Explicit Instruction
Sixteen elements of Explicit Instruction
By Anita Archer
&
Charles Hughes
Explicit Instruction/Teaching
Versus
Direct Instruction
What is the difference?
Explicit Instruction as an Alternative
D.I
Teacher directed
Structured explicit, clear
Emphasizes teacher’s role
in maximizing academic
learning time.
Learner Centred
Approaches
Learner centred
Discovery Oriented
Emphasizes learner’s role
in constructing learning.
Teacher a s a facilitator or
guide.
Tailored toward learners
who are independent and
self –directed.
E. I
Teacher structures and
directs the learning
process.
Structured, clear, explicit
Emphasizes teacher’s role
in maximizing academic
learning time and the
learner’s role in actively
constructing learning.
Conceived for use in in
inclusive classrooms.
Instruction as usual =
planning for and teaching
all students.
Accommodations for
diverse learners are
integrated into the
framework.
1. Focus instruction on critical
content
 Teach:




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Skills
Strategies
vocabulary terms
Concepts
rules that will empower students in the future and
match the students instructional needs.
 Investigations embed all the skills and strategies they
have learnt explicitly
2. Sequence skills logically
 Teach easier skills before harder skills
 Teach high frequency skills before skills that are less
frequent in usage
 Ensure mastery of prerequisites to a skill before
teaching the skill itself.
 Separate skills and strategies that are similar and thus
may be confusing to students
3. Break down complex skills and
strategies into smaller instructional
units
 Teach in small steps
 By segmenting complex skills into smaller
instructional units of new material you will be
addressing:
 Cognitive overload
 Information processing demands
 Capacity of students’ working memory
 Once each step is mastered it is important to then
synthesise the units. (Teach as a whole skill/concept)
4. Design organised and focused
lesson
 Make sure lessons are organised and focused in order
to make optimal use of instruction time.
 Organised lessons are:
 on topic
 well sequenced
 contain no irrelevant digressions.
5. Begin lessons with a clear
statement of the lessons goals and
your expectations
 Tell students clearly:
 what is to be learnt – they achieve better if they
understand the instructional goals and outcomes
expected
 why it is important – they are more likely to be more
motivated if they are told how the information or skill
presented will help them.
6. Review prior skills and knowledge
before beginning instruction
 Provide a review of relevant information.
 Verify that students have the prerequisite skills and
knowledge to learn the skill being taught.
 Provide an opportunity to link the new skill with other
related skills
7. Provide step by step
demonstrations
 Model the skill
 Clarify the thinking processes needed to complete a
task or procedure by thinking aloud as you perform
the skill.
 Clearly demonstrate the target skill or strategy in
order to show students a model of proficient
performance.
8. Use clear and concise language
 Use consistent, unambiguous wording and terminology
 The complexity of the language you use should depend on
the students’ receptive vocabulary ability level.
 When selecting appropriate vocabulary for explicit
vocabulary instruction you need to:
 Select words that are unknown
 Select words that are important for the student to understand
the passage/ unit/ skill/ concept
 Select words that students will hear, read, write and say in the
future
 Select words that are difficult to learn and need interpretation
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NMzKYWRBJg
9. Provide an adequate range of
examples and non- examples
 In order to establish the boundaries of when and
when not to apply a skill/strategy/concept/rule,
provide a wide range of examples and non- examples
 A wide range of examples illustrates situations when
the skill will be used or applied
 Presenting a range of non- examples reduces the
possibility that students will use the skill
inappropriately
10. Provide guided and supported
practice
 To promote initial success and build confidence, regulate
the difficulty of practice opportunities during the lesson.
 Provide students with guidance while they are
demonstrating the skill.
 When students demonstrate success, you can gradually
increase task difficulty/complexity as you decrease the
level of guidance you are providing
Reading Comprehension- year 3: http://www.teachingacenglish.edu.au/
11. Require frequent responses
 Plan for a high level of student – teacher interaction via the
use of questioning
 Have the students respond frequently – kinaesthetically
(actions), orally (words) or in writing
 This will :




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Allow students to interact through their learning style
Help them focus on the lesson content
Provide opportunities for student elaboration
Assist you in checking for understanding
Keep the students active and attentive.
12. Monitor student performance
closely
 By carefully watching and listening to student
responses you can:
 Verify the students’ mastery of the skill
 Make timely adjustments in your instructions if the
students are making mistakes
 Provide clear and concise feedback about how well they
are doing
Concentric Circles
 1. Describe how you would provide guided and
supportive practice in a reading or maths lesson.
 2. Brainstorm ways that you could get the class as a
whole to respond orally and kinaesthetically in a
literacy or a numeracy lesson.
 3. What timely adjustments in your instructions would
you make if you observed that the students are
making mistakes.
13. Provide immediate affirmative
and corrective feedback
 Follow up on students’ responses as quickly as you
can
 Immediate feedback to students about the accuracy
of their responses helps ensure high rates of success
and reduces the likelihood of practicing errors
 SLANT (Sit up, Listen, Ask/Answer, Nod, Track
Teacher)
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7y0yd8H4tM
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCYPgnWa0mM
14. Deliver the lesson at a brisk pace
 Deliver instruction at an appropriate pace to optimise:
 Instruction time
 The amount of content that can be presented
 On-task behaviour
 The rate of presentation needs to be brisk but include a
reasonable amount of time for the students’
thinking/processing especially when they are learning
something new.
 The desired pace should be neither so slow that the
students get bored nor so quick that they can’t keep up
15. Help students organise
knowledge
 As students can have difficulty seeing how some
concepts and skills fit together, you need to use
teaching techniques that make these connections
more apparent or explicit.
 Well organised and connected information makes it
easier for students to retrieve information and
facilitate its integration with new material
Silent shuffle
 1. Name affirmative feedback responses and corrective
feedback responses you would use in your classroom.
 2. Deliver the lesson at a brisk pace- what does this mean?
 3. What would teaching techniques that make connections
between skills/concepts more apparent or explicit look like?
 4. How would you review prior skills and knowledge before
beginning instruction?
 5. Name one explicit instruction element that is really important
for an effective teacher to use.
 6. Name one explicit instruction element that you have found
has not been used by some teachers effectively.
16. Provide distribute and cumulative
practice
 Distributed practice refers to providing multiple
opportunities to practise a skill over time
 Cumulative practice refers to providing practise
opportunities that address both previously and newly
acquired skills.
 By providing students with multiple practise attempts they
are more likely to retain the skill as well as be able to do it
automatically. (cognitive/ associative task)
http://www.teachingacenglish.edu.au/