Direct Instruction System for Teaching Arithmetic and Reading DISTAR Direct Instruction System for Teaching Arithmetic and Reading

Outline: Direct Instruction & DISTAR Scope of Use & Theoretical Background DI in Theory Educational Vision Advantages & Disadvantages Teaching Techniques Schedule & Activity

What is direct instruction? Direct Instruction (DI): a specific model of instruction within a larger more generic category of teacher-directed instruction which is a highly structured to break down skills into specific components and teach them in a controlled and scripted sequence.

DISTAR DISTAR is an acronym for Direct Instruction System for Teaching Arithmetic and Reading, a trademarked program of SRA/McGraw-Hill(Science Research Associates), a commercial publishing company

Scope of use; Direct Instruction; developed in the 1960s has been revised and renamed over the years first branded as the Direct Instruction System for Teaching Arithmetic and Reading (DISTAR), which included DISTAR Reading, DISTAR Arithmetic, and DISTAR Language I

DISTAR Reading; uses explicit strategies to teach children the skills they need to learn how to read (skills like blending and rhyming

DISTAR Arithmetic; uses explicit strategies to teach children basic math skills necessary to learning difficult concepts later on (such as ratios, proportions, and data analysis).

DISTAR Language I; focuses on teaching syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic skills. Instruction is teacher-directed, with students responding to teacher instructions, questions, and visual cues and with teachers providing verbal praise for correct responses.

Theoretical Background DI was developed by Siegfried Engelman, a professor at the University of Oregon. The oldest version of the program, DISTAR, was developed in the 1960s.

Siegfried Engelmann; born November 26, 1931 in Chicago, Illinois, a passionate philosopher who has dedicated the past forty years to advancing the theory and practice of instruction, completed his Honors BA in Philosophy at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, raised four children with his wife, worked from 1955 to 1960 as a self-employed investment counselor, served as the creative director, vice-president and holder of various other positions in advertising agencies from 1960 to 1964

Programs included high school students from poor backgrounds, preschoolers with Down Syndrome, and disadvantaged youngsters attending the Bereiter-Engelmann Program. It was during this period that he formalized the logic and methods for Direct Instruction.

DI in theory; developed in a whole different fashion, started with a behaviorist idea that the effectiveness of a teaching strategy can be measured by changes in behavior, In his view, when kids fail to learn, it has nothing to do with brain wiring. His goal was to design a program that was clear enough to teach any beginning learner.

According to Engelmann's theory, children learn by working through the sequence of tasks with carefully timed comments from the teacher

Educational Vision

The goals of DI; accelerate learning by maximizing efficiency in the design and delivery of instruction, emphasize priority concepts critical for student success, include every piece that was necessary to make the lessons successful, move from basic skills to integrated, sophisticated skills develop learning strategies and their application in new situations, help you make a measurable difference in classroom achievement, create successful, confident learners

DI Methodology involves; Scripted lesson plans – Teachers use pre-developed scripts to teach skills. These scripts are field-tested and revised to ensure students learn the material quickly and accurately. Rapid-paced, intense interaction with students – The teacher directed instruction is replaced with group and individual student responses.

DI Methodology involves; Correcting mistakes immediately –This should prevent students from learning bad habits or incorrect skills. Homogeneous skill grouping – Students are grouped by performance or ability level. DI proponents say homogeneous grouping allows students to progress at the fastest pace while ensuring no students fall behind.

DI Methodology involves; Frequent assessment – It enables teachers to ensure all students are learning the material and regroup children when needed. Teaching to mastery – A group does not move on until all the children in the group have learned/understood the material.

3D of Direct Instruction Design Delivery Documentation

Design Break concepts into manageable steps Use clear, concise language Model skills and steps needed Give guided practice Provide multiple examples in a carefully planned sequence to build independence Integrate previously learned knowledge and skills Incorporate continuous assessment

Delivery Give placement tests Follow scripted lessons to ensure consistency Use quick pacing and group responses Implement planned correction procedures to prevent errors from becoming learned habits Provide positive reinforcement

Documentation The results of more than 50 independent research studies show the effectiveness of the direct instruction.

Advantages of DI The teacher has control of the timing of the lesson. The teacher has control over what will be learned, and who will learn. Students are physically easy to monitor. The curriculum can be covered, so the teacher can say that s/he taught the material. Some material should be taught this way! Any information for which there is one right answer, and for which that answer is relatively simple, can be taught efficiently and honestly by using direct instruction.

Disadvantages of DI It is based on old learning theories: that we must learn simple tasks before complex ones, and that only measurable learning is worth while. Students do not have a sense of the overall purpose of the simple steps.

Teachers cannot assess what the students’ prior knowledge is, so will be unaware of why particular students cannot learn. Retention of how to solve the problems is low, because the students have not struggled with the problem themselves.

Direct instruction as an instructional method works for only a small percentage of students, not for a great variety. The students who have other than verbal “intelligence”, or who come from different cultural world views will fail.

Teaching Techniques

Positioning Equipment, Materials, and People Scheduling Demonstrating Describing Prasing Feedback Listening Modelling Reading Telling and Instructing Reinforcing Task Analysis

Positioning Equipment, Materials, and People There should be an environment in which teacher can control children’s action and behaviors and direct their learning and development. This can be supplied with good interaction and developmentally appropriate materials and equipment.

Scheduling There is a scripted lesson plan with a pre-defined schedule in order to provide a sense of confidence about what will happen during the day.

Demonstrating Step-by-step technique is used with clear verbal instructions to make tasks to be done appropriately.

Describing During application of the activity in classroom, each step is described by teacher clearly so that children know what they are supposed to do.

Praising To keep children’s interest and attention, praises are used in each opportunities. Praise is specific and relevant to the task at hand, offering useful information to the student. Praising is unavoidable teaching technique.

Feedback Immediate feedback is given during the activity if there is needed.

Listening Teacher listens to children as much as possible in order to correct any mistakes and make them reach their full potential.

Modelling Teacher should be a role model for children’s learning like the other curriculum models. Moreover, DI is a teacher-directed model so modelling gets more importance.

Reading As it can be understood from the acronym of DISTAR, this model was based on improving children’s reading skills so this technique is a must.

Telling and Instructing Like reading, these teaching techniques are basements for a teacher-directed model.

Reinforcing Two types of the reinforcement are used to control children’s individual behaviour by teacher.

Task Analysis The main issue in task analysis is step-by-step strategy. In DI, subjects, concepts and lecturers are given by dividing into its steps.

Special Techniques in DI Signals and Pacing

Signals The basic routine for each activity includes harmony responses followed by individual practice. Visual and auditory signals are used to initiate whole-group responses. Using signals is an effective technique to get students to initiate their own response, and helps you control pacing and provide appropriate think time before students answer.

Pacing Fast pace throughout each lesson and transition are maintained seamlessly from activity to activity. Students receive more practice time and have an increased opportunity for achieving success.

Error Correction Procedure My turn - Show students how to do it Do it with me - Show students how to do it by doing it with students OPTIONAL Your turn - Have students do it on their own Review - Do a starting over; start over at the beginning of the activity to ensure that students can demonstrate the correct response

Schedule for a 4-5 years-old Preschool Class Hours Activities 8:30 Children come to the school and put away belongings, attendance 8:30-9:00 OPENING: Physical activity / Sports time 9:05-9:30 BREAKFAST 9:30-10:00 CIRCLE TIME: Introduce/review theme Finger plays, nursery rhymes, poems 10:00-10:30 LANGUAGE: Morning lesson instruction/story. Children explore a specific letter or sound in books by working on art activity 10:30-10:55 TIME FOR TOYS 10:55-11:35 MATH: Direct instruction followed by hands on work on basic math concepts such as matching, sorting, classifying, comparing 11:35-11:40 CLEAN-UP/PREPARE FOR LUNCH 11:45-12:10 LUNCH

Hours Activities (Schedule continued) 11:45-12:30 LUNCH 12:30-14:30 REST 14:30-15:00 SNACK TIME 15:00-15:30 FREE PLAY: Children can choose materials to play in groups, as partners or individually (blocks, dramatic play, manipulative, etc.) 15:30-16:00 STORY TIME 16:00 PREPARE FOR LEAVING SCHOOL 17:00 END of THE DAY

Watching Time

Activity Time

Reference List Direct Instruction Methodology SRA/McGraw Hill National Institute for Direct Instruction – NIFDI Scientific Research Association http://sradirectinstruction.com/ Association for Direct Instruction http://www.adihome.org/ The McGraw-Hill Companies http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/ Siegfried E. Engelmann Biography http://psych.athabascau.ca/html/387/OpenModules/Engelmann/Engelmannbio.html Council for Exceptional Children http://www.cec.sped.org//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home

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