Gone are the days of turning the page in a teacher’s manual to plan a class period of instruction. Designing coherent instruction is the heart of planning, reflecting the teacher’s knowledge of content and of the students in the class, the intended outcomes of instruction, and the available resources. Such planning requires that educators have a clear understanding of the state, district, and school expectations for student learning and the skill to translate these into a coherent plan. It also requires that teachers understand the characteristics of the students they teach and the active nature of student learning. Educators must determine how best to sequence instruction in a way that will advance student learning through the required content. Furthermore, such planning requires the thoughtful construction of lessons that contain cognitively engaging learning activities, the incorporation of appropriate resources and materials, and the intentional grouping of students.
The elements of 1e: designing coherent instruction include:
Learning activities
Instruction is designed to engage students and move them through their progression of learning.
Instructional materials and resources
Aids to instruction are appropriate to the learning needs of the students.
Instructional groups
Teachers intentionally organize and plan flexible, guided groups to support student learning.
Lesson and unit structure
Teachers produce clear and sequenced unit frameworks that allow for lessons throughout the unit that respond to students’ instructional needs.
What does this look like:
- Lessons that support instructional outcomes and reflect essential questions
- Differentiated activities that support customized learning pathsInstructional maps, frameworks, and lesson plans that indicate entry points for students on the learning continuum
- Activities that represent high-level thinking
- Opportunities for student choiceUse of varied resources
- Thoughtfully planned guided groupsStructured lesson plans that demonstrate the gradual release of responsibility (I do it, we do it, you do it...)
In a proficient classroom...
Most of the learning activities are aligned with the instructional outcomes and follow an organized progression suitable to groups of students. The learning activities have reasonable time allocation; they represent significant cognitive challenge, with differentiation for different groups of students and flexible use of instructional groups.
In a distinguished classroom...
The sequence of learning activities follows a coherent sequence, is aligned to instructional goals, and is designed to engage students in high-level cognitive activity based on customized learning paths. These are personalized for individual learners. Instruction groups are varied appropriately, with opportunities for student choice and voice.
Designing coherent instruction is at the heart of the teaching craft, relying on teacher expertise and collaboration for effective execution. Ensuring our efforts are aligned to meet the learning needs of students maximizes the instructional time we have to move students forward.
This week’s blog question:
What tools do you use to tie individual student activities to progressions of learning?
