Mini-Lesson Format/Criteria - westada.org

[Pages:3]Mini-Lesson Format/Criteria

Background:

Lucy Calkins, educator/author of The Art of Teaching Writing (1994) is the creator of the mini-lesson format that stemmed from a writing workshop setting. Calkins based her design on the premise that students need explicit instruction (Calkins 2014). The design presented here is based on a number of sources that shared the same structure and format for explicit teaching using the mini-lesson style.

Questions for the PLC to consider:

Based on the format below, how often should a mini-lesson be presented based on the course's pacing guide, and does the format work for you? If not, how would you revise the format keeping the essentials of good instruction (learning target/outcome, process, I do, We do, You do, formative assessment, closing)? Planning is essential for teachers to maximize instructional time to make it the most effective experience possible. Teacher clarity (ranked 8) and direct instruction (ranked 26) are two of John Hattie's most effective strategies and when used effectively, show over a years' growth in student learning (2016).

Pacing Guide:

Based on a nine-week schedule, start presenting mini-lessons every day and then decreasing to twice-a-week based on student progress and need. There may be students who need a mini-lesson every day. What does that look like for you as a teacher in terms of scheduling and following a pacing guide? Is this even realistic?

Grouping:

The grouping is dependent on the learning needs. The mini-lesson could be part of a station-rotation format, it could be the direct instruction for a small group of students, or it could be whole group.

Format

The basic mini-lesson format is based on a short time frame (up to 25 minutes long) and follows the template below:

Section Mini-lesson topic Materials

Connection

Description Name the teaching point or focus (usually on one strategy, skill, or concept).

What materials needed to complete the lesson (include texts, videos, web sites, and other resources). Tell students what you taught the previous lesson or what the connection is to the learning. This can be presented by having students complete a journal prompt, a math problem that the new teaching point will build off of, or a question that creates discussion. The purpose is to make a connections to existing knowledge. A collaborative vocabulary activity could occur during this time in which students make meaning from a vocabulary word assigned to him then share it out with the group in a collaborative process that leads into a discussion regarding the connection/relationships the vocabulary has with the teaching point or focus.

Explicit Instruction

Guided Practice/Active Engagement

Independent Practice Closing

Tell students what you will teach to day and show them how to do it (this is the "I do" part of the lesson). Today I am going to teach you. . . . , Watch me do . . . . Ask students to try with a partner (this is the "We do" part of the lesson). During guided practice, formative assessment is needed to determine whether students need more practice or are ready to move on independently. If students are not able to work independently, then more guided practice--we do--needs to occur. Remind students how the teaching point or focus can be used independently and how it connects to the bigger picture. Restate the teaching point or focus. Ask students to review or have them demonstrate to the whole group the steps in learning or rephrase the learning in their own words.

Remind the students what the next steps will be in using the learning as they go work independently. (Information assembled from Arcot & Quick Tip Tuesday)

Inquiry mini-lesson format:

Section Materials Connection

Name the Inquiry Question

Inquiry Set-Up:

Guided Practice/Active Engagement

Link

Closing

Description What materials needed to complete the lesson (include texts, videos, web sites, and other resources). Remind students of something familiar. Perhaps remind them of some prior knowledge, or a story from the classroom, or an anecdote from your own personal life that will connect today's teaching point. Name the question your students will be thinking about. Be explicit about the questions unless you are expecting your students to create their own question. In that case, the kids should name their questions clearly at this stage of the mini-lesson. Perhaps you'll invite students to examine a mentor text, asking, "What does this writer do that I could do in my own writing?" Or for another example, maybe you'll ask student to observe two partners at work, thinking, "What do I notice these partners doing that is helpful to each other?" This is where the students will actually do the inquiry. Plan that it will be short (probably for a few minutes). You might have partners have a conversation while the rest of the class looks on. You might model some of your own observations at this point to set the expectation. For a longer, more involved inquiry, then a mini-lesson is probably not the right structure. This is where the students might talk to a partner about what they observed, or jot something down on a post it or in a collaborative space such as Near-Pod or a Padlet. Just like in a traditional mini-lesson, this should be something brief for students to try. In an inquiry setting, it may be helpful to chart the observations to help students remember the lesson/information later. Formative assessment takes place here--if students are not on the right track, then more instruction is needed. At this point, make it clear for students what the on-going work is. In an inquiry, there are usually several things that students have gleaned from their observations. Restate the teaching point or focus. Ask students to review or have them demonstrate to the whole group the steps in learning or rephrase the learning in their own words.

Remind the students what the next steps will be in using the learning as they go work independently. (Information assembled from Arcot, Moore, & Quick Tip Tuesday)

References Arcot, S. (2014, June 18). How I blended my math class. In Education Week Teacher. Calkins, L. (Narrator). (2014). Lucy Calkins on mini-lessons [Online video]. YouTube. Calkins, L. (1994). The Art of Teaching Writing. Ontario, Canada: Irwin. Hattie, J. (2016). Hattie ranking: influences and effect sized related to student achievement. In Visible

Learning. Retrieved April 18, 2016. Moore, E. (2014, August 24). There are more ways than one to teach a mini-lesson. In Two Writing

Teachers. Quick Tip Tuesday: Framework for a successful mini-lesson. (2009, March 3). In The Stenhouse

Blog. Retrieved April 18, 2016.

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