Instructional Strategies that Enhance Student Learning in Block Schedules

FRANKLIN HIGH SCHOOLJANUARY 2010

Instructional Strategies that Enhance Student Learning in

Block Schedules

Bell-work

1. What components do you consciously include when designing an effective lesson plan?

2. List some instructional strategies that you frequently find successful.

3. How do you go about deciding (a) what to teach and (b) how to teach it?

Agenda •Bell-work

•Targets

•Importance of planning

•Block with the Brain in Mind

•5-step lesson plan template

TargetsFaculty will understand the

important relationship between brain based learning and effective instructional approaches in a block setting

Faculty will be able to identify and apply a 5-step process to lesson planning to enhance student attention, engagement and learning

Bell-work

1. What components do you consciously include when designing an effective lesson plan?

2. List some instructional strategies that you frequently find successful.

3. How do you go about deciding (a) what to teach and (b) how to teach it?

What purposes do bell-work or sponge activities serve?

Consciously plan to teach for depth on “Big Ideas” of your subject area

Click icon to add picture“You can teach more faster, but students will simply forget more faster. In-depth (as opposed to superficial) learning requires time for organizing, integrating, and storing new information.”

Learning – 2 categories

Explicit Learning: Consists of what we

commonly read, write, and talk about

Conveyed via such means as textbooks, lectures, pictures and videos

Implicit LearningConsists of things we

learn through life experience, habit, games, experiential learning, and other “hands-on” activities

(Jensen, E. Teaching With the Brain in Mind)

Complex Learning – 7 Critical Factors

Engagement (goal oriented attention and action)

Repetition (priming, reviewing, and revising)

Input quantity (capacity, flow, chunk size) Coherence (models, relevance, prior

knowledge) Timing (time of day, interval learning) Error correction (mistakes, feedback,

support) Emotional states (safety, state of

dependency)

(Jensen, E. Teaching With the Brain in Mind)

Paying attention

“Attention is ‘payment’ of the brain’s precious resources. It requires that we orient, engage,

and maintain each appropriate neural network. In addition, we must exclude or

suppress external and internal distracters…In short, paying attention is not easy to do

consciously.”

-Eric Jensen

Practical Suggestions

Brevity – cut the length of focused attention – the human brain is poor at nonstop attention. It needs time for processing and rest after learning.

Compelling & Relevant Tasks – meaning building tasks such as grouping & regrouping material, critiquing and analyzing it, resequencing content, using graphic organizers, summarizing

Movement – raises amine levels in the brain and elicits a state of aroused attention

Attention Spans – Guidelines for Direct Instruction of New Content

Grade Level Appropriate Amount of Direct Instruction

K-2 5-8 minutesGrades 3-5 8-12 minutesGrades 6-8 12-15 minutesGrades 9-12 12-15 minutesAdult Learners 15-18 minutes

MovementKids need to be active and move during a block lesson.

How might you incorporate movement in a meaningful way in your lessons?

The Five Step Lesson Plan

1. Introduction Refer to previous lessons/units Point to what’s coming Whet the students’ appetites Assess students abilities/past performances

2. Direct Instruction Direct the learning Facilitate, without necessarily lecturing Assess students

3. Guided Practice Provide opportunities for students to work with new material Guide students through the process Assess students

The Five Step Lesson Plan

4. Independent practice Encourage student autonomy Recognize the benefits to long-term memory

development Choose appropriate homework, a prime example of

independent practice Assess students

5. Closure Review what has happened Emphasize key points Point to what will happen next Assess students

Getting Started

“It is critical to provide activities for students that will immediately engage them as they

walk in the door. Activities that are meaningful to students provide an “emotional

hook” that in turn fosters attention and learning.”

-Dr. Pam Robbins, Learning Beyond Boundaries

Starting the lesson

“How a lesson starts goes a long way in determining how smoothly the class runs and how much the kids learn.” – Rick Smith

Strategy – Sponges or Bell-WorkAnything we normally have students do, as

long as they can do it silently and without having to ask for directions or clarifications

Assign several activities to keep all engaged – start class when everyone has the first task or item complete

The Lesson Itself

Strategy – VarietyPlan at-least 3 to 4 activities per lesson with a

minimum of one in which the teacher is off the stage

Employ shifts in focus and energy at least every ten to twelve minutes

Plan in movement breaks several times in a period (transitions between activities are good opportunities)

The brain loves to talk so provide opportunities for students to work together

Pacing, feedback & participation

Build in opportunities for independent practice so you can assess and provide additional help to your slower processors

Increase wait time during discussion – wait for 6 hands to be raised before calling on a student – and say “thank you” instead of “right”

Class choral recital – every once in awhile ask all students to say an answer out loud together

Practice effective chunking – don’t try and deliver too much content at one time

Movement breaks

StrategiesFind a partner in a different part of the roomTransitions between activitiesEveryone who hears my voice clap twice (when transitioning

back from small group to full group)Breathing – ask students to take a deep breath and exhale

togetherStretching – can be done in seats or standing up. Schedule in

a “7th inning stretch”Give yourself a pat on the back on opposite sides – gets the

blood flowing and activates both the right and left hemispheresAction Thermometer (Four Corners) strategy – have students

physically move to a place to represent a point of viewBall or frisbee toss discussions

Closure

What do students remember most from your lesson? The first and last thing they hear!

The last three-minutes can be the most significant of any lesson as they can markedly increase student retention by allowing them to reflect on their learning. This enhances the potential of the material moving from the short-term to long-term memory. Whenever possible have the students actively involved during closure.

Strategies – Reciprocal Teaching (students pair off and take turns summarizing), Highlights (students come up with one or more key ideas from the lesson), Exit slips, Provide a unifying metaphor or simple analogy

Use the Block as it is intended!

“The major power of longer teaching periods is that such periods make the attention to brain

compatible teaching practices far more feasible.”

(Fitzgerald, 1996)

Highlights

Identify some key take aways for today’s presentation

Identify some examples of instructional strategies used during this presentation

Manage pacing by focusing on big ideas and depth of learning

Always consider how the brain works when designing learning activities

Repetition, movement & pacing are important considerations in extended periods