Instructional Approaches for Direct Instruction
(pp. 132-143 of Methods for Effective Teaching by Burden and Byrd)
Please answer each of the following in complete sentences.
1. Presentations – Pick a subject that you plan to teach and give three important
considerations you need to remember in preparing and delivering
presentations for these students. (3 pts.)
a. Since I’m hoping to teach Geography one day, I will need to remember
to connect my content to the rest of world as well as to my students
individually. I will also need to remember to take the time to organize
my content material and to describe my lessons one step at a time. For
example, I can organize my units based off regions of the world and give
overviews at the beginning of each unit. Lastly, I will need to remember
to consider whether or not my students are actually understanding the
material and make sure that I’m regularly checking on their
comprehension of the content to see if I need to further explain what I
have previously taught.
2. Demonstrations – Describe a demonstration you may present to your
students. In your description, define the audience, tell what steps you will take
to prepare the demonstration, and why you chose a demonstration over a
presentation. (4 pts.)
a. A demonstration that I could do with my students at the beginning of
the year to spark their interest is to design a country of our own. This
will allow me to show how many logistics go into the formation and
survival of a country, aspects within the country, and individual cultures
that are emphasized within a country based off of its location and
resources while allowing the students to participate and interact. To
prepare I will start by explaining to my students that we are going to
work together as a class to design our own working country. I will have
prepared a list of questions that ask about the key aspects that are a
part of a functioning and successful nation. I will also have an outline of
flag that we can design as well as a random outline of the shape of our
imaginary country. I chose this demonstration to grab my students’
attention in a creative way and to get my students to start thinking
about what makes up a country and how a country functions to survive
and prosper.
3. Questioning – Please create a sample question, appropriate to the grade level
and subject you will teach, for each of the following question types. Be sure
your example is subject-specific and not just taken from your textbook. (6 pts.
total)
a. Applying – Based on your knowledge of the Roman Catholic dominance
within Spain, how has religion impacted Spanish culture?
b. Evaluating – What are some advantages and disadvantages of Great
Britain’s geographical location?
c. Creating – What features would you include in a drawing of a tropical
climate?
d. Convergent – Which countries are located in the Caucasus region?
e. Focusing – What do you know about the country of New Zealand?
f. Probing – Could you elaborate on the how religion plays an important
role within Middle Eastern culture?
4. Recitations – Describe two specific instances when you may use recitation as a
means of assessing students in your future teaching. (2 pts.)
a. I could use recitation to reinforce key facts on specific countries that I
have taught about to review for a test. I could also use recitation to see
what my students have comprehended about a culture from my lesson
for that day.
5. Practice and Drills – Give at least two considerations on the best timing for
using practice and drills. (2 pts)
a. One practice I could incorporate would be for my students to tell their
neighbor one thing they learned from the lesson each day so that they
can learn from one another and show their comprehension of material.
b. A drill I could use is for students to write down one thing they have
learned from the lesson each day in a journal to keep a running log of all
the information they are learning.
6. Reviews – Describe some typical material that teachers at your intended grade
level often have to review with students. (1 pt.)
a. Teachers at the high school level often use reviews such as bell ringers
at the beginning of classes, quizzes over covered material, games over
the content taught, discussions on controversial ideas, and summaries
of the unit or lesson.
7. Guided Practice and Homework – Your chapter ends with ten guidelines for
making decisions about homework. Pick the two you think are the most
significant for you to remember and apply and tell why they are important to
you. (2 pts)
a. Focus homework on simple skills and material or on the integration of
skills already possessed by the student. I believe it is important that
teachers assign homework intentionally based off of specific content. If
it is not profitable for the student, I don’t think it’s necessary. Students’
homework should guide their learning not challenge it.
b. Teach homework skills to students. Students are often not taught how
to complete their assignments. Students should be encouraged to see
the value of their homework and to exercise discipline to complete it.
They need to learn how to manage their time and how to think critically.
Students should be taught how to take good notes, study properly, and
read well.