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Teaching students academic and discipline-specific language in the classroom isn't about getting them to stockpile "big" words. Rather, researchers concur, when students know the contextual meaning of words in academic or informational texts, it allows them to unlock new and difficult materials-in the process making them better readers, which in turn exposes them to even more high-level vocabulary.

Experts tend to think about vocabulary in tiers, says Todd Finley, an English education professor at East Carolina University. Tier one includes basic, everyday words that students hear often in conversation. Tier-two words, often referred to as academic vocabulary, aren't commonly used in conversations but they're likely to show up across content areas, making them important to teach. They include words like "summarize," "hypothesize," and "analyze." Third-tier words-vocabulary students will encounter in discipline-specific textbooks, informational passages, and assignments-are especially important to deliberately teach because they're critical for understanding key concepts in a text. "No student comes to school adept in academic discourse-thus, thoughtful instruction is required," Finley writes.

Adapting strategies that work well for English learners can be a highly effective way to teach all students academic vocabulary, suggest educators Tan Huynh and Beth Skelton, authors of the recently published book Long-Term Success for Experienced Multilinguals. "To succeed in all subjects, students need additional scaffolding to understand the unique vocabulary, phrasing, and conventions of those disciplines," Huynh and Skelton told The Cult of Pedagogy. "When teachers intentionally design instruction and assessments with academic language support in place, they unlock those worlds for students and give them the tools they need to thrive."

Here are three ways to deepen students' understanding and comfort level with academic and discipline-specific language in your classroom.

Spotlight Key Vocabulary

In middle and high school, Finley suggests starting with "high-frequency, general instruction" tier-two vocabulary. These arewords "learners need to know to complete an activity but that are not a lesson's primary learning objective," and can help prime students to make the transition to more sophisticated language, Finley writes.

High school English teacher Jason DeHart kicks off vocabulary learning with his whole class. "I say [the words], have students say them, and then have them discuss the words in groups," he writes. These discussions focus on linking new vocabulary to words students are already familiar with, and coming up with personalized, easy to remember definitions of the words, rather than the "rote" ones they'll find in textbooks.

When choosing specific words to focus on, DeHart identifies not only the "high-currency" ones Finley suggests, but also mixes in more advanced words like "ambience" and "hyperbole," so students begin to familiarize themselves with language that they'll encounter more frequently in future lessons.

Because research shows that students need repeated exposure to words to move them into long-term memory, DeHart recommends word walls to reinforce key, discipline-specific words you'd like them to begin deploying in their discussions and writing. Similarly, Huynh and Skelton recommend unit-specific word banks -written lists of key subject-specific words or sentences students can consult during assignments-that can be swapped out as kids move from unit to unit.

To further scaffold vocabulary learning, post discipline-specific sentence stems around the room, suggests Dr. Kate Kinsella, professor of education at San Francisco State University. Example frames include: "The key factors leading to _________ can be traced back to _________, " or, "The concept of _________ is essential because _________."

Blend New Language into Writing

To give students opportunities to practice using new words, writing activities should focus on producing discipline-specific styles of writing that help them analyze and synthesize knowledge like real-life practitioners in a given discipline, writes ReLeah Cossett Lent, a former teacher and literacy consultant.

Science writing, for example, should use precise vocabulary, be composed in a passive voice, and favor exactness over elaboration, Cossett Lent writes. Writing in history class should prioritize efficiently synthesizing information from multiple sources, organizing ideas, facts, and evidence, and writing in an argumentative manner. Cossett Lent likes to draw on literacy strategies to reinforce discipline-specific writing, for example asking students to pause and consider what they know about a given topic or concept. In science class, this KWL strategy becomes, "observe, infer, and conclude," and in math class it can evolve into "deconstruct, solve, apply."

To give students enough time to practice this type of writing, Huynh and Skelton suggest weaving discipline-specific writing into everyday classroom tasks. A lesson related to focal points and convex lenses in physics class, for example, can end with an exit ticket asking students to use precise vocabulary or phrases to explain what they learned about both topics.

Additionally, consider inserting explicit language requirements-and brief explanations of those requirements-into writing assignments, Huynh and Skelton suggest. For example: "Compare the social inequality in nineteenth-century France to the reality of the twenty-first century Western society using comparative language (both, just like, another similarity, etc.)" or "Predict what will happen to the main character in the next chapter using conditional language such as might or could."

Get Them Talking

Thoughtful and engaging academic discussions are another way to help students bridge the gap between abstract terms and concrete understanding. To ensure discussions are productive-and that they feature the specific phrases and terms you'd like them to adopt-students need explicit support, writes Boston district-level literacy leader Gwen Blumberg.

One way Blumberg likes to scaffold academic discussions is by using a " Progression of Talk " framework created by educator Cynthia Satterlee. The strategy is designed to provide prompts and sentence stems to help keep comments relevant, build on what was said by peers, and make room for clarifying arguments, disagreements, and elaboration.

Similarly, Catherine Paul, an eighth-grade language arts teacher, uses " talk moves"-which are brief prompts that she tapes to students' desks that remind them to ask clarifying questions during discussions, like "I think what you mean is..." or questions that get peers to expand on thoughts, like "Can you explain more about..." Paul says the practice pushes kids "out of their comfort zone of social conversations," and encourages them to adopt a more "professional and academic kind of register."

In high school, meanwhile, rubrics can quickly clarify discipline-specific language students are expected to use during discussions. Rubrics might define, for example, specific vocabulary words for a science or math classroom-words like "hypothesis", "variable", or "derivative"-and an expectation that students should use them fluently and in the correct context during their discussions of a specific topic related to the terms. Peers can be brought in during fishbowl discussions to observe and use the rubrics to track how well students are sticking to these goals-as well as to provide useful, low-stakes feedback at the end.

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3 Ways to Help Students Master Academic Language

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To get kids wielding academic and discipline-specific vocabulary, they need to observe words in context as they read, talk, and write about topics and concepts-and receive explicit instruction.

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Strategies to provide opportunities for each student to reflect on what has been learned during the lesson.
* You might: Ask questions, plan engagement strategies, turn and talk, exit ticket, KWL charting, etc.
* Closure is an opportunity for ALL students to have the chance to reflect/think and then write or talk about their thinking.
*Closure is student centered. It is a time for students to formulate their own understanding, then articulate that understanding with others.

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What are Higher Order Thinking Questions?

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After reading The Diary of Anne Frank, a student is asked, " Who is Anne Frank?" To answer the question, the student simply recalls the information he or she memorized from the reading.

With the implementation of Common Core, students are expected to become critical thinkers instead of just recalling facts and ideas from text. In order for students to reach this potential and be prepared for success, educators must engage students during instruction by asking higher-order questions.

Higher-order Questions (HOQ)

Higher-order questions are those that the students cannot answer just by simple recollection or by reading the information " verbatim" from the text. Higher-order questions put advanced cognitive demand on students. They encourage students to think beyond literal questions.

Higher-order questions promote critical thinking skills because these types of questions expect students to apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information instead of simply recalling facts. For instance, application questions require students to transfer knowledge learned in one context to another; analysis questions expect students to break the whole into component parts such as analyze mood, setting, characters, express opinions, make inferences, and draw conclusions; synthesis questions have students use old ideas to create new ones using information from a variety of sources; and evaluation questions require students to make judgments, explain reasons for judgments, compare and contrast information, and develop reasoning using evidence from the text.

Higher-order Questions Research

According to research, teachers who effectively use a variety of higher-order questions can overcome the brain's natural tendency to develop mental routines and patterns to limit information, which is called neural pruning. As a result, student's brains may become more open-minded, which strengthens the brain.

According to an article in Educational Leadership (March 1997), researchers Thomas Cardellichio and Wendy Field discovered that higher-order questions increase neural branching, the opposite of neural pruning. In addition, these researchers found that teachers can promote the process of neural branching through seven types of questions.

1. Hypothetical thinking. This form of thinking is used to create new information. It causes a person to develop an answer based on generalizations related to that situation. These questions follow general forms such as What if this happened? What if this were not true?, etc.

2. Reversal thinking. This type of thinking expects students to turn a question around and look for opposite ideas. For example, What happens if I reverse the addends in a math problem? What caused this? How does it change if I go backward?, etc.

3. Application of different symbol systems. This way of thinking is to apply a symbol system to a situation for which it is not usually used, such as writing a math equation to show how animal interaction is related.

4. Analogy. This process of thinking is to compare unrelated situations such as how is the Pythagorean Theorem related to cooking. These questions typically ask How is this like ___?

5. Analysis of point of view. This way of thinking requires students to consider and question other people's perspective, belief, or opinion in order to extend their minds. For instance, a teacher may ask a student, What else could account for this? or How many other ways could someone look at this?

6. Completion. This form of thinking requires students to finish an incomplete project or situation that would normally be completed. For example, removing the end of a story and expecting the students to create their own ending.

7. Web analysis. With web analysis, students must synthesize how events are related in complex ways instead of simply relying on the brain's natural ability to develop a simple pattern. For example, How extensive were the effects of _____? Or Track the relationship of events following from ___ aretypes of web analysis questions.

The researchers concluded that this type of questioning can lead to better critical thinking skills. " They can analyze, synthesize, evaluate, and interpret the text they are reading at complex levels. They can process text at deep levels, make judgments, and detect shades of meaning. They can make critical interpretations and demonstrate high levels of insight and sophistication in their thinking. They are able to make inferences, draw relevant and insightful conclusions, use their knowledge in new situations, and relate their thinking to other situations and to their own background knowledge. These students fare well on standardized tests and are considered to be advanced. They will indeed be prepared to function as outstanding workers and contributors in a fast-paced workplace where the emphasis is on using information rather than just knowing facts."

Higher-order Questions and Explicit Direct Instruction

The Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI) model incorporates a variety of higher-order questions in order to encourage and increase critical thinking skills.

The component in EDI is the only question that is at a low level of Bloom's Taxonomy. The reason for this is because the content during this portion of the lesson is not at a high level. Also, the students have not been taught the high-level content. Typically, the question asked to students is " What are we doing today? or What is our Learning Objective?"

The component includes a variety of higher-order concept-related questions because the content is at a high level. Here is a list of higher-order questions that are asked during this EDI component:

In your own words, what is (insert the concept being taught)?

Which is an example of ________? Why?

What is the difference between the example and the non-example?

Why is this an example of ______?

Give me an example of ______.

Draw an example of ______.

Match the examples to the definition of ______.

Which picture/poster shows an example of _______?

The SKILL DEVELOPMENT component asks higher-level thinking-process questions after modeling the skill.

The GUIDED PRACTICE asks higher-level process questions that require the students to show their thought process when performing the skill.

How did you know how to __________?

How did you know that this was the correct answer?

How did you use to ensure that you knew how to find the _____?

How did you know how to interpret the answer?

Which steps was most difficult for you? Why?

The RELEVANCE component includes higher-level evaluation questions.

Does anyone have any other reason as to why this is important?

Which reason is the most relevant to you? Why?

The CLOSURE component includes high-level questions such as:

What did you learn today?

How did the lesson meet the Learning Objective?

How will this lesson benefit you in the future?

If higher-order questions promote critical thinking skills, as research shows, then higher-order questions should be included throughout instruction. The EDI model offers a good way to do just that!

Citations

Educational Leadership,Seven Strategies That Encourage Neural Branching, March 1997

How do you incorporate higher-order questions during instruction? Please share your experiences in the comment section below.

Author: Patricia Bogdanovich

Patricia has held various positions with DataWORKS since 2002. She currently works as a Curriculum Specialist. Patricia helped develop and create many of the early resources and workshops designed by DataWORKS, and she is an expert in analysis of standards. Patricia plans to blog about curriculum and assessments for CCSS and NGSS, classroom strategies, and news and research from the world of education.

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After reading The Diary of Anne Frank, a student is asked, "Who is Anne Frank?" To answer the question, the student simply recalls the information he or she memorized from the reading. With the implementation of Common Core, students are expected to become critical thinkers instead of just recalling facts and ideas from text....

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We will be using this Padlet as a source for learning about all the components of our lesson plan. This will allow us to collaborate on resources found, tips and tricks we have used, and as a general way to support each other as we learn about all the components of the lesson plan template.

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Common core

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Disclaimer: On this page you can find the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics and English Language Arts. The standards are temporarily located on this page while we work to address technical challenges with CoreStandards.org. Thank you for your patience and we will share an update on CoreStandards.org when we have one.
English Language Arts Standards English Language Arts Standards (ADA Compliant) Mathematics Standards Mathematics Standards (ADA Compliant)

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Disclaimer: On this page you can find the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics and English Language Arts. The standards are temporarily located on this page while we work to address technical challenges with CoreStandards.org. Thank you for your patience and we will share an update on CoreStandards.org when we have one.

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Manchester's standards

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Next Gen Science Standards

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Improving Science Education Through Three-Dimensional Learning

Quick Search Next Generation Science Standards

THE THREE DIMENSIONS OF SCIENCE LEARNING

Within the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), there are three distinct and equally important dimensions to learning science. These dimensions are combined to form each standard-or performance expectation-and each dimension works with the other two to help students build a cohesive understanding of science over time.

Crosscutting Concepts help students explore connections across the four domains of science, including Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, and Engineering Design.

When these concepts, such as "cause and effect", are made explicit for students, they can help students develop a coherent and scientifically-based view of the world around them.

Science and Engineering Practices describe what scientists do to investigate the natural world and what engineers do to design and build systems. The practices better explain and extend what is meant by "inquiry" in science and the range of cognitive, social, and physical practices that it requires. Students engage in practices to build, deepen, and apply their knowledge of core ideas and crosscutting concepts.

Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs) are the key ideas in science that have broad importance within or across multiple science or engineering disciplines. These core ideas build on each other as students progress through grade levels and are grouped into the following four domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, and Engineering.

More about 3D Learning

GET TO KNOW

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are K-12 science content standards. Standards set the expectations for what students should know and be able to do. The NGSS were developed by states to improve science education for all students.

A goal for developing the NGSS was to create a set of research-based, up-to-date K-12 science standards. These standards give local educators the flexibility to design classroom learning experiences that stimulate students' interests in science and prepares them for college, careers, and citizenship.

Get to Know the Standards

IMPLEMENT

The NGSS call for a three-dimensional approach to K-12 science instruction. This represents a significant transition from previous state standards. That's why effective implementation demands a great deal of collaboration and patience among states, districts, schools, teachers, and students.

Thoughtful and coordinated approaches to implementation will enable educators to inspire future generations of scientifically literate students. That is the vision of the NGSS. This website provides a range of high-quality resources that empower educators, administrators, parents, and the general public to help bring this vision to life.

Find Tools and Resources

WHY

Science-and therefore science education-is central to the lives of all Americans.

A high-quality science education means that students will develop an in-depth understanding of content and develop key skills-communication, collaboration, inquiry, problem solving, and flexibility-that will serve them throughout their educational and professional lives.

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Home Page | Next Generation Science Standards

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Improving Science Education Through Three-Dimensional Learning Quick Search Next Generation Science Standards Within the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), there are three distinct and equally important dimensions to learning science. These dimensions are combined to form each standard-or performance expectation-and each dimension works with the other two to help students build a cohesive understanding of science over time.

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Social Studies C3 standards

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This is a great article that discusses the importance of giving students time for reflection.

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I am one of those people who regularly figures out exactly what to say after the moment has passed. I will be deep in conversation with someone, sharing thoughts and bouncing around ideas. Yet, as the thoughts swirl, I'll have an unsettled feeling. Often it is not until some time later, when the ideas have marinated, that I realize what matters most to me and how to say it. I find that the flow of learning for many of my students matches my personal need for intellectual reflection.

A Classroom Example

Recently, we spent a chunk of one of my world history classes discussing an excerpt from The Power of Myth, a conversation that Joseph Campbell had with Bill Moyers about enduring myths and the human condition. The students read the text during the previous class and had done a writing exercise that helped them begin to explore some of the different ideas contained in the dialogue.

The discussion was interesting but felt aimless. Some students were interested in the idea of learning deeper messages by reading the myths of others. Others were struck by Campbell's idea that we are all imperfect. For many, it was unclear if they found anything of meaning in the reading. The body language in the classroom was mixed. Some students turned to face whoever was speaking and eagerly responded, often referring to the text in front of them. Others were slouched in their chairs rarely looking at the text or at the speakers.

Students knew that this was the beginning of our religion unit and had spent time earlier in the week attempting to create a definition of religion, yet if felt as if no one knew how to successfully put these different pieces together into larger, coherent ideas with greater meaning. As teacher, I felt unsure about our status in this early part of our unit.

As the discussion slowed down and the clock began approaching the end of the period, I asked everyone to jot down a one-sentence final thought. After two silent minutes, we started in one corner of the room and quickly whipped around as, one after another, students shared final thoughts from the reading and/or discussion. It quickly became clear that a lot more deep and rich thinking had happened than I previously realized. "Religions are glorified myths," said a student who had been quiet all period. "We all need ways to find meaning in our lives," offered a young man who had previously seemed to find very little meaning in the discussion.

Deepening Learning

In his book Pedagogy of the Oppressed, the Brazilian educator Paolo Freire reinforces the idea that reflection is an essential part of learning and of becoming an agent of change in the world:

Within the word we find two dimensions, reflection and action, in such radical interaction that if one is sacrificed -- even in part -- the other immediately suffers . . .

Freire also reminds us that this process (that he has named concientizacion) involves a true exchange of ideas:

If it is in speaking their word that people, by naming the world, transform it, dialogue imposes itself as the way by which they achieve significance as human beings. Dialogue is thus an existential necessity. And since dialogue is the encounter in which the united reflection and action of the dialoguers are addressed to the world which is to be transformed and humanized, this dialogue cannot be reduced to the act of one person's "depositing" ideas in another, nor can it become a simple exchange of ideas to be "consumed" by the discussants.

The end of a class period may often feel like a time to slow down and regroup before another set of students arrives. An alternate view is that these last moments, which usually occur when ideas have had a chance to marinate, can be a time when quiet thinkers finally articulate their ideas and move toward Freire's idea of concientizacion. In these moments, students can deepen their own learning, and entire groups can share ideas and make meaning of content. Additionally, the time when a large piece of work is submitted is an important opportunity for students to articulate their own learning and self-evaluate in order to improve learning and the quality of their work for the future.

Closings and Reflective Activities

There are many different ways to integrate closings and reflective activities into classroom practice. Depending on the circumstances, closings and reflective activities can be quickly jotted down and shared out loud, or they can be larger writing assignments that are submitted with projects or posted as an introduction to blog posts of student work.

The following is a list of different reflection and closing prompts:

Share one thing you learned.

Share a question for future investigation.

Respond with a word.

What worked? What didn't work?

What is one part of your work that you are proud of?

How would you do this differently next time?

School is generally not structured in a way that easily accommodates ambiguity and differentiation. While this presents a challenge, the strategic integration of meaningful closings and reflection into classroom practice gives students multiple avenues for engaging with complex ideas and allows more students to find broader meaning in their work. Additionally, these activities help teachers to more deeply understand and adapt to the intellectual processes of our students.

In what different ways do you structure reflection and closings in your classroom?

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Let It Marinate: The Importance of Reflection and Closing

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I am one of those people who regularly figures out exactly what to say after the moment has passed. I will be deep in conversation with someone, sharing thoughts and bouncing around ideas. Yet, as the thoughts swirl, I'll have an unsettled feeling.

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So many good closure ideas!

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Quick activities that can be used to check for understanding or emphasize key information at the end of a lesson.

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This video does a nice job of explaining in simple terms what HOT questions are, why we use them, and what they might sound like. I like this video because it shows that even in Kindergarten, it's important to include these HOT questions.

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What Is Higher Order Thinking?

Higher order thinking questions are based on an understanding of the differing way humans think. Thinking skills are sometimes basic, requiring simple memorization, and sometimes deep, requiring processing and deep thought. Using Bloom's taxonomy, an educational model of organizing and defining cognition, they include six strands, organized from low to high: remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating.

You'll notice the higher level skills are grounded in the lower. All skills are necessary for learning, in some form. Teachers determine the level of cognition by how information is presented and questions are asked. Let's take a look at how to question kindergarten children using higher order questions.

Level 1 & 2: Remembering & Understanding

For level 1 skills, students are asked to recall information. Typically, this lower level question calls for rote memorization, such as simple math facts or spelling patterns. When preparing questions for kindergarten students for level 1 questions, focus on simple verbs young students will understand, such as circle, match, point to, choose, count, show, tell, underline, and write. For example:

State the main idea.

Name the important events in the story in order.

Count the objects in the group.

Point to the pine cone.

Level 2, understanding or comprehending, asks children to explain concepts. Students must have mastered level 1, recall, to be fluent in level 2, understanding. Used to check and reinforce Level 1 understanding, level 2 questions use verbs such as explain, tell more about, predict, and rewrite. For example:

Tell the main idea in your own words.

In your own words, tell what happened first, next, and last.

Explain why the numbers are in this group.

Tell what you notice about the pine cone.

Level 3 & 4 - Applying & Analyzing

Level 3 requires the child to demonstrate the ability to use and apply learned information in a new way. Continuing to build on levels 1 and 2, level 3 digs deeper by taking recall and understanding to the level of making sense in tangible ways. At this level, children show their ability to apply by performing skills requiring them to construct, show, examine, review, sort, organize, manipulate, and develop. For example:

Show details that support the main idea.

Construct a new ending to the story.

Sort the numbers into the correct group.

How do the pine cones' characteristics make it different?

Level 4, analyzing, asks kindergarteners to compare, contrast, examine, experiment, and question their thinking. Building on the combination of concepts, level 4 pushes students to take their knowledge and stretch it out. Keep in mind these skills are not happening in isolation but rather taking previous learning to a deeper level. Many of the questions are multi-step and contain verbs such as infer, conclude, or investigate. For example:

Compare details, and decide which are important to the main idea.

Examine what is the same and what is different about two stories.

Which number will come next?

Where do you think this pine cone came from?

Level 5 & 6 - Evaluating & Creating

In level 5, students are asked to justify an opinion or decision. Using all prior knowledge, children think deeply about the subject matter and debate, appraise, judge, and decide. Although levels 5 and 6 may seem too difficult and high-level for young children, kindergarten students are capable of thinking on this level and develop many interesting, thoughtful opinions. Ask children at this level to argue, select, decide, and defend their thinking. Once on this level, examples of questions are:

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higher order thinking questions for kindergartners - video & lesson transcript | study.com

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Higher Order Thinking Questions for Kindergartners - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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Higher order thinking questions are based on an understanding of the differing way humans think. Thinking skills are sometimes basic, requiring simple memorization, and sometimes deep, requiring processing and deep thought. Using Bloom's taxonomy, an educational model of organizing and defining cognition, they include six strands, organized from low to high: remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating.

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I like how this is broken down. It is written for college course instructors writing outcomes for college level outcomes, but the process is the same.

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When you begin creating a course, you want to design with the end in mind. The best way to approach this is to start by writing measurable, learning objectives. Effective learning objectives use action verbs to describe what you want your students to be able to do by the end of the course or unit. Aligning assessments with course expectations is much easier when you have written measurable objectives from the beginning.

1. Identify the noun, or thing you want students to learn.
Example: seven steps of the research process

2. Identify the level of knowledge you want. In Bloom's Taxonomy, there are six levels of learning. It's important to choose the appropriate level of learning, because this directly influences the type of assessment you choose to measure your students' learning.
Example: to know the seven steps of the research process (comprehension level)

3. Select a verb that is observable to describe the behavior at the appropriate level of learning.
Example: Describe these steps

4. Add additional criteria to indicate how or when the outcome will be observable to add context for the student.
Describe the seven steps of the research process when writing a paper.

Here are some examples of learning objectives we've seen and how we revised them:

Course level outcome examples

Original version: Understand the American criminal justice system.

Revised version: Describe the history of the American criminal justice system.

Understand is not a measurable verb, however the intent of the instructor was to have the students be able to describe, which is measurable.

Original version: Describe and create a social media plan for your organization.

Revised version: Create a social media plan for your organization.

Describe and create are two different levels of learning, and it's strongly suggested that you avoid having more than one action verb. Create is a higher level of learning than describe, therefore it can be assumed that you will be able to describe the process prior to applying it.

Unit level examples

Original version: Understand elements of editing.

Revised version: Identify elements of editing, including composition, setting and lighting.

Understand is not a measurable verb, and it was too broad for a unit level objective. Therefore, we narrowed the focus.

Original version: Complete the quiz.

Revised version: None

Complete the quiz is an action item for the student, not a learning objective. If your assessment is being used to meet your objective, then you will want to write a measurable objective that describes the content of the assessment. For a course to meet the Quality Matters standards, it must have learning objectives that are measurable and the assessments must align with the learning objectives. For example, if your learning objective has the action verb "identify", then you do not want to have an assessment that is above that level of learning, such as analyzing the topic. On the other hand, if you have an application level verb, such as "design", then you do not want to assess the learning objective with only a multiple choice, knowledge level quiz. Remember, when creating assessments, look at the action verb being used for your learning objective and the level of learning to apply. Co-written with fellow Quality Matters expert, Steven Crawford. Bloom's image created by Alyssa Robinson.

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Writing Measurable Learning Objectives - Teach Online

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When you begin creating a course, you want to design with the end in mind. The best way to approach this is to start by writing measurable, learning objectives. Effective learning objectives use action verbs to describe what you want your students to be able to do by the end of the course or unit.

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Find and share ideas for checking in with students during a project, class, or semester to assess their learning and see if content or instruction needs adjusting.

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I love this article from Cult of Pedagogy. It explains very clearly what an anticipatory set is.

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anticipatory set

( noun) A brief portion of a lesson given at the very beginning to get students' attention, activate prior knowledge, and prepare them for the day's learning. Also known as advance organizer, hook, or set induction.

When you start a lesson, you could begin it with something like this: Today we're going to continue our study of hygiene. Or you could get more creative: You could come into the room, your hair a mess, with dirt under your fingernails, stained clothing, your teeth covered in yellow goo, with little signs taped all over you that say scabies, diarrhea, hepatitis A, hookworm, and lice.

Which of these two approaches will be better at grabbing students' attention?

The second one is an example of a creative anticipatory set - a bit at the very beginning of a lesson that focuses students on what they are going to learn that day. Anticipatory sets can be very simple, like sharing a brief anecdote that connects to the lesson or giving students a problem to work out, or they can require more planning, like performing a short skit or showing a series of thought-provoking images. The point of the anticipatory set is to get students curious, wake up their brains, and give them a taste of what they are about to learn.

For me, the anticipatory set was one of the most neglected components of my teaching, second only to the post-lesson reflection. It was enough work to plan a good lesson; tacking on the anticipatory set was an extra mile I rarely managed to run. But when I did, it always paid off. With a well-crafted, well-executed anticipatory set, instruction becomes an art.

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Do Anticipatory Sets Make a Difference?

The term "anticipatory set" was coined by Madeline Hunter in the 1960's, when she developed a lesson plan model that became so widely adopted, her name isn't even always attached to it anymore. For an updated version of her work, see the 2004 manual Madeline Hunter's Mastery Teaching .

So it's a standard part of a classic lesson plan. But does it work? If you make an effort to add an anticipatory set to your lesson, will students actually learn more?

The research says yes. Although it has been examined under a few different names, a number of studies over the past several decades support its use: Schuck (1969) concluded that students whose teachers were trained in the use of set induction "will achieve significantly higher than those exposed to teachers not trained in this instructional skill" (Schuck, p. 792). Educational psychologist David Ausubel spent much of his career advocating for the use of advance organizers, and his theories were further refined and supported by other research, both focused studies (Townsend, & Clarihew, 1989) and broad meta-analyses (Luiten, Ames, & Ackerson, 1980). In four studies analyzed by Robert Marzano and his colleagues, students whose instruction included advance organizers showed percentile gains ranging from 9 to 29 points (Marzano, Pickering & Pollock, 2001, p. 117). Those number are definitely enough to justify making anticipatory sets a regular part of your practice.

Getting the Most from Your Anticipatory Set

If you make the effort to add an anticipatory set to your lesson, follow these guidelines to make sure you maximize its impact:

It should have a relevant, content-based connection to the most essential part of the day's learning, rather than a superfluous one. If you're teaching students about nutrition, bringing in grapefruit slices for students to taste won't do a whole lot to teach them about a balanced diet. But that same fruit will have much more relevance to a chemistry lesson on acids and bases.

It should be followed by a clear bridge to the day's learning objectives. Once the anticipatory set is done, rather than just jump right into the lesson, take a minute to escort students into it by saying something like, "The reason your lips are pursing together is because of the acid in the fruit, and today we're going to get a better understanding of the chemistry behind that taste."

It should reappear during the lesson. For the anticipatory set to have meaning, refer back to it during the lesson. When you're taking a look at the chemical composition of acids, mention the grapefruit again. The added bonus of doing this is that students will come to expect that whatever weird thing you do at the beginning of class, it's going to end up meaning something later.

Although the impact of anticipatory sets varies depending on the type and delivery, what's clear is that lessons with them generally help students learn and retain information better than lessons without them. ♦

Want lots of great ideas for anticipatory sets? Visit my store on Teachers Pay Teachers, where you'll find 40+ fantastic ideas in Anticipatory Sets that will Knock Their Socks Off!
References:
Hunter, R. (2004). Madeline Hunter's mastery teaching. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Luiten, J., Ames, W. & Ackerson, G. (1980). A meta-analysis of the effects of advance organizers on learning and retention. American Educational Research Journal, 17: 211-18.

Marzano, R.J., Pickering, D.J., & Pollock, J.E. (2001). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Schuck, R.F. (1969). The effects of set induction upon pupil achievement, retention, and assessment of effective teaching in a unit on respiration in the BSCS curricula. Educational Leadership, 2(5), 785-793. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el_196905_schuck.pdf.

Townsend, M.A.R. & Clarihew, A. (1989). Facilitating children's comprehension through the use of advance organizers. Journal of Literacy Research, 21(1) 15-35.
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( noun) A brief portion of a lesson given at the very beginning to get students' attention, activate prior knowledge, and prepare them for the day's learning. Also known as advance organizer, hook, or set induction. When you start a lesson, you could begin it with something like this: Today we're going to continue our study of hygiene.

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Short, descriptive video that helps to define anticipatory set.

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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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by TeachThought Staff

In one sentence, Bloom's Taxonomy is a hierarchical ordering of cognitive skills that can, among countless other uses, help teachers teach, and students learn.

For example, Bloom's Taxonomy can be used to:

create assessments

frame discussions

plan lessons (see 249 Bloom's Taxonomy Verbs For Critical Thinking)

evaluate the complexity of assignments

design curriculum maps

develop online courses project-based learning (often through project-based learning ideas)

self-assessment

See How To Teach With Bloom's Taxonomy for more reading.

A Brief History Of Bloom's Taxonomy Revisions

Bloom's Taxonomy was created by Benjamin Bloom in 1956, published as a kind of classification of learning outcomes and objectives that have, in the more than half-century since, been used for everything from framing digital tasks and evaluating apps to writing questions and assessments.

The original sequence of cognitive skills was Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation. The framework was revised in 2001 by Lorin Anderson and David Krathwohl, yielding the revised Bloom's Taxonomy. The most significant change to the Cognitive Domain was the removal of 'Synthesis' and the addition of 'Creation' as the highest level of Bloom's Taxonomy. And being at the highest level, the implication is that it's the most complex or demanding cognitive skill-or at least represents a kind of pinnacle for cognitive tasks.

See also 100 Bloom's Taxonomy Verbs For Critical Thinking

How Bloom's Taxonomy Is Useful For Teachers

In a separate post, we're going to cover exactly how Bloom's can be used by teachers. There are many reasons for the popularity of Bloom's Taxonomy (that likely deserve an article of their own to explore). For now, it's clear that many educators love Bloom's because, among other virtues, it gives them a way to think about their teaching-and the subsequent learning of their students.

As mentioned above, the framework can be used to create assessments, evaluate the complexity of assignments, increase the rigor of a lesson, simplify an activity to help personalize learning, design a summative assessment, plan project-based learning, frame a group discussion, and more. Because it simply provides an order for cognitive behaviors, it can be applied to almost anything. (You can see one example here-one of our teaching materials that combined Bloom's Taxonomy with common digital tasks.)

The image above visually demonstrates the levels of Bloom's Taxonomy as a spectrum rather than a hierarchy to allow for room for the 'power verbs' that can act as synonyms (and thus activity ideas) for teachers planning lessons and units.

There are six levels in Bloom's Taxonomy (the initialism RUAAEC may be useful to recall the levels).

The 6 Levels of Bloom's Taxonomy

1. The first level is to Remember.

Example activities at the Remembering level: memorize a poem, recall state capitals, remember math formulas

2. The second level is to Understand.

Example activities at the Understanding level: organize the animal kingdom based on a given framework, illustrate the difference between a rectangle and a square, summarize the plot of a simple story

3. The third level is to Apply.

Example activities at the Application level: use a formula to solve a problem, select a design to meet a purpose, reconstruct the passage of a new law through a given government/system

4. The fourth level is to Analyze.

Example activities at the Analysis level: identify the 'parts of' democracy, explain how the steps of the scientific process work together, identify why a machine isn't working

5. The fifth level is to Evaluate.

Example activities at the Evaluation level: make a judgment regarding an ethical dilemma, interpret the significance of a given law of physics, illustrate the relative value of a technological innovation in a specific setting-a tool that helps recover topsoil farming, for example.

6. The sixth and highest level is to Create.

Example activities at the Creation level: design a new solution to an 'old' problem that honors/acknowledges the previous failures, delete the least useful arguments in a persuasive essay, write a poem based on a given theme and tone

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What Is Bloom's Taxonomy? A Definition For Teachers

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Bloom's Taxonomy is a hierarchical ordering of cognitive skills that can, among countless other uses, help teachers teach and students learn.

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Big list of strategies

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Instructional strategies refer to the techniques instructors use to deliver their lessons. Effective instructional strategies-also known as teaching strategies-help students become actively involved in the learning process. When done right, instructional strategies also support students in reaching their learning objectives.

By reading the guide below ( our downloading this free list of instructional strategies), you'll gain a solid understanding of the various types of teaching strategies, why they're important and how they can be applied to the learning process to benefit both professors and students.

In this guide, you'll:

Learn what instructional strategies are, and the various strategies educators can use to teach more effectively

Gain a deeper understanding of how instructional strategies for teachers-including formal and informal assessments, case studies, debates, flipped classrooms and more-play into the overall student learning experience

Get equipped to implement instructional strategies that are appropriate for your course in order to become more effective at teaching and engaging students

Get access to a free instructional strategies list, packed with 25 easy-to-implement exercises for your next course

With this collection of teaching strategies, you'll be ready to guide students towards success in any classroom setting. Plus, putting a few of these techniques into practice will ensure students come to class prepared to engage with the material, with their peers and with you.

1. What are instructional strategies?

Instructional strategies encompass any type of learning technique a teacher uses to help students learn or gain a better understanding of the course material. They allow teachers to make the learning experience more fun and practical and can also encourage students to take more of an active role in their education. The objective of using instructional strategies beyond subject comprehension is to create students who are independent, strategic learners. The hope is, with time and practice, students will be able to select the right strategies on their own and use them effectively to complete tasks.

There are various instructional strategy examples that can be used effectively at all levels and subject areas, with a wide range of learning styles. These learning strategies motivate students by improving their engagement, capturing their attention and encouraging them to focus on not only remembering course material, but truly understanding it.

Educators who use instructional strategies allow students to make meaningful connections between concepts learned in class and real-life situations. They offer an opportunity for students to demonstrate their knowledge and course correct on their own when needed. Teachers also benefit from using instructional strategies because they're able to better monitor and assess student performance through different methods of evaluation.

2. What's the difference between instructional strategies, teaching strategies, teaching techniques and teaching practices?

In the dynamic landscape of higher education, understanding the nuances between instructional strategies, teaching strategies, teaching techniques, and teaching practices is crucial for educators aiming to enhance their pedagogical approach. Instructional strategies encompass a broader framework, outlining the overarching plans and methods employed to facilitate learning. These strategies guide the selection of teaching methods and techniques, serving as the foundation for effective educational practices. On the other hand, teaching strategies delve into the specific approaches instructors use to convey information and engage students. These strategies act as the vehicles through which instructional goals are achieved, embracing diverse methodologies such as collaborative learning, active participation, and technology integration.

Zooming in further, teaching techniques are the tactical tools and methods employed within a specific teaching strategy. These are the hands-on practices educators implement to deliver content, foster understanding, and promote critical thinking. Examples include case studies, role-playing, and interactive discussions. Finally, teaching practices encompass the comprehensive application of instructional, teaching, and technical strategies in the classroom. It reflects the amalgamation of various methods tailored to the unique needs of learners and the subject matter. By dissecting these components, higher education professors can refine their pedagogical repertoire, fostering a rich and dynamic learning environment for their students.

3. Types of instructional or teaching strategies

There are far too many types of instructional or teaching strategies to catalog in one place. And there's no single, specific way to group them together. While the categories below are by no means exhaustive, instructional strategies often fall under general groupings. These include: active learning, assessment-based, group-based, advanced strategies, organizational (or classroom management) and tiered.

4. Active learning instructional strategies and teaching strategy examples

4.1. Exit tickets

Before students leave your learning environment, ask them to answer a question related to a key concept discussed in the lesson that day. They can write it down on a piece of paper or index card. Questions can be simple, like asking students what they found most interesting about the lesson. Or, they can be more complex, such as having them draw a sketch that demonstrates what they learned, or asking them to connect the key concept they learned to a real-life situation. Have students hand the 'tickets' to you as they exit (or have them submit a response to your discussion board), then review the responses.

The feedback can help educators determine which students need additional teaching in specific areas. Using this approach, teachers gain a quick understanding of how the whole class is grasping and reacting to the material.

Use the information from the exit tickets to form groups in the class that follows. Place students at similar levels of understanding, or who have similar views on a topic, together. Conversely, group students with opposing views together in order to foster debate and conversation. Learn more about the types of exit tickets you can use in your next course-download an exit ticket template here.

4.2. Flipped classrooms

Regardless of where you teach, flipping your classroom is one of the most popular forms of active learning and among the most well-known instructional strategies. Instead of using classroom time for lecturing, educators provide students with a pre-recorded lecture to watch prior to class. They're often concise, posted to sites like YouTube, or presented in the form of a podcast that students can listen to at home or during their commute. Educators can then use classroom time to engage students in learning activities related to the lecture they've already seen or heard.

Flipped classrooms are an effective teaching technique because they allow students to review and learn concepts on their own time. Students are then free to complete more interactive and collaborative work in class, including discussions and tasks with their peers and teacher. They can also collaborate and discuss material online, via forum discussions with peers and subject matter experts. In class, students can actively apply concepts via peer learning, group work, and presentations.

Flipped learning helps keep students continuously engaged in class instead of just passively listening. And it makes good use of downtime by allowing students to combine a workout or commute time with further learning, when it's most convenient for them. Built to enable this strategy, Top Hat makes it simple to adopt a flipped classroom -simply run quizzes prior to your lecture and create interactive discussions for students to collaborate during class time.
Looking for more? Get 25 additional instructional strategies in this free guide.
4.3. Journals and learning logs

This instructional strategy lets students record their thoughts, feelings and reflections on a variety of topics. Journal entries could refer to something discussed in your lecture, or they can allow students to reflect on a relevant newspaper article or piece of media they came across. Journals can also be used for getting students to think critically about the course material and how it can be applied to the real world. This activity lets students make predictions, brainstorm ideas, connect ideas and even identify solutions to problems presented in class.

You might consider using the following prompts in advance of a journaling assignment to promote higher-level thinking. At the start of a lesson, you might ask, "What questions do you have from yesterday?" During the middle of a lesson, ask, "What do you want to know more about?" At the end of your lesson, ask, "How could you use these findings outside of class?" Encourage students to note any thoughts that come to mind at these three points. At the end of the semester, their journal can form the foundation of a more comprehensive study guide.

4.4. Minute papers

Pose a question about the day's teaching, and give students a moment to reflect before writing down their answer on their own or in pairs. The responses can provide valuable insight into student comprehension of the material.

Minute papers can be presented in a number of ways, but the easiest is a "ticket out," whereby educators wrap up class a few minutes early. (We saw this earlier in our instructional strategies list, under 'exit ticket'). They then ask students to answer what the most important thing they learned today was and what questions they still have. The first question requires students to think quickly, recall class material, decide on the main points, and put it into their own words. For the second, they must think further about what they've understood thus far.

Teachers can use the responses to determine how well students understand the material. Minute papers can also help students understand where their own learning gaps are. Once this is realized, both students and teachers can identify and address weaknesses.

4.5. Muddiest point

The 'muddiest point' is another active learning instructional strategy. This activity asks students to use index cards (or an app), to anonymously submit what part(s) of the course material they're having the most difficulty with. Educators can then use the responses to determine where extra instruction is needed and adjust lessons accordingly.

Alternatively, these topics can be addressed during student review sessions. Ask students to identify topics they feel they need clarification on and consolidate these into a list. Then get each student to select a term from the list they feel they can explain to the rest of the class.

Cross it off the list, and move on to the next. By the end, it will be easy to see which concepts students are having the most issues with by process of elimination. And if terms haven't been selected, they are being avoided for a reason. Naturally, students will pick the terms they are most comfortable with.

Use that information to devise more instructor-led sessions on the concepts that most students are confused about, or that require more clarification, to eventually complete the entire list.

4.6. Reflection

Hand out blank index cards or a pre-designed worksheet at the end of a class session and ask students to use them to submit a response to a question about the day's lesson. Alternatively, ask students to submit a discussion board response. The reflection prompt could be simple, like asking what they learned, or what they found the most interesting. Or, you can make your prompt more application-based, like asking them to connect what they learned to a real-life situation, or telling them to explain why what they learned is important.

The purpose of reflection is to encourage students to consider what they have learned. Like a number of other instructional strategies in this list, it also gives the teacher an idea of where students stand on a topic or issue so they can use this information to help better prepare for the next lesson. The added benefit is that having students express these thoughts on paper can result in better memory retention.

To drive this strategy in higher education, Top Hat's interactive discussions make it easy for students to reflect on what was covered in class. Allow students to discuss concepts with their peers, with the ability to grade discussions as desired.

4.7. Think-pair-share

This active learning technique is another of the best-known instructional strategies. After presenting a lesson, pause the lecture for a moment to ask students to pair up with a partner. Have them discuss the material they just learned. Prepare questions, and, once they've had some time to discuss with their partner(s), get students to take turns presenting their observations to the rest of the class.

Make the question challenging, such that it could spark debate between the grouped or paired students. Give them just a few minutes to talk amongst themselves and come to a collective conclusion.

Think-pair-share can work especially well for the first few lessons of a class, keeping students on their toes and interested in the material that is to come. But it can also help recapture student enthusiasm near the middle of a term, reminding students that they aren't alone in their learning and that others share their views or concerns, and that there are different perspectives to support an issue that are worth considering beyond their own.

5. Assessment-based instructional strategies

5.1. Assessment

One of the most used instructional strategies, assessments are considered any graded test, quiz, project, or exam. Informal checks of student progress throughout the year, such as discussions or presentations, can be included too. There are many different assessment-based instructional strategies (and a few follow in this group).

In general, there are various ways to run assessments and different ways to adapt them to class time. These include: asking certain groups of students to only complete specific parts of a test, allowing students to respond orally versus in writing, or asking students to demonstrate what they've learned in a more hands-on way, like building something or drawing a diagram.

The most critical thing to remember with assessments is to try and stay focused on evaluating the concept that's most important for the student to grasp. This might mean your assessments have to be more practical. Asking a student to put the learning to work and actually do something can be a far better indicator of what they know than simple written or oral answers.

One tip is to include test or quiz questions that vary in complexity, and focus on different aspects of a concept. You could include one question mandatory for responding, but allow students to choose which ones they want to answer among the remaining ones.
→ Download Now: 25 Free Instructional Strategies
5.2. Cubing

"Cubing" is a version of the above. It involves writing a command or question on each of the six sides of a cube, then having students roll the cube like a die and respond to the question or command accordingly.

The questions can relate to describing, comparing, contrasting, applying, predicting or imagining concepts. Get students even more involved in this cooperative learning activity by having them come up with their own questions that they then exchange with classmates, taking turns to answer.

Take it to another level by creating multiple cubes with questions of varying levels of complexity. Assign students to work in groups-have each group of students write or dictate their answers to the questions on their cube. Use the data to determine which students should work on which concepts come assignment time.

5.3. Grade as you go

This instructional strategy is ideal for subjects that involve repetitive practices and rote memorization, such as mathematics and language. Have students work on assignments either alone or in pairs, checking and marking their work.

This teaching technique is motivational because students instantly know if they're on the right track, allowing them to gauge their achievement level. But it also helps students immediately correct something they're doing wrong. Once they identify the mistakes, they can translate that learning to subsequent questions, instead of completing the entire assignment incorrectly.

Instructional strategies such as 'Grade As You Go' also help educators pinpoint students who have a superior grasp of the material, allowing them to move on to a more challenging assignment.

By the time the assignment is completed, it's far more likely that the entire class will be ready to move on to the next concept or skill. And since grades have already been given, it reduces after-class grading time for teachers. Put this strategy into practice this fall by relying on the Top Hat Gradebook. This comprehensive tool lets you view attendance, participation and completion data in one place and makes it easy to retroactively adjust grade weights as needed.

5.4. Homework practice

The purpose of homework, as one of the numerous assessment-based instructional strategies, is to extend learning beyond the classroom setting. Homework gives students extra time to master concepts studied in class and further refine their learning. To use this effectively, assign homework based on the student's skill level, ensuring it aligns with the areas they need more practice in.

The amount and complexity of homework varies depending on subject and level. Students should be able to complete homework independently, with minimal involvement from tutors or peers. If they can't, it should serve as a red flag to both the student and educator.

Built to enable this strategy, Top Hat makes it easy to create, personalize and assign interactive homework assignments. Choose from a variety of question types including fill-in-the-blank or multiple choice and embed discussion questions throughout your assessments.

5.5. Questions and quizzes

Question-asking is among the simplest of the instructional strategies, but it can still be strategically complex. The simplest way to gauge student understanding of course material is to ask them questions about it. During group discussions, pose several questions of varying complexity so that everyone has a chance to respond, including both those who are experiencing difficulties with the class, as well as those who are mastering the concepts. Strategically adjust the questions you ask based on who you plan to call upon. This helps build student confidence and ensures the class runs smoothly.

Timing is important, too. When the class starts, or there's a pause between concepts or topics, you can administer a quick quiz or poll to get an understanding of how far along students are in their learning. In order to effectively assess comprehension, it's best to not attach a grade to this activity. Students will inevitably worry if the quiz is going to impact their overall grade for the class. Platforms like can be used to facilitate informal games or trivia sessions at the start of class, setting the stage for what's to follow in your lecture.

Use technology like clickers to administer things like multiple choice quizzes that can be tabulated immediately for large classes, with questions that challenge or check an assumption before a lecture begins. Then, administer the same or a similar quiz at the end of class, and compare the results.

Educators can determine how effective the lesson was and see if they need to revisit the subject matter again, or can confidently move on to the next topic.

6. Group teaching techniques

6.1. Case studies

Case studies, as instructional strategies or teaching techniques, are more spontaneous than structured group projects. But this is a good thing. It helps prepare students for when they enter the workforce, where problem solving on the fly is an essential skill. In a practical work environment, students can't just do what they're told and expect to succeed. Case studies can help prepare them for life after college or university.

To use case studies, put students into groups and task them with finding a way to apply the knowledge they've acquired from reading course materials and listening to lectures into real-world scenarios that match your assigned content area(s).

In a classroom setting, working on case studies encourages students to think critically about what they've learned, not just recite points back to the class.

6.2. Debates

Instructional strategies like these work as a structured form of argumentation. Debates require students to research concepts and think critically in order to present their positions in a convincing and justifiable way.

Most fitting for concepts with opposing points of view, debates help students develop listening and presentation skills. Once presented in class, having a debate can also introduce new perspectives on topics, and convince students to conduct further research in order to build stronger arguments, or intelligently counter those of the opposing side.

6.3. Peer instruction

With the teacher's guidance, students can prepare and present course material in class, encouraging interaction with peers. Try to do this without the use of slides as an aid, so students have to communicate more with classmates and discover more creative ways to present the material.

It's best to do these kinds of student-led instructional strategies at the beginning of a class, so students can teach one another about what they know, sharing their knowledge and experiences that relate to course material.

6.4. Role play

The use of simulations and games in your instructional toolkit can give you a deeper look at the impact of learning, as well as demonstrate how students can invent and experiment with learned concepts. Role playing also offers students a chance to practice their interpersonal skills in an environment in which they are comfortable and familiar.

Having the opportunity to visualize, model or role play in dynamic situations promotes curiosity, exploration and problem solving. It can aid students in working towards a greater understanding of the material. The more ways that students have of representing the knowledge they've acquired beyond writing and oral explanation, the better their comprehension and recall of the information will be.

In math and science fields, for example, students can experiment with simulated projects that would otherwise be difficult or cost-prohibitive to do in real settings. Examples include: designing a model of a roller coaster to understand slopes, angles and speed; using a hard-boiled egg to demonstrate Newton's Law of Motion; or building a model volcano to understand what makes them erupt.

7. Teaching strategies examples for advanced students

7.1. Curriculum compacting

These instructional strategies encourage educators to identify students who already have advanced knowledge of a subject, skill or concept so they can spend less time on these areas. Curriculum compacting frees students up to focus more on the areas where they need to develop a greater understanding, versus concepts with which they're already proficient. It's ideal when working with individual students or small groups.

7.2. Independent study project

If students appear to be ahead of the class, assign them independent study projects. These projects should allow them to focus on a single concept around material discussed in class. They can also work on a separate but related topic for which they've expressed an interest or passion, making this an inquiry-based learning exercise.

Once the project is completed, the student can share what he or she learned with the class, demonstrating their mastery of the concept, and further educating the rest of the class on a specific area or example.

Independent study projects usually run anywhere from three to four weeks.

8. Organizational instructional strategies

8.1. Agendas

An agenda sets out a comprehensive list of the assignments, activities, projects and tests students are responsible for working on and completing throughout the year, along with a timeline for each. Students can decide how they want to complete the work and in what order. Do they want to focus on one area of learning for an entire week? Do they want to tackle the subject matter they're most comfortable with first, or start with more difficult concepts? In addition to encouraging students to come up with a structure they can follow, agendas help them practice time management skills.

To get going, provide each student with a blank calendar to fill in with their own schedule, ensuring they've organized work in order to meet assignment and project due dates. If different students are working on the same part of an assignment at the same time, consider allowing them to work together during class. Take on the role of a facilitator here, helping students set reasonable deadlines according to their needs.

8.2. Anchor activities

Also referred to as 'sponge' activities, anchor activities are assignments that students must work on immediately in order to maximize instruction time. They can complete these activities at the beginning of every class or right after, but the idea is to keep the learning and educational process going.

Anchor activities might include the student revisiting a question posed in the previous day's class and composing a response to it, or presenting and discussing an answer out loud to a partner. Another option could be drawing a picture to represent a concept they just learned, or writing down an opinion about a key issue. This instructional strategy for teachers can also be used to provide students with notes as a reference when they're studying for exams.

Be mindful of anchor activities that are simply 'busy work' to pass the time. Just as a sponge soaks up water, the goal of anchor activities is to help students soak up a better understanding of a concept or skill.

8.3. Knowledge charts

Before delving into a new topic or concept, have students submit what they already know, what they want to know and what they've learned already. Then, assess their prior knowledge on the subject, and get a feel for how interested they are in a topic.

Knowledge charts, as instructional tools, can also be used at various times to see how students are progressing, and if their interest in the topic is waning or growing. In filling out these graphic organizers, teachers can get an idea of where students are at academically. Students themselves can gauge their own progress and see where more work is needed.

8.4. Learning contracts

Another one of the several instructional strategies aimed at more advanced students is the learning contract. Use it to help students who need to be challenged by providing a specific assignment and list of directives that they must complete within a set period of time. Work with the student to set out the requirements of the contract, and provide a blank calendar they can use to devise a doable timeline, determining what dates and times they need in order to complete different parts of the assignment.

This is an effective instructional strategy to help students set their own learning goals and practice time management skills-both of which are useful in the working world. Once the contract and timeline are set, encourage students who are working on the same parts of the assignment at the same time to work together.

8.5. Portfolio development

Portfolios allow students to gather, organize and illustrate examples of their learning and academic achievements. Portfolio development is the process of creating, collecting, reflecting on and selecting work samples that best showcase students' understanding of a given concept. Once students select their top pieces that best represent their learning outcomes, they can then use a binder or scrapbook to organize their work.

Work samples kept in a portfolio might include notes from an interview, a diagram, storyboards, essays, infographics and more. Portfolio development is a necessary and effective process for most humanities and STEM majors. Art students can use a portfolio to curate their top pieces-whether paintings, drawings or photographs-at the end of the semester. Alternatively, students in architecture or engineering courses can use a portfolio to house mockups and wireframes of a new building or the parts of an engine. No two students' portfolios will include the same work since these differ based on discipline and course.

9. Tiered instructional strategies

9.1. Tiered activities

Set up three or four activities of varying complexity for students to participate in. Each should have the same common goal of helping students understand a specific element of the subject material. For example, it might be different experiments that all explain the basic concept of physics.

Start with a mid-level activity that would apply to most students in the class, then include one that's a step-up in difficulty to challenge students with a better understanding of the material. Alternatively, offer a simplified version for students who are still working to gain a full understanding of the concept.

Place students in groups based on their perceived level, or give a brief description of each of the assignments and let them choose which level they feel most comfortable working in. Once completed, discuss and compare the results.

By the end of this collaborative exercise, each group will have a greater understanding of the material. If students are able to choose which group they join, the teacher will also get a feel for the comfort level of each student.

9.2. Tiered rubrics

Present a couple of rubrics (scoring guides) to students, based on their current level, so they have the skills needed in order to better focus and be successful in class.

The rubrics should all contain the same basic categories, but the point value or required elements should be adjusted based on the student's readiness. For students equipped to take on greater challenges, add more categories or requirements. Conversely, remove some requirements and/or categories for students who need more assistance, or haven't quite grasped the material just yet.

10. Conclusion

In exploring various types of instructional strategies, you'll find that there's something to suit every type of student level, subject and lecture format. When applied effectively, instructional strategies for teaching can help students gain a deeper understanding of course material and encourage critical thinking, beyond basic retention and surface understanding. Educators, too, can benefit by using different teaching methods throughout the semester to determine the efficacy of lesson plans, and how every student is progressing through each concept.

instructional strategies guide , filled with 25 effective activities and best practices to use in any college course.

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Instructional Strategies: The Ultimate Guide for Professors

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Engage, assess and motivate students with these 25 easy-to-use teaching strategies for any discipline. Get started today!

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Research-based strategies

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In today's world, with its rich and overwhelming amount of accessible information, bewildering career options, uncertainty, and change, five skill areas stand out as important for lifelong learning - being able to:

Ask questions, formulate problems and challenges

Search for and process information

Think deeply and flexible

Draw conclusions, apply to learn

Communicate effectively.

It is the premise of this author that competency in all five skill areas, along with a fundamental knowledge base and knowledge of one's own skills, talents, and interests, will significantly increase the probability that a student will be successful in college, career, citizenship, and the ability to adapt to change.

In other blog posts, I have indicated that certain beliefs and principles about teaching and learning support and enhance the development of these skills, and that the project-based learning model is naturally suited to help and support the development of all five skill areas. Other general strategies, such as Problem Based Learning and Creative Problem Solving, are also helpful in developing these skills.

In this blog post, I want to suggest eight types strategies that I believe are extremely useful for developing these skills. They also have the advantage of engaging students in the learning process.
Activators and Summarizers
Activators and summarizers are what we do immediately before and after a formal learning experience. Activators are designed "to engage students' thinking before instruction". They focus students on a goal, problem, challenge or essential question, surface student misconceptions, help students to feel some ownership in what they are learning, and enable teachers to gather data from students and adapt lessons and units to their prior knowledge. Summarizers are designed "to support integration and retention of new learning." They help students to draw conclusions and summarize for themselves what was important, what they have learned, how it is important, and/or how it fits with what they already know.

Multiple types of activities can be used for both activators and summarizers, such as words that come to mind, human treasure hunt, interviews, learning logs, ticket out the door, and "the most important thing about...". A "question-categorization brainstorm" activator also helps students build their question development skills and enables teachers to use student-developed questions to stimulate inquiry.

The above quotes and information (except for the question brainstorm) come from two books that overview and suggest strategies for both activators and summarizes:

Jon Saphier and Mary Ann Haley, Activators, and Jon Saphier and Mary Ann Haley, Summarizers Acton, MA: Research for Better Teaching, 1993. Both of these books can be purchased from the Research for Teaching website or through Amazon.

An Internet search using the terms "activators" and "summarizers" suggests additional resources.
Information Literacy
Information literacy is "the ability to identify what information is needed, understand how the information is organized, identify the best sources of information for a given need, locate those sources, evaluate the sources critically, and share that information. It is the knowledge of commonly used research techniques."[1] Although the term "information literacy" is most often used by librarians, the skills associated with it are critical for living in today's information rich world. Information literacy activities help students to identify a topic for research, formulate questions and problems, search for and find information, evaluate, organize, analyze and synthesize information sources, and share results.

A search of information literacy websites highlight a number of web resources that can be used to help implement information literacy strategies, such as http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/; and http://www.webs.uidaho.edu/info_literacy/
Reading for Understanding
Once a child learns basic reading skills, how can he or she be helped to build comprehension and understanding. In this respect, every teacher is a teacher of reading. Kelly Gallagher gives a good description of Reading for Understanding:

"...we can assign reading in our classrooms, give students shallow reading assignments, and have students pass them. On the surface, everything looks fine: the students read the text and are able to answer the questions. But in reality do they really understand what they have read? They can answer surface level questions, but once you ask them to evaluate, to analyze, to synthesize, they can't do it. Unfortunately, I think a lot of...[this kind of surface level]...reading is going on in our schools."[2]

Reading for Understanding strategies help students go below the surface and find the deeper meaning behind what is being read. They have been developed to improve reading comprehension and the understanding of what is being read for all students in all subject areas. They include Before-During-After reading strategies, SQ3R strategies (if you don't know this, look it up), first and second draft reading, interpretive discussions of text, reflective logs, and many other similar strategies.

A number of resources can be helpful for learning reading for understanding strategies, including:

Ruth Schoelbach, Cynthia Greenleaf, and others. Reading for Understanding. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1999

Kelly Gallagher. Deeper Reading. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers, 2004.

The ASCD series of books on Reading in the Content Areas, especially Sue Beers and Lou Howell, Reading Strategies in the Content Areas. Alexandria, VA; An ASCD Action Tool, 2003.
Visual Learning Tools
Visual learning tools, also called graphic organizers, "assist learners...[in how to visually]...organize and find patterns among the overwhelming amount of information available today, as well as to make sense out of it and evaluate it". [3] Another definition states that visual learning tools "help students collect information, make interpretations, solve problems, devise plans, and become aware of how they think."[4] Multiple types of visual tools have been developed - mind maps, webs, decision trees, analysis charts, before and after reading charts, story maps, and many more.

These two books provide extensive information about visual tools and graphic organizers:

David Hylerle. Visual Tools for Constructing Knowledge. Alexandria, VA:Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), 1996;

Phyllis Green, editor. Graphic Organizer Collection. San Antonio, TX: Novel Units, 1999.

Other resources include software tools such as Inspiration, and "graphic organizers" searches provide a number of sources of information for finding and using visual tools.
"Deep and Flexible Thinking"
Thinking Deeply and Flexibly goes beyond memorization and low level inference making, and involves numerous habits and strategies, among them open-mindedness to new thoughts and ideas, explanation, classifying, comparing and contrasting, argumentation and debate, interpretation, problem solving, creativity, decision making, planning, and the use of logic and reasoning. Strategies range from the types of questions asked of students to strategies that promote specific types of thinking, such as interpretive discussions. In general, teachers should be familiar with a broad array of thinking strategies that promote different types of thinking, and how to employ them in the classroom with their students. Many resources are available for helping teachers learn to teach thinking. Among what I consider the best, collected over the years, are the following:

Louis Raths, Selma Wasserman, et. al. Teaching for Thinking, New Edition. New York: Teacher's College Press, 1986 (A classic book about how to teach for thinking).

Arthur Costa, editor. Developing Minds: A Resource Book for Teaching Thinking, Third Edition. Alexandria, VA; ASCD, 2001 (another classic).

An Internet search using the words "teaching for thinking" yields many other valuable resources. Socratic discussion principles for classroom use can be found through Shared Inquiry discussion procedures at the Great Books Foundation, and the Touchstones Discussion Project.
Interactive Notebooks
With interactive notebooks, students are taught how to record, collect, and organize information in traditional formats from a teacher, text, or additional resources, and also are given creative, deep thinking assignments that help them to see connections, dig more deeply into learning, do analyses, synthesize data in interesting ways, and become independent, creative thinkers and writers. This approach is a terrific way for students to organize a notebook so that they collect, organize, synthesize, explore, and apply information in meaningful ways.

Practically, many teachers have students organize their interactive notebooks by using either the left or right side of the page for recording and collecting information in traditional ways, and the opposite side of the page for creative activities. Some teachers have students keep one section of a notebook for notes and another for creative, higher order thinking activities.

For more information, search "interactive notebook" on the web, and go to:
http://www.slideshare.net/elonahartjes/introducing-interactive-notebooks Writing Process/Writer's Workshop
Writing Process and Writer's Workshop are two ways to significantly increase skills in communicating through all types of writing, and at the same time use writing to enhance the development of the five skill areas. Writing process encourages students to improve writing gradually, over time, like professional writers do, rather than writing all at once and just once. The writing process consists of five stages - pre-writing activities, initial writing, revising, editing, and "publishing" (sharing writing with others). The writing process encourages students to ask good questions and formulate problems in the re-write stage, process information in the initial writing phase, and so on.

In writer's workshop, specific class time is dedicated solely to writing and students are treated as budding authors. "As in professional writing workshops, the emphasis is placed on sharing work with the class, on peer conferencing and editing, and on the collection of a wide variety of work in a writing folder, and eventually in a portfolio. Teachers write with their students and share their own work as well. The workshop setting encourages students to think of themselves as writers, and to take their writing seriously." [5]

Among the many sources of information about the writing process is the website:
http://www.angelfire.com/wi/writingprocess/
An overview of writer's workshop by Steven Peha, Welcome to Writer's Workshop, can be downloaded at:
http://www.ttms.org/PDFs/05%20Writers%20Workshop%20v001%20(Full).pdf Think-Pair-Share and Wait Time
One of the dangers of traditional discussions and question-answer sessions in the classroom is that certain students who think quickly dominate. Think-Pair-Share and Wait Time strategies enable many more students to speak their thoughts out loud, develop answers to questions, participate in discussions, think at higher levels, and become much more involved and engaged in the learning process. Both Think-Pair-Share and Wait Time slow the discussion and question session down and give all students time to think through their answers, search for appropriate information, and in general become better learners.

Search for think-pair-share and wait time on the Internet for more information; or

Go to: http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/de/pd/instr/categ.html (there are also many other interesting strategies at this site)
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Other strategies could be selected, but I believe every teacher should be familiar with these eight and decide on when and whether they are worth using in their classrooms.

What are your thoughts and comments about these eight? Would you add any to this list? Modify or subtract any? What key strategies do you believe significantly enhance learning in a 21 st century world?

[1] From the following website: http://www.webs.uidaho.edu/info_literacy/

[2] Kelly Gallagher, Deeper Reading. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers, 2004.

[3] David Hylerle. Visual Tools for Constructing Knowledge. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), 1996.

[4] Phyllis Green, editor. Graphic Organizer Collection. San Antonio, TX: Novel Units, 1999.

[5] Steven Peha, Welcome to Writer's Workshop. This document can be found as a PDF file at the Teaching That Makes Sense website, www.ttms.org
Seif is an educational consultant and author. He served for 15 years as the director of curriculum and instruction services for the Bucks County Intermediate Unit, an educational service agency in Bucks County, Penn. He was also a social studies teacher, professor of education at Temple University, and the director of the Pennsylvania Future Problem Solving Program.

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Eight Types of Instructional Strategies That Improve Learning in a 21st Century World - ASCD Inservice

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In today's world, with its rich and overwhelming amount of accessible information, bewildering career options, uncertainty, and change, five skill areas stand out as important for lifelong learning - being able to: Ask questions, formulate problems and challenges Search for and process information Think deeply and flexible Draw conclusions, apply to learn Communicate effectively.

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HOT Question starters

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Differentiating Instruction: It’s Not as Hard as You Think

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"A formative assessment is just a first step. Adapting instruction to meet student needs is next. If results show gaps in understanding, “you can’t re-teach students in the same way,” says Judith Dodge, an author and a former teacher. “That’s like shouting at a deaf person. If they didn’t get it the first time, they need a different route to understanding.”

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Ideas for Formative Assessment

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Formative assessment-discovering what students know while they're still in the process of learning it-can be tricky. Designing just the right assessment can feel high stakes-for teachers, not students-because we're using it to figure out what comes next. Are we ready to move on? Do our students need a different path into the concepts? Or, more likely, which students are ready to move on and which need a different path?

When it comes to figuring out what our students really know, we have to look at more than one kind of information. A single data point-no matter how well designed the quiz, presentation, or problem behind it-isn't enough information to help us plan the next step in our instruction.

Add to that the fact that different learning tasks are best measured in different ways, and we can see why we need a variety of formative assessment tools we can deploy quickly, seamlessly, and in a low-stakes way-all while not creating an unmanageable workload. That's why it's important to keep it simple: Formative assessments generally just need to be checked, not graded, as the point is to get a basic read on the progress of individuals, or the class as a whole.

7 Approaches to Formative Assessment

1. Entry and exit slips: Those marginal minutes at the beginning and end of class can provide some great opportunities to find out what kids remember. Start the class off with a quick question about the previous day's work while students are getting settled-you can ask differentiated questions written out on chart paper or projected on the board, for example.

A quick way to see the big picture if you use paper exit tickets is to sort the papers into three piles: Students got the point; they sort of got it; and they didn't get it. The size of the stacks is your clue about what to do next.

No matter the tool, the key to keeping students engaged in the process of just-walked-in or almost-out-the-door formative assessment is the questions. Ask students to write for one minute on the most meaningful thing they learned. You can try prompts like:

What are three things you learned, two things you're still curious about, and one thing you don't understand?

How would you have done things differently today, if you had the choice?

What I found interesting about this work was...

Right now I'm feeling...

Today was hard because...

Or skip the words completely and have students draw or circle emojis to represent their assessment of their understanding.

2. Low-stakes quizzes and polls: If you want to find out whether your students really know as much as you think they know, polls and quizzes created with Socrative or Quizlet or in-class games and tools like Quizalize, Kahoot, FlipQuiz, Gimkit, Plickers, and Flippity can help you get a better sense of how much they really understand. (Grading quizzes but assigning low point values is a great way to make sure students really try: The quizzes matter, but an individual low score can't kill a student's grade.) Kids in many classes are always logged in to these tools, so formative assessments can be done very quickly. Teachers can see each kid's response, and determine both individually and in aggregate how students are doing.

Because you can design the questions yourself, you determine the level of complexity. Ask questions at the bottom of Bloom's taxonomy and you'll get insight into what facts, vocabulary terms, or processes kids remember. Ask more complicated questions ("What advice do you think Katniss Everdeen would offer Scout Finch if the two of them were talking at the end of chapter 3?"), and you'll get more sophisticated insights.

3. Dipsticks: So-called alternative formative assessments are meant to be as easy and quick as checking the oil in your car, so they're sometimes referred to as dipsticks. These can be things like asking students to:

write a letter explaining a key idea to a friend,

draw a sketch to visually represent new knowledge, or

do a think, pair, share exercise with a partner.

Your own observations of students at work in class can provide valuable data as well, but they can be tricky to keep track of. Taking quick notes on a tablet or smartphone, or using a copy of your roster, is one approach. A focused observation form is more formal and can help you narrow your note-taking focus as you watch students work.

4. Interview assessments: If you want to dig a little deeper into students' understanding of content, try discussion-based assessment methods. Casual chats with students in the classroom can help them feel at ease even as you get a sense of what they know, and you may find that five-minute interview assessments work really well. Five minutes per student would take quite a bit of time, but you don't have to talk to every student about every project or lesson.

You can also shift some of this work to students using a peer-feedback process called TAG feedback (Tell your peer something they did well, Ask a thoughtful question, Give a positive suggestion). When you have students share the feedback they have for a peer, you gain insight into both students' learning.

For more introverted students-or for more private assessments-use Flipgrid, Explain Everything, or Seesaw to have students record their answers to prompts and demonstrate what they can do.

5. Methods that incorporate art: Consider using visual art or photography or videography as an assessment tool. Whether students draw, create a collage, or sculpt, you may find that the assessment helps them synthesize their learning. Or think beyond the visual and have kids act out their understanding of the content. They can create a dance to model cell mitosis or act out stories like Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants" to explore the subtext.

6. Misconceptions and errors: Sometimes it's helpful to see if students understand why something is incorrect or why a concept is hard. Ask students to explain the " muddiest point" in the lesson-the place where things got confusing or particularly difficult or where they still lack clarity. Or do a misconception check: Present students with a common misunderstanding and ask them to apply previous knowledge to correct the mistake, or ask them to decide if a statement contains any mistakes at all, and then discuss their answers.

You can use sticky notes to get a quick insight into what areas your kids think they need to work on. Ask them to pick their own trouble spot from three or four areas where you think the class as a whole needs work, and write those areas in separate columns on a whiteboard. Have you students answer on a sticky note and then put the note in the correct column-you can see the results at a glance.

Several self-assessments let the teacher see what every kid thinks very quickly. For example, you can use colored stacking cups that allow kids to flag that they're all set (green cup), working through some confusion (yellow), or really confused and in need of help (red).

Similar strategies involve using participation cards for discussions (each student has three cards-"I agree," "I disagree," and "I don't know how to respond") and thumbs-up responses (instead of raising a hand, students hold a fist at their belly and put their thumb up when they're ready to contribute). Students can instead use six hand gestures to silently signal that they agree, disagree, have something to add, and more. All of these strategies give teachers an unobtrusive way to see what students are thinking.

No matter which tools you select, make time to do your own reflection to ensure that you're only assessing the content and not getting lost in the assessment fog. If a tool is too complicated, is not reliable or accessible, or takes up a disproportionate amount of time, it's OK to put it aside and try something different.

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7 Smart, Fast Ways to Do Formative Assessment

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Within these methods you'll find close to 40 tools and tricks for finding out what your students know while they're still learning.

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Formative Assessment ideas

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contributed by Saga Briggs

The ultimate goal of teaching is understanding.

But sometimes it's easier to talk than to teach, as we all know, especially when we need to cover a lot of material in a short amount of time. We hope students will understand, if not now then before test time, and we keep our fingers crossed that their results will indicate we've done our job.

The problem is, we often rely on these tests to measure understanding and then we move on. There isn't always time to address weaknesses and misunderstandings after the tests have been graded, and the time to help students learn through strategies to ask great questions is gone.

Below are 22 simple assessment strategies and tips to help you become more frequent in your teaching, planning, and curriculum design.

Book TeachThought Professional Development for training on assessment practices that grow teachers
22 Simple Assessment Strategies & Tips You Can Use Every Day 1. An open-ended question that gets them writing/talking
Avoid yes/no questions and phrases like "Does this make sense?" In response to these questions, students usually answer 'yes.' So, of course, it's surprising when several students later admit that they're lost.

To help students grasp ideas in class, ask open-ended questions that require students that get students writing/talking. They can reveal more than you would've thought to ask directly.
2. Ask students to reflect
During the last five minutes of class ask students to reflect on the lesson and write down what they've learned. Then, ask them to consider how they would apply this concept or skill in a practical setting. Exit ticketsmake this easy to administer and review student answers.
3. Use quizzes
Give a short quiz at the end of class to check for comprehension.
4. Ask students to summarize
Have students summarize or paraphrase important concepts and lessons. This can be done orally, visually, or otherwise.
5. Hand signals
Hand signals can be used to rate or indicate students' understanding of content. Students can show anywhere from five fingers to signal maximum understanding to one finger to signal minimal understanding. This strategy requires engagement by all students and allows the teacher to check for understanding within a large group.
6. Response cards
Index cards, signs, whiteboards, magnetic boards, or other items are simultaneously held up by all students in class to indicate their response to a question or problem presented by the teacher. Using response devices, the teacher can easily note the responses of individual students while teaching the whole group.
7. Four corners
A quick and easy snapshot of student understanding, Four Corners provides an opportunity for student movement while permitting the teacher to monitor and assess understanding.

The teacher poses a question or makes a statement. Students then move to the appropriate corner of the classroom to indicate their response to the prompt. For example, the corner choices might include "I strongly agree," "I strongly disagree," "I agree somewhat," and "I'm not sure."
8. Think-pair-share
Students take a few minutes to think about the question or prompt. Next, they pair with a designated partner to compare thoughts before sharing with the whole class.
9. Choral reading
Students mark text to identify a particular concept and chime in, reading the marked text aloud in unison with the teacher. This strategy helps students develop fluency; differentiate between the reading of statements and questions; and practice phrasing, pacing, and reading dialogue.
10. One question quiz
Ask a single focused question with a specific goal that can be answered within a minute or two. You can quickly scan the written responses to assess student understanding.
11. Socratic seminar
Students ask questions of one another about an essential question, topic, or selected text. The questions initiate a conversation that continues with a series of responses and additional questions. Students learn to formulate questions that address issues to facilitate their own discussion and arrive at a new understanding.
12. 3-2-1
Students consider what they have learned by responding to the following prompt at the end of the lesson: 3) things they learned from your lesson; 2) things they want to know more about; and 1) questions they have. The prompt stimulates student reflection on the lesson and helps to process the learning.
13. Ticket out the door
Students write in response to a specific prompt for a short period of time. Teachers collect their responses as a "ticket out the door" to check for students' understanding of a concept taught. This exercise quickly generates multiple ideas that could be turned into longer pieces of writing at a later time.
14. Journal reflections
Students write their reflections on a lesson, such as what they learned, what caused them difficulty, strategies they found helpful, or other lesson-related topics. Students can reflect on and process lessons. By reading student work-especially -types of learning journals that help students think-teachers can identify class and individual misconceptions and successes. (See also
15. Formative pencil-paper assessment
Students respond individually to short, pencil-paper formative assessments of skills and knowledge taught in the lesson. Teachers may elect to have students self-correct. The teacher collects assessment results to monitor individual student progress and to inform future instruction.

Both student and teacher can quickly assess whether the student acquired the intended knowledge and skills. This is a formative assessment, so a grade is not the intended purpose.
16. Misconception check
Present students with common or predictable misconceptions about a concept you're covering. Ask them whether they agree or disagree and to explain why.
17. Analogy prompt
Teaching with analogies can be powerful. Periodically, present students with an analogy prompt: "the concept being covered is like ____ because ____."
18. Practice frequency
Check for understanding at least three times a lesson, minimum.
19. Use variety
Teachers should use enough different individual and whole group techniques to check understanding that they accurately know what all students know. More than likely, this means during a single class the same technique should not be repeated.
20. Make it useful
The true test is whether or not you can adjust your course or continue as planned based on the information received in each check. Do you need to stop and start over? Pull a few students aside for three minutes to re-teach? Or move on?
21. Peer instruction
Perhaps the most accurate way to check for understanding is to have one student try to teach another student what she's learned. If she can do that successfully, it's clear she understood your lesson.
22. "Separate what you do and don't understand"
Whether making a t-chart, drawing a concept map, or using some other means, have the students not simply list what they think they know, but what they don't know as well. This won't be as simple as it sounds-we're usually not aware of what we don't know.

They'll also often know more or less than they can identify themselves, which makes this strategy a bit crude. But that's okay-the goal isn't for them to be precise and complete in their self-evaluation the goal is for you to gain insight as to what they do and don't know.

And seeing what they can even begin to articulate on their own is an excellent starting point here.
This post was written by Saga Briggins and was first published by on opencolleges.edu.au; 20 Simple Assessment Strategies You Can Use Every Day

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22 Simple Assessment Strategies You Can Use Every Day

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contributed by Saga Briggs The ultimate goal of teaching is understanding. But sometimes it's easier to talk than to teach, as we all know, especially when we need to cover a lot of material in a short amount of time.

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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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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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If you were to start singing "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider" right now, I bet you'd have a hard time keeping your hands still. That's because most of us who know the song learned it with gestures, and things we learn with physical movement tend to stick.

We can apply that same principle to classroom learning, using movement to enhance learning from preschool all the way through college. Let's take a look at what the research says about movement-based learning, then explore six different ways you can add more movement to your instruction.

The Research on Movement

The concept of "learning styles" has overwhelmingly been labeled a myth by researchers, so attempting to determine which of your students are kinesthetic learners will not be a good use of your time. What is worth your time is using movement when working with all learners, because plenty of research backs that up.

In general, people learn better when information is presented in more than one way (Sankey, Birch, & Gardiner, 2010). In other words, if we take in information through more than one sense, we're more likely to encode it in long-term memory. This would include visual, verbal, and kinesthetic modes of learning.

Specifically, the use of gestures results in more enduring learning than learning without gestures (Cook, Yip, & Goldin-Meadow, S, 2010). So even the addition of a few small hand gestures can have an impact on how well students remember material.

Study after study shows that physical activity activates the brain, improves cognitive function, and is correlated with improved academic performance (Donnelly & Lambourne, 2011). This means any kind of physical activity, not just movement associated with the material we're learning, can benefit students academically.

Six Ways to Add Movement to Instruction

1. Total Physical Response

Developed for use with second-language learners in the 1960's ( Asher, 1966), Total Physical Response simply has students act out physical gestures to represent vocabulary words. Shown to be highly effective with both children (Singh, 2011) and adults ( Carruthers, 2010), TPR can also be used to help learners remember new vocabulary terms in their native language. In other words, it can be used in any content area, with any student.

This video from the Teacher Toolkit shows Texas teacher Michael Rowland using TPR with his third grade students, who are English learners.

And here is Craig Gaslow, another Texas teacher who teaches AP Human Geography, demonstrating how he uses TPR to teach three different models of diffusion:

https://youtu.be/9HtrVh2Dzzs

Finally, here are Scott Causer's high school students demonstrating a few earth science processes using TPR:

What strategies support learning? Here's high school science using TPR to recall processes in Earth Science -thanks Mr. Causer and team for modeling! @ESMSchoolDist @cultofpedagogy pic.twitter.com/njoAaVdBB9
- Naomi Trivison (@NaomiTrivison) March 30, 2019

2. Tableau/Snapshot

In this strategy, students create a physical "snapshot" with their bodies, a still picture that represents an idea.

This example, demonstrated by 4th grade teacher Stefannie Cundiff, comes from Teacher Toolkit:

Another example is explained in this Slides presentation by Tyler Jacobs, an Idaho-based high school ELA and social studies teacher. Click the image below to view the slideshow in a new window:

3. Simulations

In these, students demonstrate a concept with some kind of motion or interactivity. They could represent non-human components, like in the examples below, or they might actually take on the role of humans in a re-enactment of an event.

The first example comes from the University of British Columbia, where electrical engineering professor Matthew Yedlin has students simulate the difference between linear growth and exponential growth:

The second example, a simulation of the circulatory system, comes from Michelle Cliche, who teaches grades 4 and 5 in London, Ontario, Canada.

Ss learned about the complexity of the circulatory system by acting out delivery of blood through red & blue bean bags. S in middle is ❤️ directing blood flow to different organs. Later, we did this on playground climbers because heart has to pump 'up'. pic.twitter.com/dhzTqRTEOp
- Michelle Cliche (@Clicheteach) March 29, 2019

Finally, here's a different kind of simulation demonstrated by Amy Tepperman, where participants show fractions by placing different body parts on the floor, Twister-style:

An important note about simulations: If you are doing simulations about historical periods or events, proceed with caution. Many, many teachers have ended up traumatizing students with these types of simulations. This article from Learning for Justice explores the topic in depth.

4. Songs with Movement

Songs are another powerful way to teach concepts to students, and if the songs also incorporate movement, even better.

Dan Adler, a 6th grade science teacher in Lawrence, MA, regularly uses songs with physical movements to help his students remember challenging concepts. In this video, students demonstrate "Bodak Particles," a song about phase change sung to an instrumental version of Cardi B's song "Bodak Yellow." (Get a copy of the lyrics here.)

Check out our science scholars rapping about phase changes! pic.twitter.com/uO3sJQubgw
- UP Academy Leonard (@up_leonard) November 8, 2018

5. Virtual and Augmented Reality

The experiences offered by virtual and augmented reality allow students to move around in and interact with virtual objects and spaces in ways that would be difficult if not impossible to pull off in the real world.

Augmented Reality layers digital enhancements on top of objects in the real, physical world. Using a device, like a smartphone, loaded with AR software, users point it at a picture or physical object, and the software brings up some kind of digital element like a 3D animation, text, or a video. ( Pokémon Go is an example of an AR game.)

One set of AR tools that have tremendous learning potential comes from a company called Merge. Their Merge Cube is a handheld cube that can "become" a variety of objects when paired with the Merge Goggles, as shown below:

Virtual Reality immerses the user in a 360-degree environment, a computer-generated simulation, viewable through a VR headset, and allows them to move through and interact with that environment.

One outstanding source for VR experiences is Google Expeditions, which offers tours to over 500 different locations: historical landmarks, national and state parks, underwater sites, and up-close studies of scientific phenomena.

And if you don't find the exact tour you want, you and your students can even create your own expeditions with Google Tour Creator.

6. Brain Breaks

I left this one for the end because it's the easiest to implement. This brain breaks guide from the University of Texas summarizes the research on the connection between movement and academic achievement and offers dozens of ideas for brain breaks that can be put into action immediately.

Brain break videos are super easy to find on YouTube, especially for younger kids. My daughter came home from first grade years ago excited to demonstrate this one for me:

But what about older kids? High school math teacher David Sladkey has written a a book, Energizing Brain Breaks ( Amazon | Bookshop.org), that has ideas for all ages, even middle and high school kids who may not be as comfortable with the Tooty Ta. in this video, students demonstrate a simple toe-tapping brain break:

Tips for Getting Started

Don't overdo it. Attempting to add a movement component to every concept students learn would not only be too time-consuming, it could also get old, shifting from a fun novelty to something that causes students to slump over in their seats and say, Not THAT again!!

Get input from students. When coming up with gestures or movements, you don't have to rely solely on your own brain. Ask students to help you come up with ideas. Involving students in the process will help them remember concepts better and will increase the likelihood that you'll end up with really effective movements.

Know what works for your students. Some of your students may not be comfortable with or physically able to do certain movements, so keep that in mind and make modifications based on ability and need.

Use movement for retrieval practice. Rather than using movement in a single lesson, apply the principles of retrieval practice by repeating the movements in short practice sessions, spacing them out over time, and interleaving concepts with one another.

For younger students, meaningful gestures matter more. While adults learn from both iconic gestures (those that have some meaning in relation to the concept they are connected to) and beat gestures (those that have no inherent meaning but are just tied to particular "beats" in a sentence or phrase), younger children learned more from iconic gestures (So, Sim Chen-Hui, & Low Wei-Shan, 2012). So when working with younger students, try to make the gestures match the concepts in some way.

References

Asher, J. J. (1969). The total physical response approach to second language learning. The modern language journal, 53(1), 3-17.

Carruthers, S. W. (2010). The total physical response method and its compatibility to adult ESL-learners. Retrieved from http://tesolteachers.net/t.pdf

Cook, S. W., Yip, T. K., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2010). Gesturing makes memories that last. Journal of memory and language, 63(4), 465-475.

Donnelly, J. E., & Lambourne, K. (2011). Classroom-based physical activity, cognition, and academic achievement. Preventive medicine, 52, S36-S42.

Sankey, M., Birch, D., & Gardiner, M. (2010). Engaging students through multimodal learning environments: The journey continues. In Proceedings ASCILITE 2010: 27th annual conference of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education: Curriculum, technology and transformation for an unknown future (pp. 852-863). University of Queensland.

Singh, J. P. (2011). Effectiveness of total physical response. Academic Voices: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 1, 20-22.

So, W. C., Sim Chen-Hui, C., & Low Wei-Shan, J. (2012). Mnemonic effect of iconic gesture and beat gesture in adults and children: Is meaning in gesture important for memory recall?. Language and Cognitive Processes, 27(5), 665-681.

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Physical movement makes learning stick better, and today we're exploring six ways you can add more movement to your classroom.

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We know that students learn best when they are truly engaged in what they are learning, when they have the opportunity to explore, debate, discuss, examine, defend, and experiment with the concepts and skills they are ready to learn.

Students learn best when instruction is:

Appropriately Challenging

Kids (and adults!) learn best when they start at their current level of understanding and are challenged - with support (teacher, peers, materials, etc.) - just beyond what they are comfortable doing on their own. (See Zone of Proximal Development)

The student's background knowledge and current skill level are more important than their age/grade level in determining what they are ready to learn.

Use a variety of data (assessment scores, classroom performance, etc.) to identify what each student is ready to work on and plan instruction accordingly, modifying content or activities as needed. Use daily informal formative assessment strategies to monitor student progress and verify that students are demonstrating a gain in understanding of the skills and concepts.

Based on Real-World Problems and Situations

Students need to understand how the skills and concepts they are learning fit into their lives. When will they need to use decimals? How does democracy affect them? How will they benefit from being able to better understand what they read? Connect the skills and concepts to things that already know. Make them relevant.

Purposeful

You (and your students) should be able to explain the purpose of each activity or assignments. Why is it worth spending time on? What are they expected to learn?

Meaningful and Interesting

We shouldn't be waiting until spring before we begin the "fun" activities. We know that these activities are the ones that students love, that they remember.

Use engaging activities all year:

Use science experiments to practice math skills

Use interesting current events or social studies projects to work on reading and language

Use art projects to practice math concepts such as ratio, proportion and patterns

Get kids moving!

Working on measurement? Go outside and measure how far kids can jump, how fast they can run. Measure shadows, the diameter of a light post, the distance around the building.

Talking about point of view? Have students stand on their chairs.

Reading out loud? Have students stand up and walk around the classroom in a circle as they read along.

Practice vocabulary or math facts as students walk, one per sidewalk square or stair step.

Kids will learn the basic skills better when they have the chance to practice them in a meaningful, interesting context... And these types of activities make teaching more fun and fulfilling, and make school a more pleasant place to be.

Remember: No one instructional method will work for all students, for all teachers, or in all subject areas. Think of these ideas as places to start in figuring out what works most effectively for you and your students.

Strategy Ideas:

Alternative Assessments:

"Assessment" can refer to end-of-unit tests or projects, quizzes and graded class assignments as well as informal progress checks throughout each day

Wide variety of possibilities, including:

Use of different checklists or rubrics, or similar rubrics with adapted scales

Use of different tests/assessments

Adapt existing test/assessment so that specific parts of the test only have to be completed by specific groups of students

Allow a student to respond to test questions orally instead of in writing, or typing on a computer instead of writing by hand

Allow a student to respond by demonstrating the skill (For example, a student may use a light bulb, battery and some wire to build an electric circuit rather than drawing a diagram or writing a paragraph about it.)
Assess what is most important for the student to know. Is is more important that he know what a circuit is or more important that he can write a description?

Minimal Prep Time Version: Include as part of the assessment several questions of varying complexity or focused on different aspects of the concept, and then allow students to make some choices about which ones they answer. (Example: Students are required to answer question 1 but can choose from questions 2-4 for their second response.)

Anchor Activities (or Sponge Activities):

Prep Time Varies; Monitor Progress, Work Together, Share Ideas & Opinions, Take Notes

Designed for students to work on either immediately at the beginning of class time or after their class work has been completed, so that their instructional time is maximized

Possibilities include:

Have students respond in writing or out-loud with a partner to a question on the board about the previous day's lesson

Have students draw a graphic organizer to be used for notetaking later in class

Provide students with notes or vocabulary to copy for use as a reference during the day's lesson

Beneficial for classroom management as well as instruction

Intended to extend or deepen understanding of a concept or skill, not just to be busy work

Resources, Examples and More Information

Appointment Clocks:

Requires Some Prep Time; Form Groups, Get Moving!, Work Together

Used to quickly put students in pairs or small groups

Make a copy of the clock for each student. The names of other students go at each hour mark around the clock so that asking students to find their "1 o'clock" partner puts the students in pairs, for example.

Allow students to choose partners for some times on the clock, but decide some of the partners ahead of time so that you know, for example, that the 2 o'clock partners are students with similar skills in reading or that the 5 o'clock partners have similar interests.

Centers (or Stations):
More Prep Time Required; Work Together, Adapt Content, Share Ideas & Opinions

Centers can be used to arrange various activities and assignments by level of difficulty or by interest.

By Academic Skill Level: Set up 3-4 experiments that deal with the same concept, but that vary in complexity. Lower-level students may work on the experiment with fewer steps while higher-level students work on a more complicated task.

By Learning Style: Set up stations focused on the same concept but designed for different modalities. Auditory learners may listen to a recording of text while visual learners examine maps and posters and kinesthetic learners use manipulatives.

By Interest: Set up stations focusing that provide additional information about and enrichment of specific components of the concepts being studied. Allow students to choose which component they spend their time working on.

Choice Boards:

Options posted for students to choice from after they have completed their classwork. Choices can be individualized based on student need or interest.

Helps with classroom management because students know what their choices are; less time wasted.

Print choices on cards and glue magnets on the back so the choices can easily be put up or taken down based on what's appropriate for the time available (ie., if student works requires a quiet room, choices may be limited to "silent reading" or "work on homework," etc.

Six commands or questions, written on the sides of a cube. Students roll the cube and respond. Cubes may be used to differentiate by readiness or interest.

Ideas:

Describe, Compare, Contrast, Apply, Predict, Imagine - Use with any two or three things/concepts/ideas (people from history, current events, mathematical formulas, elements from the periodic table, geometric shapes, countries, chocolate bars - the possibilities are endless!

Who, What, When, Where, Why, How - Have students come up with questions about a current topic of study. Students can exchange questions with others to answer.

Sample Cubing Lesson: Primary Reading - Concepts of Print

Create two or three different cubes, each with questions at different levels of complexity. Assign students to work in small groups and respond (on paper or out loud) to the questions on their assigned cube.

Use to determine where each student will start when rotating through multiple activities, to randomly create student groups for an assignment

Minimal Prep Time Version:Write the six commands/questions on the board, numbered 1-6. Have the students roll a dice to determine which one to respond to.

Curriculum Compacting:

Used for individual or small groups of students with advanced knowledge of the concepts or skills to be studied

Identify the skills or aspects of the concepts with which the students are already proficient. Spend less time on those parts of the curriculum, allowing the students to focus on what the really need to learn and understand.

Exit Ticket/Ticket Out the Door:

At the end of a class period ask students to take out a piece of scrap paper, or hand out blank index cards (keep a stack readily available) and ask students a question related to that day's lesson. Students write their responses on the paper or index card which they then hand to the teacher at the door as they leave the classroom.

See "Reflection and Response" for question ideas

Use the student responses to determine if they need additional practice on the skill/concept

Student responses may be used to create small groups for the next day's lesson - grouping students with similar levels of understanding of the skill/concept or with similar (or differing) opinions or views on the topic

On each wall of the classroom, post signs that say: "Strongly Agree," "Agree," "Disagree," "Strongly Disagree"

Present students with a statement related to a concept or topic currently being studied

Have students respond to the statement by moving and standing under the sign that represents their opinion

Give the students 1-2 minutes to discuss with in their groups why they chose that place to stand

Optional: Have students partner with someone from another side and try to persuade them to change their opinion

Small groups for an activity can be formed by having the students work with the others who chose the same side or by taking one person from each side to create groups of four with differing viewpoints.

Grade as You Go:

Use with classwork involving repetitive practice, such as a math or language worksheet

As students work (alone or with a partner), circulate around the classroom checking answers on the students' work. Mark correct answers on their papers with the tip of a colored marker (Crayola "Stampers" work particularly well).

Benefits:

Students get immediate feedback on what they are doing correctly.

Students can go back to the answers that weren't correct and try again. (This works well when the students are in partners; they can talk through what they've done and help each other.) Identifying their mistakes now will help reduce the chance of repeating the same mistakes again later.

If students are struggling, they will know that their answers aren't correct sooner rather than later and can work to identify the mistakes they're making instead of spending the class period repeatedly getting the problems wrong (and potentially reinforcing the incorrect way to solve the problem).

If a student is working quickly and getting all of the problems correct (demonstrating a good understanding of the skill), you may choose not to require him to complete the assignment, but to move on to something else instead.

You will know right away if the class as a whole is ready to move on to the next skill.

When the assignments are turned in, they're already graded!

Heads Together:

Works especially well for students already working in small groups, especially if they are sitting at a table or cluster of desks together

How It Works:

1. Present a question to the class. Announce "Heads Together!"

2. Students stand up and lean in toward the others in the small group - literally heads together!

3. In their group, students discuss answers to the question

4. After a minute or two, announce "Heads Apart!"

5. Students end their discussion and sit back down.

6. Follow up with whole group discussion and continue with the lesson.

Benefits:

Every student participates

Standing up - that little bit of physical activity - can be enough to increase student engagement and get their focus back on the work at hand

Leaning together helps keep the noise level down while so many student groups are having conversations at once

Can be used as needed with no prior planning - If a lesson is dragging, if students are distracted, tired, or not paying attention, use this strategy to get them back on track and refocused.

Homework Options:

Prep Time Varies; Monitor Progress, Adapt Content

Assign homework based on a student's level of readiness. All students may be working on the same concept or skill, but are assigned homework of varying level of difficulty.

Another option: Students may be given assignments focusing on different skills, based on their individual needs, to give them a chance to practice the skills each student needs most.

Works well with small groups needing to cover large amounts of material

Divide the material to be covered in 3-5 parts. Put the same number of students in each small group. One student is each group is assigned to cover one of the parts of the materials. The student's job is to become the "expert" on their portion of the material so that they can then share what they've learned with the rest of their group.

1. Students read their assigned material independently

2. Students meet with those from other groups that read the same material to discuss what was most important and what needs to be taught to their groups. (optional)

3. Students meet with their small groups and to share what they've learned with each other. Follow with whole group discussion of the most important points.

Columns: "What I Know," "What I Want to Know," and "What I Learned"

Can be used at the beginning of a unit to assess students' background knowledge and interest in the topic, or it can be used at various points throughout the unit to assess student progress. Students can track their own progress and help determine what they most need to work on next.

Learning Contracts:

Works well with individual students or small groups in need of a challenge

Detailed list of directions and assignments for the student to complete within a set period of time. Teacher and student work together to establish contract requirements and due dates. Can be effectively used to develop goal-setting.

Can be used to practice time-management as well. Provide students with a blank calendar have students schedule days/class periods when they will work on each part of the contract in order to meet the final due date. Students working on the same part of the contract during the same class perdiod may have the option of working togther.

Literature Circles:

Requires Some Prep Time; Compare & Contrast, Form Groups, Get Moving!, Work Together, Adapt Content, Share Ideas & Opinions

Small groups of students, arranged by readiness level or interest, reading and responding to a novel together

Idea: The whole class may be reading novels by the same author or that have similar themes, but each literature circle group has a novel that is specifically appropriate for them. This allows for whole group discussion as well as small group work.
A few times a year, allow students to choose their own groups. Present them with the novels to be studied for a particular unit (basic plot summary, reading level, book length, etc.) and let students choose which book they are each most interested in. They'll then work with others who chose the same book.

Encourage groups to move their desks into a circle, to sit together on the floor or to otherwise move out of their normal seating to encourage discussion and an emphasis on actively working as a learning team instead of more passively listening to a teacher

Menus (or Agendas):

List of assignments, activities, or projects a student will work on during a set amount of time (ie. one class period, one week, one unit). Students may choose the order which they complete the work.

"Main Course" Items: Assignments that the student is required to complete

"Side Dish" Items: Students choose 2-3 assignments from a list of options

"Dessert" Items: Optional items that students may choose for additional enrichment or practice

Agenda format may be structured more loosely, such as the low-prep example below

Like Learning Contracts, Menus/Agendas can be used to practice time-management as well. Provide students with a blank calendar have students schedule days/class periods when they will work on each part of the contract in order to meet the final due date. Students working on the same part of the contract during the same class period may have the option of working together.

Materials/Resources: Reading Agenda - Novel Study (Word)

Mini White Boards:

Provide each student with a small white board (10-12 inches square), a dry erase marker and a tissue (to wipe the board clean between questions). Ask a question or write a problem on the board. Ask students to respond on their white boards, which they hold up once they have an answer written.

Can also be used for questions based on opinion or that potentially have multiple right answers. After students hold up their answers, have them find a partner with a different answer. Give them each one minute to explain to their new parters why their own answer is the right one. Have the students come back together and discuss any changes in opinion.

Or, have students form small groups with others who gave the same or similar answers. Use these student groups for the day's lesson.

Benefits:

You will get immediate feedback about which students understand the concept or skill and which students may need some additional support.

All students participate. Holding up the answers increases the accountability and engagement for everyone.

Materials/Resources:

Cheaper White Boards: At your local home improvement store, buy a large, plain white piece of the material used for shower walls. Ask to have it cut into 10-12 inch squares (enough to have a class set). Cheap, but they can last for years.

Another Option: Instead of a white board, use a heavy-duty, clear page protector with white cardstock inside. As a bonus, you can layer the plain white cardstock with graph paper, a black-line master of a map, or a copy of whatever students need for the skill they're practicing.

Orbitals (Independent Study Projects):

3-4 week independent study projects intended to provide enrichment

Effective for use with individual students who have already mastered the concepts the class will be working on. Provides an opportunity for them to focus on a part of the concept or separate topic of particular interest to the student (possibility something he or she is passionate about). Allow the student to share with the class what he or she has learned at the conclusion of the project. For example, while the class studies the Civil War, a student who is already very knowledgeable about that war might focus on specific details related to a particular battle or person involved.

Question Choices:

Requires Minimal Prep Time; Monitor Progress, Form Groups, Adapt Content

During whole group discussions, include questions that everyone in the class is able to answer, as well as more complex questions that only a few students may be able to answer. Adjust the difficulty of the questions depending on which student will be called on to respond.

Also see Alternative Assessment Minimal Prep Time Version

Reading Buddies:

Pair each student with another of a different reading level (low with medium, medium with high) for partner reading and discussion

Also, pairing upper grade students with lower grade students, such as having a fourth grade class buddy up with a first grade class, provides reading practice for all students and can be fun and motivating for both groups.

Reflection and Response:

Provide opportunity for students to respond and reflect on day's learning. Helps you to know where they stand for planning next lessons. Increases memory retention for students.

Keep a stack of blank index cards on hand to give to students at the end of class. Have students respond on the card to something from the day's lesson.

Ideas:

Draw a sketch that demonstrates _______________ (a key concept from that day's lesson)

What one thing from today's lesson would you like to know more about?

What one thing from today's lesson did you find most interesting?

Ask a question from the day's lesson content.

Ask a question that requires higher-level thinking or connections to "real-life":

Which of the generals leading this battle showed the most bravery? Why?

How would this math skill would be used in science? in cooking? in construction?

Which of these people/ideas/concepts/events is the most important/useful/worth remembering? Why?

Scaffolding:

Works well with individuals and small groups when working on instruction of specific skills

Identify specific levels of complexity within the development of a particular skill/concepts. Match students, by ability, with the appropriate level of skill; students at the same level may work in flexible groups. The goal is to have each student move up at least one level.

Sticky Note Graphs:

Give each student a small stack of sticky notes (5-10 notes, depending on how many responses you anticipate)

Present students with a question related to the content. Questions with multiple correct answers or that ask for opinions or votes work well.

Students write one answer or response on each sticky note

Question Ideas:

Which animal is most important to sustaining the jungle ecosystem?

What are your three favorite books that you read last year?

What activities should we plan for our class picnic?

The Process:

After students finish writing their answers, have them place all of their sticky notes in a designated spot on a wall or white board.

Students work together to find and group sticky notes with the same or similar answers (stick the notes in clusters or in lines to create a bar graph)

Discuss which responses where most common and why

Optional: Leave the sticky notes on the wall during additional lessons on the concept/topic. After students have learned more, have give them the opportunity to change their response (and have them explain their reason for wanting to change their answer).

Think-Tac-Toe:

Requires More Prep Time; Compare & Contrast, Form Groups, Work Together, Adapt Content, Share Ideas & Opinions, Take Notes

Nine commands or questions, arranged like a tic-tac-toe board. Students choose three to complete, creating a row vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.

Student choice allows for differentiation by interest and/or learning style. Think-tac-toe boards for different levels of readiness can also be created and given to different groups of students.

Students may also be given choices as to which assignment square they complete during a particular class period. Students who choose the same assignment may form a small group for that day.

Materials/Resources: Think-Tac-Toe for middle grade novel study - 2 Levels (Word)

Think-Pair-Share:

Requires Minimal Prep Time; Monitor Progress, Compare & Contrast, Work Together, Share Ideas & Opinions

Provides opportunities for all students to respond and be involved during whole group discussion

1. Ask a question or propose a problem

2. Students first think of an answer or idea on their own (2-3 minutes)

3. Next, students share, and possibly revise, their responses by sharing with a partner

4. Then open discussion to the whole group to share and compare answers and ideas

Tiered Activities:

3-4 different activities of different levels of complexity and difficulty, but with a common goal or end result. For example, different groups of students may be working on science experiments of different levels of difficulty, but all with the purpose of learning about the food chain.

1. Begin by planning the mid-level activity, what you might normally plan for your whole class.

2. Then add a level of difficulty or complexity to make the same lesson more challenging for higher-level students.

3. Simplify or add resources to the original activity to better meet the needs and fill in any learning gaps for lower-level students.

Students may work in small groups with others at the same level for a particular lesson or throughout a particular unit.

Tiered activities can lead to effective whole group discussion and comparison of results.

Minimal Prep Time Version: Some curriculum come with leveled workbooks. There may be a "Reteaching" workshop that explains a skill step-by-step, a "Practice" workbook that provides problems to solve related to the skill, and an "Enrichment" workbook that extends the skill in some way. Assign students to the appropriate workbook page so that every student can practice the same skill at his or her own level of readiness. Or, briefly describe the assignments and then let the students choose which level they'd like to complete; their choices may provide some insight into their comfort level with the skill.

Tiered Rubrics:

2-3 rubrics are developed for one project, and given to students based on readiness. This provides all students with appropriate skills to focus on and a chance to be successful.

Ideas:

Include the same categories, but adjust the point value and/or required elements, or

Add additional categories or requirements to increase the challenge and take off or reduce the requirements (leaving only on what's most important for them to learn) for kids needing assistance

Use rubrics with increasing difficulty or requirements over successive projects as a means of identifying areas of student growth

Varied Organizers:

Provide 2-3 organizers of differing complexity

Example:

Students needing more guidance may be given a ready-to-use organizer with blanks for them to fill in.

Students ready for more independence may be given an incomplete organizer that requires them to fill in blanks as well as adding detail.

More advanced students may be given only a basic framework for the organizer (or a blank piece of paper) which they complete on their own.

Varied Products:

Possibly the easiest way to differentiate

Allow students to make choices about how they demonstrate what they've learned, whether they write an essay, make a poster, or act out a scene.

Be clear about your expectations, possibly using a rubric; then allow students to meet the requirements in their own way.

This also works well when you have limited resources because not all students need to same materials and equipment at the same time.

Varied Texts:

Provide resources at a variety of reading levels that provide students with information about the skill or concept being studied

Assign reading material to students based on skill level, or allow them to choose the text they are most interested in. Put students in small groups with other students reading the same material.

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We know that students learn best when they are truly engaged in what they are learning, when they have the opportunity to explore, debate, discuss, examine, defend, and experiment with the concepts and skills they are ready to learn. Students learn best when instruction is: Appropriately Challenging Kids (and adults!)

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Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an approach to teaching aimed at meeting the needs of every student in a classroom. It can be helpful for all kids, including kids with learning and thinking differences. But UDL takes careful planning by teachers. Here are just a few examples of how UDL can work in a classroom.

Having goals helps students know what they're working to achieve. That's why goals are always made apparent in a UDL classroom. One example of this is posting goals for specific lessons in the classroom. Students might also write down or insert lesson goals in their notebooks. The teacher refers to lesson goals during the lesson itself.

Avoid COVID Slide with tips and tools designed to help your child return to the classroom.

In a traditional classroom, there may be only one way for a student to complete an assignment. This might be an essay or a worksheet. With UDL, there are multiple options. For instance, students may be able to create a podcast or a video to show what they know. They may even be allowed to draw a comic strip. There are tons of possibilities for completing assignments, as long as students meet the lesson goals.

UDL promotes flexibility in the learning environment. That's why in a UDL classroom, there are flexible work spaces for students. This includes spaces for quiet individual work, small and large group work, and group instruction. If students need to tune out noise, they can choose to wear earbuds or headphones during independent work.

With UDL, students get feedback-often every day-on how they're doing. At the end of a lesson, teachers may talk with individual students about lesson goals. Students are encouraged to reflect on the choices they made in class and whether they met the goals. If they didn't meet the goals, they're encouraged to think about what might have helped them do so.

5. Digital and Audio Text

UDL recognizes that if students can't access information, they can't learn it. So in a UDL classroom, materials are accessible for all types of learners. Students have many options for reading, including print, digital, text-to-speech and audiobooks. For digital text, there are also options for text enlargement, along with choices for screen color and contrast. Videos have captions, and there are transcripts for audio.

About the Author

About the Author

CAST, Understood Founding Partner

develops innovative approaches to education based on the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

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5 Examples of Universal Design for Learning in the Classroom

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Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an approach to teaching aimed at meeting the needs of every student in a classroom. It can be helpful for all kids, including kids with learning and thinking differences. But UDL takes careful planning by teachers. Here are just a few examples of how UDL can work in a classroom.

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Great list of accommodations in the classroom

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Great list of accommodations in the classroom

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Students with ADHD have difficulty with attention and self-control. And at school, that can look like inattention, distractibility, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and disorganization-all of which can get in the way of learning. What classroom accommodations can help students with ADHD? Here are some strategies teachers can try.

Setting Up the Classroom Environment

Use flexible seating, like wiggle chairs, standing desks, foot rests, seat cushions, or resistance bands on chair legs.

Increase the space between desks or work tables.

Designate a quiet work space in the classroom.

Set up preferential seating close to the teacher and/or away from high-traffic areas.

Post a written schedule for daily routines and rules. When possible, let the student know ahead of time about schedule changes.

Building Organization Skills

Avoid COVID Slide with tips and tools designed to help your child return to the classroom.

Use an assignment notebook or an electronic calendar.

Provide an extra set of books to keep at home.

Provide folders and baskets of supplies to keep desk organized.

Color-code materials for each subject.

Provide typed notes or an outline of the lesson to help with taking notes.

Teach note-taking strategies, like using graphic organizers and mind-mapping software.

Have a buddy take notes for the student.

Give directions out loud and in writing, and have the student repeat them.

Provide a lesson outline that details instructions and assignments.

Keep instructions simple, clear, and concrete.

Use pictures and graphs to help create visual interest.

Provide a rubric that describes the elements of a successfully completed assignment.

Help the student break long assignments into smaller chunks.

Completing Tests and Assignments

Allow understanding to be demonstrated in different ways, like oral reports, posters, and video presentations.

Provide different ways to respond to test questions, like saying the answers or circling them.

Minimize the number of questions and problems per worksheet.

Schedule frequent short quizzes, rather than one long test at the end of each unit.

Give credit for work done instead of taking away points for late or partial assignments (with a plan for moving toward completing assignments).

Grade for content, not for neatness.

Give extra time and quieter space for work and tests.

Use a behavior plan with a reward system.

Use a nonverbal signal (like a sticky note on the desk or a hand on a shoulder) to get the student's attention and indicate the need for things like taking a brain break.

Talk through behavior problems one-on-one.

Check in frequently to monitor the student's "emotional temperature" or frustration level.

Do you have a student who you think has difficulty with attention and self-control? See a fact sheet about ADHD.

About the Author

About the Author

Amanda Morin

worked as a classroom teacher and as an early intervention specialist for 10 years. She is the author of The Everything Parent's Guide to Special Education. Two of her children have learning differences.

Reviewed by

Reviewed by

Ginny Osewalt

is a dually certified elementary and special education teacher with more than 15 years of experience in general education, inclusion, resource room, and self-contained settings.

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Students with ADHD have difficulty with attention and self-control. And at school, that can look like inattention, distractibility, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and disorganization-all of which can get in the way of learning. What classroom accommodations can help students with ADHD? Here are some strategies teachers can try.

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This post contains Amazon Affiliate links; if you purchase from Amazon after going through these links, Cult of Pedagogy receives a small commission at no extra cost to you.

You have probably come to this article for one of two reasons: Either you want to start differentiating instruction in your classroom and don't know where to start, or you already differentiate, but want to see if you're missing anything. I have combed through tons of online resources on how to differentiate instruction, and have put together this collection of the clearest, most high-quality resources for learning how to differentiate in your classroom. Off we go, then!

Lots of teachers think they are differentiating, when they really kind of aren't. So before you get started, give yourself a solid overview of what differentiation is (and isn't) and how it works. To do that, you need to read Carol Tomlinson, whose work is the gold standard in differentiation. Her book, How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms , is the best one I've seen on the subject. And it's short: At just over 100 pages, it's a fast, easy read, and is full of useful information that will set you on the path toward high-quality differentiation.

In addition to explaining basic principles, the book shows you how to manage a differentiated classroom, teaches you specific strategies, and lets you peek inside a few sample differentiated classrooms so you can see how all the parts work together. I really can't recommend this book highly enough...get it!

Reading about how to differentiate on paper is helpful, but seeing other teachers actually doing it will give you a far better understanding of how to implement the strategies in your own classroom.

This Edutopia video shows how one school has set up a system they call Reteach and Enrich, where time is built into the schedule every day to reteach students who haven't met learning targets or provide enrichment activities for those who have. Watching this process in action makes it really clear HOW to make it work:

In this Teaching Channel video (click below), high school math teacher Maria Barchi demonstrates how she tiers instruction by giving different exit slips to students based on their mastery of a lesson, then adjusts instruction the following day based on their responses:

Below, second grade teacher Robert Pronovost shows how he uses two separate online programs, Planet Turtle and Dreambox, to meet students' individual needs in 2nd grade math (Teaching Channel):

The next video shows 5th grade teacher Stacy Brewer demonstrating how she differentiates process for readiness in writing responses to a text: Because this group of ELL students needs additional help, she works with them while the rest of the class responds to their questions independently (Teaching Channel).

Finally, this Teaching Channel video shows how Mary Vagenas uses Learning Menus to differentiate in her 7th grade Social Studies class:

Once you understand the basic principles of differentiation, it's a good idea to have a few basic tools on hand.

Task Cards
What are task cards? They are all the rage in some classrooms: The basic idea is that you take tasks and questions that might normally appear on worksheets and put them onto laminated cards (one item per card), which allows you to better individualize instruction, set up centers, and group students according to need (plus, you can re-use them year after year!). You can make your own or browse through thousands on Teachers Pay Teachers. This free e-book by Rachel Lynette explains how to use them in detail:

Tiered Lesson Template
This blog post from Marsha McGuire at A Differentiated Kindergarten shows you how to plan a tiered lesson and includes an editable template. Even though the featured classroom is a kindergarten, Marsha's system would work effectively with all age groups.

Using Color to Help You Tier Differentiated Activities

Learning Menus
This packet from the University of Virginia Curry School of Education teaches you how to create learning menus or choice menus, which offer students a variety of learning activities to choose from, depending on their interests and learning profiles.

Choice Menus (PDF)

There's No Time to Differentiate: Myth-Busting DI, Part 2
by John McCarthy
This Edutopia article discusses some of the myths about and objections to differentiation.

Dr. Kathie Nunley's Layered Curriculum
This website is based entirely on the Layered Curriculum philosophy. Somewhere between a learning menu and a tiered unit, a layered curriculum looks like an interesting take on differentiation and is worth a look once you've got the basics down.

Leading and Managing a Differentiated Classroom
by Carol Tomlinson and Marcia Imbeau
Although I have not read this one, I got a recommendation from Dr. Jennifer Beasley, an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Arkansas. "This is a practical guide for how to begin to establish routines and practices that facilitate differentiation. We all know that we could have the most beautiful lesson on paper and see that same lesson fall apart in the classroom as a result of forgetting to give directions for handing out materials. This resource offers many practical examples for putting some routines in place to allow for working in groups, answering questions, or even talking with your students about differentiation."

If you thought this was helpful, stick around.
Join my mailing list and never miss another post. You'll get weekly tips, tools, and inspiration - in quick, bite-sized packages - all geared toward making your teaching more effective and joyful. To thank you, I'll send you a free copy of my new e-booklet, 20 Ways to Cut Your Grading Time in Half. I look forward to getting to know you better!

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A Starter Kit for Differentiated Instruction

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A collection of the clearest, most high-quality books, articles, videos, and downloadable documents for learning how to differentiate in your classroom.

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Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an approach to teaching aimed at meeting the needs of every student in a classroom. It can be helpful for all kids, including kids with learning and thinking differences. But UDL takes careful planning by teachers. Here are just a few examples of how UDL can work in a classroom.

Having goals helps students know what they're working to achieve. That's why goals are always made apparent in a UDL classroom. One example of this is posting goals for specific lessons in the classroom. Students might also write down or insert lesson goals in their notebooks. The teacher refers to lesson goals during the lesson itself.

Avoid COVID Slide with tips and tools designed to help your child return to the classroom.

In a traditional classroom, there may be only one way for a student to complete an assignment. This might be an essay or a worksheet. With UDL, there are multiple options. For instance, students may be able to create a podcast or a video to show what they know. They may even be allowed to draw a comic strip. There are tons of possibilities for completing assignments, as long as students meet the lesson goals.

UDL promotes flexibility in the learning environment. That's why in a UDL classroom, there are flexible work spaces for students. This includes spaces for quiet individual work, small and large group work, and group instruction. If students need to tune out noise, they can choose to wear earbuds or headphones during independent work.

With UDL, students get feedback-often every day-on how they're doing. At the end of a lesson, teachers may talk with individual students about lesson goals. Students are encouraged to reflect on the choices they made in class and whether they met the goals. If they didn't meet the goals, they're encouraged to think about what might have helped them do so.

5. Digital and Audio Text

UDL recognizes that if students can't access information, they can't learn it. So in a UDL classroom, materials are accessible for all types of learners. Students have many options for reading, including print, digital, text-to-speech and audiobooks. For digital text, there are also options for text enlargement, along with choices for screen color and contrast. Videos have captions, and there are transcripts for audio.

About the Author

About the Author

CAST, Understood Founding Partner

develops innovative approaches to education based on the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

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5 Examples of Universal Design for Learning in the Classroom

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Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an approach to teaching aimed at meeting the needs of every student in a classroom. It can be helpful for all kids, including kids with learning and thinking differences. But UDL takes careful planning by teachers. Here are just a few examples of how UDL can work in a classroom.

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Reteach and Enrich: How to Make Time for Every Student

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Are you looking for examples of I Do, We Do, You Do” but just haven’t found them yet? Maybe you have heard of this style of teaching but just are sure of what it looks like in practice. This blog post fills you in with examples using both classroom and lesson plan examples, and provides you with a f…

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The I Do - We Do - You Do model involves you in following a series of steps starting with you leading instruction and finishing with students working independently. In the I Do stage, you explain what students need to understand or model how to do a process. Then, in the We Do stage, you help your students by providing scaffolds such as prompts or partially completed procedures. Finally, in the You Do stage, your students do the procedure or show their understanding on their own.

Why You Should Use the l Do - We Do - You Do Model

When used well, the I Do - We Do - You Do model:

Suits novice learners (which most students are)

Nurtures self-efficacy

Reduces task anxiety

Students feel less anxious due to the clear modelling and the scaffolded opportunities to practice. These same factors help students to experience independent success, which in turn builds their self-efficacy ¹.

The I Do We Do You Do model is based upon the gradual release of responsibility from teacher to student.

Next, let's explore each stage in more detail.

This is true whether the procedure involves a younger student writing the letter m in cursive or a senior student keeping an historical research journal. Modelling is a powerful tool that draws on Albert Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory. Modelling involves: If you want to increase students' knowledge and understanding of a topic, you need to explain it. Research on the modality and multimedia effects² shows that you should explain things both:
Example

I Do Conceptual Learning

Visually

Example

The examples are faded as you start by completing many of the steps yourself and progressively get your students to more steps with each example.

Examples

We Do Conceptual Learning

The key to conceptual learning is getting your students to think about the material they need to understand. This involves helping them encode and retrieve the material in an organised way. Within the We Do stage of the I Do - We Do - You Do model you provide support through prompting comparative and organised thinking. You can make use of partially completed information and have your students fill in the gaps.

You can help your students encode information by getting them to:

You can help your students retrieve information using 2 strategies:

You can also do this:

Example

You Do Procedural Learning

With You Do activities as the procedural level, you simply have your students complete all of the steps involved in the task themselves.

Some people ask if you should get your students to apply what they have learned to solve problems at this stage. The answer depends on whether you showed them how to so and then did so together in earlier stages.

You Do Conceptual Learning

At the conceptual level, You Do activities involve recalling information without prompts. This can involve:

You Do Conceptual Example

More Than Just A Lesson Structure

Many people think of the I Do We Do You Do model as a way of structuring a single lesson, and it can be. Yet, it can also be much more. The structure can also occur:

When you believe your students will find lesson material to be quite challenging, you can break it up into more manageable chunks. You follow the the I Do - We Do - You Do structure for each chunk and may get a few chunks covered within a single lesson.

By contrast, you can also use the structure over several lessons. Especially as students get older, learning doesn't occur over a single lesson, so you follow the structure over a small series of lessons - with each lesson picking up from where the previous lesson finished.

Beyond the I Do We Do Model

The essence of the I Do We Do You Do model is scaffolding tasks as your gradually release responsibility to your students. Yet, many of the strategies listed above are grounded in research that fits nicely with, but is separate from, the I Do We Do You Do model, particularly:

However, there is one potent strategy that wasn't mentioned. It is a simple but powerful strategy - spaced practice (also known as distributed practice). Below, this is shown as a new stage Do Again (and again, and again).

Beware

You can adapt the model but some adaptations fly in the face of strong research. Be particularly wary of:

The rapid release of responsibility model turns the I Do We Do You Do model on its head and starts with the You Do stage. It is a euphemism for inquiry learning (and its cousins discovery learning and problem-based learning). The research is clear that while experts learn well from such approaches, novice learners do not. Most school students are novices in what they are learning, although they build expertise as they progress. As a result, you should not use inquiry learning with novice learners. Experts are competent in both the material and the processes or procedures involved.

You should also be wary of the we do stage being confused with collaborative learning. Collaboration can extend the model in useful ways, but the essence of the we do stage is teacher + student,not student + student. That said, some productive ways to use collaboration within the I Do We Do You Do model are:

Retrieval Pairs

One example of retrieval pairs would be flash card buddies, where one student holds up a card (or paper) with an explanation of a concept on the side facing their buddy and the name of the concept on the side facing them. Next, their student gives their buddy the first sound of the answer or of each word (prompts). The buddy answers and gets told if they were right or wrong, as well as the correct answer. The process repeats with different concepts and with students reversing roles. You could use a similar process with other retrieval exercises, such as prompted concept mapping. The teacher involvement in this stage is largely about preparing cards or other prompts.

Brain Dump 1-2-4

Students write down everything they can remember from a lesson or topic (brain dump 1). Then students pair up (brain dump 2), discuss each others' brain dumps, then make corrections and additions based on that discussion. They agree on a single, merged brain dump. Pairs then join with another pair (brain dump 4) and repeat the discuss and amend process. Note although there are 4 people in the group they are only discussing 2 merged brain dumps from the previous stage.

1 Person per Step

If your students are learning a multi-step procedure such as 2 digit by 2 digit multiplication you can use the one person per step strategy. 2 digit x 2 digit multiplication has 3 steps:

Multiply the top number by the ones

Multiply the top number by the tens

Add the answers from steps 1 and 2 together

Place you students into groups of 3, then have each person complete one step. Give your students at least 3 problems to solve and have them rotate the step they do each time. For uneven groups, one person may do 2 steps (groups of 2 are better than groups of 4). Note, you should use this strategy after your students have done independent practice as it reduces social loafing.

Footnotes

SHAUN KILLIAN
(MEd., MLead.)

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The I Do WE Do YOU Do Model Explained - Evidence-Based Teaching

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The I Do, You Do, We Do model is a simple yet potent way to use explicit instruction to improve your students learning. Discover how you

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The gradual release of responsibility (also known as I do, we do, you do) is a teaching strategy that includes demonstration, prompt, and practice. At the beginning of a lesson or when new material is being introduced, the teacher has a prominent role in the delivery of the content. This is the "I do" phase. But as the student acquires the new information and skills, the responsibility of learning shifts from teacher-directed instruction to student processing activities. In the "We do" phase of learning, the teacher continues to model, question, prompt and cue students; but as student move into the "You do" phases, they rely more on themselves and less on the teacher to complete the learning task (Levy, 2007).

References:

Clarifying Routine. (2008, May 25). [Image] Retrieved October 22, 2015.

Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2008). Better learning through structured teaching: A framework for the gradual release of responsibility. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Laraia, M. (2012, March 1). . Retrieved October 22, 2015, from https://etown.digication.com/laraia_michelle_senior_portfolio/Language_Arts_Lesson_Plan

Levy, E. (2007). Gradual Release of Responsibility: I do, We do, You do. Retrieved October 12, 2015, from http://www.sjboces.org/doc/Gifted/GradualReleaseResponsibilityJan08.pdf

​McCoy, A. (2011, March 4). Teaching New Concepts: "I Do It, We Do It, You Do It" Method. Retrieved October 13, 2015, from http://antoinemccoy.com/teaching-new-concepts

Montgomery, M. (2012, April 30). I Do, We Do, You Do: Scaffolding Reading Comprehension in Social Studies. Retrieved October 21, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gleNo8dqHb8

Navigator Learning Solutions. (2014, March 19). Retrieved October 22, 2015, from http://navigatorlearning.org/category/teachers/ ​

Teaching Strategy: I Do, We Do, You Do. (2013, October 7). Retrieved October 12, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E08qf20yGv8

​

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The gradual release of responsibility (also known as I do, we do, you do) is a teaching strategy that includes demonstration, prompt, and practice. At the beginning of a lesson or when new material is being introduced, the teacher has a prominent role in the delivery of the content.

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The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. Learn more about the Universal Design for Learning framework from CAST. The UDL Guidelines can be used by educators, curriculum developers, researchers, parents, and anyone else who wants to implement the UDL framework in a learning environment. These guidelines offer a set of concrete suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.

Reenvisioning the UDL Guidelines

Because the UDL Guidelines are meant to be informed by feedback from the field as well as new research, they have been updated several times in the past. We are in the process of updating the Guidelines once again in our UDL Rising to Equity initiative.

This update will focus specifically on addressing systemic barriers that result in inequitable learning opportunities and outcomes. CAST aims to develop a transparent, inclusive, and community-driven process. If you are interested in collaborating and staying updated on our progress, we invite you to complete a brief survey.

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The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. Learn more about the Universal Design for Learning framework from CAST. The UDL Guidelines can be used by educators, curriculum developers, researchers, parents, and anyone else who wants to implement the UDL framework in a learning environment. These guidelines offer a set of concrete suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.

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There is plenty of confusion between UDL and Differentiated Instruction (DI) in the education world these days, and it is easy to see why. From the very onset, when examining both approaches, there are many commonalities and overlaps between UDL and Differentiated Instruction. In both models:

The standards and expectations are the same for all learners

There is flexibility in lesson design and student groupings

Individual learning strengths and limitations are considered in planning

A wide variety of tools and technology are used to assist student learning

Supports and scaffolding are both integral in lesson design

The question then arises, how are they different? What distinguishes them from one another? Let's examine those differences.

UDL

UDL is more focused on student-centered learning where the learning experiences are proactively designed so there are options that are accessible for every learner.

The goal of UDL is to remove the barriers to learning so students can achieve optimum knowledge and become expert learners.

UDL asks us to design flexible goals, methods, materials, and assessments by keeping in view diverse learner needs from the very beginning.

UDL provides multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression to all learners from the start. Students are encouraged to self-differentiate and choose the best path for themselves.

Differentiated Instruction

Differentiated Instruction (DI) can be seen as a responsive practice where adjustments are made based on the individual needs of the students.

Oftentimes, differentiation is done after the data is collated and trends are noticed.

The goal of differentiation is to provide a responsive and optimal learning environment for individuals/groups of learners.

DI provides targeted strategies that are teacher-directed as teachers choose which strategies students receive.

UDL and Differentiation are both positive approaches toward learning as both are student centrist. Both approaches help students achieve success in accessing the content by using strategies and scaffolding. When looking closely, one important point that makes UDL more proactive is that it tries to eliminate the barriers of learning from the very beginning by keeping the variability of learners in mind.

The strategies and scaffolds are embedded within the learning experiences from the planning stage and are available to all students. UDL, in name, communicates universal, inclusive education whereas DI, in name, communicates different ways of learning. Inclusion is the best way to move forward hence UDL covers more ground in planning for variability, firm goals, and expert learning. In inclusive classrooms, we need to be proactive and design lessons with UDL and then be responsive and use data to differentiate instruction.

Sharmila Choudhury, born and raised in India, has 14 years of experience working as an early-year educator at Stamford American International School in Singapore and 5 years of experience in special needs education. In her free time, she enjoys reading, traveling, cooking, and spending time with her family.

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Differentiating between UDL and Differentiated Instruction

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What's the difference between UDL and differentiated instruction and which one do we start with? Learn from Sharmila Choudhury's guest post.

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https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/formative-assessment-strategies/

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As frequently as a chef needs to check a dish for taste, teachers should check for understanding by using intentional formative assessment strategies.

These can be formal-formative or summative assessment, multiple-choice, short answer, essay, matching, and related iconic 'test' forms. But they can also be informal-conversations, gallery walks, sketches, and more.

We recently shared the Inconvenient Truths of Assessment, and one of the takeaways from that post by Terry Heick could be that rather than focusing on the design of assessment, we could instead focus on a climate of assessment-a classroom where snapshots of understanding are taken frequently and naturally, without the stress of performance for the student, or the burden of huge, unmanageable data results for the teachers.

So what about assessment as a matter of tone and purpose? If an assessment is non-traditional and non-threatening (or even less traditional and less threatening), how might that impact what it reveals? Does the tone of an assessment matter?

Is informal assessment a 'lesser' form altogether?

The Primary Benefit Of Informal Assessment

More than anything else, non-threatening, informal assessment can disarm the process of checking for understanding. The less formal the form, the less guarded or anxious the student might become. Stress and worry can quickly shut down the student's ability to think, which yields misleading results-a poor 'grade' which implies that a student understands a lot less than they actually do.

Here are 50 formative assessment strategies - categorized by learning style - that can be useful to you as you collect data from all students, from the polished little academics to students for whom the classroom might be a less-than-comfortable place.

Kinesthetic Strategies
Response cards/whiteboards
Response cards allow students to demonstrate their understanding in nonverbal ways. Teachers can design or print out pre-made response cards, laminate them, and hook them to a key ring that remains at each student's desk, or in a designated location. Include True/False, A-B-C-D, Yes/No, or color-coded cards that can represent responses displayed on a SMARTBoard. Alternatively, a class set of miniature dry-erase boards is a less time-consuming way for teachers to give students the opportunity to show what they know.
Hand signals
Hand signals can be used to give a quick holistic picture of what your students know. Students can rate their level understanding from 1 to 5 fingers, or use open or closed fists to signal 'Yes' or 'No.' This is another great way for students to participate in a nonverbal manner.
Give 1, get 1
Not only is this an effective way to get students to show their understanding , but it gets students moving, includes an element of competition, and has instructional value. How? Within a given time period, students move around the room to link up with as many partners as they can. With each pair, one student shares a piece of their understanding, and the other student writes that element down to their own collection. Then, they swap. As more partners meet up, each student's list should grow with additional information.
4 corners
Students of all ages love this kinesthetic demonstration of understanding, in which each corner of the room corresponds to a different item on a Likert scale (i.e. 'Strongly Agree,' 'Agree,' 'Disagree,' and 'Strongly Disagree') or multiple choice option (A, B, C, or D). The educator can issue a prompt or question, and then the students move to the corner that corresponds with their chosen answer. The teacher can then have one or more students explain their reasoning for gravitating to their area of the room.
Trashketball
This game will have your students pleading with you to show their understanding! Turn your classroom into a basketball court by moving desks aside and lining students up to throw crumpled-up paper balls into a trash can. Place strips of tape at close, medium, and far distances from the basket to make it more challenging to get points. About those points...students only get the opportunity to shoot the paper ball if they answer questions correctly, and teachers can give students the options to answer different 'levels' of questions. Students then get to decide where to shoot from - the further away from the trash bin, the more points they get if they sink the paper in it!
Beach ball questions
Only into Quarter 1 and you and your students are missing summer? If you can't bring the students to the beach, bring the beach to the students! Inflate a large beach ball and use a dry-erase marker to write questions all over it (or, if the beach ball has different colors, have each color correspond to a different question that is displayed on a SMARTBoard). Have students pass the ball to each other and answer one of the two questions that their hands touch upon catching the ball.
Simulation
For an extra-theatrical bunch, a simulation may be a great idea for giving them an opportunity to check what they know. Simulations challenge students to recreate an event, concept, phenomenon, or process. For example, students can simulate a chemical reaction by acting as molecules, demonstrate how a bill is passed by taking a mock vote in the Senate and House of Representatives, or act out different probability equations.
Gallery walk
In a gallery walk, students (typically) display their understanding of a concept on a poster or via a created artifact. Think of your classroom as a museum - each artifact can have a blank piece of paper underneath it where others can view the work, ask questions, make comments, and discover connections. It is almost like students are being positioned as critics - this activity is also a great way to model how to give effective and specific peer feedback.
Bloom's dice
Let's play a game! All you need are dice. And how convenient - each number (1-6) can correspond to a different level of Bloom's taxonomy (remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, creating). Each student gets the opportunity to roll the die and answer a predetermined question OR create their own question using one of Bloom's taxonomy power verbs.
Pinwheel discussion
In a pinwheel discussion, the teacher divides the class into 4 groups and moves 4 desks into a circle facing each other. Behind each of the desks in the center are two desks (or more, depending on the number of students). Thus, each group is made up of a representative in the middle and two or more members on the outside of the wheel. Each student takes on the role of provocateur, moderator, and facilitator, as the teacher poses discussion-worthy questions. Students can create their own higher-order questions, devise simulations, or provide explanations.
I have the question, who has the answer?
It's like a matching game, but class-wide! The teacher can write questions and answers on separate index cards, mix them up, and distribute them among a class. Then, within a given time period, students must find the corresponding answer to their question. To make this task extra challenging, teachers can add extra conditions, such as not being able to use certain keywords, only being able to speak using questions, or having a limited amount of words to communicate with potential matches.
Hot seat
Okay, we realize that most desks aren't equipped with temperature control, but you can create a sense of excitement and urgency with this fun formative assessment strategy! Write questions on index cards and adhere them to the underside of each desk. Have students play musical chairs to discover their question, or use different-colored index cards to correspond to a different style of question. For example, in the first round of Hot Seat, the teacher may ask someone with a blue index card to respond, while in the second round, while in the second round, they may call upon a person with a start on their card to respond.
Tic-tac-toe
Students can feel more empowered to show what they know when given options of how to do so - for each of the nine squares on the board, the teacher can include a different way to demonstrate their understanding. The student can choose three different ways to demonstrate their understanding (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal). In this way, the teacher can be purposeful in designating certain options as all visual, all oral, all kinesthetic, or representative of each style.

Discussion-Based Strategies
Concentric circles
This formative assessment strategy also includes a kinesthetic element. The teacher arranges all the student desks in two circles with the same number of desks: an inner and outer circle. The teacher prompts one group to move to the left or right, and then sit down in front of a new partner. In that pair, each partner takes turns sharing their response for a full minute, and then actively listening to their partner's response for one full minute. With each rotation, students can build upon their shared contributions by synthesizing previously received responses.
Philosophical chairs
In this formative assessment strategy, students listen to a teacher-provided statement and move to a different side of the room, indicating whether they are for or against the prompt. The teacher then gives students the opportunity to collaborate in their groups in order to create a joint statement expressing their position. One (or more) students can share, and each side can have another opportunity to collaborate in order to respond to statements from different groups. The goal of the activity is to clarify understanding, with students having the ability to switch sides if their opinion changes during the discussion.
Socratic seminar
Socratic seminar is a favorite among students who prefer to share their understanding through conversation, as opposed to a multiple-choice assessment or timed essay. Teachers (or students) create questions related to a concept, then engage in student-led discussion to ask questions, agree or disagree thoughtfully, use textual evidence to support their assertions, engage individuals or the whole group in discussion, or seek clarification.

Like concentric circles, there are two even groups seated in an inner and outer circle. The students on the inside speak while the students on the outside serve as support coaches or observers. At 'halftime,' the circles switch so that everyone gets an opportunity to speak and coach/listen. At the end, students can write a brief summary of the discussion, sharing how their learning has become more clear or expanded.
Fishbowl
Fishbowl has many elements in common with Socratic seminar and concentric circles, except in this case, there are only 5-7 desks in the inner circle, and most desks are situated on the outside. A teacher provides a discussion prompt or question, and students take turns moving into the inner circle to engage in a conversation. Ideally, the discussion continues seamlessly while students tap each other in and out of the inner circle. Students on the outside record insights or observations that they can then bring into the inner circle to enhance the discussion.
Ongoing conversations
Ongoing conversations are a great strategy for exposing students to multiple perspectives, and can be carried out over the course of a single unit of study, or an entire semester! Students receive a single piece of paper with a 2-column chart. In the left column are enough spaces for each student in the class (the teacher can include the names or not). On the right side - which is significantly wider than the left column - is an empty box large enough for a person to write 1-3 sentences.

Each day, the teacher can ask a question or issue a prompt, and the students then have a given amount of time to discuss the question or prompt with a new partner. They summarize their partners' responses in the right column next to that partner's name. The challenge is for each student to talk to a brand new person in class before talking to one person twice. This is a great activity for classes where students tend to gravitate toward the same partners.
Conver-stations
In this iteration of chat stations, the teacher creates questions or discussion prompts at set locations around the classroom. In small groups, students travel to each station and discuss each prompt. They can continue traveling together OR move separately to new stations, where they have an opportunity to discuss a new prompt with new partners. Like the 'give 1, get 1' strategy and 'ongoing conversations,' this is a great strategy for exposing students to diverse perspectives.
Save the last word for me
Here's another formative assessment strategy where students benefit from listening and speaking. Students share their reactions to a prompt or question in triads as student A, student B, and student C. While student A reads a question, quote, or prompt, students B and C engage in discussion about the significance. After a given time period, student A explains their rationale for choosing the quote or asking the question (thus, they get the 'last word'). The process repeats with the B students and C students getting to have the 'last word' in a new round.
TQE method
TQE stands for thoughts, questions, and epiphanies. Similar to Socratic discussions (see here for an example of a Socratic discussion, this formative assessment strategy is also student-driven by the thoughts, questions, and epiphanies that students provide in response to a text, problem, or scenario. The class can choose the best TQEs and use them to drive their own discussion.
Catch phrase
Ever played this electronic game that gives you a word and you have to explain it to a small group without using commonly associated words? In a classroom context, the teacher might use this game to have students demonstrate their understanding of new vocabulary terms. For example, a student might choose a card with the vocabulary word 'loquacious,' and view a list underneath the term that includes words they are not allowed to use in describing the term to their group members (i.e. talkative, chatty, a lot, social, outgoing).
Analogy prompts
Analogies are a quick and effective way of getting students to use higher-order thinking skills to demonstrate what they know. Simply put, the teacher can challenge students to make an analogy for a concept with which they are currently grasping. This strategy can work across all grade levels and content areas.

See also How To Teach With Analogies

Visual Strategies & Techniques
Pictionary
Student artists will clamor for more opportunities like Pictionary! In this formative assessment strategy, students create a drawing or other visual representation of a process, concept, or phenomenon. To take it further, they can pass their drawing to the right in a circle, where the recipient then writes what they think the previous student drew. They fold the paper so that only the written part can be seen by the next person who gets the paper. The third person then creates a new drawing for the second person's written interpretation (without peeking at the original drawing!) The paper continues to move in one direction, with alternating drawings and written explanations, until it returns to its originator (who can laugh at how far the interpretation moved or feel confident that future interpretations matched their original drawing).
One-pagers
This formative assessment strategy challenges students to produce a single page of paper that illustrates their understanding of a certain concept. There are guidelines for what the one-pager must include, such as key vocabulary words, higher-order questions, images, quotations, main ideas or central themes, and symbols. Students can also use these one-pagers as artifacts in a subsequent gallery walk.
Concept mapping
You've seen concepts before - graphic organizers, flow charts, and Venn diagrams are all examples in which students use diagrams to represent relationships between different concepts (i.e. cause and effect, compare and contrast, sequence, problem and solution).
Abstract to concrete
Similar to the analogy strategy, students are challenged to represent an abstract concept (like photosynthesis, eminent domain, or irony) using something concrete. Alternatively, the teacher can also flip the concept and challenge students to turn a concrete fact or event or process into an abstract concept.
Affinity mapping
Similar to concept mapping, affinity mapping is a way to organize different ideas (but this time, in a collaborative fashion). Students typically write more concrete concepts on individual Post-It notes and work together to categorize them in groups that are more abstract. Students can travel to other groups' clusters and critique their reasoning or make changes.
Concept attainment
We've previously written about the concept attainment formative assessment strategy, in which "new ideas are introduced and defined by students inductively through categorization...students see attributes, examples and non-examples, form theories, and test those theories against given data until they are able to name the concept." Check out our post on concept attainment to view an example of this strategy in action.
Hexagonal thinking
In hexagonal thinking, teachers write specific concepts on hexagon-shaped cards, then move them adjacent to one another in order to reveal relationships and connections between concepts. Once the hexagons are arranged, the students then use connection arrows to show intersections between and among central ideas. The teacher can prompt them to explain their thinking in written or oral form.

Written Strategies
Think-write-pair-share
This formative assessment strategy is fairly self-explanatory. A teacher presents a prompt or question, the student thinks about it, writes about it, pairs up with a partner, and shares their response. A simple strategy with potentially illuminating outcomes for students of all grade levels.
GIST summary
Do your students get the gist of what they're learning? A GIST summary is not just any old summary - it stands for "generating interactions between schemata and texts" (Cunningham, 1982; Herrell, 2000). Students are challenged to write a summary using a certain number of words (typically 15 or 20) using key vocabulary related to a complex text or concept.
Chain of understanding
Don't let your exit tickets go to waste - have students write their responses to daily exit tickets on a strip of construction paper, then glue and link the paper strips into a chain that can serve as a tangible representation of student learning at the conclusion of a unit. You can even have students read through the chain links and reflect on how their thinking has evolved. It doesn't hurt that a colorful formative assessment chain can brighten up a dull classroom environment, either!
Costa's questions
Similar to Bloom, Costa arranged different types of questions into a hierarchy of levels (from least to most complex). Level 1 questions prompt students to respond with literal information (such as an answer they could point to on a page). Level 2 questions prompt students to process information by combining literal and inferential knowledge. Level 3 questions challenge students to apply information in new ways. As a formative assessment strategy, teachers can challenge students to answer one of each level, or better yet, devise their own questions that they can respond to themselves and/or share with student partners.
Bloom's sentence stems/power verbs
At TeachThought, we are big supporters of using sentence stems and question stems as a starting point for students to demonstrate their learning. The teacher can issue a specific power verb or sentence stem, to which students provide their unique responses.
Power minute
In this timed formative assessment strategy, students have 60 seconds to write down everything they know about a certain concept. No need to worry about writing in complete sentences here - students can write down phrases, vocabulary words, themes, main ideas, supporting details, textual connections, examples, and related concepts.
Word cloud
In this collaborative formative assessment strategy, a teacher gives a prompt or a question and students write down (or type) a single word response. There are plenty of great websites that simplify this process and create visual word clouds based on student responses. More frequently shared responses display in a larger size than less common responses, which can give the teacher a good idea of how well students understand a concept.
3-2-1 strategy
Why is it that the simplest formative assessment strategies often yield the most insightful responses? In the 3-2-1 strategy, the teacher challenges the students with preparing 3 ___, 2 ___, and 1 ___. What goes in the blanks? Read up on some examples in our post on Using the 3-2-1 Learning Strategy for Critical Thinking.
Haiku
A haiku is simply a more poetic way of summarizing a concept in a student's own words. Haikus are Japanese poems consisting of three lines. The first line contains five syllables, the second line contains seven syllables, and the third line contains five syllables.
Top 10
Comparing, contrasting, and arranging are all higher-order thinking skills. Task students with demonstrating their understanding by listing the top ten most important details related to a main idea, the top ten vocabulary words associated with a phenomenon, or the top ten events in a historical or scientific process. Challenge your students even further by having them explain the rationale behind their rankings.
A-B-C summaries
A-B-C, as easy as 1-2-3! Working in collaborative groups, students take turns generating an alphabetical list of vocabulary words, phrases, or sentences that all relate to a main concept or process.
Circle - square - triangle
Each shape corresponds to a different formative assessment challenge. Students draw a circle and write down anything that is still confusing, unclear, or 'circling' in their minds. Next, students draw a square and write down anything they agree with (or what 'squares' with their thinking). Finally, students draw a triangle and write three important details from what they have learned.

Digital Strategies & Techniques
Padlet
How long would it take to collect individual responses to a question, sort them into categories, and create a representation of that curation which could then be shared with students? Padlet can accomplish such a task in less than a minute! Students can type their responses (anonymously or associated with their names) to a question or prompt, which then show up on a Padlet (virtual bulletin board). The teacher can update the display in real-time and seek student input to categorize the responses or show relationships.
EdPuzzle
EdPuzzle allows educators to insert questions at any point during an imported video. Students can work at their own pace and teachers can add comments or voiceover to the video or feedback responses.
Kahoot!
There's a reason Kahoot! includes an exclamation point in their name - students LOVE playing this digital formative assessment game! Teachers can choose from a library of thousands of formative assessments or create their own. Students join through a laptop or mobile device and select a response for a given question. Students receive more points for answering quickly (and correctly), and a leaderboard displays the top three performers after each question.
Quizlet
Quizlet is like Kahoot! but more tailored to small groups. As a formative assessment strategy, teachers can divide students into small groups and engage them in a competition where they have to work together to answer responses. With each collective correct response, the team's animal icon moves forward in a race against the other teams. Be careful, though! One wrong answer by one group member can set the group all the way back to the start of the race!

There is definitely an opportunity for social-emotional learning here - competitive students can learn how to better support group members who are struggling with a question with encouragement, as opposed to complaining or pushing them.
Google Forms
Create quick formative assessments and export student responses to a spreadsheet - this is a great tool for conducting item analyses in order to discover which concepts students are struggling with and which concepts they are mastering. Check out our post on How to Create Self-Grading Assessments Using Google Forms.
TikTok
Appropriate for high school students (who likely have the popular app downloaded already on their mobile devices), teachers can task students with creating a 60 second or less TikTok video to demonstrate their understanding. Students can create simulations, skits, analogies, or illustrations on this versatile and user-friendly app.
Flipgrid
FlipGrid (see alsoIdeas For Using Flipgrid) is a great formative strategy inside and outside of the classroom. Teachers create discussion forums where students respond in video form. They can watch fellow students' responses and add video comments, clarifications, or questions to their peers' responses.
Poll Everywhere
Seek student understanding by creating a digital poll - Poll Everywhere aggregates students' responses quickly and helps teachers see what concepts students understand (as a class) and which concepts require further elaboration or grappling.

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50 Everyday Formative Assessment Strategies

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Formative assessment strategies matter. Like a chef checks a dish for taste, teachers must make frequent, targeted checks for understanding.

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This article gives helpful verbs for writing an effective outcome.

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What is Bloom's Taxonomy

Bloom's Taxonomy is a classification of the different outcomes and skills that educators set for their students (learning outcomes). The taxonomy was proposed in 1956 by Benjamin Bloom, an educational psychologist at the University of Chicago. The terminology has been recently updated to include the following six levels of learning. These 6 levels can be used to structure the learning outcomes, lessons, and assessments of your course. :

1. Remembering: Retrieving, recognizing, and recalling relevant knowledge from long‐term memory.

2. Understanding: Constructing meaning from oral, written, and graphic messages through interpreting, exemplifying, classifying, summarizing, inferring, comparing, and explaining.

3. Applying: Carrying out or using a procedure for executing, or implementing.

4. Analyzing: Breaking material into constituent parts, determining how the parts relate to one another and to an overall structure or purpose through differentiating, organizing, and attributing.

5. Evaluating: Making judgments based on criteria and standards through checking and critiquing.

6. Creating: Putting elements together to form a coherent or functional whole; reorganizing elements into a new pattern or structure through generating, planning, or producing.

Like other taxonomies, Bloom's is hierarchical, meaning that learning at the higher levels is dependent on having attained prerequisite knowledge and skills at lower levels. You will see Bloom's Taxonomy often displayed as a pyramid graphic to help demonstrate this hierarchy. We have updated this pyramid into a "cake-style" hierarchy to emphasize that each level is built on a foundation of the previous levels.

You may use this graphic for educational or non-profit use if you include a credit for Jessica Shabatura and citation back to this website.
How Bloom's can aid in course design

Bloom's taxonomy is a powerful tool to help develop learning outcomes because it explains the process of learning:

Before you can understand a concept, you must remember it.

To apply a concept you must first understand it.

In order to evaluate a process, you must have analyzed it.

To create an accurate conclusion, you must have completed a thorough evaluation.

However, we don't always start with lower order skills and step all the way through the entire taxonomy for each concept you present in your course. That approach would become tedious-for both you and your students! Instead, start by considering the level of learners in your course:

1. Are lots of your students freshman? Is this an "Introduction to..." course? If so, many your learning outcomes may target the lower order Bloom's skills, because your students are building foundational knowledge. However, even in this situation we would strive to move a few of your outcomes into the applying and analyzing level, but getting too far up in the taxonomy could create frustration and unachievable goals.

2. Are most of your students juniors and seniors? Graduate students? Do your students have a solid foundation in much of the terminology and processes you will be working on your course? If so, then you should not have many remembering and understanding level outcomes. You may need a few, for any radically new concepts specific to your course. However, these advanced students should be able to master higher-order learning objectives. Too many lower level outcomes might cause boredom or apathy.

How Bloom's works with learning outcomes

Fortunately, there are "verb tables" to help identify which action verbs align with each level in Bloom's Taxonomy.

You may notice that some of these verbs on the table are associated with multiple Bloom's Taxonomy levels. These "multilevel-verbs" are actions that could apply to different activities. For example, you could have an outcome that states "At the end of this lesson, students will be able to explain the difference between H2O and OH-." This would be an understanding level outcome. However, if you wanted the students to be able to "... explain the shift in the chemical structure of water throughout its various phases." This would be an analyzing level verb.

Adding to this confusion, you can locate Bloom's verb charts that will list verbs at levels different from what we list below. Just keep in mind that it is the skill, action or activity you will teach using that verb that determines the Bloom's Taxonomy level.

Bloom's Level

Key Verbs (keywords)

Example Learning Outcome

Evaluate
choose, support, relate, determine, defend, judge, grade, compare, contrast, argue, justify, support, convince, select, evaluate.

By the end of this lesson, the student will be able to determine whether using conservation of energy or conservation of momentum would be more appropriate for solving a dynamics problem.

Learning outcome examples adapted from, Nelson Baker at Georgia Tech: nelson.baker@pe.gatech.edu
How Bloom's works with Quality Matters

For a course to meet the Quality Matters standards it must have learning outcomes that are measurable. Using a verb table like the one above will help you avoid verbs that cannot be quantified, like: understand, learn, appreciate, or enjoy. Quality Matters also requires that your course assessments (activities, projects, and exams) align with your learning outcomes. For example, if your learning outcome has an application level verb, such as "present", then you cannot demonstrate that your students have mastered that learning outcome by simply having a multiple choice quiz.

Course level and lesson level outcomes

The biggest difference between course and lesson level outcomes is that we don't directly assess course level outcomes. Course level outcomes are just too broad. Instead, we use several lesson level outcomes to demonstrate mastery of one course level outcome. To create good course level outcomes, we need to ask ourselves: "what do I want the students to have mastery of at the end of the course?" Then, after we finalize our course level outcomes, we have to make sure that mastery of all of the lesson level outcomes underneath confirm that a student has mastery of the course level outcome-in other words, if your students can prove (through assessment) that they can do each and every one of the lesson level outcomes in that section, then you as an instructor agree they have mastery of the course level outcome.

How Bloom's works with course level and lesson level outcomes:

Course level outcomes are broad. You may only have 3-5 course level outcomes. They would be difficult to measure directly because they overarch the topics of your entire course.

Lesson level outcomes are what we use to demonstrate that a student has mastery of the course level outcomes. We do this by building lesson level outcomes that build toward the course level outcome. For example, a student might need to demonstrate mastery of 8 lesson level outcomes in order to demonstrate mastery of one course level outcome.

Because the lesson level outcomes directly support the course level outcomes, they need to build up the Bloom's taxonomy to help your students reach mastery of the course level outcomes. Use Bloom's Taxonomy to make sure that the verbs you choose for your lesson level outcomes build up to the level of the verb that is in the course level outcome. The lesson level verbs can be below or equal to the course level verb, but they CANNOT be higher in level. For example, your course level verb might be an Applying level verb, "illustrate." Your lesson level verbs can be from any Bloom's level that is equal or below this level (applying, understanding, or remembering).

Steps towards writing effective learning outcomes:

1. Make sure there is one measurable verb in each objective.

2. Each outcome needs one verb. Either a student can master the outcome , or they fail to master it. If an outcome has two verbs (say, define and apply), what happens if a student can define, but not apply? Are they demonstrating mastery?

3. Ensure that the verbs in the course level outcome are at least at the highest Bloom's Taxonomy as the highest lesson level outcomes that support it. (Because we can't verify they can evaluate if our lessons only taught them (and assessed) to define.)

4. Strive to keep all your learning outcomes measurable, clear and concise.

When you are ready to write, it can be helpful to list the level of Bloom's next to the verb you choose in parentheses. For example:

Course level outcome 1. (apply) Demonstrate how transportation is a critical link in the supply chain.

1.1. (understand) Discuss the changing global landscape for businesses and other organizations that are driving change in the global environment.

1.2. (apply) Demonstrate the special nature of transportation demand and the influence of transportation on companies and their supply chains operating in a global economy.

This trick will help you quickly see what level verbs you have. It will also let you check that the course level outcome is at least as high of a Bloom's level as any of the lesson level outcomes underneath.

Before you begin constructing your outcomes:

Please read our Learning Outcome : Before and After Examples page.

Additional External Resources:

For a longer list of Bloom's Verbs - TIPS tip: You can also use the "find" function (press: Ctrl-f or command-f on a mac) in your browser to locate specific verbs on this list.

To see how Bloom's can be applied specifically to distance education: Digital Approaches to Bloom's Taxonomy

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Using Bloom's Taxonomy to Write Effective Learning Outcomes

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Bloom's Taxonomy is a classification of the different outcomes and skills that educators set for their students (learning outcomes). The taxonomy was proposed in 1956 by Benjamin Bloom, an educational psychologist at the University of Chicago. The terminology has been recently updated to include the following six levels of learning.

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Math Practice Standards

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EL Education - Teaching Academic and Discipline-Specific Vocabulary

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The best vocabulary learning is contextualized—students learn related sets of words from reading, listening, talking, and writing about topics and concepts. The more vocabulary a student is exposed to during learning, the more likely it is for that student to become a better reader.

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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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Listen to my interview with Tan Huynh and Beth Skelton (transcript):

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The population of English learners in our schools continues to grow every year; if you're a teacher reading this, you have probably taught at least a few students whose first language is not English. In many school systems, students who are newcomers are given lots of support through separate programs or classes with teachers who specialize in building language proficiency, but eventually they move out of these programs and attend regular classes with everyone else. At that point, they are assumed to have enough of a grasp on the English language to perform as well as peers who have spoken English since birth.

But in many cases, that assumption is incorrect. While these students - a group we're calling experienced multilinguals - are probably quite comfortable and fluent with speaking English socially, they may still be unfamiliar with the academic language used in science, social studies, math, and other content areas. There are specific strategies that can make a huge difference in how well these students perform.

Tan Huynh and Beth Skelton, two educators who have had decades of experience working with English learners, have written a new book called Long-Term Success for Experienced Multilinguals ( Amazon | Bookshop.org). The book focuses squarely on this particular population, English learners who are well beyond newcomer status, but who still need some scaffolding to reach their true academic potential. On the podcast, they shared some of the strategies from the book - things you can start to do right away to help these learners thrive. You can listen to our full conversation or read the transcript linked above. Here's a summary of the strategies they shared.

These kids speak English now, so what's the problem?

An experienced multilingual student may present a conundrum to their teachers. In many ways, they appear to have developed all the necessary skills, including fluency in English, to do well in school.

"These students have been in this system for at least five years, so they have experience," Skelton explains. "We don't have to teach them how to open their locker or how to get to the cafeteria. They have friends. They are in the community. They have experience being a student."

Despite this ease in navigating school and their social lives, these students can hit a wall when it comes to certain academic tasks.

Huynh has personal experience with this. Having moved to the U.S. as a refugee at the age of 5, his only school experiences were in the U.S. "I went to the ESL program, and I exited in fifth grade," he says. And that's when his language support ended. "When you listen to me talk, you're like, okay, he's really fluent. We don't need to help him. And this is what happened all the way through middle school and high school."

When it came time to take the SAT, he was confident. "I was like, oh, this is going to be fine. My teachers are great. They really took care of me. I've had mostly A's and B's on most of my exams. I had almost a 4.0 by that time. I had every single award, distinguished, honor, this and that, dean's list, whatever, I got it. I'm going to be fine. And then I got my score back: 910. I was like, wait, you get a 600 just for putting your name on. How did I get a 910 and I have an almost 4.0 GPA?"

For other multilingual students, things like test scores aren't quite as surprising, because their school performance isn't as strong as Huynh's was. "They often aren't the award winners and the honor students," Skelton explains, "and so teachers start to see them as, well, they've been in our system since kindergarten or first grade. They've been learning English that long, and now you're in seventh grade, eighth grade, ninth grade, and you're still classified as an English learner. There must be something wrong with you. They're still classified as English learners for all kinds of reasons. States require them to have a certain level on an English language proficiency test in order to exit as an English learner. And so when teachers see that, then often that deficit label comes with them."

With this deficit label, many students are subjected to more and more pull-out coursework to improve their English, which means missing out on electives, extracurriculars, and advanced courses.

"Imagine if a kid comes to school and all they love is just design," Huynh says. "All they love is just art. They come to school to be in drama. And they say, No no, because of your English scores, you're out. You're pulled out. " For a student who may have been born in the U.S. and isn't even fluent in their heritage language, this can be heartbreaking.

So what is the problem? If extra English classes aren't helping, what will?

Skelton and Huynh believe the answer lies in academic language. To succeed in all subjects, students need additional scaffolding to understand the unique vocabulary, phrasing, and conventions of those disciplines. When teachers intentionally design instruction and assessments with academic language supports in place, they unlock those worlds for students and give them the tools they need to thrive.

Planning Lessons for Multilingual Learners

If you teach science, math, history, health, technology, even literature - anything other than a class designed to teach a language - your course is built on content-specific standards. You already base your instructional objectives on these standards; Skelton and Huynh recommend adding academic language objectives to those content objectives. This ensures that all students not only get the content, but also the language used to describe and synthesize it.

Here is the process they describe in the book for integrating academic language into what you already teach.

Step 1: Create the Assessment, then Add Scaffolds

Following the backward design approach, start by creating summative assessment that will measure what students should know and be able to do by the end of a unit. Once the assessment is made, add scaffolding in places where the academic language might prevent students from understanding what's being asked of them.

Here's an example: If a test question asks students to hypothesize what would happen if the concentration of oxygen that was consumed inside the glass cylinder increased, they might have a good understanding of the science involved, but some of the terms in the question might throw them off.

"When students encounter a sentence like that," Huynh says, "it becomes not a science test, it becomes a reading test. If a kid doesn't understand the word hypothesize, that's a problem. If they don't know the word concentration and they Google that, that's going to be like, oh, focus? What does that mean? And the word consumed and glass cylinder and increase, all these words now add up to a reading test."

To give students the support they need to do their best on assessments, teachers can "engineer" them by adding these scaffolds:

synonyms: Near the terms that may be unfamiliar, add synonyms that will help define them. If the teacher has already explicitly taught the term, this may not be necessary. So for the example question, it might look like: "Hypothesize (make an educated guess) what would happen if the concentration (amount) of oxygen that was consumed (used) inside the glass cylinder (container) increased (got higher)."

sentence starters: Provide students with the academic language needed to construct quality responses in that discipline.

chunking: Rather than squeeze multiple steps into an essay-type question, break multi-part questions into separate, individual chunks with their own spaces to respond.

images: Add relevant images to questions to aid comprehension.

word banks: Provide banks of key vocabulary terms for the unit that students can access when writing responses.

sequencing: For assessments that require longer responses, provide visual frameworks to show students the sequence in which their response should be written.

While some teachers may feel this is too much hand-holding - for example, they may feel strongly about wanting students to practice reading all parts of a complex question - Huynh and Skelton emphasize that in content-area classes, the focus is on whether students are learning that content; giving multilingual students help with the reading and writing part doesn't take away from that.

"We haven't changed the rigor," Skelton says. "I haven't changed the expectation. I've simply chunked the question. When (teachers) see the difference in response patterns and that kids are able to show more about what they know, most teachers say, You know what? I'm going to do that for everybody. That's not just for my experienced multilinguals. This is a strategy that's probably going to be better for everyone in the class. "

Step 2: Write Daily Integrated Objectives

With a good, scaffolded end-of-unit assessment in place, teachers can then work backward to design the lessons that will lead to success at the end. As in any class, this requires daily learning objectives that can be assessed with a simple exit ticket. For multilingual learners, we can add a specific language piece to that objective.

Skelton describes a physics class she observed where students from many language backgrounds were doing a hands-on activity with focal points and convex lenses. At the end of class, the teacher prompted students with this: "Explain what you learned about finding the focal length."

When one student replied with "It gets bigger when it gets closer," the teacher was thrilled. He knew what the student meant and felt it adequately showed that he understood.

But when Skelton asked the teacher, "Does that sound like what you would want for a scientific response?" he realized that a real scientist would have used the terms focal point and convex lens. She then had the teacher write out his own response, something that would represent a good response to that question, and this gave him a much better idea of what he was looking for.

The revised prompt, integrating language objectives, looked like this: Explain what you learned about finding the focal length using precise vocabulary from the word bank. By adding this to the objectives, the teacher could then plan instruction that would give students practice in using that language throughout the lesson.

Here are a few more examples:

Before: Compare the social inequality in nineteenth-century France to the reality of the twenty-first century Western society.
After: Compare the social inequality in nineteenth-century France to the reality of the twenty-first century Western society using comparative language (both, just like, another similarity, etc.)

Before: Describe how the graph has been transformed.
After: Describe how the graph has been transformed using precise terms and the phrase by a factor of or by ___ units.

Before: Predict what will happen to the main character in the next chapter.
After: Predict what will happen to the main character in the next chapter using conditional language such as might or could.

Step 3: Teach for Comprehensible Input and Academic Output

When it comes time to teach the lessons themselves, use the daily objective as a guide to ensure that students understand the language that is being used to teach them - in other words, that the input is comprehensible to them - and that the students' output is framed in the language of the field being taught.

Huynh gives an example from a 9th grade science lesson on solubility. "Imagine a graph, XY graph, and then there's a line all the way through up. (The teacher) said, 'Above the line, we call that super saturated. It cannot melt anymore. Below this line, we can keep melting things. We call that unsaturated. That line is saturated. Anything on that line means everything can melt, but it can't melt anymore.' So the teacher just drew that, labeled it for kids. She color coded it and made it so comprehensible."

Next, she posed a few questions to make sure students understood how the graph worked. "She said, 'Okay. Let's look at 60 degrees. At what point would we go up, will 60 degrees hit that line of saturation? Let's look over to the left, oh. It's 120. That is the solubility.'"

Up to this point, her focus was on comprehensible input, making sure students understood the terms she was using to describe the graph. Next she shifted to the output, giving students practice using the terms themselves. "She said, 'Now I'm going to give you a question. I'm going to model for you the kind of language I want you to write. Don't just write the answer. Saturated, unsaturated, that's not enough. So this is what I want you to do. Always start your sentence with the word at, then give me the amount of grams. So At 110 grams of potassium nitrate... then give me the degrees, at 40 degrees, the solution is... then add is it saturated or unsaturated? And then say, because it is ... is it above the line of saturation, below the line of saturation, or on the line of saturation? That's it.'"

This kind of explicit modeling gives students guided practice in using this unfamiliar language correctly, integrating the content they are learning and the language needed to demonstrate that learning.

No More Doors Closed

By making these small shifts to help students build proficiency in discipline-specific language, we're helping them reach higher levels of learning. "Instead of lowering the expectations for these students," Huynh says, "we're saying, we're going to keep expectations high, but we're going to give you different paths to get to that mountaintop."

And when we do this, we eliminate the need for extra English classes. We put to rest the question of why students who seem to know English perfectly well still struggle in some classes. And we free up space for these students to pursue extracurriculars, electives, advanced coursework, and beyond.

For Huynh, seeing that shift would have personal significance, helping today's multilingual students reach that mountaintop without the setbacks he had to experience.

"No more doors closed," he says with resolve. "No more paths blocked."

Tan Huynh can be found online on his website at tankhuynh.com or on Twitter at @TanKHuynh. Beth Skelton can be found on her website at bethskelton.com or on Twitter at @easkelton.

To purchase Long-Term Success for Experienced Multilinguals directly from Corwin's website, click here and use the code SAVE20 at checkout for 20 percent off.

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Supporting Intermediate English Learners in Every Subject

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Students who have learned enough English to thrive socially may still need scaffolding to thrive academically. These strategies can help.