1. The Importance of Explicit Instruction
Idaho Title One Conference
Boise, ID
April 2013
Presenter: Gina W. Hopper

2. Welcome and Introductions

3. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The content of this session is expanded in Chapter 1 of the book:
Archer, A., & Hughes, C. (2011). Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching. NY: Guilford Publications.
Videos that illustrate explicit instruction can be found on this website.
The slides in this presentation were designed by Anita Archer and modified as needed by the trainer.

4. Session Purposes The participant will be able to:
Describe the research supporting Explicit Instruction supporting its importance
Describe the elements of Explicit Instruction
Describe the underlying principles of Explicit Instruction

5. What do you currently know about Explicit Instruction?
K*W*L Activity #1

6. What is Explicit Instruction?
Explicit instruction is a systematic instructional approach that includes a set of delivery and design procedures derived from effective schools research……….
Ideas that Work
…unambiguous and direct approach to teaching that incorporates instruction design and delivery.
Archer & Hughes, 2011

7. Video Record good practices

8. Explicit Instruction and Discovery Not an either or - but a when.
Little or no
background knowledge
A good deal of
background knowledge in the domain
History of difficulty,
of failure
History of success

9. Support for Explicit Instruction: 40 + years of convergent research
Teacher Effects/Process Research
Project Follow Through
Research Syntheses in Special Education

10. Support for Explicit Instruction: 40 + years of convergent research
Recent Governmental Reports in Reading and Math
Findings from research on cognition
(working memory vs permanent memory)

11. Elements of Explicit Instruction Content
1. Instruction focuses on critical content Skills, strategies, vocabulary terms, concepts, rules, and facts that will empower students in the future are taught
2. Skills, strategies, and concepts are sequenced logically
Easier skills before harder skills
High frequency skills before low frequency skills
Prerequisites first
Similar skills separated

12. Elements of Explicit Instruction Content
3. Complex skills and strategies are broken down into smaller (easy to obtain) instructional units
Aware of cognitive overloading, processing demands, and capacity of working memory

13. Elements of Explicit Instruction Content
1. Instruction focuses on ____________ content
2. Skills, strategies, and concepts are ___________ logically
3. Complex skills and strategies are ______________ into smaller (easy to obtain) instructional units

14. Elements of Explicit Instruction Design of Instruction
Lessons 1. Are organized and focused 2. Begin with a statement of goals 3. Provide review of prior skills and knowledge

15. Elements of Explicit Instruction Design of Instruction
4. Provide step-by-step demonstrations 5. Use clear and concise language 6. Provide a range of examples and non-examples 7. Provide guided and supported practice

16. Elements of Explicit Instruction Design of Instruction
Lessons
1. Are ___________ and focused
2. Begin with a statement of _______________
3. Provide _______________ of prior skills and knowledge

17. Elements of Explicit Instruction Design of Instruction
4. Provide step-by-step __________________
5. Use __________ and ___________ language
6. Provide a range of ______________ and _______________________________
7. Provide _______________ and supported practice

18. Elements of Explicit Instruction Delivery of Instruction
Teachers:
1. Require frequent responses
2. Monitor student performance closely
3. Provide immediate affirmation and corrective feedback

19. Elements of Explicit Instruction Delivery of Instruction
Teachers:
5. Deliver instruction at a brisk pace
6. Help students organize knowledge

20. Elements of Explicit Instruction Delivery of Instruction
Teachers:
1. Require frequent _______________
2. ________________ student performance closely
3. Provide immediate affirmation and corrective
______________________

21. Elements of Explicit Instruction Delivery of Instruction
Teachers:
4. Deliver instruction at a _________ pace
5. Help students ___________ knowledge

22. Elements of Explicit Instruction Practice
Teachers provide judicious practice including: *Initial practice *Distributed practice *Cumulative review

23. Elements of Explicit Instruction Practice
Teachers provide judicious practice including: ______________ practice ______________ review

24. Foundation Principle # 1 Optimize academic learning time
the amount of time
that students
are successfully engaged
in academic tasks

25. Foundation Principle # 1 Optimize academic learning time
A few words about time
Available Time
Amount of time available for school activities
About 6 hours
Allocated Time Amount of time allotted for academic instruction
About 4 hours If increased, slight impact on achievement

26. Foundation Principle # 1 Optimize academic learning time
A few words about time
Engaged Time Amount of time actively engaged in learning task
About 2 hours
If increased, moderate impact on achievement
Academic Learning Time
Amount of time
Students are successfully engaged
On academic tasks
If increased, strong impact on achievement

27. Foundation Principle # 1 Optimize academic learning time.
Explicit Instruction is designed to increase Academic Learning Time
List ways to optimize instructional time

28. Foundation Principle # 1 Optimize academic learning time.
Explicit Instruction is designed to increase Academic Learning Time.
Some ways to optimize instructional time
Increase allocated time
Bell to Bell teaching
Start lessons on time
Teach in groups as much as possible
Be prepared
Avoid digressions
Maintain a perky pace
Decrease transition time
Use instructional routines

29. Foundation Principle # 2 Promote high levels of success
High level of success
80% correct responses during initial instruction
90 -95% correct responses during independent practice
High success rates positively correlated with increased learning outcomes
Low success rates correlated with negative outcomes

30. Foundation Principle # 2 Promote high levels of success
Increase amount of instructional time
Students achieve more in classes in which they spend much of their time being taught directly by the teacher
Whole group instruction
Small group instruction
Small group instruction in general education classes
Based on instructional needs & current functioning
Tier 2 and Tier 3 intervention groups
Groups of 6-8 students more effective than smaller or larger groups or one-to-one (Elbaum, Vaughn, Hughes, Moody, & Schumm, 2000)

31. Foundation Principle # 2 Promote high levels of success
Provide scaffolding that enhances success

32. Foundation Principle # 2 Promote high levels of success
Provide scaffolding that enhances success
Goal
Current Level

33. Foundation Principle # 2 Promote high levels of success
List scaffolds that could be used to close the gap between current functioning and the desired goal

34. Foundation Principle # 2 Promote high levels of success
Explicit Instruction is designed to increase
student success through scaffolding
Teach material that is not too difficult
Carefully sequence instruction
Break down complex skills into small steps
Increase the amount of instruction within groups
Teach preskills before target skill
Provide dynamic models of target skill
Provide clear presentations

35. Foundation Principle # 2 Promote high levels of success
Explicit Instruction is designed to increase
student success through scaffolding
Provide guided practice
Provide additional scaffolding to support performance (e.g., hints, prompts, checklists)
Provide worked problems (completed problems)
Systematically reduce the level of scaffolding
Provide immediate affirmative and corrective feedback
Ensure level of accuracy before independent practice

36. Foundation Principle # 3 Optimize the amount of content covered WELL
The amount of content covered WELL, the greater potential for student learning

37. Foundation Principle # 3 Optimize the amount of content covered WELL
Explicit Instruction is designed to increase
amount of content covered WELL
Some ways to optimize content covered
Select critical content for instruction
Teach skills, strategies, and concepts that generalize to other items
Use instructional procedures that are effective but efficient
Increase the amount of instruction through grouping of students.
Organize content to promote learning (e.g., graphic organizers)
“Teach the Stuff and Cut the Fluff”

38. Motto
How well you teach =
How well they learn

39. Explicit Instruction - Content Guidelines
Applied to the Common Core State Standards

40. Prioritize What strand will make the most difference?
Grade 1
Literature
Key ideas and details
Craft and Structure
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
Informational Text
Foundation Skills
Print Concepts
Phonological Awareness
Phonics and Word Recognition
Fluency

41. Prioritize What standards will make the most difference?
Phonological Awareness
2. Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).
a. Distinguish long from short vowel sounds in spoken single-syllable words.
b. Orally produce single-syllable words by blending sounds (phonemes), including consonant blends.
c. Isolate and pronounce initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in spoken single-syllable words.
d. Segment spoken single-syllable words into their complete sequence of individual sounds (phonemes).

42. Add Missing Standards Kindergarten - Phonics and Word Recognition
3. Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words both in isolation and in text. a. Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary or many of the most frequent sound for each consonant.
b. Associate the long and short sounds with common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.*
c. Read common high-frequency words by sight (e.g., the, of, to, you, she, my, is, are, do, does).
d. Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ.

43. Add Missing Standards Can sound out regular, one-syllable words
Kindergarten - Phonics and Word Recognition
Can sound out regular, one-syllable words
using knowledge of phoneme-grapheme
relationships of vowels and consonants.

44. Integrate/Condense Standards
Reading Standards for Literature - Grade 1
Key Ideas and Details
Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.
Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

45. Integrate/Condense Standards
Craft and Structure
Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses
Explain major differences between books that tell stories and books that give information, drawing on a wide reading of a range of text types.
Identify who is telling the story at various points in a text.

46. Integrate/Condense Standards
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
7. Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.
8. (Not applicable to literature.)
9. Compare and contrast the adventures and
experiences of characters in stories.

47. Integrate/Condense Standards
Students can:
Answer questions
Ask questions
Retell stories
Describe
Compare and contrast
Story Elements
Key details
Characters (including feelings)
Settings Major events
Experiences of characters
Central messages or lessons
Narrators

48. Integrate/Condense Standards
5th Grade Writing Standards
Opinion Pieces - To convince
Informational Text - To inform
Narratives - To convey an experience

49. Integrate/Condense Standards
5th Grade Writing Standards
4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
5. With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.

50. Integrate/Condense Standards
5th Grade Writing Standards
6. With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of two pages in a single session.

51. Integrate/Condense Standards
5th Grade Writing Standards
8. Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources.
9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

52. Integrate/Condense Standards
5th Grade Writing Standards
10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of
discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and
audiences.

53. Integrate/Condense Standards
Tasks
Written often
Short and long products
Variety of tasks, audiences, purposes
Purposes
to convince
to inform
to convey an experience

54. Integrate/Condense Standards
Process
Plan
Gather information
Personal experiences
Print sources
Digital sources
Literature and informational texts
Organize
Appropriate to task, purpose, audience
Write
Clear and coherent
Use technology
Revise
Edit
Rewrite

55. Break down complex skills Example - Common Core State Standards
English Language Arts Standards Writing Grade 5
Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of
view with reasons and information.
Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure in which ideas are logically grouped to support the writer’s purpose.
Provide logically ordered reasons that are supported by facts and details.
Link opinion and reasons using words, phrases, and clauses (e.g., consequently, specifically).
Provide a concluding statement or section related to the opinion presented.

56. Break down complex skills Example - Common Core State Standards
Body of Opinion Paper
Transcription
1. When given a reason and related facts and details, can write a paragraph with a topic sentence stating the reason.
2. When given a reason and related facts and details, can write a paragraph with a topic sentence stating the reason followed by sentences containing facts and details, connected with transition words and phrases.
3. When given three reasons and related facts and details, can write three paragraphs each containing a topic sentence stating the reason followed by sentences containing facts and details, connected with transition words and phrases.
Planning
4. When given a position on a topic, can generate reasons to support that position.
5. When given a topic, can generate a position and reasons and details to support that position.
6. When given a topic, can generate a position and reasons to support that position, and details to logically support each reason.
7. When given a topic, can generate a plan for the body of an essay (the position, the reasons, details to support each reason) and transcribe the plan into three coherent paragraphs.

57. Break down complex skills Example - Common Core State Standards
Introduction
8. For previously formulated bodies of opinion essays, writes an introduction that: a) grabs the attention of the reader, b) states the writer’s opinion, and c) introduces reasons to support the writer’s opinion.
Conclusion
For previously formulated opinion essays, writes a short conclusion that “wraps it up” by: a) summarizing the opinion and reasons, b) calling for some action to be taken, or c) explaining the outcomes of not following the writer’s suggestions.
Opinion Papers
10. When given a topic, can plan, write, and edit an opinion paper that includes: a) an effective introduction, b) a well structured body with logically organized reasons and related facts and details, linked with appropriate transition words and phrases, and c) a short conclusion that “wraps it up”.

58. General Lesson Design Lesson Opening - Review
What are the benefits of an interactive review?
Benefits to students
Benefits to teacher

59. General Lesson Design Lesson Opening - Review
What are the benefits of an interactive review?
Benefits to students
Benefits to teacher

60. General Lesson Design Lesson Opening - Preview
State goal of lesson
Use student-friendly language
Discuss relevance of target skill
(or larger goal).
3 W’s
Where?
Why?
When?

61. General Lesson Design Lesson Opening
Attention
Provide a verbal _________such as “Listening” or “We are going to begin”
Follow the verbal cue with ____________________
Review
Review content of previous lessons
Review necessary _____________________ for target skill being taught
Review ___________ _______________ needed for today’s lesson.
Review must be ____________________________
Preview
State _________________ of lesson
Discuss _______________ of target skill (or larger goal).
3 W’s __________ ___________ ____________

62. General Lesson Design Lesson Closing
Review
Review critical content
Review must be interactive
Preview
Preview content of next lesson
Independent Work
Assign independent work
Review assignments, quizzes, projects, performances due in future

63. General Lesson Design Lesson Closing
Review
Review _____________ content
Review must be _______________________
Preview
Preview ______________ of next lesson
Independent Work
Assign __________________ work
Review assignments, quizzes, projects, performances due in future

64. General Lesson Design Opening Body Closing Attention Review Preview
Independent Work

65. General Lesson Design Body of Lesson Varies across subjects and grades
May include instruction on:
Skills and strategies (How to do something)
Vocabulary and concepts (What something is)
Rules (If ______ then ______ )
Facts

66. General Lesson Design Are you teaching a: Skill or strategy
Vocabulary or concept
Rule
Fact
Students are preparing for reading a passage about
the United Nations.

67. General Lesson Design
The teacher: 1. ______________ Introduces the meaning of humanitarian, disarmament, non-proliferation. 2. ______________ tells students that there are 193 member states in the United Nations. 3. ______________ demonstrates how to take Cornell notes on passage content. 4. ______________ introduces procedure for writing a summary on the passage.

68. Questions

69. Thanks!

70. Contact Information
Gina Hopper, Director Special Education Technical Assistance (SESTA), Boise State University, The Center for School Improvement and Policy Studies