Pace and Challenge
Give examples of how you think
lessons could be criticised for
lacking pace and challenge.
PaceObjectives
and Challenge
• To know what is meant by pace and
challenge.
• To understand how to develop challenge in
the lesson.
Pace.
Pace
•
What is pace?
“The pace is just right, no time is wasted and
students move quickly from one learning activity
to another. However there is no sense of rushing
and everybody has enough time to think.”
Grade 1 lesson
MAINTAINING COGNITIVE PACE
• Slick start to the lesson.
• Brisk well ordered transitions.
• Appropriately timed activities.
• Engaging, concise exposition delivered
with enthusiasm.
Challenge
Challenge
“The best conditions for learning exist when
children have a challenge that extends their
cognitive range.”
• Are students extending their existing levels of
knowledge, understanding skills?
• Are they working to capacity?
• Are they thinking for themselves and solving
problems or are they being spoon-fed by the
teacher.
Challenge
Are students challenged to think?
Bloom – Good frame of reference.
National curriculum thinking skills
Organising
information
Finding relevant
information
Representing/communication
information
Making inferences or
deductions
Reasoning
Arguing/explaining a point
of view
Information
processing
Thinking Skills
Planning research or
study
Enquiry
Giving reasons
Generating ideas
Engaging in enquiry
or process of finding
out
Developing evaluation
criteria
Designing innovative
solutions
Evaluation
Asking questions
Judging the value of
information and ideas
Creative thinking
Applying evaluation
criteria
Imagining or
hypothesising
Thinking skills
(National Curriculum)
Cognitive goals
(Bloom)
Key questions
Information processing
Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
Who? What? Where? How?
What do we mean by …?
What for? What other examples?
Reasoning
Analysis
Why? What is the evidence?
Enquiry
What more is there to find out?
Creative thinking
Synthesis
How can we add to or improve?
Evaluation
Evaluation
How do we judge or assess…?
Learning outcomes
Questioning
Home work
CHALLENGE
Activities
Metacognition
Teacher
support/scaffolding.
Creating challenge by
questioning
• What is a good question?
“A good question makes the mind buzz, it
offers a challenge to thinking, a search for
understanding.”
Hot seating
What do you think?
Planned
Quality not
quantity
What if?
Open ended
Question of
the day
Creating a
questioning
classroom
Good questions
How do you know?
Promote H.O.T.
Question
boards
Questioning to learn/to
challenge
Piggy backing
Encouraging
children to question
Provide opportunities
for students to ask
questions
Model a questioning
mind by asking good
questions
Thinking time
Talking
partners
Allow 3 seconds after
the question.
Supporting challenge
• Modelling
Respond to events, questions in ways that model good
learning.
Demonstrate high expectation for thinking/processes,
products.
What to do if stuck.
• Scaffolding
Put steps in place to support a challenging activity.
Remove steps to begin to increase challenge.
• Nudging
Once students working on a challenge ask questions to
prompt student to think about how they are doing the
task,
i.e – How did you do that?
Can you see if there is another way of getting the
answer?
Metacognition
‘Thinking about thinking’
• Encouraging students to understand the
process of thinking.
• Focuses upon process not final product.
• Planning, monitoring, reviewing.
Planning
What do you have to do to be successful?
As a group, how can you use our individual
skills efficiently.
Monitoring
• How much progress are you making
against your plan?
• Which success criteria are you not yet
meeting?
• How do you plan to meet this?
Reviewing
• How did you get to that solution?
• Why did you discuss option b and c?
• What would you do differently next time?
Fox thinking tool.
• Summarise the key points
• Share your ideas
• Synthesise the key points
• Extend your thinking
SYNTHESIS TRIANGLE
1
SHARE!
2
3
1
2
3
PAIR!
4
5
6
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
3
3
3
THINK!
2
3
A
B
HOW TO ORGANISE THINKING.
Challenging activities.
Activity
Fox
thinking
tool.
Synthesis
triangle
Double
Bubble
Information Reasoning Creative
processing
thinking
Enquiry
Evaluation
Challenging activities.
Activity
Fox
thinking
tool.
Synthesis
triangle
Double
bubble
Information Reasoning Creative
processing
thinking
Enquiry
Evaluation