During yesterday's PD session, we discussed one model of lesson design within an intensive schedule. We also discussed what it's like when a lesson is missing one of the critical components of explanation, application, or synthesis. Our face to face discussion lasted about five minutes for each question, but I think this is worth discussing further. I also think that taking the discussion online is a great learning opportunity for those of you who weren't able to make it yesterday. Here's a quick refresher on what goes into an effective lesson according to Dr. Robert Canaday, the pioneer of intensive scheduling:
Explanation (15-30 min): Sharing new content, mini lecture, video lecture, etc. - identify, label, recall, outline, reproduce, describe, illustrate, predict, summarize, translate, etc.
Application (40-60 min): Putting the content into practice - demonstrate, apply, compare/contrast, manipulate, sketch, write, dramatize, illustrate, modify, etc.
Synthesis (15-30 min): Putting it all together and assessing learning - create, design, develop, assemble, plan, revise, reconstruct, evaluate, support, judge, argue, justify, critique, etc.
Additionally, here's a copy of the lecture that Dr. Lowe shared with us at the beginning. Take a look at the slides to get a review of the content.
Explanation (15-30 min): Sharing new content, mini lecture, video lecture, etc. - identify, label, recall, outline, reproduce, describe, illustrate, predict, summarize, translate, etc.
Application (40-60 min): Putting the content into practice - demonstrate, apply, compare/contrast, manipulate, sketch, write, dramatize, illustrate, modify, etc.
Synthesis (15-30 min): Putting it all together and assessing learning - create, design, develop, assemble, plan, revise, reconstruct, evaluate, support, judge, argue, justify, critique, etc.
Additionally, here's a copy of the lecture that Dr. Lowe shared with us at the beginning. Take a look at the slides to get a review of the content.
Following the lecture by Dr. Lowe, Betsy led us in some small group discussion. You will find those questions below. Reply to as many of these as you would like, but make a separate post for each so we don't get confused. Additionally, check back in a couple days to see if you can reply to any others. Online discussions are most effective when they go back and forth. In my online master's classes, we were required to develop a response to one question and reply to at least two of our classmates. That worked pretty well and gave me lots of new insights.
1. What happens when a teacher designs a lesson that doesn't make it all the way to synthesis?
2. How does spending an excessive amount of time on explanation affect student learning?
3. Let's take it the opposite direction. What happens when you ask students to create something (say a video, arguments for a debate, or a model of something, etc...) but skip the explanation phase? Hypothesize if you haven't experienced this or share a story about what this looked like when you did it.
4. Share a success story about an effective lesson you recently gave that took students through all three stages of explanation, application, and synthesis. (note: with our current schedule, this might have been over two days b/c it's really hard to fit all three stages into one 45 minute lesson). It would be amazing to see what lessons look like in other classes. Share objectives and activities in your response.
5. What instructional strategies have you found most effective in the application, and synthesis stages of a lesson?
1. What happens when a teacher designs a lesson that doesn't make it all the way to synthesis?
2. How does spending an excessive amount of time on explanation affect student learning?
3. Let's take it the opposite direction. What happens when you ask students to create something (say a video, arguments for a debate, or a model of something, etc...) but skip the explanation phase? Hypothesize if you haven't experienced this or share a story about what this looked like when you did it.
4. Share a success story about an effective lesson you recently gave that took students through all three stages of explanation, application, and synthesis. (note: with our current schedule, this might have been over two days b/c it's really hard to fit all three stages into one 45 minute lesson). It would be amazing to see what lessons look like in other classes. Share objectives and activities in your response.
5. What instructional strategies have you found most effective in the application, and synthesis stages of a lesson?