hear or to link information from different parts of the brain. It may also be referred to as a learning disorder or a learning difference.

Letter combinations

Also referred to as digraphs, a group of consecutive letters that represents a particular sound(s) in the majority of words in which it appears (e.g., /ai/ in maid; /ch/ in chair; /ar/ in car; /kn/ in know; /ng/ in ring).

Letter-sound correspondence

The matching of an oral sound to its corresponding letter or group of letters.

Limited English proficient (LEP)

Limited English proficient is the term used by the federal government, most states, and local school districts to identify those students who have insufficient English to succeed in English-only classrooms. Increasingly, English language learner (ELL) or English learner (EL) are used in place of LEP.

Linked

A clear connection among the objectives of what is taught within and across reading components (e.g., students learn some common letter sounds during phonics instruction, then read words that use those same letter sounds to practice fluency and develop vocabulary).

Listening vocabulary

The words needed to understand what is heard.

Literacy

Literacy includes reading, writing, and the creative and analytical acts involved in producing and comprehending texts.

Literal comprehension

Understanding of the basic facts that the student has read.

Local education agency (LEA)

A local education agency is a public board of education or other public authority within a state that maintains administrative control of public elementary or secondary schools in a city, county, township, school district or other political subdivision of a state.

M

Main idea

The central thought or message of a reading passage.

Metacognition

An awareness of one's own thinking processes and how they work. The process of consciously thinking about one's learning or reading while actually being engaged in learning or reading. Metacognitive strategies can be taught to students; good readers use metacognitive strategies to think about and have control over their reading. For example, good readers use metacognition before reading when they clarify their purpose for reading and preview the text.

Modeling

Teacher overtly demonstrates a strategy, skill, or concept that students will be learning.

Monitoring comprehension

Readers who monitor their comprehension know when they understand what they read and when they do not. Students are able to use appropriate "fix-up" strategies to resolve problems in comprehension.

More sustained research project*

An investigation intended to address a relatively expansive query using several sources over an extended period of time, as in a few weeks of instructional time.

Morpheme

A morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit of language. A morpheme can be one syllable ( book) or more than one syllable ( seventeen). It can be a whole word or a part of a word such as a prefix or suffix. For example, the word ungrateful contains three morphemes: un, grate, and ful.

Morphemic analysis

An analysis of words formed by adding prefixes, suffixes or other meaningful word units to a base word.

Morphemic relationship

The morphemic relationship is the relationship between one morpheme and another. In the word books, book is a free morpheme (it has meaning by itself) and -s is a bound morpheme (it has meaning only when attached to a free morpheme).

Morphology

Units of meaning within words. The study of how words are formed from prefixes, roots, and suffixes (e.g., mis-spell-ing), and how words are related to each other.

Morphophonology

Morphophonology is using a word's letter patterns to help determine, in part, the meaning and pronunciation of a word. For example, the morpheme vis in words such as vision and visible is from the Latin root word that means to see; and the ay in stay is pronounced the same in the words gray and play.

Most common letter sounds

The sound that is usually pronounced for the letter when it appears in a short word, such as /a/ apple.

Multiple intelligences

The theory of multiple intelligences suggests that the traditional notion of intelligence, based on I.Q. testing, is far too limited. Instead, it proposes eight different intelligences to account for a broader range of human potential in children and adults. These intelligences are: linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist.

Multisensory structured language education

Multisensory structured language education uses visual, auditory, and kinesthetic-tactile cues simultaneously to enhance memory and learning. Links are consistently made between the visual (what we see), auditory (what we hear), and kinesthetic-tactile (what we feel) pathways in learning to read and spell.

Multisyllabic words

These are words with more than one syllable. A systematic introduction of prefixes, suffixes, and multisyllabic words should occur throughout a reading program. The average number of syllables in the words students read should increase steadily throughout the grades.

N

Naming speed

Naming speed is the rate at which a child can recite "overlearned" stimuli such as letters and single-digit numbers.

Narrative text

A story about fictional or real events.

No Child Left Behind (NCLB)

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is the most recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education act of 1965. The act contains President George W. Bush's four basic education reform principles: stronger accountability for results, increased flexibility and local control, expanded options for parents, and an emphasis on teaching methods based on scientifically-based research.

Nonverbal learning disability

Nonverbal learning disability is a neurological disorder which originates in the right hemisphere of the brain. Reception of nonverbal or performance-based information governed by this hemisphere is impaired in varying degrees, causing problems with visual-spatial, intuitive, organizational, evaluative, and holistic processing functions.

O

Objectives

Measurable statements detailing the desired accomplishments of a program.

Oddities

Vowels that are pronounced differently from the expected pronunciation (e.g., the "o" in old is pronounced /ō/ instead of the expected /o/.

Onset and rime

Onset and rime are two parts of a word. The onset is the initial consonant sound, blend, or digraph in a single syllable word or syllable. Not all words have onsets, such as the word oar. The rime is the first vowel phoneme followed by all the other phonemes ( at in rat; esh in fresh). Words that share the same rime are considered rhyming words (e.g., fresh, mesh, flesh).

Onset-rime segmentation

Onset-rime segmentation is separating a word into the onset, the consonant(s) at the start of a syllable, and the rime, the remainder of the syllable. For example, in swift, sw is the onset and ift is the rime.

Oral language

Spoken language. There are five components of oral language: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.

Oral language difficulties

A child with oral language difficulties may exhibit poor vocabulary, listening comprehension, or grammatical abilities for his or her age.

Orthographic knowledge

Orthographic knowledge is understanding that the sounds in a language are represented by written or printed symbols.

Orthographic mapping

The ability to identify words by sight (i.e., sight words) allowing instant recognition. Orthographic mapping is required for effortless, accurate, and fluent reading.

Orthography

The conventional spelling and writing system of a language.

Orton-Gillingham (O-G)

Orton-Gillingham is a multisensory approach to remediating dyslexia created by Dr. Samuel Orton, a neuropsychiatrist and pathologist, and Anna Gillingham, an educator and psychologist.

Outcome assessment

Given at the end of the year for two purposes. First, they can help the principal and teachers in a school evaluate the overall effectiveness of their reading program for all students. Second, they are required in Reading First schools to help districts evaluate their progress toward meeting the goal of "every child reading on grade level" by third grade. Schools must show regular progress toward this goal to continue receiving Reading First funds.

P

Pacing

The pace of a lesson should move briskly, but not so fast as to rush students beyond their ability to answer correctly. The purposes for a fast pace are to help students pay close attention to the material being presented, and provide students more practice time which increases the opportunity for greater student achievement, keeps students actively engaged, and reduces behavior management problems by keeping students on-task.

Partner/peer reading

Students reading aloud with a partner, taking turns to provide word identification help and feedback.

Pedagogy

How instruction is carried out or the method and practice of teaching.

Phases of word learning

Pre-alphabetic
Sight word learning at the earliest period. Children do not form letter-sound connections to read words; if they are able to read words at all, they do so by remembering selected visual features.

Partial alphabetic
Children learn the names or sounds of alphabet letters and use these to remember how to read words. However, they form connections between only some of the letters and sounds in words, often only the first and final letter-sounds.

Full alphabetic
Children can form complete connections between letters in written words and phonemes in pronunciations.

Consolidated alphabetic
Readers operate with multi-letter units that may be morphemes, syllables, or subsyllabic units such as onsets and rimes. Common spelling patterns become consolidated into letter chunks, and these chunks make it easier to read words.

Phoneme

Phonemes are the smallest units of spoken language that makes a difference in the meaning of a word. A phoneme combines with other phonemes to make words. For example, if you change the first phoneme in bat from /b/ to /p/, the word bat changes to pat. Most linguists agree that English has about 44 phonemes: 19 vowel phonemes and 25 consonant phonemes. A few words, such as a or oh, have only one phoneme. Most words have more than one phoneme. The word if has two phonemes /i/ and /f/.

Phoneme addition
In this activity, children make a new word by adding a phoneme to an existing word. (Teacher: What word do you have if you add /s/ to the beginning of park? Children: spark.)

Phoneme blending
In this activity, children learn to listen to a sequence of separately spoken phonemes, and then combine the phonemes to form a word. (Teacher: What word is /b/ /i/ /g/? Children: /b/ /i/ /g/ is big.)

Phoneme categorization
In this activity, children recognize the word in a set of three or four words that has the "odd" sound. (Teacher: Which word doesn't belong? bun, bus, rug. Children: Rug does not belong. It doesn't begin with a /b/.)

Phoneme deletion
In this activity, children learn to recognize the word that remains when a phoneme is removed from another word. (Teacher: What is smile without the /s/? Children: Smile without the /s/ is mile.)

Phoneme identity
In this activity, children learn to recognize the same sounds in different words. (Teacher: What sound is the same in fix, fall, and fun? Children: The first sound, /f/, is the same.)

Phoneme isolation
In this activity, children learn to recognize and identify individual sounds in a word. (Teacher: What is the first sound in van? Children: The first sound in van is /v/.)

Phoneme segmentation
In this activity, children break a word into its separate sounds, saying each sound as they tap out or count it. (Teacher: How many sounds are in grab? Children: /g/ /r/ /a/ /b/. Four sounds.)

Phoneme substitution
In this activity, children substitute one phoneme for another to make a new word. (Teacher: The word is bug. Change /g/ to /n/. What's the new word? Children: bun.)

Phoneme manipulation

Adding, deleting, and substituting sounds in words (e.g., add /b/ to oat to make boat; delete /p/ in pat to make at; substitute /o/ for /a/ in pat to make pot).

Phonemic awareness

Phonemic awareness is the ability to notice, think about, and work with the individual sounds in spoken words. An example of how beginning readers show us they have phonemic awareness is combining or blending the separate sounds of a word to say the word ("/c/ /a/ /t/ - cat.")

Phonic analysis

Attention to various phonetic elements of words.

Phonics

A method for teaching reading by applying the systematic, predicatable relationship between written letters and spoken sounds (the alphabetic principle).

Analogy-based phonics
In this approach, children are taught to use parts of words they have already learned to read and decode words they don't know. They apply this strategy when the words share similar parts in their spellings, for example, reading screen by analogy to green. Children may be taught a large set of key words for use in reading new words.

Analytic phonics
In this approach, children learn to analyze letter-sound relationships in previously learned words. They do not pronounce sounds in isolation.

Embedded phonics
In this approach, children learn vocabulary through explicit instruction on the letter-sound relationships during the reading of connected text, usually when the teacher notices that a child is struggling to read a particular word. Letter-sound relationships are taught as part of sight word reading. If the sequence of letter-sounds is not prescribed and sequenced, but is determined by whatever words are encountered in text, then the program is not systematic or explicit.

Onset-rime phonics instruction
In this approach, children learn to break monosyllabic words into their onsets (consonants preceding the vowel) and rimes (vowel and following consonants). They read each part separately and then blend the parts to say the whole word.

Phonics through spelling
In this approach, children learn to segment words into phonemes and to make words by writing letters for phonemes.

Synthetic phonics
In this instructional approach, children learn how to convert letters or letter combinations into a sequence of sounds, and then how to blend the sounds together to form recognizable words.

Systematic and explicit phonics instruction
The most effective way to teach phonics. A program is systematic if the plan of instruction includes a carefully selected set of letter-sound relationships that are organized into a logical sequence. Explicit means the programs provide teachers with precise directions for the teaching of these relationships.

Phonogram

A succession of letters that represent the same phonological unit in different words, such as "igh" in flight, might, tight, sigh, and high.

Phonological awareness

The ability to recognize that spoken words are made up of individual sound parts. It includes (from simplest to most complex) word awareness, recognition of rhyme and alliteration, syllable awareness, onset and rime blending, and phonemic awareness.

Point of view*

Chiefly in literary texts, the narrative point of view (as in first- or third-person narration); more broadly, the position or perspective conveyed or represented by an author, narrator, speaker, or character.

Pragmatics

Approprite word choice and use in context to communicate effectively.

Prefix

A morpheme that precedes a root and that contributes to or modifies the meaning of a word as "re" in reprint.

Print awareness/basic print concepts

Print awareness is basic knowledge about print and how it is typically organized on a page. For example, print conveys meaning, print is read left to right, and words are separated by spaces.

Print structure

A component of concepts of print, print structure icludes the knowledge of letters, words, and sentences in a text or book; spaces between words; capitalization; and punctuation.

Prior knowledge

Refers to schema, the knowledge and experience that readers bring to the text.

Proficient(ly)*

A student performance that meets the criterion established in the Standards as measured by a teacher or assessment; in the Standards, often paired with independent(ly) to suggest a successful student performance done without scaffolding; in the Reading standards, the act of reading a text with comprehension; see also independent(ly), scaffolding.

Progress monitoring

Tests that keep the teacher informed about the child's progress in learning to read during the school year. These assessment results provide a quick sample of critical reading skills that will inform the teacher if the child is making adequate progress toward grade level reading ability at the end of the year.

Pronunciation guide

A key or guide consisting of graphic symbols that represent particular speech sounds.

Prosody

Reading with expression, proper intonation, and phrasing. This helps readers to sound as if they are speaking the part they are reading. It is also this element of fluency that sets it apart from automaticity.

R

Rate

The speed at which a person reads.

Readability level

Refers to independent, instructional, and frustrational levels of text reading.

Reading comprehension

See text comprehension.

Reading centers

Special places organized in the classroom for students to work in small groups or pairs, either cooperatively or individually. Students work in centers while the teacher is conducting small group reading instruction. Each center contains meaningful, purposeful activities that are an extension and reinforcement of what has already been taught by the teacher in reading groups or in a large group. Reading centers offer students the opportunity to stay academically engaged as they apply the skills they have been learning. They are an excellent way for teachers to determine whether or not students know what they have been taught. It is important to develop a system and organize your classroom in such a way that you can provide feedback to students in a timely manner. Waiting until the end of the week to look at what students have worked on all week is not a productive use of instructional time, as students may have been practicing errors all week.

Examples of reading centers

Students practice phonics skills at the phonics center, sort word cards at the vocabulary center, and at the reading center, they read books, listen to taped books, record the reading of a book, and read in pairs. The reading center would contain a variety of books at various reading levels to meet the needs of all students. Other centers may consist of writing and spelling activities, pocket charts, white boards, magnetic letters to practice word building, sentence strips and word cards to create stories, sequencing activities with pictures, story boards, or sentence strips to retell a story that has been read. Some centers may be permanent; others will change according to the skills, books, and activities being currently addressed. It is recommended that teachers not bring in material from other content areas unless the activity from science or math, for example, specifically focuses on a skill that is being addressed in reading instruction. Reading centers require careful planning.

Reading disability

Reading disability (RD) is another term for dyslexia. It is also sometimes referred to as reading disorder or reading difference.

Reading fluency prorating formula

When students are asked to read connected text for more than one minute or less than one minute, their performance must be prorated to give a fluency rate per minute. The prorating formula for this is the following: words read correctly x 60 ÷ by the number of seconds = Reading Fluency Score.

Reading vocabulary

The words needed to understand what is read.

Rebus*

A mode of expressing words and phrases by using pictures of objects whose names resemble those words.

Receptive language

Language that is heard.

Reciprocal teaching

Reciprocal teaching is a multiple-strategy instructional approach for teaching comprehension skills to students. Teachers teach students four strategies: asking questions about the text they are reading; summarizing parts of the text; clarifying words and sentences they don't understand; and predicting what might occur next in the text.

Regular words

Any word in which each letter represents its respective, most common sound (e.g., sat, fantastic).

Repeated and monitored oral reading

In this instructional activity, students read and reread a text a certain number of times or until a certain level of fluency is reached. This technique has been shown to improve reading fluency and overall reading achievement. Four re-readings are usually sufficient for most students. Students may also practice reading orally through the use of audiotapes, tutors, peer guidance, or other means.

Retelling

Recalling the content of what was read or heard.

Revising*

A part of writing and preparing presentations concerned chiefly with a reconsideration and reworking of the content of a text relative to task, purpose, and audience; compared to editing, a larger-scale activity often associated with the overall content and structure of a text; see also editing, rewriting.

Rewriting*

A part of writing and preparing presentations that involves largely or wholly replacing a previous, unsatisfactory effort with a new effort, better aligned to task, purpose, and audience, on the same or a similar topic or theme; compared to revising, a larger-scale activity more akin to replacement than refinement; see also editing, revising.

Rime

The "onset" is the initial phonological unit of any word (e.g. c in cat) and the term " rime" refers to the string of letters that follow, usually a vowel and final consonants (e.g. at in cat). Not all words have onsets.

Rhyming

Words that have the same ending sound.

Root

A bound morpheme, usually of Latin origin, that cannot stand alone but is used to form a family of words with related meanings.

S

Scaffolding*

Refers to the support that is given to students in order for them to arrive at the correct answer. This support may occur as immediate, specific feedback that a teacher offers during student practice. For instance, the assistance the teacher offers may include giving encouragement or cues, breaking the problem down into smaller steps, using a graphic organizer, or providing an example. Scaffolding may be embedded in the features of the instructional design such as starting with simpler skills and building progressively to more difficult skills. Providing the student temporary instructional support assists them in achieving what they could not otherwise have done alone.

Schema

Refers to prior knowledge, the knowledge and experience that readers bring to the text.

Schwa

The vowel sound sometimes heard in an unstressed syllable and is most often sounded as /uh/ or as the short /u/ sound as in cup.

Scientifically Based Reading Research (SBRR)

Refers to empirical research that applies rigorous, systematic, and objective procedures to obtain valid knowledge. This includes research that: employs systematic, empirical methods that draw on observation or experiment; has been accepted by a peer-reviewed journal or approved by a panel of independent experts through a comparably rigorous, objective and scientific review; involves rigorous data analyses that are adequate to test the stated hypotheses and justify the general conclusions drawn; relies on measurements or observational methods that provide valid data across evaluators and observers and across multiple measurements and observations; and can be generalized.

Scope and sequence

A "roadmap" or "blueprint" for teachers that provides an overall picture of an instructional program and includes the range of teaching content and the order or sequence in which it is taught.

Screening

An informal inventory that provides the teacher a beginning indication of the student's preparation for grade level reading instruction. It is a "first alert" that a child may need extra help to make adequate progress in reading during the year.

Segmenting

Separating the individual phonemes, or sounds, of a word into discrete units.

Self-monitoring

Self-monitoring is the mental act of knowing when one does and does not understand what one is reading. When students use self-monitoring strategies, they actively think about how they are learning or understanding the material, activities, or reading in which they are engaged.

Semantic feature analysis

Uses a grid to help explore how a set of things are related to one another. By analyzing the grid one can see connections, make predictions, and master important concepts.

Semantic maps

Portray the schematic relations that compose a concept; a strategy for graphically representing concepts.

Semantics

The way language conveys meaning.

Short research project*

An investigation intended to address a narrowly tailored query in a brief period of time, as in a few class periods or a week of instructional time.

Sight words

These are words that are recognized immediately. Sometimes sight words are thought to be irregular, or high frequency words (e.g., the Dolch and Fry lists). However, any word that is recognized automatically is a sight word. These words may be phonetically regular or irregular.

Social English

Often referred to as "playground English" or "survival English", this is the basic language ability required for face-to-face communication, often accompanied by gestures and relying on context to aid understanding. Social English is much more easily and quickly acquired than academic English, but is not sufficient to meet the cognitive and linguistic demands of an academic classroom. Also referred to as Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS).

Sound to symbol

Phonics instruction that matches phoneme to grapheme.

Sound chaining or sound chains

A sound manipulation exercise where you change a single sound from one word to the next. Example: lip to sip to tip to tin to ten). Beginning readers should start with simple CVC words.

Source*

A text used largely for informational purposes, as in research.

Speaking vocabulary

The words used when speaking.

Speech language pathologist

A speech language pathologist is an expert who can help children and adolescents who have language disorders to understand and give directions, ask and answer questions, convey ideas, and improve the language skills that lead to better academic performance. An SLP can also counsel individuals and families to understand and deal with speech and language disorders.

Speed

The rate at which a student reads.

Spelling patterns

Refers to digraphs, vowel pairs, word families, and vowel variant spellings.

Standard English*

In the Standards, the most widely accepted and understood form of expression in English in the United States; used in the Standards to refer to formal English writing and speaking; the particular focus of Language standards 1 and 2 (CCSS, pp. 26, 28, 52, 54).

State education agency (SEA)

A state education agency is the agency primarily responsible for the state supervision of public elementary and secondary schools.

Stop sounds

A stop sound can only be said for an instant, otherwise its sound will be distorted (i.e., / b/, /c/ /d/, /g/, /h/, /j/, /k/, /p/, /q/, /t/, /x/). Words beginning with stop sounds are more difficult for students to sound out than words beginning with a continuous sound.

Story elements

Characters, problem, solutions, themes, settings, and plot.

Story grammar

The general structure of stories that includes story elements.

Story maps

A strategy used to unlock the plot and important elements of a story. These elements can be represented visually through various graphic organizers showing the beginning, middle, and end of a story. Answering the questions of who, where, when, what, and how or why, and listing the main events is also part of story mapping. These elements are also referred to as story grammar.

Story structure

In story structure, a reader sees the way the content and events of a story are organized into a plot. Students learn to identify the categories of content (setting, characters, initiating events, internal reactions, goals, attempts, and outcomes) and how this content is organized into a plot. Often students recognize the way the story is organized by developing a story map. This strategy improves students' comprehension and memory of story content and meaning.

Strategic learners

Active learners. While reading these learners make predictions, organize information, and interact with the text. They think about what they are reading in terms of what they already know. They monitor their comprehension by employing strategies that facilitate their understanding.

Structural analysis

A procedure for teaching students to read words formed with prefixes, suffixes, or other meaningful word parts.

Student friendly explanation

An explanation of the word's meaning rather than a definition.

1. Characterizes the word and how it is typically used.

2. Explains the meaning in everyday language.

Suffix

An affix attached to the end of a base, root, or stem that changes the meaning or grammatical function of the word, as "en" in oxen.

Summarizing

Reducing large selections of text to their bare essentials: the gist, the key ideas, the main points that are worth noting and remembering. Teaching students to summarize helps them generate main ideas, connect central ideas, eliminate redundant and unnecessary information, and remember what they read.

Supplemental instruction

Supplemental Instruction is instruction that goes beyond that provided by the comprehensive core program because the core program does not provide enough instruction or practice in a key area to meet the needs of the students in a particular classroom or school. For example, teachers in a school may observe that their comprehensive core program does not provide enough instruction in vocabulary, or in phonics, to adequately meet the needs of the majority of their students. They could then select a supplemental program in these areas to strengthen the initial instruction and practice provided to all students.

Supplemental services

Students from low-income families who are attending schools that have been identified as in need of improvement for two years will be eligible to receive outside tutoring or academic assistance. Parents can choose the appropriate services for their child from a list of approved providers. The school district will purchase the services.

Syllable

A syllable is a unit of pronunciation or word part that contains only one vowel sound ( e-vent, news-pa-per).

Syllable types

There are six syllable types:

Closed: cat, cobweb

Open: he, silo

Vowel-consonant-e (VCE): like, milestone

Consonant-l-e: candle, juggle (second syllable)

R-controlled: star, corner

Vowel pairs: count, rainbow

Syllabication

Syllabication is the act of breaking words into syllables.

Symbol to sound

Matching grapheme to phoneme.

Synonym

Words that have similar meanings.

Syntax

Phrase and sentence structure (grammar).

Synthetic phonics

See phonics.

Systematic instruction

A carefully planned sequence for instruction, similar to a builder's blueprint for a house. Systematic instruction is carefully thought out, strategic, and designed before activities and lessons are planned. Lessons build on previously taught information, from simple to complex.

Systematic phonics instruction

Systematic phonics programs teach children an extensive, pre-specified set of letter-sound correspondences or phonograms. Systematic Review: A planned review of previously learned materials.

T

Targeted Supplemental/Intervention Reading Programs (TSRP/TIRP)

These programs and materials provide instruction in one or more areas of reading skill. They are intended for flexible use as part of differentiated instruction or in more intensive interventions to meet student learning needs in specific areas (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, or comprehension). When they are used with almost all students in the class because the CCRP does not provide enough instruction and practice in a given area for the majority of students in the class, they are usually referred to as supplemental materials. When they are used to provide targeted, intensive interventions for smaller groups of struggling readers, they are often referred to as intervention materials. Whether referred to as supplemental or intervention materials, these programs provide targeted instruction designed to fill in gaps in student knowledge or skill. These materials can be used to provide either additional instruction or additional practice, or both.

Target words

Are specifically addressed, analyzed, and/or studied in curriculum lessons, exercises, and independent activities.

Technical subjects*

A course devoted to a practical study, such as engineering, technology, design, business, or other workforce-related subject; a technical aspect of a wider field of study, such as art or music.

Text complexity*

The inherent difficulty of reading and comprehending a text combined with consideration of reader and task variables; in the Standards, a three-part assessment of text difficulty that pairs qualitative and quantitative measures with reader-task considerations (CCSS, pp. 31, 57; Reading, pp. 4-16).

Text complexity band*

The inherent difficulty of reading and comprehending a text combined with consideration of reader and task variables; in the Standards, a three-part assessment of text difficulty that pairs qualitative and quantitative measures with reader-task considerations (CCSS, pp. 31, 57; Reading, pp. 4-16).

Text comprehension

A range of text difficulty corresponding to grade spans within the Standards; specifically, the spans from grades 2-3, grades 4-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-10, and grades 11-CCR (college and career readiness).

Textual evidence

See evidence.

Text features

A component of concepts of print, includes knowledge of the features in a text or book, such as page numbers, table of contents, illustrations and photographs, chapter titles, headings, captions, labels, infographics, and diagrams.

Text structure

The various patterns of ideas that are embedded in the organization of text (e.g., cause-effect, comparison-contrast, story grammar).

Think-alouds

During shared read aloud, teachers reveal their thinking processes by verbalizing: connections, questions, inferences, and predictions.

Timed reading

Student reads appropriate text with a predetermined number of words to be read within a specific amount of time.

Trade book

A book intended for general reading that is not a textbook.

Train-the-trainer model

A capacity-building plan to develop master trainers who then deliver the program information to users.

U

USD

USD is a common acronym for Unified School District.

Useful words

Words that might be unknown to the student, but critical to passage understanding and words that students are likely to encounter in the future.

Useful letter sounds

Letters that appear frequently in words. Beginning readers can decode more words when they know several useful letters. Knowing the sounds of /m/, /a/, /t/, and /i/ is more advantageous than the sounds /x/, /q/ /y/, and /z/. Other useful letter sounds are /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/, /b/, /c/, /d/, /f/, /g/, /h/, /k/, /l/, /n/, /p/, and /r/.

V

Variant correspondences

Various corresponding spelling patterns for a specific sound or a variety of spelling patterns for one sound (e.g., long a spelled a, a_e, ai_, _ay).

Vocabulary

Knowledge of the meaning and pronunciation of words. Listening vocabulary refers to the words a person knows when hearing them in oral speech. Speaking vocabulary refers to the words we use when we speak. Reading vocabulary refers to the words a person knows when seeing them in print. Writing vocabulary refers to the words we use in writing.

Vowel digraph or vowel pair

Two vowels together that represent one phoneme, or sound (e.g., ea, ai, oa).

W

With prompting and support/with (some) guidance and support

See scaffolding.

Word attack

Word attack is an aspect of reading instruction that includes intentional strategies for learning to decode, sight read, and recognize written words.

Word family

Group of words that share a rime (a vowel plus the consonants that follow; e.g., -ame, -ick,-out).

Word learning strategies

Strategies students use to learn words such as: decoding, analyzing meaningful parts of words, using analogy, using context clues, using a dictionary (student friendly definitions), glossary, or other resources.

Word parts

Letters, onsets, rimes, syllables that, when combined, result in words. Word parts include affixes (prefixes and suffixes), base words, and word roots. The ability to recognize various word parts in multisyllabic words is beneficial in decoding unfamiliar words.

Word roots

Word roots are words from other languages that are the origin of many English words. About 60 percent of all English words have Latin or Greek origins.

Word study

The act of deliberately investigating words (e.g., vocabulary-building exercises, word-identification practice, and spelling).

Writing vocabulary

Words that a student might use while writing.

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Students are academically engaged when they are participating in activities/instruction in a meaningful way and understanding the tasks in which they are involved. The English language ability required for academic achievement in context-reduced situations, such as classroom lectures and textbook reading assignments. This is sometimes referred to as Cognitive/Academic Language Proficiency (CALP).

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25 virtual field trips for your classroom

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Virtual field trips allow us to take our students where the bus can’t. Here are 25 field trips and 10 activities to do while you’re on one!Imagine your

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dailySTEM - STEM for every student, every classroom, everyday

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STEM for every student, every classroom, everyday

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Online manipulatives bring all of the learning and fun without the mess. Our math virtual manipulatives help students grasp abstract concepts through modeling. Literacy virtual manipulatives create a fun space for practicing spelling, rhyming, and more!

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Virtual Manipulatives | Mathematical Modelling | Toy Theater

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Original teaching tools aimed at supporting teachers in the elementary school classroom. Two color counters, 3D dice, probability spinners, graph builders, fraction bars, base ten blocks, and more!

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Older students can use these tools to introduce themselves to their teachers and each other-even before school starts.

While summer continues, for many of us the countdown to the first day is underway. Before students set foot in the classroom for the first day of a new year, educators can make connections to have a smooth opening day and week. Open houses are a great way to welcome students back to school before the first day, but sometimes these events can be overwhelming at the middle and high school levels. A class-specific virtual preopening event may be a good alternative or supplement to these events.

Having a chance to learn about the class and meet classmates helps make the start of the year smooth and gets students excited. Teachers can set up a designated time where students can meet you and other class members online. This will allow them to introduce themselves, ask questions, and establish a positive rapport.

You can even plan icebreaker activities that encourage students to interact with each other and make new friends. For instance, you can set up group games, virtual scavenger hunts, or team-building exercises that promote collaboration.

Your role as an educator is to set the culture and tone of your classroom from the first minute. It's essential to make students feel welcomed and relaxed. They spend the majority of their day in school, and the more you can do to make it feel welcoming, the better.

Going back to school is an exciting time, and it's essential that teachers create a warm and welcoming culture until the day students walk out for summer break. But how? Before the return to school, students can engage in various free educational technology (edtech) activities to share information about themselves with their teachers.

8 Products kids Can Create Using Edtech to Showcase Their Interests

1. Digital collages: Encourage students to create a digital collage using online tools like Canva, Padlet, or Google Slides. They can include images, icons, and text representing their hobbies, favorite subjects, aspirations, and achievements. They can then share the collage with their teacher via email or online.

2. Personal blogs or websites: Have students create a personal blog or website using platforms such as WordPress, Blogger, or Wix. They can share their stories, experiences, and insights, including their interests, goals, and talents. They can then share the link with their teacher and classmates.

3. All-about-me presentations: Students can create a multimedia presentation using a tool like Google Slides. They can include slides with information about their family, hobbies, favorite books, music, or movies. They can also include photos or short videos to make the presentation more engaging. The presentation can be shared with the teacher through email or a file-sharing platform.

4. Video introductions: Students can record a short video introducing themselves to their teacher. They can talk about their name, grade level, favorite subjects, and extracurricular activities. They can also share a fun fact or a special talent. Video platforms like Flip or Loom can be used to create and share the video.

5. Digital portfolios: Encourage students to create a digital portfolio showcasing their best work from the previous school year or from their personal projects. They can use platforms like Google Sites or Adobe Express to compile their work, such as art, writing samples, coding projects, or science experiments. They can then share the portfolio with their teacher for review.

6. GIFs: GIFs are so popular that many students might even have a GIF keyboard on their phones. There are many free GIF sites on the web, such as Picasion and Gickr. You can pose a question to your students as they prepare to return to school and have them respond with a GIF. It could be as straightforward as "What is your back-to-school mood?" Email the question to your students, and ask them to send a GIF as their answer. Day one could be going through the GIF collection from the students. This is a fun way to start the year and get an inside look, without prying, at how your students feel.

7. Virtual show-and-tell: Students can participate in a virtual show-and-tell activity. They can take photos or record videos of items they would like to share with their classmates and teacher. It could be a favorite toy, a special souvenir from a trip, or an object that represents something important to them. They can upload photos or videos to a shared online platform for everyone to view and comment on.

8. Goals collages: As the new year begins, students have new or restored hopes and dreams for the year, for themselves, and for what the future brings. Padlet allows teachers to create a digital pinboard that can be emailed to students and families through a unique link. Teachers can ask students what they hope for the year. The answers can give you a baseline for your planning and show students that you value them as a part of the class. For example, you could start the year by displaying the "Board of Hopes" and have students share theirs to create a culture of togetherness. It may also inspire classmates to help each other reach their dreams.

Teachers can utilize edtech to promote student voice and choice before the school year even begins. Using Padlet, teachers can ask students what they would like to have in the classroom. You can ask about the structure of centers or suggestions for books they want to read. Students are walking into your room, but asking them for input in designing the space will give them a sense of belonging from day one.

These edtech ideas allow students to showcase their unique qualities and interests while using technology creatively. Sharing these projects or activities with their teachers will enable the teachers to gain insights into their students' personalities and create a more personalized and engaging learning environment. This positive tone will set the stage for a joyous classroom and a feeling that it's their learning space.

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Using Free Edtech Tools to Get to Know Your New Middle and High School Students

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Using edtech to build relationships with middle and high school students is a great way to start a new school year.

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Is It Time To Return To Handwritten Notes?

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Is It Time To Return To Handwritten Notes?

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As someone whose hand cramps easily, I get the struggle: I want to get off my laptop, but a notebook feels too painful. And slow! But there are some surprising benefits to this old-fashioned way of getting thoughts on paper. Here, I wanted to consider the cases for and against documenting all of life's comings-and-goings on hand.

The Case for Handwritten Notes

1. You'll remember it better

Writing by hand can significantly improve memory retention; studies show it. I can't remember which studies; I typed them out. But I do know this! When you write something down, you engage more with it than when you type, and this helps you store it in your memory more effectively.

2. Improved Comprehension

If your hand cramps like mine does, then you definitely can't write everything down. This means you have to summarize the content as you go, which forces you to comprehend the information as it's being spoken aloud. When typing, it's possible to transcribe verbatim (or even use a Scarlett-Johansson-type tool), which might not be as beneficial for comprehension. The act of condensing information into your own words helps you understand nuances and clarify your thoughts.

3. Fewer Distractions

You can't check Instagram in a notebook; I've tried. Laptops are literal mines of distractions; there's no way to avoid them. If you're taking notes

The Downsides to Handwritten Notes

1. The pace

Handwritten notes are undeniably slow. If you're in a meeting where they're talking at Gilmore-Girls-speed, you might not feel that they're moving fast enough to keep up.

2. Organization

Digital notes are easily searchable and can be organized efficiently with tags and folders, if you're the folder-tagging type. Personally, I just save everything to my laptop desktop and it's a huge disaster, but I understand that other people have better habits than me. Handwritten notes, on the other hand, require a manual search, which is super time-consuming. So, taking notes digitally has a clear edge in terms of keeping yourself organized.

3. Sharing and Collaboration

In a collaborative work environment, the ability to share notes is be crucial, and it turns out, people don't love grainy photos of bad handwriting (I've learned from experience). Digital notes can be shared with a click, which leads to speedy quick collab-ing and feedback. Which is, of course, a downside, if you didn't want to get the collaboration started immediately.

Given the benefits and drawbacks of both methods, the ideal approach might be a hybrid one. But either way, consider the possible pros and cons, and test out what works best for you!

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Is It Time To Return To Handwritten Notes?

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Explore the benefits of handwritten notes in the digital age and whether it's time to bring this personal touch back into our daily routines.

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Students share why they think some peers miss a lot of school and what teachers can do to help

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Students share why they think some peers miss a lot of school and what teachers can do to help

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Fourth Graders from Achievement First Bushwick Elementary in Brooklyn, New York

I think some students miss a lot of school because of bullying, depression, they're really sick, or have family problems. I think teachers can help these kids by talking to them or giving them stuff to calm them down. Or they can tell them the world is not perfect, but it's not that bad if we have our class and [we] will help you out. "You should know we will be there for you."

Some students may not feel comfortable at school or maybe they don't feel challenged at school to want to come. Another reason might be because of bullies, or they feel that the people at school don't like them. Teachers could try to give more rewards or do more fun things like throw parties, give class competitions, or things like that to make it more fun so we do want to come.

Eighth Graders from Davis Drive Middle School in Cary, North Carolina

Like a job, in school you should be able to take days off. We work 7 hours a day, 5 days a week, with homework after school and on weekends. Sometimes kids are just plain tired or mentally exhausted, like adults. I don't think teachers and parents get that burnout is a real thing, especially in the days leading up to or after a big test. I think teachers need to be more understanding of what kids are going through and dealing with, and look beyond the fact that a kid has been missing a lot of school.

If we had less homework, we would be less stressed, we would get more sleep, and therefore, would be able to do better in school and come to school more and on time. I'm not saying to do away with homework altogether because we still need the practice, but teachers should work to assign less homework.

Students miss a lot of school because they may not feel comfortable or safe in that environment. If a student doesn't feel confident in their classroom or in their school, they will be more tempted to find excuses to stay home or skip classes. To help them, teachers can make their class more welcoming, invite students who usually sit alone to participate in fun activities, and be more open and accepting of students who are struggling in any way. School should be a safe place for everyone, a place where students can enjoy learning and interacting with others. Teachers are responsible for their students and providing them with a safe place.

Students may not have reliable and safe transportation to school daily because of bus rules. I believe that teachers could help by talking to the students who have bad attendance records and try to get to the bottom of what the problem is. This could help give data about what stops them from coming to school and could be sent to the administration so they can use special accommodations to help the students.

I feel like students miss school because the activities in school can sometimes get boring. Students usually enjoy learning that is more interactive and hands-on. Fun activities such as team-building games could make students socialize more and help students skip school less.

High School Students from Health Sciences High and Middle College in San Diego, California

I believe that some students miss a lot of school because they are disinterested in pursuing school in the future. I think that this leads to them being absent a lot because they find it impractical with the decision that they've made not to attend college or a university. Something that I think teachers can do to help this would be to educate students on the benefits of graduating with a high school diploma. I strongly believe that when students know the benefits of certain things, they have more interest and put more effort into these certain things because the students have it in their heads that they will eventually profit from it.

Students miss school because they have nothing to look forward to throughout their day. Essentially, it's the same old cycle. Eat, sleep, school. Teachers can approach this issue by adding variety in their teaching styles such as ice-breaker questions or daily check-ins. By giving students something to look forward to, attendance will improve.

I think most students who miss school just can't make it, but for those who do it on purpose, I think school is uninteresting or unimportant to them. They don't and can't find a reason to go to school every day. Teachers can help students enjoy school more by taking the students' opinions into account. Teachers could include more inclusive topics and find out what students like by having classroom votes.

Editor's note: Thank you to educators Robin Brantley (Achievement First Bushwick Elementary), Julie Adcock (Davis Drive Middle School), and Mikayla Haywood (Health Sciences High and Middle College) for their assistance in gathering the student responses featured here.

Want to see your story in EL?

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Students share why they think some peers miss a lot of school and what teachers can do to help.

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Effective Alternatives to Round Robin Reading

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Effective Alternatives to Round Robin Reading

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Effective Alternatives to Round Robin Reading to Promote Oral Reading Fluency - The Teacher Next Door

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Round Robin reading needs to be a thing of the past! Here’s a list of alternatives to promote oral reading fluency in your classroom!

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Printable Arithmogon Templates for Maths Teachers

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Printable Arithmogon Templates for Maths Teachers

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Strategies for ensuring that students in every grade feel like they’re part of the classroom community.

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There has been an extensive discussion of phonemic awareness instruction on the SPELLtalk list. It seems to have ended with a lot of uncertainty about the implications of my observations about PA for instruction, so let me try to boil it down. I'll be pursuing these issues in greater detail here in the near future....

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A Warm Demander Approach to School Leadership

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A Warm Demander Approach to School Leadership

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Creating a welcoming experience for students, setting high expectations, and celebrating success can transform school culture.

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A Warm Demander Approach to School Leadership

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Creating a welcoming experience for students, setting high expectations, and celebrating success can transform school culture.

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Flippity.net: Flashcards and Other Resources for Educators and Learners

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Create an interactive virtual breakout activity.

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Here are some of my reflections on this year’s GCSE exams and our OCR GCSE Curriculum to reflect on some of the things that is enabling us to hopefully support our students to be successful in their exams.

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5 Mini-Lessons to Improve Explanations in Writing

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5 Mini-Lessons to Improve Explanations in Writing

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Updated: 4 hours ago

Doug Lemov, author of Teach Like a Champion and Reading Reconsidered, shared Judith Hochman's But, Because, So sentence expansion activity in his TLAC (Teach Like a Champion) blog.

Serena Williams is one of the greatest athletes of all-time. In fact, she won 23 grand slam singles titles over the span of her career. Winning 23 grand slam titles is significant because it is the most wins of any tennis athlete and one more than tennis legend Steffi Graf.

It's important that children and young adults are allowed time to experiment and create. According to the organization My First Five Years, " Creative play supports the development of cognition in multiple ways...creative play allows young children the freedom to be able to explore their thoughts and feelings and come up with new and original ideas. "

Doug Lemov, author of Teach Like a Champion and Reading Reconsidered, shared Judith Hochman's But, Because, So sentence expansion activity in his TLAC (Teach Like a Champion) blog.

Serena Williams is one of the greatest athletes of all-time. In fact, she won 23 grand slam singles titles over the span of her career. Winning 23 grand slam titles is significant because it is the most wins of any tennis athlete and one more than tennis legend Steffi Graf.

It's important that children and young adults are allowed time to experiment and create. According to the organization My First Five Years, " Creative play supports the development of cognition in multiple ways...creative play allows young children the freedom to be able to explore their thoughts and feelings and come up with new and original ideas. "

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5 Mini-Lessons to Improve Explanations in Writing

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To explain means to provide more details, provide more context, provide more connection, provide more description.

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20 Ways for Students to Use Padlet in the Classroom

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20 Ways for Students to Use Padlet in the Classroom

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20 Ways for Students to Use Padlet in the Classroom — @TheMerrillsEDU

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Unlock endless creativity and collaboration in your classroom with these 20 exciting ways to use Padlet! From sharing engaging videos and interactive maps to creating vibrant drawings and collaborative whiteboards, watch your students connect and express themselves like never before. Get ready to tr

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Why artificial intelligence won’t replace teachers

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Why artificial intelligence won’t replace teachers

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Why artificial intelligence won’t replace teachers

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Artificial intelligence continues to grow by leaps and bounds. For many of us, when we met ChatGPT for the first time, we started asking lots of

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Single Point Rubrics Changed My Teacher Life (Free Resource)

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Single Point Rubrics Changed My Teacher Life (Free Resource)

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Rubrics! The mere word can inspire both excitement and dread in my teacher heart. Excitement because the rubric will "once and for all" help my students understand the expectations for successfully demonstrating their learning. Dread...because, well...sometimes rubrics actually make grading harder for me (I have to decide...is it a 3 or a 4? Maybe a 3.5? Oh no...).

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Single Point Rubrics Changed My Teacher Life (Free Resource)

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Rubrics! The mere word can inspire both excitement and dread in my teacher heart. Excitement because the rubric will “once and for all” help my students understand the expectations for successfully demonstrating their learning. Dread...because, well...sometimes rubrics actually make grading harder for me (I have to decide...is it a 3 or a 4? Maybe a 3.5? Oh no...). Hear me out. Grading is a tricky subject to tackle. Many educators feel very passionately about how and why they grade the way that

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Using live marking to shorten the feedback loop

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Using live marking to shorten the feedback loop

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Marking and feedback are part and parcel of teaching. The evidence shows the impact of high quality feedback. However, in both reflecting on my own practice and observing others, I think that most feedback processes used in schools are not that effective.

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As teachers, we make so many decisions every day that when you stand back and look at what we are doing, it’s amazing to think that we do so much of this automatically.

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This makes me think... how does decision-making work in the classroom? What ideas should underpin what we think is right and what does this look like on a practical level?

I love working with ITT students and the main reason for this is that you get the chance to really break down the processes in the classroom. One of the first things I tell new teachers is that they need to prepare for the simple things to go wrong, because in classrooms there are no simple things. Take for example my 'do now' questions, which were the topic of discussion this week.

This is fantastic and I'm not advocating that we unpick the philosophical motives behind mini-whiteboards, but having the time and space to think: Why do I do this this way? ... This works, but why? Is there a better way of doing this?

This links us back to Aristotle's concept of phronesis. The idea that there is an ethical element to the decisions we make in the classroom means that there must be a 'right' and a 'wrong' choice as we seek to achieve certain outcomes or reach certain goals (Winch et al., 2015). This is by no means a simple feat. Phronesis focuses on the need for teachers to understand and navigate the complex environments that are classrooms in a way that allows them to do the right things in a practical situation (Pickup, 2020).

I talk more about why this has important implications for the way in which senior leaders quality assure classroom practice here , but the main outcome of this process is far more important: we have a shared language of explaining why we do things the way we do and a method through which we can undertake self-reflection.

Whilst traditional, transmissive CPD methods (inset days, after school sessions etc.) seem to be the norm in most schools, when I reflect on my own development as a teacher and the development of teachers I really admire, no one really uses this form of CPD to articulate how they got better. Instead, the teachers who have developed, improved and cemented their practice over time have done so through a combination of thinking about their own teaching and talking to others about theirs in informal settings like staffrooms. I've written a more academically minded piece about this topic here , but ultimately this focus on phronesis provides spaces for individual teachers to grow and genuine school cultures and context-specific uniform practices to form.

Reflective questions:

1. What actions do you take in the classroom regularly that are complex once broken down? How did you come to do things this way and why?

2. What is your thought process when you're planning your lessons? Do you ask yourself the questions explored above?

3. Does your school provide opportunities for informal discussion around lesson planning to facilitate teacher self-efficacy/practice?

4. Does your school provide opportunities for teachers to share their thought processes with senior leaders as part of the feedback process?

5. If you use collaborative planning, to what extent does your department consider what classrooms look like when everyone is doing things well?

References

Winch, C., Oancea, A., & Orchard, J. (2015). The contribution of educational research to teachers' professional learning: philosophical understandings. Oxford Review of Education , 41 , 202-216.

This makes me think... how does decision-making work in the classroom? What ideas should underpin what we think is right and what does this look like on a practical level?

I love working with ITT students and the main reason for this is that you get the chance to really break down the processes in the classroom. One of the first things I tell new teachers is that they need to prepare for the simple things to go wrong, because in classrooms there are no simple things. Take for example my 'do now' questions, which were the topic of discussion this week.

This is fantastic and I'm not advocating that we unpick the philosophical motives behind mini-whiteboards, but having the time and space to think: Why do I do this this way? ... This works, but why? Is there a better way of doing this?

This links us back to Aristotle's concept of phronesis. The idea that there is an ethical element to the decisions we make in the classroom means that there must be a 'right' and a 'wrong' choice as we seek to achieve certain outcomes or reach certain goals (Winch et al., 2015). This is by no means a simple feat. Phronesis focuses on the need for teachers to understand and navigate the complex environments that are classrooms in a way that allows them to do the right things in a practical situation (Pickup, 2020).

I talk more about why this has important implications for the way in which senior leaders quality assure classroom practice here , but the main outcome of this process is far more important: we have a shared language of explaining why we do things the way we do and a method through which we can undertake self-reflection.

Whilst traditional, transmissive CPD methods (inset days, after school sessions etc.) seem to be the norm in most schools, when I reflect on my own development as a teacher and the development of teachers I really admire, no one really uses this form of CPD to articulate how they got better. Instead, the teachers who have developed, improved and cemented their practice over time have done so through a combination of thinking about their own teaching and talking to others about theirs in informal settings like staffrooms. I've written a more academically minded piece about this topic here , but ultimately this focus on phronesis provides spaces for individual teachers to grow and genuine school cultures and context-specific uniform practices to form.

Reflective questions:

1. What actions do you take in the classroom regularly that are complex once broken down? How did you come to do things this way and why?

2. What is your thought process when you're planning your lessons? Do you ask yourself the questions explored above?

3. Does your school provide opportunities for informal discussion around lesson planning to facilitate teacher self-efficacy/practice?

4. Does your school provide opportunities for teachers to share their thought processes with senior leaders as part of the feedback process?

5. If you use collaborative planning, to what extent does your department consider what classrooms look like when everyone is doing things well?

References

Winch, C., Oancea, A., & Orchard, J. (2015). The contribution of educational research to teachers' professional learning: philosophical understandings. Oxford Review of Education , 41 , 202-216.

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How do we make decisions in the classroom?

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How do teachers make decisions in the classroom and how do we make sure they are the right ones?

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The Dyslexia Awareness Bulletin Board Kit (printable PDF) includes facts and information about dyslexia that everyone should know.

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DOWNLOAD NOW! The Dyslexia Awareness Bulletin Board Kit (printable PDF) includes facts and information about dyslexia that everyone should know. Includes all printable items... Dyslexia Basics: Facts & stats Quotes from Inspiring Dyslexics Common Dyslexia Myths + Reality The following items are required for asse

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Relationship mapping allows teachers to evaluate their connections with students to determine who needs more support.

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Relationship mapping allows teachers to evaluate their connections with students to determine who needs more support.

Yet, as the school year unfolds, creating purposeful relationships with students can easily get lost in the shuffle of lesson plans and administrative duties. Relationship mapping is one way teachers can put relationships back in the forefront and focus on building purposeful connections in a classroom. After two to three weeks of getting to know students, I use this technique in my classroom to determine the relationships I need to focus on and decide which relationships I can use to support and increase student belonging and growth.

Relationship Mapping

Imagine a map not of geographical features but of interpersonal connections. Relationship mapping is this kind of map: a visual representation of the bonds between you and your students. It lets you quickly see who is deeply connected and who might need more engagement. This tool transforms abstract concepts of student relationships into concrete, actionable insights, enabling you to craft a more connected and supportive learning environment.

To start relationship mapping, get student rosters for the various classes you teach. Then choose whether you want to map digitally or on paper with four different-colored highlighters.

The next step is to identify your interpersonal connection level with students. For each name on the roster, assign one of four different highlight colors.

One color should be used for level 1 (L1): distant acquaintance. This is a student with whom you have had minimal interaction in the classroom. They may or may not interact during instruction, and you know little about the student.

The next highlight color represents level 2 (L2): transactional relationship. This relationship is characterized by academic knowledge without a personal connection. They might answer questions, but you know no information about the student, and they do not try to interact in the classroom unless prompted.

The next color is for students who have developed some attachment. They go under level 3 (L3): personal connection. For this level, you know at least two pieces of information about the student that they have openly shared. They seek guidance and help from you in the classroom.

The final color is level 4 (L4): deep relationship. This is a relationship in which the student will openly share information, feels safe sharing their thoughts and opinions, and actively seeks your guidance and advice.

With colors assigned, go through the student rosters and color code your relationships with students in your class or classes. Once you've finished with color coding, analyze your map.

Identify L1 and L2 students who need more support and recognize the strong connections you could use to support lower-level connections in the room. Once lower-level relationships are apparent, list the students who need more support and work to build deeper relationships with them. Every quarter, repeat and ensure that every student has the opportunity for a L3 or L4 relationship.

Creating these maps for 75 students usually takes me 10 to 15 minutes. I print out the rosters and use highlighters, and it's definitely time well spent.

3 Quick Strategies for Deepening Student Relationships

1. 2x10. This approach involves spending just two minutes each day for 10 days having a personal conversation with a student. Each day, ask the student a question and build on what has been discovered. Consider using these leveled questions developed by social psychologist Arthur Aron to foster more significant relationships.

These interactions must focus on the student's dreams, hobbies, and goals to help build trust and rapport. Each day, bring up information learned from the previous day and ask questions to learn more about the student. It's possible to do multiple students on the same day and track what you learn on a roster.

2. Providing strong peer mentors. Another powerful method to build stronger relationships is to use relationship contagion, or the tendency for people to mimic the emotions of those around them. Pair students who are at L1 and L2 with those from L3 and L4. This can be done through direct mentoring during instruction or by strategically moving students on a seating chart.

This will help build classroom relationships and encourage engagement while offering academic and social support. The benefits extend beyond the mentees to the mentors, who gain leadership experience and strengthen their classroom connections. Through observing the positive relationship of the mentor and teacher, mentees are more likely to build trust and form positive bonds with the teacher as well.

3. Give students a personalized space. Relationships form when students feel they can share and be valued for who they are. A simple way to do this is to provide a space for students to share accomplishments and information about themselves in the classroom.

I do this by having a metaphorical refrigerator door-a bulletin board or white space-where students can share whatever they would like with the class. This allows students to share themselves at their own discretion and shows that I have a space that values my students' passions and interests, which helps foster student-teacher relationships and builds relationships between other students. It also gives me insight into passions and events I can utilize in instruction to boost engagement and foster connections with my students.

Relationships are Key

Relationship mapping is more than just a tool; it's a strategic approach to ensuring every student can have a solid relationship with the teacher. By focusing on and nurturing these essential relationships, we create a learning environment where every student can thrive. Embracing relationship mapping allows us to work to ensure that each student feels connected, valued, and seen so they can develop to their full potential.

Responses are generated by artificial intelligence. AI can make mistakes.

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Using Relationship Mapping to Improve Relationships With Students

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Relationship mapping allows teachers to evaluate their connections with students to determine who needs more support.

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Exceptional leaders: building teams, culture and lifelong learning

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Exceptional leaders: building teams, culture and lifelong learning

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Exceptional leaders: building teams, culture and lifelong learning

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Dr. Zach Groshell' Podcast on all things Direct/ Explicit Instruction

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Dr. Zach Groshell' Podcast on all things Direct/ Explicit Instruction

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Channel of Dr. Zach Groshell, Progressively Incorrect podcast, educationrickshaw.com, and Twitter/x @MrZachG

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Gratitude is defined as the feeling or expression of thankfulness and appreciation toward yourself, others, people, places, or things. In the US, Thanksgiving is the main holiday that celebrates gratitude and encourages us to be appreciative. However, gratitude is not something we should just express on Thanksgiving. We should share our gratitude all year long.

Teaching Gratitude

Gratitude isn't always an emotion that everyone is able to express. Students may need direction and guidance from you when it comes to discussing gratitude. Studies show that when students practice expressing their feelings, they have higher levels of optimism, increased life satisfaction, and decreased negative feelings. Additionally, students who regularly express gratitude appreciate close relationships and feel better about their life and school.

Activities

Below are a few simple ideas that you can use to teach students about gratitude and to practice giving thanks.

Alphabet Gratitude

Have your students write each letter of the alphabet and try to come up with at least one item they are grateful for under each letter. This ABC Chart Google Doc template would be perfect to share with your students. To extend this activity, students can choose a few words from their list to write a poem or short story.

Gratitude Jar

A gratitude jar is the perfect way to help students think about and recognize the things they have to be thankful for. The idea behind the jar is for students to write down something they are grateful for on a piece of paper and place it in the jar. Then, on a specified date, students can draw out and share. This activity is a great way for them to focus on positive things. You can make the jar a part of your regular classroom routine or you can have students jot down things as they think of them.

If you aren't able to create and have an actual jar in your classroom, you can always use a digital jar. Check out this gratitude jar Google Drawing template that I created. Students can fill their jar own jar throughout the year.

Bitmoji Bulletin Board

Bitmoji virtual classrooms are all the rage right now. So why not create a bitmoji bulleting board. You could call it a "board of thanks." Encourage your students to express their appreciation by sharing things, people, places, events, etc. that they are thankful for. You can then "pin" these to the board to create a powerful visual for your students. Katania Trudeau creates thankful rooms for her classrooms. Check out her bitmoji templates here. In addition, be sure to check out Jeanine Mele's virtual room focused on gratitude.

Gratitude Journal

With this activity, encourage your students to keep a journal so they can express what they are grateful for. They can write daily or weekly for a few minutes. You can also give students writing prompts such as "I am thankful for . . ." Students may want to draw pictures as well. The journals can be kept private or shared with the class.

The Thankful Tree

This collaborative activity allows students to list what they are thankful for by placing leaves on a tree. This Google Slide template was created by Madeline Martinez, who assigned one slide to each student in her class. She then created a Thankful ebook out of the slides.

Gratitude Gram

This last activity is one for you, the teacher. Model thankfulness by sending gratitude grams to your students, parents, or colleagues. This template created by Dawn Killiany is an example of what she sends to her students.

Being thankful is a trait that we can choose to instill in our students. If you would like to explore additional Social and Emotional skills, be sure to check out TCEA's online, self-paced Social and Emotional online course. Priced at just $29, the course features seven modules designed to help your students understand their own self-awareness, build positive relationships, make responsible decisions, and more. Enroll today!

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Gratitude is defined as the feeling or expression of thankfulness and appreciation toward yourself, others, people, places, or things. In the US, Thanksgiving is the main holiday that celebrates gratitude and encourages us to be appreciative. However, gratitude is not something we should just express on Thanksgiving.

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Mark Miller looks at what the EEF’s feedback guidance has to say about efficient feedback

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Mark Miller looks at what the EEF’s feedback guidance has to say about efficient feedback

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Use this list of 107 classroom teaching strategies for your lesson plan or teaching portfolio. This can help demonstrate pedagogical knowledge and the ability to apply theory to practice.

Or, try some of these strategies out when you're low on ideas and looking for a fresh way to teach in the classroom. Note that these are just some examples of teaching strategies - I'm sure there are even more out there!
Tip: Bookmark this page so you can come back to it every time you need some new teaching strategies!
Teaching Strategies Examples (List)
Description
Flipped classrooms involve asking students to complete the reading, preparation and introductory work at home. Then, during class time, the students do practice questions that they would traditionally do for homework.
Benefits

Flipped instruction enables the teacher to offload the direct instruction elements of education like Introductions to homework. This enables teachers to spend more time on student-centered differentiated support.
Challenges

Students may not complete their assigned pre-class homework, which will undermine the lesson.
Theoretical Link
Social Constructivism / Socio-Cultural Theory: The teacher can spend more time supporting students in a student-centered environment.
Example For More
See my full article on Flipped Classrooms Pros and Cons.

Related Article: 25 Teaching Styles Examples
Description
Students learn cognitive, social, and physical skills during play tasks. Tasks can be teacher-led with specific goals (e.g. volume transfer in a sandpit) or unstructured student-led play.
Benefits

Engagement: students may be more engaged during active play-based learning compared to teacher-centered instruction.

Cognition: students get the opportunity to learn through discovery and trial-and-error, helping to build neural pathways

Social: students play together, developing communication, groupwork, and negotiation skills.

Physical: play engages fine and gross motor functions, helping to improve physical abilities.

Challenges

Many traditionalist, including many parents and potentially your head teacher, may consider play to have no educational or academic benefit.

Parents may frown upon this method for older students, despite its benefits across age groups.

Many people consider that the risks of injury during play-based learning are too high.

( Read More: Pros and Cons of Play Based Learning)
Theoretical Link
Social Constructivism. Students learn through social interaction and building knowledge in their minds through trial and error.

Play is also encouraged in all 5 Contemporary Early Childhood Perspectives (Froebel, Reggio Emilia, Forest Schools, Steiner-Waldorf Schools, and Montessori).
Example

1. Use modelled instruction to show students how to play with developmentally appropriate resource-rich toys and puzzles. Consider puzzles that require mathematical skills that link to current curriculum outcomes.

2. Provide students with the puzzles and allow free unstructured play time

3. Mingle with the students, helping them with prompting and guiding questions

4. End the lesson with a whole group discussion of what they learned during the lesson.

For More
See my full article on Play Based Learning Pros and Cons.

3. Project-based learning (PBL)
Definition
Project-based learning requires students to spend an extended period of time (e.g. a week or more) on a single project to gain in-depth knowledge about the task. The projects should be personally meaningful and give students freedom to go in-depth on areas of interest.
Benefits

Students have the opportunity to become 'experts' on topics. By going deep on a topic, students may become very knowledgeable and feel empowered.

A balance is struck between ensuring students focus on curriculum-linked projects and giving students the freedom to explore the details of a topic that are of personal interest.

Challenges

Students tend to have increased freedom using this approach. So, students need to learn self-regulation skills before beginning the task.
Theoretical Link
Constructivism in the Classroom: Students work independently using their own intellect and resources to learn. By doing personal research, students 'construct' knowledge in their minds and apply that knowledge to the project to demonstrate their knowledge.
Example

1. Teacher assigns students a research question, such as "What are the key characteristics of mammals?"

2. Students work in small groups to come up with an idea for a poster, diagram, or presentation project on the topic.

3. Teacher approves or asks for amendments of students' proposed projects.

4. Students are provided a series of lessons over a 2-week period in computer labs and in resource-rich classrooms to complete their project.

5. Teacher checks-in intermittently to ensure standards are upheld and to stimulate students to improve upon their projects.

6. The project concludes with students presenting their project to their parents.

Definition
Authentic learning involves having students learn about concepts in real-life (or near real-life) environments. Similarly, authentic assessment refers to assessments in real-life (or near real-life) environments
Benefits Challenges Theoretical Link
Constructivism: Authentic learning environments are designed for students to be active learners who 'construct' knowledge through personal experience.
Example Definition
Discovery learning involves allowing students maximum freedom within a resource-rich environment to 'discover' answers to challenges. It requires students to build upon prior knowledge and use resources available in the environment to increase their own knowledge.

Discovery learning is often held in contrast to teacher-centered approaches, as students are not 'told' information; instead, they must discover knowledge for themselves..
Benefits

Students generate knowledge for themselves rather than being told what is right and wrong.

By discovering truths, students will have a firmer understanding for the reasoning behind why something is true.

Challenges

Too much student freedom may distract students from the learning outcomes.

This can be a time-consuming technique as students discover information at their own pace. It can therefore be difficult to implement in education systems that are packed with curriculum outcomes that must be met.

Theoretical Link
Construcitivism: Students generate their own knowledge through engagement with their environment rather than having truths 'told' to them by an authority figure.
Example Definition
Setting high expectation involves requiring students to put in maximum effort during their lessons. HIgh expectations does not mean expecting all students to meet a certain standard. Rather, it means expecting each student to try to beat their own personal best.
Benefits

High expectations are necessary to ensure students continue to strive for improvement. Without high expectations in the classroom, students can become lazy and lose respect for education.
Challenges Example For More
See my full article on High Expectations in the Classroom.

7. Parent and Community Engagement
Definition
Parent and community engagement involves bringing students together with their community. It can involve bringing parents and community members into the classroom, or bringing students out into the community on field trips.
Benefits Challenges

Safety concerns often require teachers and community members to fill-in forms and complete background checks before community engagement can occur.

Finding members of the community willing to work with teachers can be difficult.

Theoretical Link
Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory: Students learn within family and community contexts (children's 'first teachers') in order to respect and carry-on culturally engaged learning.
Example

1. Teacher does networking to find community members willing to come into the classroom.

2. Teacher finds relevant curriculum links that community members can help them teach about.

3. Teacher and community members meet to discuss a lesson idea.

4. Community members and teachers team-teach in the classroom.

5. Students are given the opportunity for one-on-one time with community members.

6. Students present the results of their lesson to community members before community members leave.

8. Unconditional Positive Regard
Definition
Unconditional positive regard involves teachers consistently and unconditionally viewing students as capable and competent. When students make mistakes, fail, or misbehave, it is the teacher's role to continue to let students know that they believe in the student and their abilities.
Benefits

Empowering: when students are given unconditional positive regard, they know that their teacher believes in their ability to constantly do better.

Shows Empathy and builds Trust: children come to learn to respect and trust their teacher when they know their teacher is always on 'their side'.

Challenges

Teachers need to ensure that they still let students know that inappropriate behavior or lack of effort is unacceptable. The teacher should follow-up their discipline with comments about positive regard.
Theoretical Link
Humanist theory of Education: Humanist Carl Rogers invented this approach. He believed unconditional positive regard was necessary for building students' self-confidence.

Example s

1. "Even though you did not do well today, I expect that you will come to school doing better tomorrow."

2. "The quality of your work does not match your potential. Let's talk about some strategies for improvement before you go away and do it again."

For More
See my full post on the Humanist approach to Education.
Definition
Modeled teaching is an instructional strategy that involves the teacher 'showing' students how to do a task. The teacher shows the task while also breaking it down into small steps. This helps students to see how to complete the task.
Benefits Challenges

Not appropriate as a standalone strategy. Students need to eventually try things alone to show competency. Therefore, consider matching modeled teaching up with the I Do, We Do, You Do method
Theoretical Link
Bandura's Behaviorism: Bandura blends behaviorism with constructivism by showing that learning can occur through observation only.
For More
See my full post on Behaviorism in Education, which has a segment on Bandura's modelled instruction approach.

10. I Do We Do You Do Method
Definition
The I Do, We Do, You Do method is a scaffolding strategy that provides gradual release of responsibility from the teacher to the student. It involves three steps: (1) I Do: Teacher models the task; (2) We Do: Student and teacher do the task together; (3) You Do: Student attempts to complete the task alone.
Benefits

Students are provided an appropriate balance of support and freedom.

Teacher has ample time to assess students' abilities to make adjustments to their pedagogy as they move through the 3 steps (particularly in step 2)

Challenges

In large groups, students may fall behind at Steps 2 and 3.
Theoretical Link
Sociocultural Theory: Students learn through social interaction with a more knowledgeable other (see: Lev Vygotsky).
Example For More
See my full guide on implementing the I Do, We Do, You Do method.

11. Guided Practice / Cognitive Apprenticeship
Definition
Students follow along with their teacher as an 'apprentice'. By working side-by-side, they learn the subtle little things (' tacit knowledge ') required to know in order to master a skill.
Benefits

Students get very close one-to-one interaction with an expert, helping them learn.

By learning-by-doing, the student learns not only the theory but also the skills required to complete tasks.

Challenges

An approach predominantly used for young children in Indigenous communities, which is not applicable on a wide scale in Western mass education systems.

Requires one-to-one support, which is not often available.

Theoretical Link
Socio-Cultural Theory: Rogoff studied Guatemalan Indigenous teaching methods to come up with this approach. It fits under the socio-cultural theory because its emphasis is on social interaction between master and apprentice.
Example
Common in trade schools for students studying to be mechanics, engineers, etc.
For More
See my full guides on the Guided Practice teaching strategy and cognitive fexibility.
Definition
Scaffolding involves providing support to students while they cannot complete a task alone. Then, when the student can complete the task alone, the teacher withdraws their support.
Benefits

Students feel supported while learning tasks that are just outside of their grasp at the present time.

A clear way of guiding students towards new skills.

Challenges

May require a lot of one-to-one support, which can be difficult to provide in a classroom environment.
Theoretical Link
Socio-Cultural Theory: Scaffolding was invented by Jerome Bruner ( not Vygotsky).
Example
13. Direct Instruction (a.k.a Explicit Teaching)
Definition
Direct instruction (also known as explicit teaching) is a teacher-centered approach that involves the teacher using simple straightforward language to explain concepts to students.
Benefits

Provides clear and direct knowledge to students

Is sometimes the only way to teach something, particularly when introducing a new idea.

Challenges

Students cannot consolidate their knowledge with direct instruction alone. Explicit teaching should be followed-up with other teaching strategies that involve more active learning so students can practice and demonstrate their knowledge.
Theoretical Link
Behaviorism: Traditionally, direct instruction was embraced by behaviorists who believed in teacher-centered teaching. Today, it is used in most teaching approaches.

14. Repetition (Rote Learning)
Definition
Repetition involves giving students time to retry tasks over and over again until it is consolidated in their minds. The information should be safely in a student's long-term memory before moving on.
Benefits

Repetition commits information to memory, and is often one of the only ways to ensure something is truly remembered long-term.
Challenges

Repetitive rote learning that lacks contextual background is hard to remember. Sometimes, giving context through doing tasks through real-life scenarios can be better for memory long-term.

Repetition can disengage students and demotivate them.

Doesn't account for social and cognitive aspects of learning.

Theoretical Link
Behaviorism: Repetition is central to a behaviorist approach. Pavlov, a famous behaviorist found that he could teach his dog through repetitively associating a bell with food. The dog came to learn through repetition that the bell meant 'food'.
For More
See my full post on Behaviorism in Education.
Definition
Spaced repetition builds on simple repetition. Spaced repetition involves gradually increasing the space between times you repeat something. Repetition of a task should be very common. Over time, the task should be re-examined less and less often.

The idea behind spaced repetition is that the concept being learned is re-engaged with just before it is forgotten so that it is consistently recalled into memory and gradually sedimented into long-term memory.
Benefits

Provides long-term support to ensure students remember information over a sustained period of time.

Perfect for revision and standardized test preparation.

Challenges

Can be disengaging and boring for students who tend to prefer active learning.

Doesn't account for social and cognitive aspects of learning.

Theoretical Link
Behaviorism: Spaced repetition was invented by behaviorist theorist Ebbinghaus in 1885.
Example

1. Provide students with a sprinkle of review tasks as a part of their weekly homework.

2. Start lessons (or set aside some time each week) with revision of tasks from months previously to jog students' memory.

Definition
Prompting involves providing students with nudges, guides and questions that will help them to move closer towards an answer. A prompt is a suggestion to a student that they pay attention to a particular aspect of a task that will help them get closer to the answer.
Benefits

Prompts are used regularly by teachers to get beyond blocks in student learning. Without prompts, students may never develop or improve.
Challenges

It is hard to know exactly how much prompting to give and at what stage. Students need time to think things through and make mistakes. Too much prompting too soon can prevent students from thinking for themselves.
Theoretical Link
Social Constructivism: Social constructivists believe teachers have a role in helping students to build knowledge in their minds. Teachers' interventions can help spur knowledge development.
Examples Definition
Differentiation is a teaching strategy that requires teachers to change their teaching styles and educational materials to meet the diverse needs of students within a classroom. It generally involves grouping students into several sub-groups in the classroom based on ability, skillset or learning preferences.
Benefits

Enables the teacher to more effectively address the diverse needs of students in a large classroom.

Ensures learning is more personalized in the hope that no child will be left behind in a lesson.

Challenges

Differentiation is often used as an excuse to dumb down a task - differentiated instruction should be paired with high expectations to ensure all students are working to their maximum potential.
Theoretical Link
Socio-cultural Theory: This approach acknowledges that all students have different social and cultural backgrounds. Therefore, each student requires a personalized learning approach. It realizes that one size fits all will not work because all students are different.
Examples

1. Separate students into three ability groups: Advanced, Middle, and Lower. The advanced students can be provided with project-based learning tasks to complete while the teacher works with the middle and lower groups to provide additional support.

2. Provide students with a range of tasks that addresses the same learning outcome. Students can choose between different tasks depending on their learning preferences.

Definition
Manipulatives are physical educational toys (or: 'tools') which are used to support learning. Providing students with physical manipulatives during learning enables them to visualize their learning in a 3D space.
Benefits

Students can learn more actively when they have manipulatives than when learning through teacher-centered direct instruction methods.

Helps students who need to visualize information to learn.

Creation of physical models helps students to form mental models ('cognitive schemata').

Challenges

It can be expensive to gather enough materials for all students in a classroom.

Providing students with toys can distract them from the task. Strong classroom management skills are required.

Theoretical Link
Constructivism: Constructivists including Freidrich Froebel and Maria Montessori have advocated for the use of educational toys to help students to explore and discover in student-led active learning contexts.
Examples
19. Prior Knowledge Assessment
Definition
Prior knowledge assessment entails assessing students' knowledge at the beginning of a unit of work in order to teach students at an appropriate level. If prior knowledge does not take place, teachers may teach content at a level that is either above or below a class's optimal learning level.
Benefits Challenges

Ensure you assess prior knowledge well in advance so you can plan lessons based on prior knowledge. I've assessed prior knowledge at the start of a class before and realized the lesson I planned was completely useless!

20. Student-Teacher Conference
Definition
A student-teacher conference is a one-on-one discussion between a student and a teacher to take stock of a student's needs. The conference usually involves a discussion of both strengths as well as areas for improvement. The conference should conclude with a list of goals for the teacher and student to mutually strive toward.
Benefits

An opportunity for both the teacher and student to express concerns and anxieties

Helps students to feel 'seen', valued and cared for by the teacher

Challenges

Hard to achieve in every lesson. Teachers could consider systematically conferring with one or two students per lesson until all students are met with.

There is a power imbalance in the student-teacher relationship which may prevent students from speaking candidly.

Theoretical Link
Socio-Cultural Theory: Interactions between teachers and students are important to learning within the socio-cultural approach.
Example

Print a list of your students with a column for 'achievements', 'goals' and 'struggles'. Over the course of a week, meet up with your students and discuss with them what they've achieved in the current unit of work, what their goals are, and what the barriers are to achieving those goals.

21. Fill-In the Gaps (Cloze Passages)
Definition
A simple teaching strategy that involves asking students to fill-in an incomplete piece of text. This can happen verbally (starting a paragraph and asking students to complete it) and in writing (a traditional cloze passage).
Benefits

Helps students to jog their own memories by prompting them slightly.

Enables teachers to quickly assess students' knowledge (just-in-time assessment).

Challenges

Cannot be a consistently used strategy as students also need to learn through more challenging approaches such as discovery learning and project-based learning.
Examples

1. Paper cloze passages involving a story in which the key phrases are removed.

2. Prompting questions like: "Can you finish this sentence? The first king of England was ..."

22. Peer Assisted Learning (PAL)
Definition
Has the teacher step aside and allows students to take charge of the learning environment.
Benefits

Students can often explain concepts to one another in a clear way because they're on the same level and closer in their learning journey than the teacher, who probably learned the content years ago!
Challenges

Peer assisted learning is not the same as the students doing the teaching. Students should continue to view each others as partners in learning.
Theoretical Link
Socio-Cultural Theory: students learning through collaborative discussion fits firmly into the sociocultural theory of education.
Example

1. Invite students from a grade level above to come into the classroom and act as moderators of discussions on topics of interest.

2. Pair stronger students with weaker students. Have the stronger students demonstrate their knowledge by supporting the weaker students. I find this works really well because children can often explain things in a clear language that other children can understand.

23. Poster Presentations
Definition
A poster presentation is a great way to demonstrate knowledge at the end of a lesson or unit of work. Provide the students with posters, pens, and printing materials if required.
Benefits Challenges

Can be a lazy way to achieve presentation of knowledge. Ensure the focus remains on the content and not the coloring-in or drawing pretty pictures.

Not useful for all lessons: when students can create a working model, diagram, etc. this would be preferred.

Example

1. Have students work in groups to write up their knowledge in a visually engaging way.

2. Then, have each group verbally present their poster to the class.

24. Two-Minute Presentation
Definition
Two Minute verbal presentations, like posters, are an effective way of having students demonstrate their knowledge at the end of a lesson or unit of work. Each student gets two minutes to present their knowledge on a topic to the rest of the class.
Benefits

An effective, fast way of doing summative assessment.
Challenges

It is an inefficient use of other students' time having them listen to 20 other two-minute presentations when they could be engaging in higher-order learning during that time. Students find it very boring and frustrating to sit through the assessment of other students.
Example
25. De Bono's 6 Thinking Hats
Definition
De Bono's 6 thinking hats strategy asks students to look at an issue from multiple perspectives. It can be used for groups or individuals. Depending on the hat a student is provided, they have to think from a different perspective.
The Six Hats

1. White hat: Provide the facts.

2. Yellow hat: Explore the positives.

3. Black hat: Explore the negatives (devil's advocate).

4. Red hat: Express your feelings and intuitions. Include concerns, dislikes and likes.

5. Green hat: Be creative. Come up with new ideas and alternatives.

6. Blue hat: The manager who ensures all the hats are sticking to their lane.

Benefits Challenges

I often find it's hard to get groups of 6, so sometimes one student has to use two hats.
Example Definition
A pop quiz is a short test that takes place with no prior warning. The quiz can be formative or summative. Link the quiz to rewards to keep students motivated to do well and be prepared at any moment.
Benefits Challenges

May worry some students who are unprepared.
Definition
Taking a democratic vote is a progressive education strategy that attempts to empower students in the classroom. Have students vote on what or how they will learn within the classroom. This can be done at a small scale in a lesson plan by asking students to vote on how a lesson will progress, for example.
Benefits Challenges

Teachers may lose their power and control over the class if they overuse this approach.

Just because the majority supports something, it doesn't mean it's best. A small group of students may fall behind and have their voices drowned out by the majority.

Theoretical Link
Progressive Education: Progressive educators such as Alfie Kohn advocate for empowering students through increased democracy in the classroom.
For More
See my full post on Citizenship Education.
Definition
Using non-verbal gestures are powerful ways to help students learn, as well as to manage the classroom. Educators can explicitly teach signs or use gestures common in society.
Benefits Challenges

Cultural sensitivity required. Different cultures ascribe different meanings to non-verbal gestures.
Examples
29. Environmental Manipulation
Definition
Environments have a strong impact on learning. Temperature, lighting, seating plans, colors and posters on the walls can all affect learning.
Benefits

A non-intrusive way of supporting learning.

Helps students feel more comfortable in the classroom.

Challenges

Your classroom has limitations which may prevent the ideal environmental settings.

Different students may work better in different environments (e.g. heat settings)

Theoretical Link
Humanism: Teachers pay attention to the conditions required for creating an optimal learning environment.

Classical Conditioning (Behaviorism): Students are 'conditioned' by cause-and-effect mechanisms that are subtle and that they aren't even aware of.

For more, see my full post on behaviorism in education.
Example
30. Associative Learning
Definition
Associative learning takes place when several ideas are introduced to a student that are mutually reinforcing. In the classroom, this means presenting students with several stimulus materials that help a student to recall a fact.
Benefits

Is very effective during revision for an exam.
Challenges

Has questionable long-term benefits as at this stage the concept is not yet solidly consolidated in long-term memory. The recall of information is dependant on other associated information.
Theoretical Link
Behaviorism (Pavlov's Dog): Most famously, Pavlov managed to get a dog to associate the ringing of a bell with food. The dog would salivate whenever the bell rang, whether or not there was food around.

Cognitive Constructivism: while associative learning is most commonly associated with Pavlov, constructivists also have an explanation. The more associations someone has with a topic, the more neural pathways are created connecting ideas. This helps improve memory recall.
See Also: Non-Associative Learning Examples

1. The teacher presents students with rhyming pairs to help a student associate one word with another. This can be effective in teaching vocabulary.

2. When attempting to recall a fact, you can try to reflect on where you were and what else you were talking about when that fact was first introduced to you.

31. Cooperative Learning (Group Work)
Definition
Cooperative learning is a teaching strategy that involves having students work together rather than in competition. Usually, this takes place in small groups where the success of the group is dependant on the students working together to achieve a common goal (also known as positive interdependence). See more: Cooperative learning examples.
Benefits

Minimizes destructive competitiveness in the classroom which may undermine a collaborative and collegial atmosphere.

Requires students to talk to one another which can help them learn from each other's perspectives.

Challenges

Students need to be explicitly taught group work skills before participating.

Some students may become lazy and let others do the work for the whole group.

Theoretical Link
Sociocultural Theory: Learning is stimulated when students converse with one another. They get to see others' viewpoints which may help each student build upon or challenge their existing views.
Definition
The teacher presents the students with the agenda at the start of the day. The use of visual aids may be helpful here, allowing students to see a timeline of the day's events on the board at the front of the classroom.
Benefits

Very effective for students with autism who often feel calmed knowing there is some structure to their day.

Helps relax students into a day or even a lesson by giving them certainty about what's to come.

Challenges

Any benefits that may arise lack scientific backing.
Example

Download a card set of images that represent different lesson types and activities. Use this card set to lay out a visual timeline for the students every morning.
Definition
Instead of one teacher delivering a lesson to a group of students, several teachers get their classes together to teach one lesson to a larger group.
Benefits

Teachers can be more flexible. One teacher may take the role of presenter while the other acts as a support with students falling behind.

Teachers can share the workload, particularly for preparation.

Challenges Examples

Consider having one teacher take the lead on all mathematics lessons and the other take the lead on all literature lessons. This enables each teacher to become more expert on their topic.

34. Directing Attention
Definition
Directing attention involves diverting students away from negative non-learning behaviors and towards positive behaviors by presenting them with engaging learning materials or ideas.
Benefits Challenges

Tends to be more effective with younger children than older children.
Example

Use visual aids, worksheets and manipulatives to help direct and maintain students' attention on something physical. With adults, I use flipchart paper (also known as butcher's paper) as the prop to direct attention.
Definition
Visual aids are any objects used in the classroom to attract students' eyes and therefore immerse them more into a lesson. Visual aids can have both cognitive benefits (see: cognitive tools) and engagement benefits.
Benefits

Engagement: students are more likely to pay attention if they have something to look at.

Cognition: some students may benefit from visualizing a concept to help them order ideas in their minds.

Visual learning: some learners prefer learning visually than aurally (see: learning styles).

Challenges

A visual aid needs an educational purpose. Consider why you are using the visual aid before deciding to use it.
Example Definition
Allowing students to sit where they choose, rather than having assigned seating, has had a resurgence in popularity in the past decade. A flexible seating classroom often has a range of differently organized workstations, allowing students to select a spot to sit that's most comfortable for them and which best suits the style of learning that will be occuring in that lesson.
Benefits

Can reduce sedentary periods of time by allowing students to move around more during a lesson.

Enables students to sit at a table that best suits their learning (computer table, group table, individual table, on a bean bag, etc.)

Challenges

There is often not enough space at workstations, meaning students end up not actually sitting where they choose.

Often students like to have a spot they can call their own. It helps give students a sense of place and belonging.

Example

This approach is very common in the Agile Learning Spaces and Flexible Classrooms movement.
For More
See my full post on the Common Classroom Seating Arrangements.

36. Formative Assessment (a.k.a Assessment for Learning)
Definition
Formative assessment involves assessing students' learning throughout the learning process, not just at the end. Formative assessments can take place at one point in a unit of work or regularly throughout a lesson.
Benefits Challenges

Can be time consuming to constantly assess students' abilities.

Formative assessments often lack the authority of summative assessment pieces.

Examples

1. Formative assessments can be simple stops to get feedback and ongoing questioning of students.

2. They can also take the form of pop quizzes or student-teacher conferences.

37. Summative Assessment
Definition
Summative assessments take place at the end of a unit of work and are often the formal final / overall grading of a student's knowledge.
Benefits

Summative assessments are necessary for providing a final grade for a student and are often required by school boards.

Summative assessments give students something to strive toward which may keep them motivated and encourage them to study.

Challenges Example Definition
Gamification involves implementing elements of gameplay in your lessons. This can be as simple as creating a competition out of a mathematics quiz.

Recently, computer software such as excel and programming languages have been used in the classroom as elements of 'digital' gamification.

Don't confuse gamification with game-based learning, which is discussed next.
Benefits

Gamification can make boring lessons fun, thereby increasing the engagement and motivation of students.
Challenges

Teachers must not lose focus on the learning outcomes that must be met. 'Fun' is not the goal, it is the means for achieving the goal, which is always learning.
Examples

1. Get your students into two groups and have them compete in a trivia contest based on your lesson content.

2. Give students table groups and reward tables with points depending oh how well they do.

For More
See my full article on the pros and cons of digital play.
Definition
Not to be confused with gamification, game-based learning involves the use of actual games (board games, computer games, sports games, etc.) into a lesson.

While gamification involves using elements of gameplay into lessons (points, competitions), game-based learning involves using actual games in a lesson.
Benefits

Students often love video games at home, so they get excited that they can play them in school as well.

Games can also support cognition by prompting students to complete and practice tasks to win games. See also: cognitive tools.

Challenges

Parents may feel playing games in the classroom is not acceptable. Make sure parents know your reasoning behind using games.

Ensure the focus remains on the learning outcomes, not just on 'having fun'.

Example For More
See my full article on game-based learning as well as my explanations about how to use minecraft and sandbox games in the classroom.
Definition
A coach does not stand in front of players and simply tell them what the 'facts' are. A coach stands behind a player. He watches the player and gives feedback on their performance. His job is to encourage, suggest adjustments and be the support network for the player.

Coaching is one of the great metaphors for teaching. A teacher who uses coaching as a strategy tried to emulate the role of the coach: observing and offering support and suggestions for adjustments.
Benefits Challenges

Sometimes the teacher needs to introduce new ideas, meaning coaching may not be as useful as another approach such as modeling or direct instruction.
Theoretical Link
Sociocultural Theory: In sociocultural theory, teachers tend to encourage active learning and provide social support.

41. Inquiry-Based Learning
Definition
Inquiry-based learning involves the teacher presenting a problem for the students to solve by making their own inquiries. It is similar to discovery learning, but is different in that inquiry based learning generally involves the teacher setting out a puzzling problem to solve at the start of the lesson.
Benefits

Students 'find' the answers rather than being given them by teachers.

Answers emerge out of exploration, problem solving and discovery, meaning students learn why something is true, not simply what is true.

Challenges

Significant support is required to help guide students through their inquiry. Students need to be taught how to inquire and given the right inquiry tools (such as books, appropriate websites, etc.)
Theoretical Link
Constructivism: Students learn through constructing ideas in their heads rather than being told the facts.

42. Reciprocal Teaching
Definition
Reciprocal teaching involves having students facilitate their own small group lessons. It is usually used in reading lessons.

The teacher first models how to guide group discussions before sending students off to facilitate their own lesson. In groups of four, students usually take the roles of: questioner, clarifier, summarizer and predictor. Students read stimulus materials then self-facilitate a group discussion about the text.
Benefits Challenges

Requires a lot of pre-teaching so students have the required skills for these sorts of lessons to work.
Theoretical Link
Sociocultural theory: working in groups, communicating and sharing ideas help stimulate thinking and encourages students to challenge their own ideas in order to improve them.
Example (Modelled off the I Do, We Do, You Do approach) Definition
Blended learning involves a mix of online instruction and face-to-face learning. This strategy can be employed by giving students part of their instruction as homework online and part of it in class. It differs from flipped learning because a flipped classroom involves at-home instruction and in-class practice. Blended learning can have both practice and instruction occuring at home and/or in class
Benefits

Gives the teacher flexibility to teach partially during homework time and partially in class.
Challenges

Students need access to technology at home unless the at-home parts are only reading and printouts.

Usually only suitable for university students who are short on time. Blended learning allows them to do some of the learning in their own time.

Examples For More
See my List of 10 Pros and Cons of teaching Online.
Definition
A growth mindset focuses on teaching students that they have the power to improve and succeed if they put their effort into it. The opposite would be students refusing to try because they don't think they have the power in their own hands to succeed.

Teaching growth mindsets is all about modelling positive behaviors. Include growth mindset in your lesson plans by finding points in the lesson to discuss specific strategies to move toward success, strategies for studying, and positive thinking.
Benefits Challenges

Many students have many barriers to success. If you ignore those barriers and simply say 'you can work harder', this will make students feel disempowered. Teachers need to show students the pathways to success.

Ensure the content is actually achievable for your students.

Examples

1. Break down tasks into manageable chunks so that students know the steps toward success. Then, use encouragement to motivate students to put in their effort.

2. Celebrate success to show students that they are competent and capable.

45. Culturally Responsive Teaching
Definition
Culturally responsive teaching is an instructional strategy that involves ensuring students' cultures are integrated into lessons. This includes celebrating students' cultural backgrounds when relevant and using learning styles that are dominant within your students' cultures.
Benefits Challenges

Teachers need to be sensitive to cultures different to their own.

Teachers should consult parents and community members about best strategies for the cultural needs of the students in the class.

Theoretical Link
Sociocultural theory: sociocultural theory believes
Examples Definition
Mastery learning and teaching is a strategy for ensuring all students meet a certain standard of understanding or ability before moving on.

Teachers set a benchmark of knowledge 9r ability for students to meet. Then, all assessment in this method is formative, where students are given feedback and as much time as possible to improve before progressing.
Benefits

Students are not left behind and gaps in their knowledge are not overlooked.

Students may feel less stressed or rushed with this approach.

There is no talk of inability or failure in this method as teachers and students keep working away at the task until success is achieved.

Challenges

There is not enough time in traditional school systems for this approach.

The difference in abilities between students means some students will get a long way ahead while others remain a long way behind.

Theoretical Link
Humanism: there are elements of unconditional positive regard in this approach (see Carl Rogers).
Examples

1. An example.may be that all students must get 80% on a test to progress to the next unit of work.

2. This approach is common for getting a "handwriting license" in primary / elementary school.

47. Stimulus Materials and Props
Definition
Stimulus materials are tools that a teacher provides during lessons to spur students into engaging with the lesson or thinking more deeply about the content provided. They include videos, educational toys (manipulatives), worksheets, visual prompts, objects from outside the classroom, and so on.

Without stimulus materials, the classroom feels empty and detached from real life. Bring stimulus materials into the classroom to help students make stronger connections to things going on outside.
Benefits Challenges Theoretical Link
Constructivism: constructivists encourage the use of props so that students can 'learn by doing' and be 'hands on' in their learning.
Examples

1. Place several props into a bag. Have the students put their hands in the bag and see whether they can guess what the props are.

2. Place an unusual prop related to your lesson in the middle of the classroom. Get the students to guess what it is before beginning the lesson.

Definition
Service learning involves having students meet learning outcomes while contributing to and 'giving back to' their community. This often involves volunteer work, internships and placements within the community where assistance is needed.
Benefits Challenges

It can be hard to place all your students in a service learning placement if there are many students to allocate.

It may be impractical given safety and security requirements.

Theoretical Link
Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory: EST highlights that people are situated within community from whom they get their values and beliefs. By being more connected to the community, students learn who they are and how they're connected to a society and culture that surrounds them.
Example Definition
Invented by Lave and Wegner, situated learning involves learning by being embedded within a professional environment and slowly picking up the ways of doing and speaking within that context.

It has similarities to other instructional strategies outlined in this article such as service learning and cognitive apprenticeships. However, its defining feature is the slow absorption of knowledge through prolonged exposure to an authentic professional setting.
Benefits

Students learn the most important practical information required for a job.

Students learn the ways of speaking and behaving that are required within a professional situation.

Challenges

Not practical as a teaching strategy in classrooms. It works best as an apprenticeship model for new graduates from university.
Theoretical Link
Sociocultural theory: the situated learning approach emphasizes the importance of learning from 'more knowledgeable others'.

50. Sixty-Second Strategy
Definition
The sixty second strategy involves having students review one another's work in three steps which take 60 seconds each. The steps are: respond, reflect and review. This usually takes place after a student presentation where the students give a cumulative 3 minutes of feedback and reflection on the presentation.

The goal is not just to give feedback to the presenter, but for the listeners to also think about how they would have done the presentation and what their own thoughts on the topic are.
Benefits

Students learn how to give feedback to others in positive and constructive ways.

It is a great way for students to actively engage with other students' presentations.

Challenges

Students need to know how to be positive in feedback and not be hurtful.
Example
51. Thumbs Down, Thumbs Up
Definition
Thumbs down, thumbs up is a simple strategy for getting immediate feedback from students. During a lesson, pause after each step to get instant thumbs down, thumbs up feedback on whether students understand the previous step.

If there are thumbs down, the teacher should ask those students if they have direct questions or whether they might want that section to be covered again in different language or more slowly.
Benefits

Enables the teacher to gauge students' reactions in real time.

Gives the students an opportunity to give the teacher feedback immediately so that they don't fall behind or become frustrated.

Challenges

If the majority of students give thumbs up but only one or two give thumbs down, this is not endorsement to move on. Rather, the teacher should make sure no students fall behind.

52. Summarizing and Paraphrasing
Definition
For this teaching strategy, either the teacher or student summarizes something someone previously said in their own words in order to ensure they understanding each other without any misconceptions.
Benefits

In having a student repeat the teacher's statement in their own words, the teacher can see whether students actually understand something.

In repeating a student's statement in different language, the teacher can see whether they truly understand what the student means.

Challenges

The biggest risk here is in the teacher 'putting words in the student's mouth'. This may give the student a free pass.
Examples

1. The teacher explains a concept, then asks the student to repeat it without using the same words. A pause of a few minutes between the teacher's explanation and the student's response can be helpful in preventing the student from directly copying the teacher's language. As time passes, the meaning should stay but the exact words should be forgotten.

2. Alternatively, the student makes a statement, and the teacher translates it in their own words and finishes with "Is that what you meant?"

Definition
Demonstration involves showing the students a practical example of something that is being learned in class.

The difference between demonstration and modeling is that a demonstration usually:

does not involve explicit explanation of all the steps, and

is usually not followed by students having a go themselves.

Demonstration (rather than modelling) may be necessary when the concept being demonstrated is dangerous or requires expertise.
Benefits

Having something complex or theoretical demonstrated can be exciting to link theory to practice.
Challenges

Demonstrations may require expensive field trips or inviting experts and expert equipment into the classroom.
Example

A demonstration could be as complex as going to watch a space rocket launch or as simple as a ranger demonstrating how to use bear spray.
Definition
Role modelling involves demonstrating the requisite behaviors or ideal way of acting within a learning environment. Role modelling has the intention of positively influencing students into copying the teacher's positive learning behaviors.
Benefits

Students are socialized into behaving and learning in socially appropriate ways.

A teacher who sets personal high expectations for their own learning will have those high expectations flow on toward the students.

Challenges

A teacher needs to be aware that all of their behaviors rub off on students. This means they need to 'put on their happy face' despite what's going on in their private lives.
Theoretical Link
Bandura (Social learning theory): Albert Bandura believed that observation was important in influencing how people will behave and learn. See his famous Bobo doll experiment where children were more aggressive toward a doll when they observed an adult being aggressive toward it.
Examples

1. Male teachers may role model positive masculinity, such as politeness and respect to all people regardless of gender.

2. A teacher can be a role model my demonstrating engagement and volunteering within the community, insisting on respectfully welcoming guests when they enter the classroom, or having high regard and respect for reading, learning, and apologizing.

Definition
Predicting involves asking students to make predictions or 'guestimates' before a study is undertaken. The teacher may make a prediction for the students to respond to, or ask students to make predictions themselves.
Benefits

It stimulates students to think about the logical flow-on effects of the things they are learning about (such as in science: gravity, momentum, etc.)

Students are asked to think forward rather than simply react in the learning environment.

Examples

1. At the start of a lesson (before introducing too much information), ask students what they think will happen during the lesson.

2. Show the students a diagram or comic strip demonstrating sequence of events with the last few events missing. Have students fill-in the gaps.

56. Intentional Mistakes
Definition
The teacher inserts intentional mistakes into their teaching materials (such as misspellings in their presentations) or their speech in order to:
Benefits Challenges

You may risk having students believe you had made the mistakes intentionally.

Students may believe the mistakes are truths and end up believing things that are untrue.

Examples Definition
Immediate feedback is any feedback that takes place during a lesson rather than after a lesson or exam has been completed.

There are two primary types of immediate feedback: feedback from students to teachers, and feedback from teachers to students.

The feedback's purpose should be to make impromptu changes during the lesson before it is too late.
Benefits

Teachers can adjust their teaching methods in the moment to ensure the lesson is a success.

Students can adjust the ways they are going about completing a task to ensure it is successful.

Challenges

In large groups, one-to-one feedback can be difficult.

Teachers need to be able to think on their feet to make immediate adjustments.

Theoretical Link
David Schon's 'Reflection in Practice': According to Schon, successful practitioners reflect in practice rather than just on practice. Reflection in practice requires practitioners to reflect on what they're doing while they're doing it.
Examples
58. Whole Group Class Discussion (a.k.a Circle Time)
Definition
A whole group class discussion gets all students in the class talking to one another in one group. When I use this strategy, I try to get students sitting in a conversation circle. The benefits of students sitting in a circle include:

There is a neutral power structure with no one at the head of the discussion.

All students can see one another.

Benefits

Whole class discussions encourage all students to develop the confidence to share their own views publicly.

If the whole class gets into it, there can be a lot of great back-and-forth.

Challenges Examples Definition
Concentric circles is a method that builds on the whole group circle time discussion. Students sit in two concentric circles with the inner circle facing the outer circle. The students in the inner circle should be paired one-to-one with a student in the outer circle (like speed dating).

The teacher poses a question and the pairs are given 60 seconds to discuss the problem. Then, the students from the inner circle rotate one person to the right so they are facing a new partner for the next question.
Benefits Challenges

There needs to be an even number of students in the class so each student has a partner to work with.
Theoretical Link
Sociocultural theory: students learn by interacting with others to help them test, challenge and extend their own ideas.
Definition
One student takes the role of a character from a book, history, etc. They dit in front of the class and get interviewed by their classmates. The student must stay in character and answer the questions from the perspective of that character.
Benefits Challenges

Students need time to research their character and brainstorm their character's perspectives on various topics before being put in the hot seat.

Shy students or students who are not confident with the material may be intimidated by this instructional strategy.

Examples

This strategy can be linked up with strategies like De Bono's thinking hats where students would answer questions from a particular perspective.
Definition
Graphic organizers are visual aids in the classroom designed to help students visualize and conceptualize ideas and their relationships with other ideas. Examples of graphic organizers include flowcharts, mind maps and venn diagrams. Use them to help students think more deeply about topics.
Benefits Challenges

Don't stick to just one framework as the frameworks narrow the scope of thinking in exchange for depth. Mix up your graphic organizers.
Theoretical Link
Cognitive Constructivism: cognitive constructivists such as David Jonassen believe graphic organizers help students to share their cognitive load with the organizer, helping them to organize and sort ideas in their heads more effective.y
Examples

1. Flow charts

2. Mind maps

3. Venn diagrams

4. Concept maps

5. Network or family tree

6. Spider diagram

7. Compare-contrast matrix

8. Continuum

9. Series of events chain

10. Cycle map

11. Character charts

Definition
This is one of the simplest, most frequently used, but also most effective classroom teaching strategies. Students think about a topic on their own. Then, they pair up with a partner and discuss, compare and contrast their thoughts together. Thirdly, the pair share what they discussed with the whole class.
Benefits Challenges

Students need the confidence to speak up in front of the whole class. I have found some students like to have the comfort of flip chart (butcher's) paper as a prop when presenting their discussions to the class.
Theoretical Link
Sociocultural theory: learning through conversation allows students to see diverse perspectives and therefore improve on their own perspectives.
Examples Definition
Assigning group roles for students who are doing small group work is another simple instructional strategy to try. There are many group role types to be found online. I tend to use the roles of: timekeeper, moderator, notekeeper, and collector. All students should be equal discussion contributors, and this is managed by the moderator.
Benefits

Helps to structure the activity, give students certainty in what they are doing, and reduce the uncertainty from group work.

Encourages communication to get students hearing other students' ideas and perspectives

Challenges

Students must be explicitly taught the group roles and need time to practice them.
Theoretical Link
Sociocultural Theory: By communicating with peers, students widen their perspectives and (with more knowledgeable peers) have their knowledge scaffolded.
Example

1. Ensure you model the group roles before beginning the activity. Consider using a fishbowl method by having a sample group sit in the middle of a circle modeling the roles to the rest of the class.

2. For the class's first attempt at group roles, structure it very clearly by getting the students to follow a clear step-by-step guide. Slowly release responsibility to students when they are ready.

Definition
The barometer method gets a measure of students' opinions by asking them to stand on a line from 0 to 10 (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = unsure or conflicted, 10= strongly agree).
Benefits

Students tend to find this a non-intimidating way of sharing their opinions.

Can be a good way of getting students talking. Once they stand on the line, you can ask them to explain why they stood where they did.

Challenges

It may be beneficial to prevent students from taking a neutral "I don't know" stance without sufficient defence of this position.
Theoretical Link
Critical theory: The barometer could be paired with critical theory if students critique assumptions in society with a focus on the perspectives of marginalized groups.
Examples Definition
Cognitive tools are educational technologies designed to promote thinking beyond what a student can do without the technology. This might include using wearable technologies to help students map out their own movements to then test their knowledge of geography, use of excel sheets to create financial estimations, etc.
Benefits

Educational technologies can help us do things we couldn't do without them.

Can engage students who love computers and technology in learning tasks.

Challenges

Teachers must ensure technology use is focused on helping students learn more or at a higher level of critical thinking than if they didn't have technology.
Theoretical Link
Cognitive Constructivism: this approach, invented by david Jonassen, emphasizes that computer technologies should be used to extend and promote higher-order cognition.
Examples
See my full article: Examples of Congitive Tools in Education.

66. Anticipation / Guestimation
Definition
Anticipation and guestimation is an instructional strategy designed to get students thinking about the consequences or flow-on effects of actions. Teachers ask students to make predictions based on limited knowledge about a topic
Benefits

Students often have to use mathematics and logical reasoning to succeed in this task.

Students are required to be resourceful and seek clues that will show them the possible consequences of action.

Challenges

It is important to strike a balance between giving enough information to make informed guesses and not too much information that the students can deduce the full answer.

67. Silent Conversation
Definition
A silent conversation is a way of getting students to communicate without having them speak up in front of the class. Students write their responses to a prompt on sheets of paper but cannot speak while doing so. They should then also write responses to one another's points so that they are 'conversing' through writing.
Benefits

Students who are shy to speak up my be more willing to participate, especially if their written response can stay anonymous.

It can often be easier to respond in writing than speaking because students have time to reflect and think about the wording of their response before writing it.

Challenges

Only one student at a time can write their response. Consider what other students will be doing during this time.

Students must be competent writers.

Theoretical Link
Sociocultural theory: we learn and extend our knowledge through social interaction. By seeing others' points, we can improve or amend our own.
Examples

1. One way to do this is to have a flip chart paper sheet (butcher's paper) on a wall with a discussion prompt written above. Have students walk up to the paper intermittently thought a lesson to write responses to the prompt. After the first few students write their responses, the rest of the students must respond not to the prompt but to the answers written by previous students - how can they add to or challenge what someone else has already said?

2. The second common way of having a silent conversation is to pass a piece of paper around the class and have students write their responses to conversation chains on the piece of paper.

Definition
A devil's advocate is someone who argues for an opposing point of view in order to stir up an argument and poke holes in other points of view. The devil's advocate does not necessarily need to believe the points they are arguing. Either the teacher or students can be the devil's advocate I'm this teaching strategy.
Benefits Challenges

Students and parents may interpret you devil's advocate position as an attempt to teach unsavory views in the classroom.
Theoretical Link
Critical theory: A devil's advocate can help students with skills desirable within critical theory, like seeing views of people who are not commonly heard in society and the capacity to critique dominant narratives in society.
Examples

1. The teacher can note in their lesson plan moments when they believe there are opportunities to play devil's advocate role promote debate.

2. The teacher can give students debating points where one person acts as devil's advocate and another as the person defending the dominant perspective.

Definition
Strategic pauses are one of the most important tools in a teacher's toolbox of teaching strategies. A strategic pause is a gap between statements to let a point sink in or linger, or to give students a moment to think about an answer before the teacher moves on.
Benefits Challenges

Can leave students confused

Requires follow-up and knowledge testing

Theoretical Link
Cognitive load theory: Too much information at one time can cause a student to lose track. Time is required for the mind to interpret, sort, stack, save and withdraw information in their mind ('create cognitive schemata').
Examples Definition
Chunking involves presenting information in manageable 'chunks' to allow students to sufficiently process information before moving on to the next section of a lesson or task.

Teachers should present only a manageable amount of information to students before giving them a chance to consolidate the information and practice their new knowledge.

Without giving sufficient time to consolidate information before giving new information to a student, the student will struggle to keep up with the information and old information may fall away before it is secured into their memory.
Benefits

Less students will be left behind, confused and disillusioned in the classroom if they are given consolidation time.
Challenges

There is often not enough time in a crowded school curriculum to chunk information well enough.

It is hard to tell how much is 'too much' information, and how long is long enough before knowledge is consolidated into memory.

Theoretical Link
Cognitive Overload Theory: If students are given too much information, their mind becomes 'overloaded' and they are unable to process more information. We only have a limited amount of working memory space in our minds. See: John Sweller's cognitive overload theory.
Examples
71. Snowball Discussions
Definition
Snowball discussions are another twist on the think-pair-share method. For snowball discussions, students start in pairs and share their thoughts and ideas together. Then, the pairs join up with another pair to create a group of four. These four people share thoughts together, compare notes, debate ideas, and come up with an agreed list of points on a topic.

Then, groups join up again to make groups of eight. The groups of eight compare points and perspectives, then join up to create groups of 16, etc. until it ends up being a whole class discussion.
Benefits

An effective strategy for promoting discussion between students. It can be useful for getting students to compare how different groups of students approach points from different perspectives.
Challenges

The class group needs to be large (20+) for enough rounds of this strategy to happen.
Theoretical Link
Sociocultural theory: social interaction helps students see perspectives that are not their own and challenge their own views. This helps them pick holes in their own points and improve their misconceptions.

72. Homework: Knowledge Consolidation
Definition
Yes, homework is a teaching strategy! A traditional approach to homework sees it as an opportunity for students to consolidate information that was taught in class. Studying for upcoming exams is often also an important part of homework.

Other homework strategies like flipped classroom are possible - see the flipped classroom discussion earlier in this article.
Benefits

Help students to consolidate information learned in class.

Ensures students have an opportunity to keep information fresh in their minds and be reminded of information learned in previous months.

Challenges

Excessive homework can impede students' rights to enjoyment, sports and extracurricular activities out of school.

Students often do not have support at home if they get stuck.

Theoretical Link
Behaviorism: repetition over time helps memory retention.
Definition
Active listening involves using strategies to pay close attention to what someone is saying. Teachers can explicitly model active listening by giving students strategies like pointing their bodies at the speaker, keeping their eyes on the speaker, nodding when they agree, and putting hands up to ask questions or clarification.
Benefits Challenges

Some students (such as students with autism) need stress balls, fidget toys, etc to help them concentrate.
Examples
Examples that show active listening include:

74. Connect, Extend, Challenge
Definition
The "connect, extend, challenge" teaching strategy is a three-step strategy designed to get student thinking about how their knowledge is progressing.

In step 1, students 'connect' what they're learning to their prior knowledge. In step 2, students think about how the new knowledge 'extends' what they already knew. In step 3, students reflect on what 'challenges' they still face: what is still confusing to them?
Benefits

This is a framework that gets students to explicitly think about how they are progressing in their learning.

The clear steps give students guidelines to help them achieve success.

Challenges

Requires prompting and scaffolding
Theoretical Link
Social Constructivism: This strategy has implicit links to Vygotsky's sociocultural theory. Students look at how their backgrounds impact their thinking, what level they are at, and what is still sitting in their 'zone of proximal development' (.e.g what they need to learn next).
Examples

Split a piece of paper into three columns to help students in this task: one column for 'connect', one for 'extend', and one for 'challenge'.
Definition
While a seemingly simple activity, this instructional strategy gets students to refine the topic they're exploring down to one simple sentence that catches the essence of the issue.

For this strategy, have students come up with a headline for the lesson as if they're a journalist reporting on the issue at hand. Get them to think about how it can be catchy, explain the problem at hand, and provide an engaging 'hook' to draw readers in.
Benefits

Helps students identify the key point of a lesson, forcing them to think about what is really important in the lesson.
Challenges

Some issues are complex and refining it down to one sentence may risk simplification.
Extension
To extend this activity, have students write a journalistic piece to go under the headline.

76. Lesson Objective Transparency
Definition
Being transparent about a lesson objective is a teaching strategy designed to help students understand the purpose of the lesson. By knowing the objective from the outset, the students are less likely to get confused about the purpose and direction of their lesson.
Benefits Challenges

Lesson objectives are often worded for adults not children, so the wording may just confuse the students at times.
Examples

Write your lesson objectives on the first slide of lecture slides if relevant.

77. Open-Ended Questioning
Definition
Open-ended questioning involves asking questions that require an elaboration in the response. In other words, it cannot be a question that can be answered with "yes" or "no".
Benefits

Students are required to provide explanations and justifications for the points they make.

Teachers get a more detailed appreciation of students' levels of knowledge.

Examples Definition
The fishbowl strategy gets a small group of students to sit in a circle in the center if the classroom with the rest of the class sitting in a circle around the group.

The students in the middle of the circle complete a discussion or task as a demonstration for the students observing.
Benefits Challenges

Many students will find doing a task I'm front of their peers intimidating.
Theoretical Link
Bandura's observational learning: Bandura argues that students can learn from observing the modeling of others.
Examples

1. Get older students from higher grades to sit in the middle of the fishbowl.

2. Or, use the fishbowl as the "we do" step in the I do, we do, you do method.

Definition
Use the four corners of the classroom as different stations for answering questions proposed by a teacher.

The stations may have answers like: strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree. Another example may be periods of time for a history exam: the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s. Or, the corners may have specific answers in the corners related to the questions being asked.
Benefits

This activity may be appealing for kinesthetic learners who want to move about to stay engaged.

Provides a visual comparison between different views of students in the class.

Challenges

When students head to the corners, the teacher needs to ask students to explain their decisions to ensure depth is achieved in the lesson.
Theoretical Link
Multiple Intelligences: The lesson can help students who are kinesthetic learners.
Definition
This strategy involves getting students to trade ideas with one another.

Students write down their answer or thoughts to a TEACHER'S question. Then, they pair up. The students give their answer to their partner and take their partner's answer. They discuss the differences between and merits of each answer.

Students then split up and find a new partner to repeat the activity.
Benefits

Writing down an answer ensures all students participate and that all students provide an explicit response.

Seeing other people's answers helps students get a broader perspective on a topic.

Challenges

Pre-plan for what to do when you don't have an even number of students in the class.
Theoretical Link
Sociocultural theory: students learn from their peers through discussion. Discussion can help broaden horizons and allows students to see multiple perspectives on an issue.
Examples Definition
Brainstorming involves asking students to come up with their initial thoughts on an issue. The thoughts do not have to be refined or correct. Instead, the students should use the brainstorming time to get their mind flowing and discussion started. Usually, this activity takes place using flip chart / butcher's paper.
Benefits

A good way to start discussion among students, especially if they don't know each other well or are shy.
Challenges

The students may need to assign some roles to group members. Consider rotating the role of 'writer' between students (usually one person writes an idea for the whole group on the brainstorming paper).
Examples

1. A good way of doing this activity is to place students in small groups and provide them a large sheet of paper to write down all their initial thoughts.

2. Students can then report all their thoughts back to the class.

Definition
The expert jigsaw method teaching method involves having students split into groups of 'experts' and then 'topics'.

First, each 'expert' group focuses on a sub-area of a topic to develop their 'expertise' as a group.

Once the initial group work discussion has concluded, the 'expert groups' split.

The teacher then forms new 'topic groups' with one student from each of the original expert groups in the new groups.

The idea is that each group in the second part of the lesson will have an 'expert' on a particular area of a topic. Every expert will be able to contribute their perspective to the group

For example, if the topic is dinosaurs, the initial 'expert groups' may get together to discuss separate issues: Group 1 will discuss extinction, Group 2 will discuss bones, Group 3 will discuss diets, and Group 4 will discuss geographical locations.

When the 'topic groups' converge, they should contain one expert on extinction, one expert on bones, one expert on diets and one expert on geographical locations. The topic group will therefore have a broad range of expert knowledge to discuss and share.
Benefits

Gives each student a sense that they have something meaningful to contribute because they will be an expert on something when converging in the 'topic' groups.

Encourages collaboration and positive interdependence in group work.

Challenges

Requires forethought and organization by the teacher.
Theoretical Link
Social Constructivism: social interaction helps students construct ideas in their minds. Each student gets to hear the expert perspective of another student who is a 'more knowledgeable other', while also acting as the more knowledgeable other when it is their turn to share their expertise.
Definition
A KWL chart is a type of graphic organizer that can be used throughout the course of a lesson to help students keep track of their learning.

The chart can be on a simple piece of paper split into three columns: (K) What I already know; (W) What I want to know in this lesson; (K) What I learned.

At the start of the lesson the students can fill out the first two columns. The first column will help the teacher assess prior knowledge. The second column will help the teacher and students guide the lesson by outlining what they want out of it.

At the end of the lesson, the third column can be filled-in: (L) What I learned in the lesson. This helps students reflect on the lesson to show them that they did actually learn something!
Benefits

Students can keep track of their own learning.

There is physical evidence of what was learned that teachers can use in students' final report card comments and teaching portfolios.

It is a good structured tool to help guide a lesson.

Challenges

It would be good if there was a fourth column for 'what I still want to know' so student can leave the lesson with more questions that can be addressed in future classes.

Students sometimes place topics in the (W) What I want to know column that are relevant but not covered in a pre-made lesson plan. This can require the student to get a bit creative in re-arranging their lesson on the fly.

Definition
A SWOT analysis is a teaching tool used to help students identify their own Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and .

It is often used at the beginning of a term or unit of work to help students self-identify how best to proceed in their studies.

A SWOT analysis starts with a piece of paper split into four quadrants. The top-left has 'Strengths', top-right has 'Weaknesses', bottom-left has 'Opportunities' and the bottom-right has 'Threats'.

There are plenty of templates online you could download also.

Students then fill out the SWOT sheet, identifying their strengths and weaknesses (e.g. 'I am organized' or 'I am time poor') and opportunities and threats (e.g. 'I have the opportunity to work with my peers to improve' or 'I have an upcoming swim meet that will take up more of my time').
Benefits

Students are taught to self-assess and plan ahead to avoid upcoming challenges in their lives.

Students can balance affirming statements about their own skills with honest recognition of their weaknesses.

Challenges Definition
Read aloud is a strategy that involves the teacher reading a text out loud to students. The strategy relies on the teacher using strategic pauses, pitch and tone changes, pace and volume changes, and questioning and comments. These reading aloud strategies help students to become more engaged in a lesson and get more out of the reading experience.
Benefits

Can be more engaging than getting students to read to themselves.

By using strategic pauses and asking questions of students, the text can both be read and analyzed at the same time. This may improve comprehension.

Challenges

I've found many pre-service teachers get nervous doing this task. Remember that people of all ages love being read to.

86. SIT: Surprising, Interesting, Troubling
Definition
A SIT analysis asks students to list aspects of a lesson that were surprising, interesting and troubling. It is useful following the viewing of a short film or reading a book about a topic that seems bizarre or a fact that is counterintuitive.

Like a KWL chart, you could do this task by splitting paper into three columns: one for 'surprising', one for 'interesting' and one for 'troubling'.
Benefits

Gets students to take a critical stance and make judgements (particularly for 'troubling')

Is a good way to take stock of students' interests in order to create follow-up lessons based on topics the students have already demonstrated concern for.

Challenges

The 'troubling' part is often hard for students to complete - consider explicitly modeling a sample response before asking students to complete it alone.
Theoretical Link
Critical theory: students can use a SIT analysis to critique the justice or inequality issues presented in a text.

87. Higher Order Thinking
Definition
When writing a lesson plan, it's often a very good idea to note any time you're encouraging higher order thinking - especially if there's a column in your lesson plan for 'teaching strategies'. This help people reading the lesson plan to see that you've been intentional about promoting higher order thinking.

Following Bloom's taxonomy, higher order thinking usually includes tasks that involve verbs like: Judge, Appraise, Evaluate, Compare, Criticize, Assess, Estimate, Deduce, Hypothesize and Generalize.
Benefits

Helps a teacher to be more explicit in their language and to ensure a lesson is challenging for students.

Ensures students are practicing their critical thinking skills rather than just repeating a teacher's 'facts'.

Challenges

For higher order thinking tasks, it's important that you don't give students the answers. Instead, give them hints, pointers and resources that will help them to come up with the answers on their own.
Theoretical Link
Constructivism: Bloom was a constructivist who believed learning happens when students build knowledge in their mind rather than just copying facts from an authority figure in the classroom.
Definition
Getting students to debate an idea is a great way of getting them to build coherent and logical arguments in defence of a position. It requires them to gather, analyze and sort facts before they present them to an audience.
Benefits

Students learn to identify positive arguments on a topic even if they disagree with it, helping them to see things from multiple perspectives.
Challenges

Students may require resources to do background research to come up with strong points for or against a position.
Examples

1. Split the class into two groups and assign each group a position for or against a statement.

2. Give each group 15 minutes to come up with some arguments for their side of the argument. Each student in the group should have one argument to make for the team. The student writes their argument down on a piece of paper.

3. Line the two groups of students up facing one another.

4. Go down the lines getting each student to make their point for or against the position. Zig-zag from one group to the next as you go down the line

5. Once the students have completed, do an anonymous poll of the class to find out which position is most convincing. For the poll, students do not have to vote for their team's position.

89. Note Taking (Cornell Method)
Definition
Note taking involves getting students to actively listen out for key points in a speech or video and synthesize it into key points for remembering later.

A popular framework for not taking is the Cornell method. This involves splitting a page into two columns.

The column on the left is a 'Cue' column. In the cue column write key words, phrases or Quotes as if they were headings or headline points to remember.

The column on the right is the note taking column. This column is larger and allows space to add detail and diagrams explaining the 'cues' that were written on the left in more detail.
Benefits

Turns passive learning during a didactic explicit instruction lesson into a more active learning environment.

Helps students organize and synthesize their thoughts.

Helps with studying for exams later on.

Challenges

Teachers may talk too fast for students to take detailed notes. Remember to use strategic pauses and remind students at strategic times that they need to be taking notes.
Examples

Feel free to download cornell method worksheets off the internet. Just look for them on your favorite search engine!
Definition
Recording a lesson involves using either video, audio or Screencast technology to save the lesson for revision later on.
Benefits

This method is very useful for students with learning disabilities who may require more time to process information. They can rewatch later on and make use of pause, rewind and slow functions during the revision.

Great for when students miss a day so they can catch up.

Challenges

Whenever you work with technology, be prepared for issues to arise that may delay the lesson.
Examples

1. Use Screencasts when teaching a lesson online.

2. Screencasts can also save your work when writing on an Interactive Whitenoard. Revision at a later date will show the steps you took in doing the 'working out'.

Definition
Word walls are sections on the walls of a classroom where teachers and students can record new vocabulary, quotes or key terms they encounter during a unit of work.
Benefits

Word walls can be visible evidence of progression through a unit.

Students can refer to the word walls when trying to explain their points and ideas to the class.

Challenges

During exams, remember to cover the word walls so students can't cheat by looking over at the answers.
Examples

Word walls can be great props for refreshing students' memories at the start of a lesson. Start the lesson by reviewing the vocabulary learned in the previous lesson.
Definition
Goal setting involves explicitly instructing students on how to set short (within a lesson), medium (within a unit of work) and long term (through the year) personal targets for success.

The goals can be for a whole group or individual.
Benefits Challenges

Ensure goals are achievable lo that students do not become disillusioned.
Examples

1. Have students prepare their daily goals at the end of the previous day or start of the current day.

2. Reflect on medium-term goals weekly.

Definition
A worked example is a completed piece of work that students can look to as models for their own work.

A worked example could be a sample of a completed diagram our 3D model, a completed essay or anything else that is a finished product of something the students are about to attempt.
Benefits

Students feel more secure knowing what they are working toward.

Students can get ideas from the worked sample that they can adapt for their Ken work.

Challenges

Sometimes students copy the sample too closely rather than using their own thinking. Consider using a sample that requires similar skills and processes but a different end product.

Make sure you spend time discussing the steps it takes from going from nothing to the completed product.

Examples

1. Provide students with past examples of creative writing pieces and discuss the strategies used by the authors.

2. Show samples that are good and poor. Get students to discuss how the poorer samples could be improved.

94. Multiple Intelligences
Definition
Students have different learning styles (or more accurately, different learning preferences).

One theory proposes that there are eight 'intelligences'. A student may have one that is dominant and others that are weaker.

The eight intelligences are:

Visual-Spatial: Prefers learning through images and visual arts. Uses diagrams to model relationships between concepts.

Linguistic-Verbal: Prefers learning through storytelling, reading and writing.

Interpersonal: Good at working in social situations, gets energy from social interaction, and can empathize with others easily. Enjoys group work.

Intrapersonal: An introverted person who prefers learning alone. They do a lot of thinking and reading but mostly like to think through things in their own time (see: intrapersonal skills).

Logical-Mathematical: Sees patterns easily. Enjoys mathematical puzzles.

Musical: Enjoys learning through music, songs and rhymes.

Bodily-Kinesthetic: Learns through movement. Prefers lessons that require moving about.

Naturalistic: Has an affinity with nature. Learns well in calm natural environments.

A teacher can integrate different activities into a lesson plan that appeal to different people's learning preferences. In this way, they create a more inclusive classroom for multiple different types of learners.
Benefits

Inclusion: Teachers can use this theory to engage students who do not learn well in traditional lessons.

Attempts to be student-centered and teach in ways that are appealing to students.

Challenges

In 2004, a detailed study in Scotland found no evidence or scientific toxic basis for the theory that different people have learning styles. Furthermore, it argued that the 8 styles in the multiple intelligences model were a arbitrarily contrived. Thus, learning styles may simply be learning preferences.

It is unclear whether a teacher should create lessons catered to a student's learning preference or help students strengthen their skills in areas students identify as their weaknesses.

If students are not given a chance to practice all "styles" (not just their preferences) they may miss important skills, such as mathematical skills or literacy skills.

Theoretical Link
Howard Gardner: The theory of multiple intelligences was invented by Howard Gardner in the United States.

95. Non-Interventionism
Definition
Non-interventionism involves a teacher taking the role of 'unobtrusive observer' while students learn. The students are left to come to their own conclusions, face up to their own challenges, and 'struggle' through the lesson.

The teacher's intervention may come through changing what they plan for the next lesson based on what they see, or lightly intervening after the students have struggled for some time.

Other reasons for intervention may be for safety or fairness reasons.
Benefits Challenges

Many parents and mentors watching your lesson may come away with a sense that you were lazy or did not do enough to help the students. This approach needs to be clearly explained and justified in lesson plans (I'd recommend referring to Montessori in your justification) and situations when you would go from observer to intervener should be spelled out in advance.

If students are struggling too much, learning may not occur - there is a limit to this approach!

Theoretical Link
Montessori Classrooms: The role of the teacher as "unobtrusive observer" was pioneered by Maria Montessori.

Montessori argued that children learn best when placed in resource rich environments and left to explore. Our interventions may impede creativity, self-belief, autonomy and self-discovery.

96. Constructive Alignment
Definition
Constructive alignment involves explicitly linking the lesson assessment tasks to the compulsory learning outcomes in the curriculum.

This is an impressive thing to see in a lesson plan.

Use language (including verbs and nouns) from the learning outcome in the assessment task. Furthermore, make sure to provide a criteria for what constitutes pass or fail.
Benefits Challenges

If the language of the curriculum objectives are complex or obtuse, it may just confuse students to use that language in their assessment task.
Theoretical Link
Biggs: Constructive alignment was invented by John Biggs who designed this method to ensure all lessons are relevant and move students a step closer to completing all learning outcomes.

97. Zone of Proximal Development
Definition
The ' zone of proximal development ' is a phrase used to explain the ideal difficulty level for a lesson.

A lesson that is too easy won't help a student progress.

A lesson that is too hard will disengage a student who just won't be able to do the task.

But a lesson that is difficult but achievable with effort will push a student forward. These lessons that are just hard enough but not too hard are lessons in the "zone of proximal development".
Benefits Challenges

Differentiation like this can lead to bug Differences in ability levels across the whole class.

You're often under pressure to teach content that is too hard for students to meet standardized curriculum requirements

Theoretical Link
Sociocultural theory: Lev Vygotsky, one of the most famous educational psychologists, invented this approach to help teachers provide lessons that are at the right level for progressing a student's learning.
Examples

1. Weave the ZDP into a lesson plan by stating that you will assess a student's current ability then teach them the thing that is the logical next.step.

2. Another way to do this is create three student worksheets for three different ability levels. State in your lesson plan that you will assess each student's ability and give them the appropriate worksheet. Each worksheet should build on the previous to help students move through their ZPD one step at a time.

98. Positive Reinforcement
Definition
Positive reinforcement is the use of praise, stickers, candy or other rewards to show students that they have done a good job.

Teachers can stack positive reinforcements so students can take steps to get small, medium and large rewards to encourage students to keep on trying and working hard consistently.
Benefits

Students get clear signals to know when they have done well.

Students get encouragement to keep going and keep trying in order to get the reward.

Challenges

Too much positive reinforcement can come across as insincere and lose students' respect. Furthermore, students may become desensitized to praise if it occurs too much. Praise 'scarcity' makes occasional praise more valuable.

Explicit reinforcements are extrinsic motivation. The best sort of motivation is intrinsic motivation (wanting to do something for the pleasure of doing it). For more, see my full guide on intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation.

Theoretical Link
Behaviorism: Positive reinforcement is believed to be beneficial for changing behavior over time. See: John Watson's operant conditioning examples.
Examples
99. Negative Reinforcement
Definition
Negative reinforcement involves the removal of a privilege, points or tokens when a student gets an answer wrong.

This is often confused with punishments. For me, negative reinforcements should not punish but be used in limited learning scenarios as part of the learning 'game'.

An example might be losing points in a gamified lesson so the student is less likely to win against their opponents. Students know it is part of the game and not a punishment designed to distress the student.
Benefits

Provides very clear messages to students about what is correct and incorrect, helping them to learn quickly.
Challenges

Parents often do not like any negative reinforces, so be very careful to set clear guidelines and use this strategy in limited circumstances.

Be careful not to embarrass students in front of their classmates.

Theoretical Link
Behaviorism: Watson brought negative reinforcements into education, arguing that repeated use of them can change students' behaviors.
Examples

1. Losing points in a class contest.

2. Failing a level in an educational computer game.

100. Drop Everything and Read
Definition
Drop everything and read (DEAR) involves getting students to stop what they are doing and read for 10 minutes.

It is a strategy that helps build students' literacy skills (especially when students can choose their own book). However, it is also useful for helping students get more depth of knowledge on a topic being taught when you give them all an article or book to read to help them have more knowledge for subsequent parts of the lesson.
Benefits

An effective way of getting students to spend intense time learning about a topic.

Helps integrate literacy into your daily activities.

Challenges

There will always be a small group of students who squirm and struggle when asked to read. Consider alternatives like the Read Aloud strategy or using videos instead if DEAR doesn't work for your class.

Make sure to follow up DEAR time with discussion and comprehension tasks.

Example Definition
A gallery walk involves a teacher placing stimulus questions on flip chart paper (butcher's paper) around the walls of the classroom.

The charts the teacher has put up are stations that students will stop at during the activity.

The teacher places students into groups. If there are 5 stations around the room, the teacher will create 5 groups.

Students get a set amount of time at each station to read the prompt questions. The students can write on the chart paper with their group response and also respond to other groups who have already written their points.

Once all students have rotated through the stations, the students end up back at the station where they began. The teacher the. gives each group 3 minutes to present to the class a summary of the comments written on the paper at their station.
Benefits

Students get to learn from others and see other groups' responses.

The students are up and moving about which may help the concentration of bodily-kinesthetic learners.

Challenges

Some students may not participate fully. Consider getting students to rotate who writes on the paper at each station to mitigate this challenge a little.
Definition
Note whenever you would encourage metacognition in a lesson within your lesson plan. This will help anyone reading it know that you've thought about giving students strategies for "thinking about thinking".

Metacogntion is about thinking about how you think. Strategies include:
Benefits Challenges

Metacognition is difficult because it requires explanation of your thinking. However, it is necessary if people want to know how to think.
Definition
Case studies are in-depth examples of an issue being examined. A case study should show how an issue or theory looks in real life. Teachers can present case studies through videos, newspaper articles, magazine articles, guests coming into the classroom, etc.
Benefits

Case studies help students to see how theories and ideas look in real life. This can also help a student understand the relevance of the topic being studied.

A case study may help students make sense of a complex idea by putting it in real concrete terms.

Challenges

Case studies might not be representative of a generalized issue - they may be outliers or flukes. Pick your case study carefully and discuss whether it is a typical or outlier sample.
Examples Definition
Educators can create 'mystery' in their classroom by carefully structuring lessons that give 'clues' to a mystery that needs to be solved by the students. Ask the students to act as detectives and place clues around the classroom (like a gallery walk). Have students move around the classroom taking notes on the mystery which will reveal an answer after thorough investigation.
Benefits

Creates a sense of excitement in the classroom, helping students to engage.

Forces students to use critical, logical and lateral thinking in order to find the answer.

Challenges

Ensure the mystery is not too far outside a student's zone of proximal development so that the mystery can be solved.
Definition
Storytelling in the classroom involves teaching through narrative-style stories rather than telling ('didactic learning'). Teachers can tell stories by reading books (see: Read Aloud strategy), turning a dry explanation into an allegorical story off the cuff, or bringing people into the classroom who have an engaging personal story to tell.
Benefits

Stories can draw students into a topic through the creation of a sense of excitement and entertainment.
Theoretical Link
Steiner-Waldorf Schools: Rudolf Steiner called the teacher the 'chief storyteller' whose role is to create a sense of enchantment around learning through stories.
Examples

1. Invite guests into the classroom who have stories to tell.

2. Use stories that have a moral of the the story, then analyze the moralistic message.

106. Newspaper Clippings
Definition
Use newspaper clippings to link topics and theories to current affairs. Teachers can bring in recent newspapers to let students search through them for relevant stories or use old newspapers to search for how a topic was discussed in the past. Alternatively, teachers can get students to search for newspaper articles online.

Teachers could also assign reading through newspapers and bringing newspapers to class as a part of their homework.
Benefits

Newspaper stories can show students how the topic being discussed plays out in real life.

They also show students how the topic is relevant to the present-day lives of people in the community,

Challenges

Newspapers are increasingly uncommon - consider adjusting this to use online news sites and printing out articles from the web.

Some topics won't have relevant news articles associated with them. Do a search in newspapers and online yourself for articles before using this teaching strategy.

107. Self-Paced Learning
Definition
Self-paced learning involves.letting students progress from activity to activity in their own time. For this approach, a teacher lays out a list of 10 - 20 lessons that students can work on at their own pace. Students work on the activities while the teacher walks around and gives support.
Benefits Challenges

Fast students will need extension tasks or personal projects to complete once they have finished and are waiting for slower students.

There is often not enough time for slower students to finish.

Conclusion

These teaching strategy examples are clearly not the only ones out there - there are probably thousands! But, in my time teaching, these have been the most effective and common teaching strategies that I have come across. Use this teaching strategies list for your own lesson plans to demonstrate pedagogical knowledge and depth of understanding of how to educate a range of different learners.

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List of 107 Classroom Teaching Strategies (With Examples) (2024)

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Use this list of 107 instructional strategies to fill-in that lesson plan or teaching portfolio with some high quality teaching strategies.Or, try some of these strategies out when you're low on ideas and looking for a fresh way to teach in the classroom!

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6 Foundational Ways to Scaffold Student Learning

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6 Foundational Ways to Scaffold Student Learning

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6 Foundational Ways to Scaffold Student Learning

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A collection of evidence-backed tips to help students cross the bridge from confusion to clarity.

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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2024 Google Resource Roundup – TCEA TechNotes Blog

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Here’s a roundup of Google resources featured in 2024 TechNotes articles. AI, Experiments, Slides, and more– they’re all here! Explore this and more at TCEA TechNotes Blog, your go-to source for educational technology and teaching innovation.

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Are your pupils more polite at the end of Year 7 compared to the start of Year 7? Do pupils in Year 8 work harder than pupils in Year 7 because their habits of working have improved over their time at school? Are your pupils in Year 11 better at taking responsibility for their actions than when they were in Year 10?

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Effects of Test Anxiety on Self-Testing and Learning Performance

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Effects of Test Anxiety on Self-Testing and Learning Performance

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Abstract

Practice testing (i.e., practice retrieval) has been established as an effective learning strategy. Uncovering potential factors influencing self-testing usage is a prerequisite to promote its practical use. The present study reports five experiments exploring whether test anxiety (TA) and test stake (1) affect self-testing usage (Experiments 1-5) and (2) influence learning performance through their negative effects on self-testing usage (Experiments 1, 4, and 5). Experiment 1 analyzed data from 459 high school students collected via a survey and found both that TA negatively predicted students' daily use of self-testing and that self-testing usage mediated the negative association between TA and academic performance. The negative association between TA and self-testing usage was further replicated in a laboratory experiment (Experiment 2). Another quasi-experiment (Experiment 3) showed that students were less likely to test themselves when preparing for a high-stake than a low-stake exam. Experiment 4 replicated this finding and additionally demonstrated that a high-stake test led to poorer learning via its negative influence on self-testing usage. Experiment 5 demonstrated that a high-stake test provoked high state anxiety, which then induced avoidance of self-testing and ultimately impaired learning. Overall, these findings demonstrate a negative effect of TA on self-testing usage, in turn leading to poor learning. Practical implications are discussed.

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References

Fan, T., Yang, C., & Luo, L. (2023). Improving the use of retrieval practice for both easy and difficult materials: The effect of an instructional intervention. In preparation for publication.

JASP Team. (2023). JASP (Version 0.17.1) [Computer software].

Liu, S., Luo, L., & Yang, C. (2023). Test anxiety negatively predicts metacognitive awareness of test-enhanced learning and self-testing usage. In preparation for publication.

Shanks, D. R., Don, H. J., Boustani, S., & Yang, C. (2023). Test-enhanced learning. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190236557.013.908

Article Google Scholar

Spielberger, C. D. (1980). Test anxiety inventory: Preliminary professional manual. Consulting Psychologists Press.

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Spielberger, C. D., & Vagg, P. R. (1995). Test anxiety: A transactional process model. In C. D. Spielberger & P. R. Vagg (Eds.), Test anxiety: Theory, assessment, and treatment (pp. 3-14). Taylor & Francis.

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Spielberger, C. D., Gorsuch, R. L., Lushene, R., Vagg, P. R., & Jacobs, G. A. (1983). Manual for the state-trait anxiety inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.

Yue, X. (1996). Test anxiety and self-efficacy: Levels and relationship among secondary school students in Hong Kong. Psychologia: An International Journal of Psychology in the Orient.

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Funding

This research was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (32000742; 32171045; 32200841), the Research Program Funds of the Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment toward Basic Education Quality at Beijing Normal University (2021-01-132-BZK01), the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ES/S014616/1), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2022NTSS36).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

1. Institute of Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Haidian District, 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing, 100875, China

Shaohang Liu, Liang Luo & Chunliang Yang

2. Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

Shaohang Liu, Xiao Hu, Liang Luo & Chunliang Yang

3. Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment for Basic Education Quality, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

Wenbo Zhao

4. Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK

David R. Shanks

5. Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

Xiao Hu

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chunliang Yang.

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All data and experimental stimuli have been made publicly available via the Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/3czqr/.

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Liu, S., Zhao, W., Shanks, D.R. et al. Effects of Test Anxiety on Self-Testing and Learning Performance. Educ Psychol Rev 36, 59 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09882-1
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Effects of Test Anxiety on Self-Testing and Learning Performance - Educational Psychology Review

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Practice testing (i.e., practice retrieval) has been established as an effective learning strategy. Uncovering potential factors influencing self-testing usage is a prerequisite to promote its practical use. The present study reports five experiments exploring whether test anxiety (TA) and test stake (1) affect self-testing usage (Experiments 1-5) and (2) influence learning performance through their negative effects on self-testing usage (Experiments 1, 4, and 5).

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Hello!

I hope you are all well.

A warning: this week's newsletter is a bit of an epic. I recommend getting yourself a nice cup of tea and settling down in a comfy chair. Maybe grab a biscuit too. Are you ready? Okay, let's begin...

I am going to start with a story.

As part of the support I was giving a maths department recently, I was asked to take part in a departmental book scrutiny. It was me, the head of department, the Senior Leadership Team's line-manager for maths (a non-mathematician), and a big stack of Year 9 maths exercise books.

About 10 minutes into the book scrutiny, I could see the member of SLT shaking his head. Next came the sighing and tutting, before finally he announced:
Lucy's (not her real name) exercise books are simply not good enough. There are no learning objectives copied down, hardly any notes or worked examples, and students have simply marked things they got wrong with a cross instead of correcting them in purple pen. Heck, there is barely anything in these books!
Usually , I would have kept quiet, but this had been on my mind for some time. So I asked the member of SLT what Lucy's students' maths results were like.

"Oh, they are great", came the reply, "But she is going to have to improve her students' books".

At this point, let me ask you three questions:

1. If you were this member of SLT, would you have had the same reaction?

2. In terms of your own teaching, what sorts of things do you ask your students to copy down into their exercise books?

3. Why do you ask them to do this?

Up until a few years ago, my answer to these three questions would have been:

1. Learning objectives, notes, worked examples, and corrections

2. So they understand and remember them, of course!

These days, I am in the incredibly fortunate position of watching lots of maths lessons every week. Here are three things I often see:

Students copy down learning objectives laboriously at the start of the lesson - which are often written in language that makes little sense to them - and then the learning objectives are never referred to again

Students copy down notes and then a worked example from the board, then get stuck immediately on the first practice question even though it is very similar to the example they have just written down

Students copy down the correct way to do a question they have got wrong (often in a purple or green pen), and then when I ask them to talk me through what they have written, they clearly have no comprehension of the correct solution

Can you relate to any of these? If so, what is going on?

1. Copying something down helps it make sense

2. Once you have copied something down, you will remember it in the future

These are all examples of what I call The Myth of Copying things Down.

The myth is two-fold:

I don't think either of these things is true.

Nothing magical happens in the process of transferring something that makes little or no sense from the board to a book. And if it does not make sense now, it feels like a pretty big gamble to hope it will make sense and stick in the future.

And yet - as I described at the start - many school accountability systems are geared up to encourage this practice. Because what do lesson objectives, notes, worked examples, and corrections look like in books? In short: they look great (especially when coloured pens are involved). More specifically, books filled with lesson objectives, notes, worked examples, and corrections are regarded as proxies for effort, understanding, and retention. But I think they are poor proxies.

In fact, I am going to go further. I think there is a danger that an insistence upon copying down lesson objectives, notes, worked examples, and corrections is detrimental to learning. Why?

First, there is the time the copying down takes. Lesson objectives are particularly problematic here. When put up on the board alongside the Do Now, many students spend all their time copying them down instead of engaging with a retrieval opportunity. When lesson objectives are put up after the Do Now, they either eat into lesson time or the teacher begins crucial exposition whilst the students are still copying meaning students are unable to pay attention to what the teacher is saying.

Far more serious is the effect on thinking. I have a hypothesis: the reason students often do not understand what they copy down is there is no incentive for them to think. The way worked examples and corrections play out in many classrooms is the teacher explains and the students sit there patiently waiting for the teacher to finish. An unlucky few might be asked a question, but most can zone out until they are asked to pick up their pens and copy whatever is on the board into their books. The fact that students end up with something in their book that looks like thinking is the very reason they can get away without doing any thinking.

So, what is the solution? I have four suggestions, with the fourth one perhaps a little controversial.

First, it is a bad idea to have students copy things down when you are explaining. Whether it is a lesson objective, notes, a worked example or a correction, you want your students' eyes and attention on you. Often I see good students attempting to copy things the teacher is saying, and they miss a key visual gesture from the teacher as their eyes are on their books. Or students are wrestling to deal with the split attention caused by processing the words they are hearing with the notes they are reading and writing. I am convinced that the actions of listening and watching should be separated from the act of copying.

Second, we can make copying things down a more active experience. We can hide all but the first line of the worked example or correction we have just gone through and see what the students can remember and figure out themselves. Or we can ask students to add notes and annotations to help their future forgetful selves make sense of what they have written, or write journal entries summarising key concepts - although I have found students need a lot of support to get good at these approaches.

Third, we can change the point of the lesson where we ask students to copy things down. Lesson objectives, notes, worked examples and corrections are likely to make little sense at the point most teachers ask students to write them down. At the start of the lesson, the lesson objectives are often meaningless. Notes and a worked example often only make sense after students have some experience and practice with the idea under their belts. And students only really know if they have understood a correction once they have tried a similar question to the one they got wrong. Shifting the time we ask students to copy down lesson objectives, notes, worked examples and corrections to later in the lesson will allow students to attach more meaning to them. Returning to my second suggestion, shifting the time also gives students the best chance to add notes and annotations that make sense to them now and in the future.

Fourth, we can be bold. I think there is a good case to be made for not using any classroom time to copy down lesson objectives, notes, worked examples, and corrections. Lesson objectives, notes and worked examples may be useful in the lesson so students have something to refer to, but the teacher could simply leave the original versions visible on their board. They may be useful in the future if students use their notes to revise, but I am not convinced that many students actually do this, preferring instead to use revision guides, videos and online platforms. I am even less convinced by corrections. Maybe students will find these useful when revising, but only if they can find the correction, and only if the correction makes sense. And remember, copying each of these things down has a cost, both in the lesson time they take and the way they reduce the need to think. Here is a key question to ask yourself: if your students did not have to copy down lesson objectives, worked examples, and corrections, how else could you use that time?

This brings me to the most important thing we could do. Instead of asking students to copy down lesson objectives, notes, worked examples, and corrections, we could instead spend the time we have saved checking students understanding.

Consider these two scenarios:

Scenario 1: The teacher goes through a worked example, the students watch, and then copy it down.

Scenario 2: The teacher announces that they are going to model a worked example, give students an opportunity to ask questions after it, and then immediately check their understanding by asking them to complete a similar worked example on their mini-whiteboards, which they will all hold up so she can see.

Both scenarios will take roughly the same time, but the second is surely more beneficial to learning than the first. The incentives to pay attention are there, as is evidence that students have followed the key points so far - and if not, the teacher can respond immediately. The mini-whiteboards are there to facilitate mass participation instead of hearing from just one or two students.

The same approach can be applied to corrections: I will show you how to do this one, you can ask me any questions, and then I am going to test whether you have been paying attention by getting you to complete a similar problem.

And also to lesson objectives: Okay, it is the end of the lesson, please write down three bullet points on your mini-whiteboards to tell me what this lesson has been about.

You may have objections to this approach. So too might your students and your leadership teams. There is something comforting in an exercise book full of lesson objectives, notes, worked examples and corrections. I am not suggesting you change your practice. I also have no idea if this is true in subjects other than maths. I just want you to consider whether books full of such things really are the proxy for learning we hope they are, and if there is anything better we could do with our classroom time.

Since this post went live there have been some great comments both on Substack and Twitter. Below are some of my favourites.

In the Substack comments, Lee made this point:

I would really hope that your fourth suggestion isn't controversial. I would also hope that adults realise how easy it is to copy text without reading it, let alone engaging with it in any meaningful way.

Andrea shared a perspective from New Zealand:

I emigrated to New Zealand in 2020 after 20 years working in the UK education system, Over here we still have to share learning goals and success criteria but the SLT don't do book checks and so long as we can show we have shares goals and criteria with students that is enough for any observation that may be done.. I know some teachers get students to copy them, I don't as I have them on my lesson slides which the students can access from classroom should they wish, and I'd rather students spent their time doing the maths. I think your suggestion of using whiteboards to try a similar question to the worked example is a good one, and i'll be trying that next term.

Follow up from @mrbartonmaths newsletter yesterday. Worked example - Model and students don't copy. Your Turn - Completed on whiteboard. Does anyone do this? Do we need exemplars in books? Do students need something to refer to during practice?

I don't think we need exemplars in books at all. We have revision guides and myriad websites with practice questions (which is the only way to revise maths) so books aren't needed past the lesson. Their point is to help the student think and to practise writing maths

I do a lot of my teaching on OneNote which is then distributed to the students. They then have copies of all of the worked examples gone through and can use them to refresh/revise from later at any time they want to

1. Have you subscribed to my other newsletter, the Tips for Teachers newsletter, where you will receive a tip in your inbox every Monday morning to try out in your classroom that week?

2. Have you listened to my 3+ hour epic conversation with Craig Latimir about how to plan a maths lesson?

3. Have you checked out my Tips for Teachers book, with over 400 ideas to try out the very next time you step into a classroom?

I model using "I do, we do, you do" on whiteboards religiously with all my classes - I do always explicit, we do more challenging, you do with simple numbers to focus on method... never ask pupils to copy things down in their books, keep the 3 examples on the board

Going to go opposite. I think we should copy down the worked example. But this is about structure. Novice learners benefit from very precisely copying a structure and layout. This first step of copying gives them the overall structure of the question. Without the cognitive load. If they are proficient at using worked examples they can then use this as a model to work from. By having it in their books they then avoid split attention of having it up in the board. Once copied I would have them work on MWBs

If you found this newsletter useful, subscribe (for free!) so you never miss an edition, share it with one of your colleagues, or let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment. And if you have any questions about setting up your students on our Eedi platform, just hit reply!

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Thanks so much for taking the time to read this, and have a great week!
Craig

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Why copying things down might be a waste of classroom time... or worse!

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I might have taught it, but have they got it?

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I might have taught it, but have they got it?

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There is a joke about two men in a bar.

One says to his friend 'I've taught my dog to speak French.'

'Really?' says his mate, 'let's hear him then.'

'I said I taught him, I didn't say he'd learnt it' comes the response.

There is something important in this anecdote and it is this:

The fact that I have taught something does not mean that my pupils have 'got' it. And they are unlikely to have really learnt something unless they produce something worthwhile with the material they are studying.

Tim Oates, who led the review of the last curriculum, talks about curriculum 'products'.

Products are the things pupils write, or the things they say, or draw, or the low stakes tests they complete or the things they make.

All these provide insights into the extent to which pupils know, understand and can do something on their own terms.

First, to consider writing. In many parts of the sector, there is a temptation to get through the writing as fast as possible. A written piece of work requires considerable background knowledge, discussion of that knowledge and rehearsal in order for it to come together.

Too often, pupils are set off on a writing task without sufficient 'food'. By food, I mean the stimulus, exposure to and discussion of vocabulary, use of spelling, punctuation and grammar to support meaning and modelling by the teacher.

English teacher Matthew Pinkett has made the case for modelling:

'Showing kids a pre-prepared model answer and asking them to write a paragraph off the back of it is no different from showing them a picture of Duck l'Orange and sending 'em to the kitchen to knock one up. Teachers must get into the habit of live modelling whenever it is required.'

Writing is slow and it is difficult. But when pupils are supported and guided through the writing process carefully, the product of writing is likely to reflect what they really understand.

So we need to move away from a temptation for children to complete work, which might not be original to them, such as completing closed questions on a worksheet, for example, and to conclude that they have understood, just because they have completed it.

Completion of a task and understanding are not the same thing, but they are often confused. So a child is praised for having finished, before it has been checked whether they have understood it or not.

Next, to what children say: it is the responses which pupils give which provide insight into whether they have understood something. If we are going to find this out, we have to spend time during the lessons asking children questions and listening carefully to their answers. This needs to happen more.

Under the pressure of time, it is tempting to either take the first correct answer from one or two children and assume that everyone has 'got' it; or to complete some of the answers if they are struggling; or to take incomplete or partial answers and assume that they know the rest.

What quite often happens is that children are praised for an incomplete answer and then the lesson moves on.

This is not good, on several counts: first, the teacher's information is incomplete - in the rush to move on to the next part of the lesson, the brief incomplete response is taken to have more significance than it does: it is nothing more than an incomplete response and it is not enough information to judge whether to move on or not.

It's also worth remembering that we often need to rehearse our thoughts out loud before committing them to paper. As James Britton argued 'writing floats on a sea of talk.'

So by short-cutting the responses we not only have incomplete information about the security of children's learning, we also are denying them the chance to practise articulating their thoughts.

Many schools are now considering real audiences for children's work. Much of what is asked of children is isolated knowledge and skills. While there is nothing wrong with this, learning takes on a new dimension when we ask ourselves, where could this go, who else needs to know about this, are there links we could make with this knowledge with the wider community? Who might be an external audience for what we have been learning?

Until next time

Mary

PS Embedding oracy properly, no quick fixes!

Finding my Voice has been developed by Rachel Higginson, Emmanuel Awoyelu, Christian Foley and me. More on the programme here.

Rachel and I have done a webinar where we talked about culture, curriculum and the classroom. This session explored the notion that powerful approaches to education do not focus on one isolated component but consciously build an interconnected, living system, and you can watch here!

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I might have taught it, but have they got it?

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Well hello there, and welcome to update #099!

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Recorded Webinar - Google Gemini for Education

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Recorded Webinar - Google Gemini for Education

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Recorded Webinar - Google Gemini for Education

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I recently had the opportunity to record a webinar for a deep dive into Gemini , which is Google’s AI chatbot. You are probably familiar wit…

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10 AI-Resistant Practices for the Classroom

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10 AI-Resistant Practices for the Classroom

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#1: Paper/pencil In-Person

The easiest, and most basic way to go AI-resistant is to keep any learning activity or assessment, both in-person...and paper/pencil.

An in-person assessment that is paper-pencil is very AI-resistant. So is an in-person essay, in-person math problems, and even an in-person brainstorming session.

None of these are bad practices, as some would try to make them seem to be. You can use these practices for a variety of purposes, and mostly to see what your students are thinking, and able to do on their own. It's simple. Effective.

Using only these practices presents a number of problems, especially in terms of attention, engagement, and long-term transfer. The remaining practices are more geared towards a world in which students are engaged in learning, not compliant in the process they are forced to go through.

#2: Discussion Game

My students rolled into class like any other day, and not much was changed. The tables were still set up in small groups, the projector was on with their "Do Now" activity on the board. And, the Homework for the week was written for each day.

The only difference was that each seat had a white envelope on it, filled with five cards of all different colors.

Here's the basics. Each student gets a number of different colored cards to use throughout the discussion. They must play each card once, but can play the question card multiple times after using all other cards.

Red Card = I think Blue Card = I know (because) Yellow Card = Pose a Question Green Card = I feel Orange Card = Connect (to yourself, to the world, to another text/idea/subject)

Each card is worth a point (if you want to grade this activity, completely up to you and your classroom/school) and the goal is to replace assessing only the final product (quiz) and instead the process of learning (having an active discussion).

This scaffolds the student-centered classroom in two ways.

First, the game is centered on your subject, concept, content, text for the lesson. Students have to be engaged with that content in order to respond with the above answers and questions (I think, I know because, I feel, Connect, etc).

Second, it models the many ways you can contribute to an active learning discussion. This helps the students who may be shy or want to hide during the discussion.

#3: Debate

Another simple, and effective, practice. This can work in any subject area. Students are given some time in-class to prepare to take on a "side" or "perspective" in a debate.

Explain the structure and rules of the debate to your students. A simple format might include:

Opening statements from each side (1-2 minutes per team)

Rebuttals (1-2 minutes per team)

Open discussion (moderated by the teacher, 5-10 minutes)

Closing statements (1 minute per team)

Split the class into multiple teams, one for the proposition and one for the opposition. Each team should have an equal number of students. If the class is large, you can have multiple debates with smaller groups or assign roles such as researchers, speakers, and note-takers within each team.

Give students time to research their topic and prepare their arguments. During the debate, set up the classroom with teams facing each other. As the moderator, keep the debate on track by following the structured format you introduced. Ensure each student has an opportunity to participate and that the debate remains respectful.

After the debate, hold a reflection session. Ask students what they learned, how they felt about the experience, and what skills they improved. Discuss the importance of understanding multiple perspectives and how to use debate skills in other areas of their lives.

#4: Fishbowl

After a structured debate or playing the discussion game a few times, students began to get into discussions and own the conversation. Yes, they were prodded into answers and asking questions, but the goal of the first step is to get them talking (and have me talk way less).

It worked for our class and for many in our school. But, it was not the final goal. I'd rather not have the carrot (or stick) be the only reason students are talking, so we had to continue moving away from that reason, and also change up the format to one that is less scripted by the cards.

Fish Bowl Prep: Students are to have read, learned, or already delved into a specific text or content before the start of class. This, however, does not need to be homework. It could be learning that happened in a previous lesson or experience. The key is that the students are not learning something "new" during the Fish Bowl, they are instead going to learn from each other during the discussion and share their insights and questions (much like the discussion game).

Classroom Setup: Set up your classroom with two sets of circles. One big circle will be on the outside and then on the inside there will be a smaller circle of four-to-five chairs (depending on class size this could also be three or six chairs).

How it Works: When students come into class they will grab a seat. Don't worry where they sit as all students will eventually get into the middle of the circle (The Fish Bowl) for the discussion. The inside circle does the talking and discussing. They should be prepared but focus on having an active conversation using the techniques learned in the discussion game. The outside circle takes notes on the inner discussion. This could be scaffolded by the teacher to focus on specific areas of the conversation, or more wide open like taking notes during a lecture. Depends on your situation for how you want to prep students for the outside not taking.

Every five minutes you'll want to replace the inner circle with new students to discuss. They can pick up where the previous discussion left off, or start new.

Two keys to making this work. First, as a teacher, you must not prompt or get students talking. The goal is for them to have a productive struggle in the beginning and then get into a flow. Second, depending on your class you may want to pick the fishbowl groups ahead of time to get a good mix of students for the discussion. This, of course, is your preference as the teacher.

Finally, you can assess this conversation in a few ways, but I'd focus more on the active discussion part than what was said at first. Then as you do it more often and students become comfortable you can change a rubric to have different assessment pieces that reflect the content of the discussion.

#5: Finish My ____

Divide students into small groups of 3-5. Grouping can be done randomly or based on ability levels, depending on your goals.

Clearly explain the rules and objectives to the students. There are three variations you can use:

A. Finishing Each Other's Sentences (Writing Activity)

1. Starting the Story: Give each group a piece of paper and a sentence starter. For example, "Once upon a time, in a land far away..."

2. Writing in Turns: The first student writes a sentence to continue the story, then passes the paper to the next student, who adds another sentence. This process continues until everyone in the group has contributed multiple times.

3. Sharing the Stories: Once the stories are complete, have each group read their story aloud to the class. Discuss the different directions each story took and what made them interesting or creative.

B. Finishing Each Other's Insights (Critical Thinking Activity)

1. Starting with a Statement: Provide each group with a thought-provoking statement or question. For example, "The best way to solve environmental problems is..."

2. Adding Insights: The first student writes their insight or answer, then passes the paper to the next student, who adds another point, elaborates on the previous one, or offers a different perspective.

3. Group Discussion: After everyone has contributed, the group discusses the combined insights. They can summarize their thoughts and share them with the class.

C. Finishing Each Other's Math Problems (Math Activity)

1. Starting the Problems: Give each group a worksheet with several multi-step math problems, with each problem's initial step completed.

2. Solving in Steps: The first student completes the next step of the problem, then passes the paper to the next student, who continues with the subsequent step. This continues until the problem is solved.

3. Reviewing Solutions: Once all problems are solved, groups can check their answers together. Discuss any discrepancies and the steps taken to arrive at the solutions.

After the activity, hold a class discussion to reflect on the experience:

What did students learn from working together?

How did they handle any disagreements or challenges?

What strategies did they find most effective?

This no-tech activity promotes collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity among students-and is super-flexible in how you structure it, depending on your grade level and subject-area.

#6: Skit

This was one of my favorite ways as a teacher to get kids thinking, creating, and using their hands, bodies, and expressions.

Acting out a "skit" for something you are working on, reading, or trying to learn about helps in many ways.

Allow groups time to brainstorm ideas and plan their skits. Encourage them to think creatively about how to convey their understanding through dialogue, actions, and props. Provide guiding questions such as:

What are the key points we need to cover?

How can we make the skit engaging and informative?

What roles will each group member play?

Have each group write a script for their skit and begin rehearsing. Encourage them to include:

Introduction: Briefly introduce the topic or setting.

Body: Develop the main content, showcasing their understanding through dialogue and actions.

Conclusion: Summarize the key points or provide a resolution

Allow students to gather or create simple props and costumes that enhance their skits. Make it fun! Then set up a performance area in the classroom. Each group takes turns performing their skit in front of the class.

You can do this in multiple subject areas.

Science: Demonstrating a scientific process or concept, such as the water cycle or photosynthesis.

History: Acting out a famous historical event, or a key moment from various vantage points.

Literature: Performing a scene from a novel or play, or creating an original skit that explores a theme from a book they've read.

Math: Illustrating a mathematical concept, such as fractions, geometry, or solving word problems through a real-life scenario.

By acting out skits, students can engage deeply with the material, demonstrate their understanding in a dynamic way, and develop important skills in communication, collaboration, and creativity.

#7: Outdoor/Explore - Found Learning

Another simple practice. Get outside.

Explore how nature connects to your subject area.

Create poems with "found" poetry/words.

Do a class challenge.

The list goes on. All of the outdoor learning options are AI-resistant and great for the mind, body, and soul!

#8: Defend Your Learning

Let's say students are doing science or math homework. They have questions to answer and should explain or show their work.

Maybe it's a Lab Report or a few Word Problems. In either case, we typically would hand these to the teacher, who would grade the final product, turn it back to the students, and move on to the next assignment or activity.

This isn't just how my classroom works. It's how most classrooms work, and many curricula and scope/sequences are built on this premise.

Now that artificial intelligence tools exist to help students master these types of assignments in no time, it can become difficult for a teacher to really understand whether or not the students have a solid understanding, or if they are using AI tools to assist.

Here's where we can use "Defend Your Learning".

This is my favorite way to use this strategy. During the assignment or homework, students will use Loom (or any other screencasting tool) to record their work and explain/defend their steps, answers, and thinking.

The benefit of this strategy is that we get to see and hear what the students are thinking and their process.

It is also AI-Resistant because the explanation and defense are done by the actual students in their voice.

Better yet, when students share their defense with their peers they can get comments, emoji responses, and feedback right inside the Loom video that is sent to their email.

Teachers can comment as well, or respond with a video of their own as a follow-up!

#9: Hands-On Experiments

Another practice we should do even MORE of while living in a world of artificial intelligence is hands-on experiments.

These are often saved for Science classes, but let's make sure we are getting hands-on in all different subject areas.

You could learn fractions with pizza, geometry with string, or dive into programming with design sprints.

Create a poetry walk, use story dice, or start map-making.

The list is endless!

#10: Ask MagicSchool.ai (or any LLM) for suggestions

What if we used artificial intelligence to come up with AI-Resistant activities and assessments?

Yes! I do this all the time and you should as well. MagicSchool has a specific prompt that walks you through this process.

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A.J. Juliani | 10 AI-Resistant Practices for the Classroom

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I want to dive a bit deeper into what it looks like to have A.I.-Resistant activities and assessments (and why). This post will share 10 practices that support A.I.-Resistant learning, and in my follow up article later this week, I'll be sharing 10 practices that support A.I.-Compatible learning.

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Teaching Evidence-Based Writing Improves Reading

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Teaching Evidence-Based Writing Improves Reading

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If you're a primary teacher feeling overwhelmed by the demands of writing instruction, this episode is for you! Experts Karen Harris & Young-Suk Kim share exciting new research on how to teach writing effectively.

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‎Melissa & Lori Love Literacy ™ on Apple Podcasts

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12. Growing great teachers with Chris Moyse - Listen In: Myatt & Co

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Chris Moyse is a leadership and education consultant with over 35 years of experience in education. He was a teacher and middle leader for 18 years, a local authority consultant before moving into senior leadership in an all-through school in Some…

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81 Sponge Activities to Soak up 5-10 minutes of time throughout the day

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81 Sponge Activities to Soak up 5-10 minutes of time throughout the day

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Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Schools: 3 Types of Learning Needs

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Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Schools: 3 Types of Learning Needs

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Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Schools: 3 Types of Learning…

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Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Schools - common, specific and individual needs.

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Differentiating Comprehension from the Components of Reading

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Knowledge is crucial for comprehension; it lays the foundation for building our understanding of text and provides an anchor for holding new information in memory. More from @CattsHugh & @AlanKamhi in #AmericanEducator:

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The Subject: Students and Their Learning

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The Subject: Students and Their Learning

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Are your biases getting in the way of engaging with education research?

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Are your biases getting in the way of engaging with education research?

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Are your biases getting in the way of engaging with education research?

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Many describe themselves as evidence-informed educators, says Christian Bokhove, but apply different standards to the findings they actually like

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Master Mathematics Teachers | Educational and Professional Excellence

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This practical guide invites teachers to take a journey towards masterly mathematics teaching using the experiences and lessons learnt across five Chinese

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Reading for pleasure – How to cultivate a passion for books

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Reading for pleasure – How to cultivate a passion for books

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Want to instil a genuine love for reading in your students? Here are some practical and inspiring ways to make it happen...

Embarking on a journey to inspire more reading for pleasure in your classroom and beyond? You're in the right place...
Engaging activities to celebrate reading
Meera Chudasama sets out a series of engaging classroom activities designed to both celebrate reading, and harness the enthusiasms of those for whom the printed word can present a struggle...
Ten minutes of reading

Use blending strategies, whereby audiobooks and other media are combined with the written word. Consider using a broader selection of written forms of reading in your teaching practice.

Students can sometimes find comfort in listening to audiobooks. Try showing them how there's space for both verbal and written storytelling.

Some of you may already be embedding ten minutes of independent or class reading at the start of your lessons. One way of making this exercise more effective is to immediately follow the reading time itself with some short questions posed to the class. For example...

Who has read a good introduction to a character?

Can someone read a favourite part of their book out loud? Tell us why this is your favourite part.

Has anyone noticed a plot twist, flashback or flash-forward?

Asking specific questions like this, which help to embed knowledge of language and structural features, will soon get students embedding that same language within their thinking.

It should also enable students to start recognising certain literary techniques, and transfer that skill back into the work you set them in class.

You can start to establish links between your own class reader to any books the students might be choosing to read themselves.

If you're studying foreshadowing, for example, ask students, 'Have you used foreshadowing in your own story? What impact does it have?'

'Five seconds' game

Suitable for pairs or groups, this activity is a great tool for retrieval practice. It can support students in connecting ideas between stories they're listening to in their own time and those that they're reading in the classroom.

Follow the steps below and use the accompanying download to organise this game as a starter activity or plenary - it can always be tweaked, amended or even developed further to suit the needs of your class.

Step 1: Download our worksheet featuring 'Name 3' prompts. Give each pair/group a pile of 'Name 3...' cards.

Step 2: One member of the group picks a card and proceeds to 'name 3...' varieties of whatever the card specifies within five seconds. If they run out of time, their partner or another member of the group has a go.

Step 3: Instruct the students to keep a running tally of points, with one point earned per correct suggestion as prompted by the card.

You could introduce an additional incentive by drawing up a class leaderboard.

Tutor reading challenge

This works best with larger groups or as a class activity. The aim of reading during tutor time is to ultimately increase the enjoyment students get from reading - so dedicate one tutor session per week to reading a short story to the group purely for the purposes of pleasure, and not for analysis.

Read the story aloud to model good reading. Be careful to check your intonation and understanding of the punctuation ahead of time. Two good stories to use for this are Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl and The Red Room by H.G. Wells.

Pause at key moments of the story to ask students questions, such as:

What happened here?

What has happened to [X character]?

What do you think will happen next?

How could this happen?

Why could this happen?

Rather than encouraging analysis, though, what we want to do here is encourage students' interest in the story first and foremost, while developing their understanding of the story's characters and events.

If time allows, why not add some drama? Once the story's been read through, have students assume the roles of the story's characters and continue the narrative orally.

Reading logbooks

With the aid of just a standard exercise book, we can get students to better organise their thoughts with regards to one or more texts that they're reading.

Design quick activities that task students with considering different aspects of a story they've already read. Each entry can work as a separate homework assignment, encouraging students to participate in a range of reading-related tasks. For example:

Drawing a map or view of a particular location featured in the story

A short transcription of what a text message exchange between two of the story's main characters might look like

Imagining the social media profile of one of the story's characters and how their posts would read

30-day reading challenge

You can devise a 30-day challenge for your students, or support them in creating one of their own. It involves giving students 30 small reading tasks to complete over the course of 30 days.

Ensuring that these tasks are kept short and easy to manage will give students the confidence to develop their reading skills.

The 30-day reading challenge is a great way of helping students to develop greater breadth and depth in their regular reading habits. What's more, you could embed half-termly or termly challenges focused on different genres or specific authors.

However you go about using it, this kind of reading challenge can be effective at targeting the needs of individual students.

Text storyboards

This activity can work in many different ways. For students who love listening to audiobooks, or can often be found gripped by a graphic novel, supporting their comprehension of text with visuals can be a good way of blending reading strategies.

You can trial this technique by using a short story and following the three-step 'read, pause, draw' strategy outlined below:

Read a part of the story

Pause at a point you feel gives students enough stimulus to draw from

Draw a frame or picture that encapsulates what they have just read

Here, students are utilising their summary skills via visual means. They can support their drawings by writing their own written summaries immediately beneath, or by directly quoting from the text.

Whichever one they opt for, you'll be able to keep track of how well they're comprehending the text. For added challenge, make this a timed activity, or direct students' attention to an area of particular focus - such as the conventions of Gothic horror, for example.
Meera Chudasama is an English, media and film studies teacher with a passion for design and research, and has developed course content for the Chartered College of Teaching.
6 more ways to boost reading for pleasure
Get your whole school excited about reading with these simple steps...
Get to know your children

In autumn term, share a short survey or take time to talk to pupils to find out what their reading journey has been like so far.

Do they enjoy reading? If so, what genres? What are their favourite books and authors? Do they read at home (with and without adults)? How often do they read outside of the classroom?

By getting to know your children as readers, you can adapt any reading corners you have and find enticing books full of recommendations, tailored to their needs and interests.

Get colleagues excited about reading

Do the teachers, teaching assistants and members of the SLT show themselves as readers? At Steyning Primary we start staff meetings with book recommendations and have a WhatsApp group, Book Buzz, to share thoughts and feedback.

I encourage all adults to follow authors on social media and participate in initiatives like the Reading Agency's Teaching Reading Challenge.

If you get the adults excited about reading, their enthusiasm filters down to the children.

Think dedicated reading assemblies

We hold dedicated reading assemblies where we share different books and highlight different authors, often linking to key awareness days, such as Anti-Bullying Week, or cover books that reflect our children's experiences, such as being young carers.

Our children take an active role too. We have 'Books that made me a reader' segments where pupils interview a member of staff to find out which books got them excited about reading when they were a child.

And, at the end of the academic year, our Year 6 pupils run the reading assembly, sharing their favourite books from their time at the school.

These assemblies are a fantastic way to create excitement around reading.

Ensure access to books everywhere

Books don't just have to live in a library or book corner, they can be anywhere - on a table in the corridor, by reception, near the hall or in the playground in a reading shed.

Give your children the opportunity to pick up a book wherever they may be. The more your children are interested in the books you provide, the more they will want to read.

Make this even more engaging by tapping into children's current interests. For example, every January we offer books related to films they may have watched over Christmas.

In October we celebrate the best poetry books to coincide with National Poetry Day.

Review your funding options

We all know that books can be costly and school budgets are getting smaller. Approach your PTA and see if they can provide funding to purchase new books and look into applying for grants.

Our local bookshop started a scheme where community members could purchase books for the school library.

Consider running a second-hand book sale, selling off unwanted stock to raise funds for new books.

Celebrate reading all year round

Think about events that are taking place nationally. Are there books that support that area or topic, whether it's fiction, non-fiction or newspaper articles?

Highlight different reading materials at key moments such as Black History Month and World Book Day.

At the same time, promote external and internal reading competitions as they're a great way to build excitement across the school.
Leia Sands is the librarian at Steyning C of E Primary School and Swiss Gardens Primary School. Steyning Primary recently won the Peter Usborne School Library of the Year Award at the School Library Association Awards.
How a good library can turn students into bibliophiles

School librarian Lucas Maxwell recounts he got students at Glenthorne High School to fall in love with reading...
Here at Glenthorne High School we have a huge mix of over 1,700 students spanning ages 11 to 19. To me, as someone originally from rural Canada, this seems massive.

I previously worked over there in a public library when my British wife and I both opted to relocate to the UK. I started working at the school 10 years ago. They've been super supportive ever since - to an extent that I'd say is quite rare. When budgets are tight, the school library will often be one of the first things to be cut, but not here.

Complete freedom

I can still clearly remember how the headteacher introduced me to the rest of the staff when I first started: " This is Lucas Maxwell, our new librarian, and he's going to make everybody in this school fall in love with reading. "

He and the rest of the school leadership had a very clear idea of what they wanted my role to involve. They were prepared to grant me complete freedom in how I went about fulfilling what they expected of me.

Initially, the library provision occupied just one relatively small room. However, two years after I joined, the school embarked on building a brand new library, which was amazing. My colleague and I were even able to play a part in planning it.

Our library is one of the first things visitors notice when they first enter the school. It's a large, fully open space with plenty of natural light and bookshelves lining the walls. There are lots of movable shelves and other furniture towards the centre.

That's because from day one, I wanted the space to be used for other activities in addition to reading and studying. This includes open mic performances, which we put on in partnership with the music department.

These kinds of external activities can be good for bringing in students who might traditionally have never thought to use the school library.

We prefer to think of it as more than a traditional library space. It's a space our students can feel some ownership over.

Fortnightly library lessons

From my own investigations, I've found that the national proportion of students who say they enjoy reading for pleasure outside of school hovers around 3 in 10.

The sample sizes were admittedly smaller, and didn't include every student in the school. However, from carrying out some anonymised internal surveys of our students' attitudes towards reading, I've found their 'reading for pleasure' rate to be much higher, at around 7 or 8 out of 10.

That's in large part due to the importance the school's senior leadership attaches to literacy. KS3 groups attend fortnightly library lessons. This effectively deliver me a ready audience to whom I can promote the benefits of reading.

That translates into consistently high rates of borrowing. Boys actually borrow books more often than girls. However, I'd concede that's mostly due to the huge popularity of our Manga and comic books collection.

Welcoming and engaging

We've worked hard to make the library a welcoming and engaging space. There's plenty of soft seating, plus beanbag chairs in our dedicated Manga area that regularly plays host to small crowds. Somewhat selfishly, I've always kept in mind the kind of things that 11-year-old me would have wanted to see and do in my school's library space - musical performances, a film club, a Dungeons & Dragons club, just lots of stuff.

On a more serious note, my role also includes an element of teaching students research skills, aspects of digital citizenship, how to identify disinformation and similar topics.

Those are all areas I've actively volunteered to assist with. This is essentially based on my own fears as to how the future is currently looking in terms of our media and communications landscape.

Kids are often much more savvy than we give them credit for. However, they can still be quite naïve in some other important ways.

Reliving the pressure

The latest Ofsted framework talks about reading for pleasure, and the need to establish cultures of reading within school classrooms. Yet without even knowing the half of it, I'm very conscious of just how difficult the workload is for teachers right now.

Much of the work we do in Glenthorne High School's library are duties that my colleague and I have created for ourselves. This is a good thing - we want to do this stuff, and our teaching colleagues want us to as well.

If Ofsted and the wider DfE mean what they say about wanting schools to hit literacy targets and observe frameworks, then the best way of ensuring that is to let schools hire individuals like me.

Yes, that will mean putting money aside. However, I see part of my role as helping to relive some of that pressure. We have this beautiful space, freedom to try things out, and the time and space needed to create a sustainable culture of reading - which is what the DfE has said it wants.

Demanding that function from teachers runs the risk of it becoming a 'tick box' exercise. This is not because building a culture of reading is something teachers don't care about. It's more because they simply lack the time and mental capacity to take on any more.

Creating moments

A key way in which we've encouraged students' interest in wider reading is to arrange in-school author visits.

For over 10 years, I've curated a social media presence for the school's library. This promotes reading for pleasure and we regularly tag authors and publishers. This has built something of an audience in the process. It took a while, but our social media interactions ultimately got me on some publishers' radars.

We also have a website where students can read reviews of books we have in the library and submit reviews of their own via the school's VLE.

Just publishing those short, single-paragraph book reviews of books led to publishers getting in touch and offering us review copies of books. That then gave way to approaches along the lines of ' We have an author who'd like to promote their book, would you like them to visit your school? '

Many of the author visits we have now will stem from me having DMed them on social media with an invitation to visit us. If they say yes, the arrangements then proceed through their official channels.

That said, I'm not sure I'd recommend that others follow this somewhat scattershot and improvised approach, even though it has worked. It helps a lot that I'm now in the position of being able to draw on a large pool of contacts built up over time.

Arranging those author visits, opening up the library space, the lessons that take place here - it's all about creating moments in which everybody can get involved and become invested. What we've tried to do is make reading, and all the activities that surround it, a whole school concern.

Anatomy of an author visit

Leading up to the author event, I'll drop in on one of the Y7 assemblies and deliver a short address with the help of a single presentation slide. I'll go out of my way to be as enthusiastic and animated as possible. I'll let students know that they can borrow the book for free. Or they can buy a copy of their own and have it signed.

Reiteration

I'll then pass form tutors a copy of the presentation slide I used in the assembly, along with a short accompanying speech I've written that they can then deliver. I'll always aim to make the process of reminding students as easy as possible, in a way that hopefully no one finds condescending.

Messaging

The week before, I'll be sure to outline the details of the visit and what the arrangements will be to parents in an email. I'll bring the event up again during any library lessons in the run-up to the event. The PowerPoint slide will now be displayed on several large presentation screens around the school.

Organisation

When the day itself finally arrives, all teachers and parents will receive a final email reminder from me before I start to assemble the year group in the main hall. Much as we might like to host author visits in the library, there isn't the space in there to accommodate all the numbers.

Logistics

I'll carefully time the duration of the event so that the start of that day's morning break or lunchtime falls directly afterwards. Students will enter the hall and proceed to have a full hour's audience with the author. Teachers are present at all times to supervise behaviour and maintain calm.

Recap

If we find ourselves with 20 minutes or more spare at the end, I'll try to gather the Y8s that make up our small podcasting team. I'll help them interview the author for a future podcast. We'll then share the podcast around the school afterwards.
Lucas Maxwell is the librarian at Glenthorne High School
More award-winning reading for pleasure ideas

Funnies, feelies, and rivers: how two UK teachers successfully encouraged their pupils to take an interest in books...
What do you know about your current class as readers? Do you know more about their decoding and comprehension skills than their attitudes, preferences, and taste in books? Does this lead to imbalanced provision, with reading instruction pushing reading for pleasure to the side-lines?

We cannot and should not measure children's pleasure in reading. But we can and must develop our knowledge of their:

identities as readers

diverse personal interests

reading networks (or lack of them)

home practices

Research reveals that knowledge of individual readers positively impacts on teachers' classroom practices. It builds reader-to-reader connections between adults and children and helps nurture a love of reading.

Can you list the reading behaviours, attitudes, and networks of the less engaged readers in your KS1/2 class?

Do you have enough strategies and research-informed approaches to find out more?

Let's explore some examples from the winners of the annual Farshore Reading for Pleasure Teacher Awards. This wasin association with the UKLA and the Open University.

The winning teachers got to know their young readers, honoured their interests and enhanced their engagement.

Research via surveys

Georgie Lax from Starcross in Devon, winner of the Experienced Teacher Award 2021, wanted to find out about her Year 1 children's reading interests.

Through using surveys, observations and discussions, she developed a book corner that better reflected the children's reading preferences.

Reflecting on the children's favourite books, Georgie found she could categorise most of these into 'The Funnies' or 'The Feelies'.

'The Funnies' were books that provided light relief, laughter and escapism from the unpredictable and often unsettling world of Covid. 'The Feelies' were books which could support children's wellbeing, allowing them to connect and empathise with one another during that time.

In particular, Georgie felt the latter often 'gave children a voice even when they didn't have the words themselves'.

This investigation into the children's favourites not only nudged Georgie to read more herself, and to buy new funnies and feelies, but also led to spontaneous book discussions.

Opportunities to relax

The pupils realised their teacher had read these books too, and was open to chatting about them. The initial survey further revealed that being comfortable when reading mattered to most of the class.

So, Georgie began to give them more opportunities to relax and read in their own preferred ways. Some took their shoes off, others sat on blankets, mats or under tables. Some read with friends, others read alone. Georgie joined in too, occasionally offering hot chocolate and snacks.

Gradually the young learners began to develop increased ownership of their reading time. Georgie noted the care and attention they gave to the new 'books in common'. She was pleased, much more frequently than before, to hear children asking, "Can I get a book?" when they had finished their work.

She also felt better able to make tailored text recommendations based on children's personal interests.

In the spring and summer terms, Georgie used the survey again, alongside observations to analyse the children's changing attitudes to reading. She noted that some pupils expressed increased confidence and were beginning to view themselves as readers.

In responding to individuals' interests and her class's views, Georgie made a difference to their engagement.

Reading rivers

Amy Greatrex from Wilford in Trent, winner of the Experienced Teacher Award 2022, specifically wanted to enhance her understanding of a group of Reception children who needed support to develop a positive view of reading.

Amy used a number of strategies to develop a richer understanding of the threads connecting the focus children's choices.

She observed and recorded their selections when they were exploring books, helped the group complete a reading preferences survey, and invited their parents to create a Reading River with them.

Reading Rivers are visual collages which have been used in research to track teenagers' reading (Cliff Hodges, 2010) and to help primary pupils reflect on their everyday reading lives (Cremin et al., 2014). Amy developed another version of a Reading River with her own five-year-old.

Gradually, they gathered her daughter's favourite texts, chatted about each, and photographed the resultant pile spread out like a river on the floor. Amy shared this visual with the focus children's parents and encouraged them to do likewise.

All reading counts

She emphasised that they should only add texts that their childloved; that all reading counts (noting for instance her daughter's inclusion of Top Trump cards and the Playmobil catalogue); allowed a long timeframe for completion; and chatted to parents informally about it at pick-up times.

After uploading images onto Tapestry, Amy took time with each child to hear more about their choices. She found that the children were drawn to classic texts, Disney, and superhero books and magazines, and were particularly keen on preschool and toddler books.

Honouring their interest in these texts, Amy altered her read-aloud provision and read from these twice weekly. Additionally, recognising the influence of agency in reading, she offered two choices and invited the children to vote by placing a pebble on their desired book.

Book voting

Book voting triggered considerable talk around preferences and personal interests, and some discreet swapping of pebbles, such was the children's eagerness for their own choices!

Introducing two tall boxes for the pebbles to sit in, Amy simultaneously created an aura of excitement and mystery about which book would be read that day.

Through finding out about their preferences and explicitly respecting and using these, Amy motivated the children's engagement and supported their emerging sense of themselves as readers.

In July, her school held a Reading Rivers Day with staff modelling their own rivers on the playground, and each class creating one. These were photographed for their new teacher to build upon.

Learning more about your readers' likes and dislikes, individually and as a class, and honouring these as Georgie and Amy do, nurtures children's reading rights.

Their tastes and preferences will change as they encounter different writers and genres, so regularly updating this knowledge is helpful, enabling you to plan, connect and more effectively support young readers' journeys.

How to get to know your readers

Observing a fewtarget children is invaluable in capturing a sense of their identities as readers in school. You could watch as they browse and choose texts during reading time, when you read aloud, and when they're chatting informally with their peers.

Reading surveys help you to explore pupils' attitudes, self-confidence and home reading. KS1/2/3 surveys and tools to visualise the results are available.

24-hour reads are simple collages of books consumed across 24 hours that reveal children's real world reading and interests. Do share your own to help highlight diversity.

'Me as a reader' diagrams can help children reflect on their likes, dislikes and practices, and share them.

Reading conferences enable you to spend some time with individuals - they are most productive if based on surveys, observations, 24-hour reads, or 'me as a reader' diagrams.

Teresa Cremin is a professor of literacy in education at The Open University and a judge of the annual Farshore Reading for Pleasure Awards, run in partnership with the OU and UKLA.
Why I hate the term 'reading for pleasure'

I want my class to enjoy books, but we need to find a phrase that's less damaging to the cause, says deputy head Neil Almond...
Reading for pleasure has been a key concept in schools for a very long time. As primary teachers, we all know how important it is for children to read in various areas of their lives.

A National Reading Trust report from 2006 stated the vast wealth of benefits of reading outside of school. These included improved reading attainment and writing ability; better text comprehension and grammar; increased breadth of vocabulary; greater self-confidence as a reader, and many more.

But I really don't like the term reading for pleasure. Here's why.

Benefits of reading for pleasure

I think it's incredibly important to distinguish between being able to read, and wanting to. There are many children (and adults!) who are perfectly capable of reading when they need to, but simply choose not to do so during their own time.

Demonising these decisions risks creating even more problems in developing reading skills, making children feel like they have to be reading at all hours of the day in order to get on in life.

Because of all the benefits it produces, of course we'd all love our pupils to enjoy reading. As teachers, then, we should focus on getting children to be able to read, should the desire arise, rather than trying to force them to genuinely like it before they have the requisite skills.

So how can we implement this in the classroom?

Decoding in reading

One of the most important components of setting pupils up to engage in reading for pleasure is to make the decoding process enjoyable.

It makes sense that children wouldn't choose to read for pleasure if they found decoding frustrating, and therefore couldn't move through a book at a reasonable speed.

As teachers, we need to focus on phonics and reading fluency instruction to ensure that our pupils have the skills to read fluently and confidently. This means teaching them to decode words accurately and at speed, so that they can read with ease and enjoyment.

We should be using a range of strategies, such as choral reading and repeated reading, to help children develop their fluency and confidence.

Deep understanding

Another key part of reading for pleasure comes from pupils being able to think deeply about the text, and relate the story to their own experiences.

Whole-class reading activities that facilitate conversations around a book's themes, motifs, plot, settings and character can pique pupils' interest in how a story develops.

You can also encourage the children to share their own experiences, and relate them to the themes and ideas represented in the book.

If they're able to connect with a story, whether that's through personal similarities with a character; recognising an event or theme that's occurred in their own lives; or identifying with a particular place or setting, pupils are much more likely to want to engage.

Diverse books

Finally, having a wide range of books to choose from is an essential element in learning to enjoy reading. Let children pick a book themselves, and provide them with the time to apply the deep understanding skills they've learned in class.

We also need to make sure we have plenty of diverse books in the classroom. Using eBook libraries such as those offered by Primary Ebooks NOW means that pupils can read (or listen) to a large collection of books and comics at home on any device, and schools do not need to be concerned about whether the book will return, or have to keep buying new copies all the time.

Of course, we need to ensure fair access, but according to Ofcom, nine in 10 children own their own mobile phone by the time they reach the age of 11, so providing access to these libraries and discussing the content that's there may encourage a few more pupils.

Essentially, the point is that the term 'reading for pleasure' can exert too much pressure on young children who genuinely do not enjoy books, whether that's because they find reading difficult, or they haven't found the right title for them, yet.

What's important for us as teachers is to do our jobs and teach our pupils how to read with confidence, so should they decide to pick up a book on their own time, they'll be fully equipped to enjoy the experience.
Neil Almond is deputy head at a south London school. Follow Neil on Twitter @Mr_AlmondED and see more of his work at nutsaboutteaching.wordpress.com. Browse more reading for pleasure activities.

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VISIT TEACHWIRE.NET/PRIMARY Take back LUNCHTIME! MATHS MASTER WORD QUESTIONS SCIENCE EXPLORE SOLUBILITY WITH JELLY RE DISCOVER DĀNA ISSUE: 19.3 PRICE: £4.99 SIX-WEEK HISTORY PLAN A call to arms for teachers KEVIN HARCOMBE Last-minute SATs saviours STUCK ON SEN PLANS? WHY YOUR AMBITION IS KEY OUTDOOR LESSONS Less stress, more learning "OFSTED'S NEWPLAN IS A HOT MESS" UNEARTH THE STONE AGE

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Spring is almost here, and if we're anything alike, then you're also planning ahead. Today on the blog, I have a handful of spring virtual field trips that you can use this season. They all have a spring connection, but I'm confident you can find a way to use many of them throughout the school year.

Virtual field trips help us connect students with a wide range of exciting learning experiences beyond the classroom walls. From vibrant flower fields to spaces inhabited by animals around the world, we can bring spring themes directly to our students.

You can tailor the list below to the needs of your student, even getting a little help from AI. In Easy EdTech Podcast episode 244, I talk about " 6 Ways to Customize Any Assignment with AI." This episode is a great complement to the ideas shared in this post, particularly if you want to customize one of the ideas on the list below to the specific needs of your students.

Spring Virtual Field Trips

Let's take a look at a handful of spring virtual field trips for students of any age.

Tulip Time

Take a vibrant trip to the tulip fields of Holland or to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in Washington State. Explore dazzling colors and learn about bulb cultivation in either of these spaces. You can also view a collection of YouTube videos from the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival here or check out pictures from Holland here.

Butterfly Wonders

Witness the incredible metamorphosis of butterflies at a butterfly conservatory. Many offer live webcams or virtual tours, including the Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservatory and the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Journey to Rainforests

Explore the lush ecosystems of tropical rainforests, home to amazing biodiversity. Discover exotic plants and animals in lots of different places. You can also take a tour of the Amazon Rainforest with Google Arts & Culture's interactive experiences.

Spring Symphony

You might decide to attend a virtual concert celebrating spring with your students or listen to a spring-themed playlist together. This playlist was created by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and is titled Classical Springtime. It's certainly a great choice for introducing spring moods.

Pond Exploration

Visiting a pond is a great option for spring virtual field trips, and this 360 video is a good start. You could pair it with a Nearpod lesson on the life cycle of a frog. Students can investigate pond life, from tadpoles and lily pads to dragonflies and frogs.

Spring Flowers Up Close

Ask students to explore patterns, textures, and movement of flowers up close. In lieu of an in-person experience, you might share this time-lapse video from National Geographic. Or you might encourage students to capture their own videos.

National Parks

Regular readers of the blog know that I love sharing content related to the National Parks. Many U.S. National Parks offer virtual tours, and students can witness geysers erupt at Yellowstone or discover Yosemite's scenery through these webcams. Similar to national parks, smaller spaces throughout the world may most a webcam on their site.

Art Inspired by Spring

Visit virtual galleries showcasing artworks depicting spring, or take a look at this list from the National Gallery of Art. It includes plenty of inspiration for your students to explore new spring places. It might also spark inspiration for student creations.

World Landmarks in Spring

Tour famous landmarks surrounded by spring blooms. For example, you can watch the cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C., with this 360 video from The Weather Channel.

These spring virtual field trips provide lots of opportunities to connect students with the transformations of the season. You can use the links I've included or find related content that meets your students' interests. If you also have some favorite spring virtual field trips, I'd love to hear all about it! Sign up for my newsletter below, reply to any email, and tell me all about it.

Find more posts featuring virtual field trips:

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