Designing lessons that work: objectives, differentiation, pacing, vocabulary, organizers, and homework.
Word knowledge is one of the strongest predictors of comprehension, and it does not happen by accident.
Open workshop →WorkshopGraphic organizers and structured note-taking make the shape of ideas visible, how things compare, sequence, cause, or connect, so students organize thinking instead of just copying it down.
Open workshop →WorkshopStudents arrive ready for different things, so one-size instruction leaves some behind and holds others back.
Open workshop →WorkshopWhen students know what they are learning and what success looks like, they can aim at it and judge their own progress.
Open workshop →WorkshopHomework is one of the most debated and least examined practices in teaching.
Open workshop →WorkshopA well-planned lesson can still fall flat if the pacing is off, too slow and students check out, too fast and they are lost, with dead time in between.
Open workshop →WorkshopWe remember stories far better than lists of facts, our minds are built for narrative.
Open workshop →WorkshopA unit framed around a rich, open, provocative question, rather than just a topic to cover, gives learning purpose and direction.
Open workshop →WorkshopThe last few minutes of a lesson are often wasted packing up, but they are prime time for learning.
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