How to Teach From a Textbook

Ruth Mason

EDN 301 Instructional Design

Dr. Kozloff

Use The General Procedure for Teaching1. Have outcome objectives that state what students will

DO for every unit of knowledge you teach. Repeat facts. Accurately? Fast (fluently)? State lists of events, things, persons, dates immediately after

instruction (acquisition), fast (fluently), weeks later (retention). State definitions of concepts (vocabulary words) Identify examples and nonexamples of concepts. Invent new examples of concepts. (Generalization) State rules. “The more X happens, the less Y happens.” Apply rules to new examples. “X is increasing. Will Y

change? How?” Use routines: sound out words, solve math problems

accurately and (later) quickly (fluency), and later (retention). Write or state reasons (give explanations).

General Procedure for Teaching (Continued)

2. Gain attention of students. “My turn.” “Listen up.” “Eyes on me.” “Everyone! Readiness positions.”

3. Review and firm-up pre-skills needed to learn new material: vocabulary words before analyzing a document; letter-sound correspondence before teaching the sounding out routine.

4. Frame: Say what students will learn. “Now I’ll show you how to multiply parentheses.”

State big ideas. “We use First (point). Outside (point), Inside (point), Last (point). FAST!”

General Procedure for Teaching (Continued)

5. Model: Present a small (learnable) amount of information. (Repeat?)“Watch me….”“The definition of metaphor is…”

Make sure to talk yourself through the demonstration so that students hear the concepts and rules YOU are using, so that THEY learn to use these. This is EXPLICIT instruction.“FIRST I multiply the first numbers in each parenthesis. The first numbers are 5 and 4. So I multiply 5 and 4. That’s 20. So I write 20.”(5 + 3)(4 + 4)

6. Lead: Have students repeat/perform the new information with you. (Depends on whether students need this.)

7. Immediate AcquisitionTest/Check to see if students “got” the information. Correct errors immediately. Model-test-backup-retest.

General Procedure for Teaching (Continued

8. Verification: Affirm that students are correct. State WHAT they did that was correct. “I love the way you solved it so fast!”

9. Use Delayed Acquisition Tests to assess learning of all new information; such as facts, definitions, solutions to problems, words to sound out. Reteach parts (weak spots) as needed and make sure to review and firm

these up before next lesson.

Resources for Evaluating and Improving Curriculum (knowledge units to teach and the order for teaching) and Curriculum Materials

The state Standard Course of Study.Research on the content and objectives in

the standard course of study.Utilize expert opinions on what students need

to know.Use your own knowledge.Use outside resources (e.g., from the

Internet) to obtain information that supplements curriculum materials; e.g., what textbooks lack.

Step 1: Start with Textbook

p.30 p.31

Examining rocks

Formation of Rocks

Volcanoes

Oceans

Strata

Sometimes there is too much information and often there is information missing from the text. The sequence in the book might not be the most logical sequence for instruction. It is the teacher’s job to determine what order would be best (pre-skills first; tells a story), and to fill in the missing information using other resources.

Irrelevant Info

Sometimes you need to determine what doesn’t need to be taught. Often there is too much information

Step 2: Sort information into logical sequence to teach

p.30 p.31

Examining rocks

Formation of Rocks

Volcanoes

Oceans

Strata

Irrelevant Info

1. Big Idea

27

4

5

Outside resources either include what text is missing or didn’t elaborate on. This is your chance to add videos, graphics or links to better explain the material or include what was missed. 3 Plate tectonics

6

Step 3: List logical sequence of tasks or chunks

1. Big Idea: Formation of rocks through fire (igneous), sedimentation (sedimentary), pressure and chemical change (metamorphic).

2. Volcanoes

3. Volcanoes expanded (outside resource)

4. Oceans: sedimentary

5. Strata

6. Plate tectonics (not mentioned in book)

7. Examining rocks: A routine consisting of steps, using hammers, magnifying glass.

*Use these chunks to make a set of Guided Notes for the Unit*

Remember, Guided Notes have concepts, rules and routines.

Step 4: Making Guided Notes

Formation of Rocks

Volcanoes Volcanoes

extras

Oceans Strata Plate Tectonics

Examining Rocks

Ex:

Fire – igneous

(now define)

Sediment – Sedimentary

(now define)

Pressure – Metamorphic

(now define)

Leave space for other notes

Ex:

Identify different parts of a volcano

Power of explosions

What volcanoes are composed of..

Leave space for other notes

Ex:

Focus on the extra material teacher presented to explain concept better.

More space to list facts that were not in the text

Leave space for other notes

What

When

Where

Why

How

Characteristics

Definitions

Vocabulary

Extra Facts

What

When

Where

Why

How

Characteristics

Definitions

Vocabulary

Extra Facts

What

When

Where

Why

How

Characteristics

Definitions

Vocabulary

Extra Facts

What

When

Where

Why

How

Characteristics

Definitions

Vocabulary

Extra Facts

One should use the procedure for teaching higher level concepts. In the table of notes above, there are examples of what type of information students should be recording and studying so that they can understand the material being covered.

Step 5: How to Teach so that Students Achieve Mastery

Presenting the information** Have students read the guided notes for the lesson.

** Point out the important vocabulary words, routines, etc. to be learned. Also big ideas that guide the whole unit.

** State the objectives. “By the end of the lesson, you will…”

** Either: (1) you read portions of text relevant to each section of the notes, or (2) one student (or the whole class) does. (When students are good readers, they can read the material on their own.)

** Immediately ask follow-up (acquisition test) questions. “So, what are the three main kinds of rocks….?” “Metamorphic rocks are formed by two processes. What are these processes?”

Make sure to use examples and nonexamples to teach concepts, rules, and routines.

** Prevent stipulation errors by using examples whose features cover the range.

Step 5: How to Teach so that Students Achieve Mastery (Continued)

• Test immediately everything you teach. Immediate Acquisition tests

• Test all new material after it has been presented. Delayed Acquisition tests– Frequent tests make sure that students are engaged and are

acquiring new information.

• Practice, Practice, Practice! Frequent cumulative review is essential because if errors are made, then you go back and review!

• Have students achieved Mastery? Have students met objectives for acquisition (correct), fluency (correct and speed), generalization (correct and speed with new examples, retention (correct and speed with earlier and newer examples).

• If Mastery is not achieved then obviously reteaching, practice, and more testing should be take place.