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INFLUENCING STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT: TEACHING, LEARNING AND
TEACHERS’ ATTRIBUTES
A MASTER’S THESIS
SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY
OF BETHEL UNIVERSITY
BY CARLA H. TANNOUS
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ARTS
JULY 2020
BETHEL UNIVERSITY
2
INFLUENCING STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT: TEACHING AND LEARNING AND
TEACHERS ATTRIBUTES
Carla H. Tannous
July 2020
Advisor’s Name: Lisa Silmser, Ed. D.
Program Director’s Name: Lisa Silmser, Ed. D.
3
Abstract
Student achievement has become a hot topic in education today, especially for classroom
teachers whose responsibility is to employ effective teaching and learning strategies. This
application thesis examines how crucial instructional strategies are related to cognitive
student outcomes and higher order thinking, that in turn are necessary to increase students
chances of academic success. It was hypothesized that effective teaching and learning
strategies predicts student achievement. In this review we will discuss school
accountability measured as compared to students achievement that are based on the
Measures of Academic Performance MAP at Collegiate American School CAS, Dubai.
This application thesis summarizes research findings on effective strategies in relation to
how each impacts student achievement. We will mainly use Hattie’s list of influences and
the Cohen d to measure their effect size. Results of this review reveal a direct connection
between applying effective teaching strategies that no matter how high is their effect size,
they need to respond to students’ needs. Also results revealed that there is a direct
connection between a holistic approach of interrelated factors related to teaching and
learning and their impact on students’ achievement.
4
Table of Contents
Signature Page…………………………………………………………………………….1
Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………3
Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………….4
Chapter I: Introduction……………………….……………………………………………7
Context of Research and Application……………………………………………..7
Guiding Questions………………………………………………………………...9
Rationale ………………………………………………………………………...10
Chapter II: Literature Review………………………………………………………..…..12
Research Strategies…………………………………....…………………………12
Definition of Student Achievement...……………………………………………14
Influences Related to Teachers.……………………………………….…………15
Teachers’ Expectations .……………………….……………………….15
The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy ……………………………............16
Teachers’ Attribute………………………………………………17
Teacher Self Efficacy……………………………………………18
Teaching Strategies………………………………………………………………19
Surface, Deep, and Conceptual Understanding……….…………………20
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria....……………….…………….23
Subject based effective strategies………………………………………..24
Reciprocal Teaching……………………………………………..25
Inquiry-Based Teaching…………………………………………26
Feedback …………………..………………………….…………………30
5
DIRT Feedback…………………………………………………..31
Explicit Teaching………………………………………………………...32
Ways to Prepare for Standardized Tests…………………………………34
Assessment for Learning…………………………………………………36
Mastery Learning………………………………………………...38
Students Learning Strategies…………..…………………………………………38
Creating an Environment for Learning: Cooperative Learning………….39
Students Prior Knowledge……………………………………………….42
Transfer Strategies and Meta-Cognitive Strategies……………………...45
Questioning and Cues……………………………………………45
Summarizing and Note Taking…………………………………..47
Similarities and Differences……………………………………..48
Generating and Testing Hypotheses……………………………..49
Concept mapping……………………………………………...…51
Chapter III: Application Materials……………………………………………………….53
Lesson Plan………………………………………………………………………53
Students Achievement Instrument…………………………………………….…61
Connection to Research……………………………………………………….…62
Reflection………………………………………………………………………...68
Chapter IV: Discussion and Conclusion…………………………………………………72
Summary of Literature…………………………………………………………...72
Research Limitations…………………………………………………………….75
Implications for Future Research………………………………………………...78
6
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….79
References……………………………………………………………………………..…81
Appendix ………………………………………………………………………………..89
Appendix A……………………………………………………………………...89
Appendix B……………………………………………………………………...91
Appendix C……………………………………………………………………...93
Appendix D……………………………………………………………………...95
Appendix E……………………………………………………………………...97
Appendix F…………………………………………………………………….100
Appendix G…………………………………………………………………….104
Appendix H…………………………………………………………………….108
7
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
Context of Research and Application
Standardized testing, high stakes testing or any criterion based testing can place
an incredible stress on everyone involved in the process. Pressure is increasing for
teachers and school administrators as well as students to increase test results and
demonstrate adequate progress every year. More emphasis is being put on schools’ rating
system and even more on teachers’ appraisal system when it comes to measuring the
quality of teaching and schools’ credibility. Overloaded with unnecessary stress, it
becomes tempting for teaching to emphasize to students how vital tests scores are, and
this stress may adversely affect student performance on the tests. With the amount of
emphasis being placed on computer based external tests, teachers cannot ignore or deny
their presence, however it would be unfair to students to conduct assessment that they are
not prepared for. On another note, teachers should not consecrate a specific time to teach
for the test. In this application thesis we hypothesize that test preparation should not be
overwhelming. Teachers do not have to entirely halt their teaching to tackle standardized
tests. Integrating simple yet effective strategies, combined with solid teaching, can lead to
positive results without sacrificing classroom time.
As a proponent of evidence-based quantitative research methodologies on the
influence of student achievement, Hattie (2009) established a way of synthesizing a
varied list of influences in different meta-analyses according to their effect size (Cohen’s
d). The latest groundbreaking study “Visible Learning” ranked 150 influences to the most
recently 195 effects that are related to learning outcomes from very positive effects to
8
very negative effects. Hattie found that the average effect size of all the influences he
studied was 0.40 as the average rate which he called ‘hinge point’. As a result, he decided
to judge the success of interventions relative to this ‘hinge point’ in order to find an
answer to the question “What works best in education?” Originally, Hattie conducted
studies around six areas that contribute to learning: the teacher, the home, the curricula,
the school, the student, and teaching and learning approaches, with the most updated list
that includes the classroom. In this literature review we will mainly focus on teaching and
learning approaches and their impact on student achievement in addition to teachers’
characteristics. The reason of our focus area is that many researchers put a strong
emphasis on teachers’ approaches to learning, the amount of time students spend at
school and their relation with their teachers; they argue that no child should be
disadvantaged by their parents social-cultural or economic background. In his research of
nearly 1200 meta-analyses – up from the 800, Hattie (2009) enumerates many visible
learning ideas ranging from inductive teaching also identified as inquiry based, to
cooperative learning and feedback, yet the one that sits atop of his list are teacher
estimates of achievements, prior ability and response to intervention.
The aim is to conclude with a statement that support the hypothesis, that is by
developing higher order thinking and critical thinking opportunities in the classroom it
would help boosting students’ achievement in test scores as a result, without just sticking
to traditional learning strategies such as rote learning and memorization to cover topics
presented in the test and therefore teaching to the test. Instead it is a process of
developing self-regulated learning. The question that lies here is the following: “Would
9
best teaching methods stated on Hattie’s (2009) Cohen d spectrum of measurement such
as metacognitive strategies, prior knowledge, assessment and other strategies on the
spectrum of influences employed by the teachers in the classroom have a strong effect on
students’ academic performance and consequently on their adaptive test scores? It is
important to note that there are many outcomes and strategies that influence student
achievement according to Hattie, Marzano and other specialists, however the key reason
of this literature review application is to show why and how some strategies work more
effectively than others rather than identifying one method and adopting it in the
classroom exclusively. Also, in this application, the focus will be on variable related to
teaching and learning and teachers’ attributes.
Teachers should not belong to the movement that is shifted towards teaching to
the test nor to the one that ignores the test completely. Considering the emphasis put on
the results, it would be unfair to leave students unexposed to the process. If school’s aim
is to raise their rating and accountability level, it becomes prominent for teachers to
support their students in raising their academic performance by preparing them through a
set of evidence based instructional strategies that in return develop a certain level of
higher order thinking and rigor in learning necessary for the process of achievement.
Guiding Questions
Critics of computer-based tests argue that the latter promotes rote learning and
memorization in schools over more sophisticated cognitive skills, such as writing, critical
reading, analytical thinking, problem solving, or creativity. In an era of high stakes and
computerized testing, it is becoming mandatory for teachers to prepare students to
10
conduct these assessments without teaching to the test. A teacher plays a vital role within
a few hours in the classroom by using effective instructional strategies. There are many
educators, school influencers and researchers who have debated and conducted research
describing variables related to teachers’ approaches to learning which influence students’
achievement in particular. There is a fine line between preparing students to take adaptive
tests and teaching to the test. The big question is how can we balance the challenges of
computer based testing and the role they play in accountability and credibility, without
overthrowing or even dilapidating the best teaching and learning practices that play an
immanent role in students’ well being and achievement?
In order to investigate my two essential questions I began by examining research
related to evidence based research about teaching, learning, and teachers’ expectations.
What I hope educators will gain from this research is to implement in their classroom
strategies that raise their students achievement, strategies they find most helpful and
catered towards their specific students needs.
Rationale
The success of any educational system is crowned by the success of the students
in their academic performance, which is likewise influenced by many factors.
Researchers have determined many factors influencing students’ achievement. In this
review of research, we will focus on the most influential factors related to teachers’
attributes, students’ learning strategies and teaching strategies. In an era of accountability,
teachers’ responsibility is shifting towards ensuring that their students learn. To measure
what students know and do not know, many countries administer computerized
international assessments. Many teachers are clueless about how to best prepare their
11
students for these assessments without compromising teaching practices that correspond
with their students’ needs, yet experienced teachers and researchers argue that test
preparation should be part of the day-to-day curriculum. Teachers should not teach to the
test, they should focus instead on strategies that raise students’ achievements.
The reason for the application of research is to enable teachers with a paradigm
shift about how to prepare students effectively without compromising best teaching and
learning practices and most importantly the well being of everyone involved. Curriculum
content is packed with an amalgam of content and standards that teachers resort to telling
students what they know and students simply commit facts to memory. The overloaded
curriculum allows minimal time for students to develop a deeper understanding of the
topic of study or to acquire long lasting skills such as critical thinking, problem solving,
and communication. However, learning is not restricted to committing a set of facts to
memory, but the ability to use resources, find, evaluate, and apply information, and
transfer their learning to a different setting or context. This paper will provide a list of
teaching and learning strategies that promote higher order thinking allowing students to
use and transfer these skills into different settings. With a shift in focus from covering
content to using content, teaching becomes less a matter of determining “what” to teach
and more a matter of “how” to facilitate learning.
12
CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW
Research Strategies
With the increased shift towards accountability as a means of achieving specific
goals in education, school accountability—the process of rating and judging schools
overall performance on the basis of students’ academic measures —is increasingly
becoming prevalent around the world in order for the educational institutions to meet
their responsibilities and reach their goals.
To answer the proposed research questions, observations and learning walks were
conducted by teachers and school administrators in elementary classrooms at Collegiate
American School. The sample consisted of 120 students between grade 1 and grade 5
classes aged between 6 to 11 years. The majority of students were bilingual and speak
English as a second language. These observations are guided by teaching practices of
what constitutes an outstanding lesson according to research. Based on the
aforementioned theoretical frameworks in chapter 1, the purpose of this study is to test
the validity of factors related to teaching and learning influencing students’ achievement.
To examine how each factor impacts students’ outcomes, a comparison of students’
results of MAP tests to the instructional strategies applied in their classroom to verify the
effectiveness of best practices according to literature reviews related to student
achievements (Hattie, 2009). This process will be able to uncover to what extend the
teaching and learning practices stated in the literature review will impact student
achievement (Bereiter, 2002; Hattie, 2008; Marzano, 2010). Observation of classrooms
typically shows a direct correlation between students’ achievement and the effectiveness
of instructional strategies such as assessments for leaning, inquiry based approach,
13
feedback and explicit teaching. Other elements contributing to students’ success are
teachers’ expectations and students’ learning strategies such as background knowledge,
cooperation and metacognitive strategies. In the United Arab Emirates, accountability is
measured through the results of students’ progress and academic achievement based on
international accredited assessments conducted at various schools. At Collegiate
American School Dubai, where all the observation and study were conducted, the main
external source used to measure students academic achievement is Measures of
Academic Performance MAP. This assessment is designed to target a student's academic
performance in mathematics, reading language, and science. These tests are catered
toward students’ current level of achievement. This grants every student a fair
opportunity to show what he or she knows and can do. Because the computer is able to
tailor the level of difficulty of the questions as the test progresses, each student
undertakes a unique test. MAP is solely exploited to measure students’ progress and
achievement in school in comparison to large scale age-based norms. The testing
information is important to teachers and school inspectors because it indicates a student's
performance measured as compared to the effectiveness of seven performance indicators
in which we will only focus on the effectiveness of teaching and learning. Teachers can
use the data to guide their instruction in the classroom. According to the MAP test results
measured twice during fall and spring 2018- 2019, the vast majority of elementary
students at Collegiate American School made a progress in Mathematics, Reading and
Language throughout one academic year. During fall test results, only half of students’
population reached high average score that is greater than 61% percentile, while the vast
majority of students reached that same score in spring. The results imply that the
14
effective strategies employed in the classroom have had a positive impact on student
scores. In this review, results are attributed to evidence based instructional strategies
employed by the teachers, and proven to influence students’ achievement based on their
effect size.
In Hattie's (2008) meta-analyses compendium of list influencing learning, he
describes the effect size Cohen “d” where the larger the effect size, the more effective the
approach. Hattie (2008) presents a list of more than 250 variables, yet as much as we
believe that students’ success depends on a holistic approach including all variables, the
focus of this paper is a review of research related to improving academic achievement in
basic skills, we will solely focus on instructional strategies related to teaching and
learning. One approach to reduce the number of variables is to consider the influences
related to the classroom variables such as teaching using instructional strategies that have
positive impact on students’ learning. Another approach is to select only the ones that
meet the cut-off criterion with an effect size higher than 0.40. The effect size essentially
generates a standard deviation between the correlation of two variables. Hattie uses
Cohen’s (1988) method of calculation referred to as “d”. As a result, 0.40 effect size is
considered as the cut-off for selecting important variables that will be used in the
research. Every influence at or above 0.4 is considered to be within the "Zone of Desired
Effects" and by then teachers should focus their energy on improving skills using these
approaches.
Definition of Student Achievement
Student achievement is the basis of nearly every aspect of education. It gives
direction to all educational improvement efforts and provides the foundation for
15
education accountability systems. The majority of empirical research dealing with the
quality of education measures achievement in relation to students’ performances in their
studies and to test results – which are, of course, the most frequent indicators of the
effectiveness and quality of the teachers and of the school.
Influences Related to Teachers
Some believe that the primary focus of schools should be the academic
preparation of students (Tienken & Wilson, 2001), that the main person responsible to
deliver this academic success for student is teacher (Darling-Hammond, 2000), and
schools should efficiently and effectively organize themselves towards that task
(Engelmann & Carnine, 1991). One of the important categories contributing to students’
achievement includes teacher characteristics. Hattie (2009) identified variables related to
teacher characteristics that met his cut-off criteria including micro teaching (d = 0.88),
and teacher expectations (Goddard, Hoy & Woolfolk-Hoy, 2000) with an effect d = 0.43.
Moreover, Goddard (2000) provided an estimate of variables related to expectations for
student achievement, and claimed that teacher efficacy to be especially important when
aggregated amongst teachers within one school, creating a culture of positive work
environment.
Teachers’ Expectations
Teachers are undoubtedly the most significant individual in the field of education
and have the power to influence every aspect of their students’ pathways. Much of the
research findings point to the idea that there is a strong correlation between teacher
expectations and their students’ actual performance. These expectations are
subconsciously reflected toward students and therefore, high expectations corresponds to
16
high academic performance for students, while low expectations would correspond with
low academic performance.
The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. Hattie noted, however, “The question is not ‘Do
teachers have expectations?’ but ‘Do they have false and misleading expectations that
lead to decrements in learning or learning gains?” (2008, p. 121). To understand how
teachers’ expectations ranging from high versus low might influence student learning and
students’ expectations, it is helpful to be aware of the self-fulfilling prophecy. The self-
fulfilling prophecy works on the principle that high expectations lead to enhanced
performance. A self-fulfilling prophecy works the other way also and it occurs when
teachers hold low expectations toward students. With low expectations, the result would
be decreased performance. Teachers with low expectations produce behaviors that cause
a decrease in student performance because students themselves produce negative
behaviors. On the basis of different reviews and meta-analyses, the average effect of
teacher expectations on subsequent student performance has been found to be moderate (
d = 0.43; Hattie, 2009 ). In particular, students with lower academic achievement seem to
be more influenced by their teachers’ perception of their performance. When teachers
form inaccurate judgements it is always the lower achiever that are more severely
affected because they rely entirely on teachers’ support (Madonetal, 1997). High
achievers can always fall back on their earlier results in the event of teacher being
unsatisfied with their performance. In general, teacher expectations become inhabited in
their behaviors and ultimately this behavior is projected intentionally or unintentionally
toward students’ subsequent performance (Ready & Wright, 2011; Rubie-Davies, 2007,
2008). The rationale behind this assumption is one can notice the expectations others
17
ascribe, which ultimately leads that person to behave in such a manner that conform with
these expectation.
Teachers’ Attributes. This differential treatment of high and low expectation
students may be the result of attributional perceptions one can develop based on general
stereotypes such as ethnicity, gender, and socio-economic background. Teachers’
expectations of student achievement might seem inaccurate sometimes, and these biased
expectations are the product of student characteristics or previous academic results or
informal information amongst staff (e.g., De Boer et al., 2010 ; Timmermans et al.,
2015), or related to teacher variables and attributes, such as their background, motivation,
and differential beliefs among teachers concerning instructional practices (e.g., Rubie-
Davies, 2007; Weinstein, 2002 ). One case observed at Collegiate American school in
which the teacher placed low expectations for most the students in the classroom with the
arguments that what ever strategies implemented they always seem to fail due to
students’ cognitive abilities. The same group of students demonstrated better results on
the MAP scores the year after. Based on conversations conducted with these students,
they claimed to enjoy the classroom environment more often this year and particularly
the connection they were able to build with their teacher on the basis of supporting them
reaching their full potential . Psychologists use the term ‘defensive pessimism’ to explain
the way most people lower expectations to cope with the anxiety arising from complex
situations. School staff involved in defensive pessimism situations lower their
expectations to mentally prepare themselves for failure and move along with challenging
situations dealing and advancing the learning of hard to reach students. The point is,
teachers need to avoid categorizing students based on inaccurate determinants. It is only
18
through keen observations and logical evaluations that teachers can potentially play an
effective role in students’ future academic success; the issue of teacher expectancy
becomes all the more important.
Teacher Self Efficacy. The learning process is a personal journey for the student
as much as it is for the teacher, both journeys contain remarkable commonalities. The act
of learning is the act of transferring one’s initial knowledge to a higher level of
understanding they can use in a different context. The act of teaching entails purposeful
intervention to ensure that there is a cognitive change in students’ learning. The key
component for this change is the awareness of the final learning outcome specific to all
students’ population within one classroom environment, knowing when a student is
successfully attaining those outcomes, having sufficient understanding of students’
mastery and providing meaningful and challenging progressive learning experiences.
This process involves an expert teacher rather than just experienced teacher, who possess
a myriad of learning strategies to support students as needed, to provide direction and re-
direction in terms of the content being understood and thus maximize the power of
feedback, and therefore prepare students to develop a self regulatory learning journey.
Self regulation occurs when students learn to monitor and regulate their own learning.
Regulation, or meta-cognition, refers to knowledge about one's own cognitive processes
and the monitoring of these processes through acquired skills. “When students become
their own teachers they exhibit the self-regulatory attributes that seem most desirable for
learners, self-monitoring, self-evaluation, self-assessment, self-teaching” (Hattie, 2008, p.
43). To facilitate such an environment, to employ a variety of learning strategies, and to
be cognitively aware of the pedagogical means, requires dedicated and passionate
19
professionals. Passion is not only constrained to joy and involvement (Neumann, 2006).
Teachers need to be aware of which of their teaching strategies are efficient and which
are not suitable, be prepared to understand and adapt to the learners’ situations to attain
understanding. Good teachers are aware of qualitative learning strategies, when to
employ each strategy, what are the necessary requirements that facilitate learning, and
how to encourage and support deep approaches to learning. The essence here is to change
the process of teaching and learning according to the needs of the learner by creating an
environment of divergent critical thinkers, and teaching to find out the missing links
between theory and practice to fulfill the gap, which has always existed.
Teaching Strategies
Hattie (2009) shared 14 teaching strategies that met his cut-off criteria. In this
application research we will share the two with the largest effect sizes: engaging in
reciprocal teaching (d = 0.74) and utilizing meta-cognitive strategies (d = 0.69).
Strategies including teaching the steps in problem solving (sometimes recognized as
inquiry-based approach) was also highly significant (d = 0.61). In general, teaching
strategies were deemed quite important (d = 0.60). The teaching process is a learning
process that becomes more efficient when teachers learn to innovate, seek new challenges
and learn from these challenges, learn to monitor, seek and give feedback, and identify
the right alternative learning strategies when others do not work. “What is most important
is that teaching is visible to the student, and that the learning is visible to the teacher. The
more the student becomes the teacher and the more the teacher becomes the learner, then
the more successful are the outcomes” ( Hattie, 2008, p. 47).
20
Surface, Deep, and Conceptual Understanding
Hattie (2009) compares Popper’s (1978) three world of understanding (the
physical world, the subjective or mental world, and the world of ideas) to his theory of
three level of understanding: surface, deep, and constructed understanding. It is important
for teachers to be aware of these three levels of understanding due to their major impact
on achievement, if we as teachers do not understand them before we start to teach, they
can become the stumbling blocks for future learning. Hattie (2017) draws a simple
distinction between surface and deep learning. Surface learning is very much about the
idea, the content, the knowledge and the information while deep learning is when the
learner relate or extend or transfer that knowledge
Teachers who apply a surface approach to learning tend to work according to the
following general pattern such as concentrating strictly on assessment requirements,
memorizing facts and procedures, routines, note taking, underlining, highlighting,
summarizing and mnemonics necessary to help students master the surface knowledge.
Nonetheless, the impact of some of these strategies is probably higher if taught within
each content domain, as some of the skills can have reasonable effects of d =0.53. Some
studies have found the proportion of surface thinking in the classrooms can be in the
order of 80 percent or more (Airasian, 1991; Barnette, Walsh, Orletsky, & Sattes, 1995).
For example, questioning strategy level can deviate between high and low depending on
the quality and purpose of questions posed by the teachers. Teachers’ questioning may
not trigger higher order thinking and elicit deep knowledge, on the contrary they elicit so
much of what is called “knowledge telling”, and thus surface knowledge is sufficient.
Hattie (2009) states that most teachers claim to prefer a deep view of learning, while at
21
the same time they emphasize surface approaches to teaching with the defense that this is
what is required in order to prepare students for computerized assessment or
qualifications.
Deep understanding or development of thinking skills involves learning strategies
that develop skills through which the surface knowledge is durably established or well
learned. This phase invokes the tendency to engage continuously in opportunities for
effortful cognitive activities such as practice testing, rehearsal, maximizing effort, spaced
versus mass practice, interleaved practice, help seeking, time on task, reviewing records,
learning how to receive feedback and deliberate practice. Strategies that require sufficient
metacognition and a calibrated sense of progress towards the desired learning outcomes.
Acquiring deeper learning is the ability to organize and elaborate, monitor the uses of the
learning strategies, and possess a variety of metacognitive strategies that are the critical
determinants of success at this phase of learning. The major purpose is for students to
deliberately activate their background knowledge and then connect and extend that
knowledge beyond what they have learned at the surface phase. In another words, at this
stage students learn to consolidate their initial understanding and transfer it to different
learning situations.
Conceptual understanding or constructing defensible theories of knowing and
reality constitutes a change in the quality of thinking that is cognitively more challenging
than surface questions. In such cases, the learner is required to think beyond the shared
knowledge and bring in related, prior, or new knowledge, information or ideas, in order
to create a prediction, an answer, or a hypothesis that extends to a wider range of
situations (Hattie & Brown, 2004).
22
Hattie and Donoghue (2016) focused on surface, deep and transfer learning. They
conclude that students who are able to employ a repertoire of strategies they acquired
through their learning process have high levels of awareness, control or strategic choice
of multiple strategies, often referred to as self-regulated or having high levels of
metacognition. Hattie (2009) described these self-regulated students as becoming like
teachers since they possess a repertoire of strategies they can apply when their current
strategy is not working. He adds that these students have clear conceptions of what
success on the task looks like as they apply their knowledge to reach the targeted task.
More technically, Pintrich (2000) described self-regulation as an active, constructive
process whereby learners set goals for their learning and then attempt to reach their goal
through higher order thinking skills such as regulating, monitoring, and controlling their
behavior, cognition and motivation. Constrained by their goals, students who attained the
conceptual level know the what, where, who, when and why of learning, and understand
the reason behind each learning strategies. Self-regulation strategies include organization,
elaboration, concept mapping, strategy monitoring, metacognitive skills, self-regulation
and elaborative interrogation. In such cases, the learner is forced to think beyond the
given knowledge and bring in related, prior, or new ideas in order to create a new answer,
prediction, or hypothesis that stretches to a wider range of situations.
These three types of understanding, surface, deep, and constructed or conceptual
understanding are built on the SOLO model of student learning that has proven most
valuable both in developing models of teaching and learning and also in our
understanding of assessment and achievement (Hattie & Purdie, 1998; Hattie & Brown,
2004). These three levels are simultaneously interconnected, and student must have
23
sufficient surface knowledge before moving to deep learning and then to the transfer of
these understandings to conceptual understanding. It is necessary to note that the major
revision of Bloom's Taxonomy (Anderson, Krathwohl, & Bloom, 2001) introduced four
similar levels: factual knowledge (how to be acquainted with a discipline or solve
problems in it); conceptual knowledge (interrelationships among elements within a large
structure that enable them to function together); procedural knowledge (how to do
something, methods of inquiry); and meta-cognitive knowledge (knowledge of cognition
in general as well as awareness and knowledge of one’s own cognition). This is a major
advance of what is know as Bloom Taxonomy.
Learning Objectives and Success Criteria
Setting objectives is a prominent process of establishing regulated learning to
guide instructions (Pintrich & Schunk, 2005). Students can make a clear connection and
evaluate their performance in comparison to the expectation outcomes when teachers
share and communicate learning objectives with student. For this perspective, teachers
can gauge their students’ starting point with relation to the learning objectives and
determine what they need to pay attention to and where they might need help. This clarity
helps students raise their intrinsic motivation and their confidence about their ability to
succeed. The overall effect across 31 meta-analyses conducted by Hattie and Donoghue
is 0.54, with the greatest effects relating to providing students with success criteria and
having intentions to implement the learning goals. The process of transfer from surface to
deep learning entails communicating learning intentions and success criteria, students can
refer to accommodate learning gaps to their learning needs in order to reach the required
performance. When students learn how to gain an overall picture of what is to be learned,
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have an understanding of the success criteria for the lessons to come and are somewhat
clear at the outset about what it means to master the lessons, then their subsequent
learning is maximized (Hattie & Donoghue, 2016).
For success criteria to be effective, they have to be specific, differentiated but not
restrictive, communicated to all students with all their ability levels, and unpacked in a
way that is geared towards the specific targeted standard, and stated in a student friendly
content, whereby the teacher uses the knowledge and skills identified through the
unpacking process to plan lessons that focuses on student success. The results from
McREL’s 2010 study indicate that the strategies of setting objectives and providing
feedback have positive impacts on student achievement.
Subject Based Effective Strategies
This section addresses instructional strategies considered to be more effective in
one subject than the other. This model of teaching refers to “learning activities that are
necessary and most adaptive for knowledge building in a domain specific activities”
(Seidel & Shavelson, 2007, pp. 460–461). Seidel and Shavelson concluded that such
domain specific activities consistently represented the most important influence of
teaching on students’ learning. For instance, reciprocal teaching is an instructional
process to teach students cognitive strategies that might lead to improved learning
outcomes specifically in reading comprehension, while inquiry method has always been
studied in the area of science, even though the method can be used in any other context,
while problem based teaching is mostly effective in Mathematics.
Reciprocal Teaching. Reciprocal teaching is an interactive set of verbal
techniques where students and a teacher work in small guided practice groups, to develop
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metacognitive higher order thinking such as predicting, inferencing, questioning,
comparing, summarizing, classifying and clarifying. The aim is to develop reading
comprehension skills by gradually delegating and empowering students to take on the
role of the teacher. It is what we practically call guided reading. The emphasis is on
teachers to enable their students to learn and develop cognitive strategies such as
summarizing, questioning, clarifying and predicting. During a reciprocal teaching
session, teacher and students use dialogic conversation and prior knowledge to construct
a shared understanding of the text and to construct a background of reading
comprehension skills. Teachers provide cognitive scaffolding and monitor the
conversation and the process through a shared language related to the four
aforementioned thinking strategies. Research on reciprocal teaching demonstrated that
there are improved comprehension results and transfer of skills to other curriculum areas
(Palincsar & Klenk, 1992; Westera, 2002). It is also noted that the dialogical approach is
inclusive of students with different abilities (Soto, 1989, cited in Arbor, 2013). It aligns
closely to developmental theories of learning described by Vygotsky (Kozulin, 1986).
Vygotsky (1978) linked metacognition and dialogue in providing an explanation
of how individuals develop understanding of concepts. He believed that the process of
learning involved moving into what he called the zone of proximal development, which is
supported by another individual considered as expert able to guide the dialogue with the
learner. Through dialogue the learner is able to shape current knowledge to construct new
ideas and understanding. The process is supported by scaffolds, which provide accurate
support based on the required needs of learners, allowing them to move from one level of
understanding to another across the zone of proximal development (Kozulin, 1986).
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According to meta-analyses conducted by Hattie (2009) the effect size is a very high d =
0.74, especially when associated with explicit teaching and scaffolding. An analysis of
elementary students in the study school at Collegiate American School indicated
performance at or above average of more than 71 percent of students in 2019-2020 as
compared to the previous year’s results where students scores during 2018-2019 in
language and reading were concerning. When analyzing the results, it was noticed the
impact of reciprocal teaching during guided reading sessions. The key factor in the
success gain manifested through the results is due to the consistency in applying the
reciprocal teaching approach to reading across all elementary classrooms and on a regular
basis. While the inconsistency in incorporating this approach during the previous year has
lead to drastic results in reading and language.
Inquiry-Based Teaching. Inquiry-based teaching is a process that permits
students to explore and conduct investigation to reach the required understanding, rather
than the teacher dictating to students what they need to know. Inquiry based instruction is
considered a student centered approach to learning placing an emphasis on students’ roles
as an active participant in the learning and teachers as an activator facilitating learning.
Throughout this process, students are encouraged to explore the material, ask questions,
and share ideas to develop understanding. Inquiry methods have often been studied in the
context of science. The concept of inquiry-based teaching began in the early 1960s with
Bruner (1961). The teaching methods that Bruner recommended allow the learner to
discover new information and ideas instead of merely memorizing teacher output. There
are many terms used to describe this mode of instruction include inquiry-based teaching
(Anderson, 2002; Furtak 2006; Jiang & McComas, 2015). Variation in opinion regarding
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the effectiveness of inquiry-based teaching arises from ineffective (effect size = 0.08) to
slightly effective (effect size = 0.71) depending on many variables such as the amount of
scaffolding, student readiness and teachers’ preparedness. Hattie (2009) used four meta-
analyses (Bangert-Drowns & Bankert, 1990; Shymansky et al., 1990; Smith 1996;
Sweitzer & Anderson, 1983) in his quest of inquiry-based teaching effect and from these
meta analyses, he determined an effect size of 0.31. Furtak (2012) conducted a more
recent meta-analysis of 37 experimental and quasi-experimental studies, and the latter
revealed an effect size of 0.50 for inquiry-based teaching approaches. Instructions that
emphasized content over process, were found to be particularly purposeless. On the other
hand, instructions that emphasized teaching strategies that actively engaged students in
the learning process such as hypothesizing, making prediction and drawing conclusions
through scientific inquiry activities resulted in large learning gains and were more likely
to increase conceptual understanding than passive strategies (Minner et al. 2010).
Kirschner ( 2006) provide and explanation begging the low effect size that the inquiry
based might hold in some situations, he discusses the issue of cognitive overload, in that
the skills and knowledge required to carry out the inquiry activity are so challenging that
the student is unable to grasp the key learning points of the activity. In this case learning
frequently fails because it is presented in such a way that requires excessive use of
cognitive resources that some students —especially those with low processing issues—
find it almost impossible or challenging to cope. This is thought to occur because some
students might not be able to process new information, unable to follow multi step
directions or mentally reformulate new ideas due to their level of readiness and ability. In
fact even though inquiry strategies are considered as being more student centered than
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teacher directed traditional methods, they can produce higher learning gain if these were
delivered via methods such as guided activities, scaffolded work or facilitated inquiry.
Furtak et al. (2012) carried out a meta analysis about the effect of inquiry based
teaching when supported by a certain level of guidance ranging from teacher-led,
traditional instruction to student-led inquiry, the results showed a positive effect. The
study indicated that when students experienced traditional lessons or participated in
unstructured student-led activities, they experienced less learning gains as compared to
the groups that participated in guided inquiry. The key solution is by reducing the
cognitive loads of skills not directly linked to the learning intentions that can be achieved
by a greater level of teacher guidance (Hmelo-Silver 2006). Thus, when discussing the
effectiveness of inquiry-based teaching it is imperative to discuss alongside one
important factor that is the level of teacher guidance or scaffolding (Furtak et al. 2012).
The key component is realizing that most effective classroom inquiry is usually guided
and supported by the teacher, through inferential questioning and constructive feedback.
Rather than leaving students to their own devices with the argument of preparing them to
develop self regulated leaning, the teacher’s obligation is to facilitate and guide each step
of the inquiry process, ensuring that students are on the right track as they develop the
higher-order skills of critical and creative thinking.
An observation related to the inquiry approach effect on two different groups of
third grade students during two consecutive academic years. The same teacher
implements the same inquiry approach with the first group in 2018-2019 and the second
group in 2019 – 2020. Results based on MAP scores and classroom performance showed
that the first group interacted more effectively than the second group. It is thought that
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the reason is due to students’ readiness and cognitive ability level. Students involved in
this type of setting must have the capacity to embody the inquiry process and take
ownership of their decisions. While this process does provide opportunities for students
to voice their ideas, they may not function well in an unstructured environment if they are
unprepared or unequipped for this shift. Teaching learners the skills of the inquiry
process is a critical solution to this potential problem. Therefore, armed with the ability to
ask significant questions and form judgements concerning the information they are
researching during their investigation. When teachers design their classroom inquiry
based on a structured inquiry process and teach students how to incorporate and use this
process, they need to provide a scaffold for self-directed learning that enables all students
to become self reliant and feel supported through the learning pathway. The key
component is for the teacher to work from within the process, capturing evidence of
learning and higher-order thinking as students are developing these skills. Another
additional key component for the success of the inquiry based approach is ongoing, real-
time formative assessment. Teachers will be able to collect a wealth of information about
previous learning, experiences, perspective, ability and interest while listening to students
voice through their responses , which lead all engaging learners in a conversation that
raises the level of curiosity as a result.
Feedback
Results that emerged in studies of effective transfer of instructional strategies
demonstrated that methods such as modeling practice, providing feedback and the use of
cooperative learning groups have stronger effect than others (Mikulecky & Peers, 1994).
Hattie (2002) reported a synthesis of over 800 meta analysis involving studies
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representing a large number of students on various influences on student achievement.
Those studies provided a benchmark figure from which to judge the various influences on
achievement, it became clear that feedback was among the most powerful influences on
achievement. It is important to mention that for feedback to be effective it should provide
cues and reinforcement, tackling more challenging tasks and appreciating higher quality
experiences rather than just doing "more." Additionally, it is also worth noting that the
key component here is the feedback that requires a response, acted and reflected upon by
students. The issue is even though many teachers claim to provide ample amounts of
feedback yet not every situations demands students to respond and interpret the
information in the feedback. What is required is that each student should receive
moments of feedback in a single day (Nuthall, 2005). Punishment, negative
reinforcements, praise, and extrinsic rewards were the least effective forms of feedback
for enhancing achievement.
Hattie (2017) states in his latest research on the Visible Learning theory, that
pupil self-assessment is one of the most effective tools teachers can use in order to
accelerate their pupils’ learning. His theory was further supported by research from the
Educational Endowment Foundation, which validates the efficacious impact of
constructive feedback in improving learning outcomes for children. Whether the
feedback provided to pupils is verbal or written, the outcome is integral to effective
teaching. Equally important, collecting feedback on how well pupils have learned
something is necessary in order to enable teachers clearing up any misconception or
misunderstanding and provide the right level of challenge as a next learning step.
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DIRT Feedback. To strengthen the impact of next step marking and feedback in
accelerating the children’s progress in learning, the elementary school at Collegiate
American School introduced the Dedicated Improvement and Reflection Time DIRT
feedback strategy. DIRT is an effective way for children to act upon the feedback given
by their teacher. Teachers spend a significant amount of time each day marking their
students journals and adding comments. The purpose of DIRT process is to ensure the
time teachers have invested in providing feedback is maximized as the children have to
actively engage with the corrections or interventions. DIRT Making should become a
thinking routine in the classroom. The purpose of this routine is to help pupils to focus
their mind on improvement and enable it to be a meaningful component of their learning
journey. This strategy encourages children to find ways in which they can improve on
their first attempt in learning. Making mistakes is proof that children are learning, if they
are not making mistakes they are not trying hard enough. Moreover, it encourages the
children to take risks in their learning, build their resilience and dismantle their fear of
failure. As Thomas Edison once said, ‘I haven’t failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that
won’t work.’ A recent monitoring of this technique during learning walk by the senior
leadership team involved an observation and conference with pupils about their learning
process and what would be their next step to improve their learning, children were able to
understand the purpose of DIRT and could explain the learning process they followed
throughout their assignment. Students articulated their learning in a meaningful way
allowing them to revise and reflect on the task at hand considered to be a prominent
strategy to improve their learning.
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Explicit Teaching
The model of explicit teaching is directed towards students’ attention to reach a
specific learning outcome in a highly structured environment. It involves direct
instructions of topics and contents that are broken down into small chunks or even taught
individually with the focus on producing specific learning outcomes. Children are
provided with specific directions and structured frameworks such as demonstrations,
explanations, modeling and practice, in addition topics are taught in a logical sequential
order beginning from the simplest to the hardest yet all guided by the teacher. Another
characteristic of explicit teaching involves modeling skills, behaviors and thinking. The
key component making this process successful is that teachers demonstrate thinking to
students when working through problems and modeling processes for students. Various
reviews and meta-analyses have studied and reported the effectiveness of explicit
instruction. For instance, in a meta-analysis conducted by Swanson (1999) about
intervention plans incorporating explicit strategies for students with learning disabilities
LD, results demonstrated large effect sizes of 0.80, even higher effects were noted when
direct instruction was involved. Furthermore, higher effect size of 1.06 were noted for
reading comprehension and word recognition when explicit instruction was coupled with
strategy-based instruction. Explicit instruction is used mainly to support learning for
students with learning disabilities in the core subjects of reading, writing and
mathematics. After completing a meta-analysis of the research literature on effective
teaching strategies, Swanson (2001) reported that the best model for instructing students
with learning disabilities is strictly interconnected to the explicit teaching model. The
largest effect size was observed with explicit strategy instruction such as strategy cues,
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think aloud models, explicit practice, independent practice elaboration and explanations.
Gersten, Vaughn, and Chard (2000) noted in a review of research funded by the Office of
Special Education Programs and the National Center for Learning Disabilities, that
“making instruction visible and explicit is an essential feature of effective interventions
for students with LD” (p. 108). Further, these authors noted that “teachers need to plan
and reflect on their instruction to ensure that it is explicit and intensive so that students
with learning difficulties are faced with valuable learning time” (p. 111). According to
Gauthier, Richard and Bissonnette (2013), explicit instruction can be divided into three
consecutive steps: modeling, guided or directed practice, and independent practice. In this
perspective, it is important to take into consideration the understanding by design model
through which the educators prepare their lessons in advance and reflect on the
anticipated learning outcomes and how the anticipated learning outcomes will be
evaluated. Ultimately, the teacher must specify the learning objectives they will pursue
with their students, which drives planning activities in reverse (Tomlinson & McTighe,
2010). Bissonnette et al. (2010) identified strategies aimed to support students who are at
risk for failure through intervention instructions. These interventions were explicit
instructions aimed to promote reading, writing and math skills for students with learning
disabilities. It was concluded that explicit instructions is more efficient if utilized
alongside the reciprocal teaching method. It is therefore interesting because students with
learning difficulties requires additional time for practice in order to consolidate their
learning where they can apply what they have understood from the modeling and guided
practice steps and transfer to their independent practice. Before reaching a stage of some
expertise, students who are novices require much more direct instruction in order to reach
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a more advanced self regulated learning catered toward student centered activities such as
assessment for learning strategies, or constructivist methods. These methods can be
integrated into our teaching methods with success (Muijs & Reynolds, 2000; Rowe,
2006).
Critics of explicit instruction basically argue that this model is a deficit that
positions students as passive learners sitting in rows all day engaging in rote learning.
This is a misconceiving perception about explicit instruction. “Sometimes deeper
concepts need more specific and direct teaching, and sometimes the more surface
concepts can be learned via inquiry or problem solving” (Hattie, 2008, p. 53).
Ways to Prepare for Standardized Tests Without Sacrificing Best Practices
In this era of accountability, a lot of teachers claim feeling compelled to abandon
best teaching practices in exchange for a test preparation curriculum designed to raise
students’ scores. Many educators find themselves judged by the test scores of their
students test results that are determined by factors beyond their control: students’
academic background, students’ cognitive abilities, school curriculum and programs,
transience of the population, socioeconomic class, and so on. With the accountability
assessments raised by requirements for annual student progress and achievement
connected strictly to teachers’ appraisals, there is an increasing concern that teachers will
teach to the test and thereby narrowing the curriculum and compromising the quality of
daily lessons. Researchers suggest that teachers can prepare students to conduct
standardized assessments without sacrificing best practices. Proham ( 2001) describes it
as “teaching the test” instead of “teaching to the test” in which a teacher directs
instructions towards a body of language represented in a test.
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Some researchers administered studies about testing effect within classroom
settings (Carpenter, 2009; Anderson, 2012; Roediger, 2013). Experiments have revealed
that low- stakes multiple-choice quizzes with immediate correct-answer feedback can
indeed enhance student learning for core course content. Carpenter (2009) proposed a
suggestion concerning direct effects of practice testing. His suggestion revealed that
testing can enhance retention by triggering elaborative retrieval processes. In return these
processes enhance long-term memory that activates prior related information forming an
elaborated trace that triggers multiple pathways to facilitate later access to that
information. To benefit the most out of practice tests, it is suggested to make them low-
stakes, which can help decrease test anxiety. We extend the notion of practice test to
massed and spaced practice. Most students tend to forget the materials or strategies being
taught. According to a model developed by Nuthall (2000) of how students acquire the
knowledge embedded in their classroom curriculum experiences, it requires three to four
experiences involving interaction with relevant information for a new knowledge
construct to be created in working memory and then transferred to long-term memory.
From this perspective providing opportunities to go over these materials at a later stage of
their learning will allow students to sustain their cognitive engagement. Amongst the
strategies related to instructional effectiveness, Hattie (2017) mentioned the effect of
spaced practice to have high impact on students’ achievement. Spaced practice includes
aligned materials from previous years. In this case, if we as educators aim to optimize
students’ success we need to reconsider the elements we cover in our assessment and the
frequency of our testing.
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Timing also matters: to identify false impression about their level of
understanding of any topic of study being introduced, it is helpful to give a practice test
right after a lesson and continue to give them throughout the school year to reinforce the
materials. Since students may not realize what questions they got wrong or why teachers
must give feedback to allow students time to reflect on that feedback and act upon it.
Finally, simple preparation strategies such as flash cards, exit ticket or multiple choice or
any other low stake example can dramatically improve a student’s performance. It is
important to note that practice tests is always beneficial to learning regardless of the
format of the practice test, even if it does not match the format of the criterion test.
Assessment for Learning
Formative assessment methods are considered as important techniques in raising
the overall level of student achievement. Research conducted on formative assessments
has claimed that it is perhaps one of the most important interventions for promoting high-
performance. In their influential 1998 review of the English-language literature on
formative assessment, Black and Wiliam (1998, p. 61) concluded that:
... formative assessment does improve learning. The gains in achievement appear
to be quite considerable, and as noted earlier, among the largest ever reported for
educational interventions.
As an illustration of just how big these gains are, the effect size is 0.7. For
assessments to be more effective, they need to be an extension and a reflection of the
learning skills content constructed in the classroom and aligned with the instructional
activities and should not be a surprise. Critics of the alignment between content and
assessments sometimes argue that this approach is nothing but “teaching to the test,” but
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of the desired learning goals are the foundation of any instructional experiences, then
assessment of student learning are simply an extension of the desired learning goals to be
assessed and therefore teachers are testing what they taught instead. Since the aim of any
teaching practice is to support students’ learning to reach their potential, it is therefore
impeccable to identify learning needs and adjust teaching appropriately. In classrooms,
formative assessment refers to frequent, interactive assessments of student progress and
understanding. Teachers use formative assessment techniques to better respond to their
diverse students’ needs. It is widely recognized by educators that today’s classrooms are
characterized by academic diversity among students (Tomlinson et al., 2003). Among the
learners in regular classrooms are students with identified learning problems, ELLs,
highly advanced learners, underachievers, students from broadly diverse cultures and
economic backgrounds and students who may fit into more than one of these categories
(Tomlinson et al). Approaches like differentiation, scaffolding, modifications,
accommodations of learning and adaptation of teaching are put in place to raise the level
of student engagement and achievement, and within the same fashion we are providing a
greater equity of student outcomes. Analyzing assessment results, provide information for
both students and teachers. By reviewing the results, teachers must consider the quality of
their teaching, in other terms, what Hattie (2009) calls “Formative Evaluation of
Programs” (p. 181). The major message is for teachers to pay attention to the formative
effects of their teaching, as it is these attributes of seeking formative evaluation of the
effects of their programs that makes for excellence in teaching and mastery learning
(d=0.90). When followed by corrective measurements and feedback assessment can be
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vital component in our effort as teachers to improve students’ learning. Improved
learning leads to the process underlying mastery learning.
Mastery Learning. Mastery learning refers to students’ ability to master the
material being taught, in that all children can learn when provided with clear explanations
of the task at hand. Mastery learning include other features to facilitate the appropriate
learning conditions in the classrooms. These features involve high levels of cooperation
between classmates; myriad amount of constructive teacher feedback that is both frequent
and specific by using diagnostic formative tests; and the regular correction of mistakes
students make as they travel along their learning path. Using classroom assessment to
improve student learning and ultimately achievement goes to Bloom (1968, 1971). He
defined mastery in terms of behavioral objectives, with class instruction supplemented by
feedback or correction mechanisms. It is important for teachers to understand the most
efficient use of assessment and establish a culture of evaluation where students and
teacher set goals for their learning, and prepare success criteria to reach these goals,
assess their performance as compared to the intended learning goals, reflect on their
performance and finally incorporate multiple strategies until they reach the final outcome.
Students’ Learning Strategies
When we refer to change in knowledge, behaviors, beliefs and attitude in one’s
initial acquisition we are talking about learning. This acquisition unfolds over time,
contributing to a change that is not fleeting but rather evolving to undergo a long lasting
impact on students’ thinking and behaviors. Learning is something students do by
themselves, rather than something done to them. It is the result of how students interpret
situations and respond to their experiences. Vygotsky (1986) defines learning as the
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process of engaging and manipulating objects, experiences, and conversations in order to
build mental models of the world. The process of learning entails steps that learners
would follow naturally as they build knowledge. Whenever they explore and investigate
the world around them, connect new ideas with prior understandings, interact and observe
with phenomena, and engage in conversations with others, learners are building their
knowledge. This process involves building, consolidating, enriching, and modifying
existing understanding, where “one’s knowledge base becomes a scaffold that supports
the construction of other future learning” (Alexander, 1996, p. 89). Learning provides
learners with the opportunity to engage with specific ideas and concepts on a need-to-
know or want-to-know basis (Kolodner, 2006; Greeno, 2006). In this review, we define
learning as a process predicated on a set of principles that lead to change, where change
occurs and unfolds as a result of ones’ experiences and increases the potential for
improved performance and future learning. The set of strategies that follow are connected
with the definition stated above.
Creating an Environment for Learning: Cooperative Learning
The use of cooperative learning in instructional strategies is based on the
constructivist approaches to learning, with particular attention to the contribution that
social interaction can produce. In essence, interactive learning is at the heart of the
constructivist approach, and it is formed on the principles of the social component where
individuals build their own knowledge through interactive approaches, connecting new
ideas and experiences to existing knowledge and experiences to form new or enhanced
understanding (Bransford et al., 2000). The idea of the social interdependence theory is
the origin behind the consideration of the prominent role that groups play in the process
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of cooperative work. Vygotsky expanded the notion of social interdependence by
examining the relationship between social activities and cognitive processes, developing
the sociocultural theory. The theory of sociocultural development considers the social
aspect as the main component in constructing knowledge, supported by positive group
interdependence, which is the base of cooperative learning. Vygotsky refers to this idea
as the zone of proximal development. He suggests that learning takes place when students
solve problems beyond their current developmental level with the support of their
instructor or their peers.
In a meta-analysis of several studies comparing cooperative learning to
competitive learning and individualistic learning in college students (Johnson et al.,
2006), researchers found that cooperative learning produced greater academic
achievement than both competitive learning and individualistic learning, exhibiting a
moderate to high effect size of 0.54 when comparing cooperation and competition and
0.51 when comparing cooperation and individualistic learning.
Cooperative learning situations play an imminent role in learning as it involves
two or more students working together to improve their understanding of a performance
task. Cooperative learning takes different form in the classroom. Strategies Like Think
Pair Share, peer instructions, jigsaw puzzle are all examples of what constitutes an
cooperative learning. Settings such as placing students in homogeneous and
heterogeneous grouping are also examples of cooperative learning. Several literacy
studies have indicated that learning in pairs and heterogeneous or homogeneous groups
can provoke positive interactions that facilitates transfer of learning. O'Donnell (1989)
and Larson, Hythecker, Dansereau and Rocklin (1985) performed a study outlining a
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pattern of situations consisted of reading strategies such as note taking and summarizing
important ideas, listening and correcting summary mistakes. The purpose of the patterns
was to observe how cooperative learning facilitated the transfer of reading abilities
through these patterns. It would appear from these studies that transfer occurs when there
is sufficient time to practice these strategies and when the cooperative activity calls for
the learner to internalize what has been learned. Students’ readiness and maturity play an
imminent role in the effectiveness of cooperative learning. The earlier cooperative
learning is implemented the better students academic performance appears to be. For
instance, students in kindergarten who learned the norms of collaborative learning can
take more responsibility when it comes to their classroom performance than third grade
students who are socially not ready to collaborate with each other to assume
responsibility. Additionally, in a classroom where there is an increased number of
students with learning difficulties, cooperative learning (specifically peer learning) is the
only solution that leads to active student engagement and overcoming learning challenges
(Johnson teacher al., 2014). Cooperative learning strategy is heavily implemented and
used in the elementary department at Collegiate American School as a strategy to support
English Language Learners ELL and students with learning difficulties. Observation of
student performance and results indicated improvement in their reading and math scores
according to MAP scores. In some occasions, students with higher ability were able to
support students with lower ability and in other occasions students with the same ability
felt more confident working with groups with the same ability which allow them to share
their thoughts and idea with ease.
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Students’ Prior Knowledge
Psychologists (Thompson & Zamboanga, 2003) stated that prior knowledge is one
of the most important factors in learning. Researchers used several explanations to
describe the term prior knowledge. Some simply define it as what a person already knows
about the content (Marzano, 2004) while others use more complex definitions such as
Biemans and Simons (1996), “all knowledge learners have when entering a learning
environment that is potentially relevant for acquiring knowledge” (p. 6). Dodgy and
Alexander (1995) go further by stating that prior knowledge is the whole of a person’s
knowledge, including explicit and tacit knowledge, metacognition and conceptual
knowledge. It is what we initially possess in our brain before we add new learning
materials. In any cases teachers often make assumptions that students come to class
possessing the skills and information necessary for new knowledge. When preparing
instruction, the focus is always geared towards students’ expected outcome instead of
thinking initially of what they already know. In fact, in some cases, students lack prior
knowledge to extract meaningful learning or further more their prior knowledge is not
always compatible with the learning target that teachers intend to achieve, or simply is
inappropriately associated with an inaccurate content. Our prior knowledge is an
amalgamation of concepts, facts, perceptions, beliefs, experiences, and attitudes. This
amalgam makes it hard to discern between what consists an accurate, complete, and
appropriate knowledge for the context, and what consisted an inaccurate, insufficient or
simply inappropriate for the learning requirements. As students bring this knowledge to
classrooms, it influences how they interpret this knowledge, in other way it accelerates
their learning or impedes it. Understanding what students know or tend to know will help
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teachers leverage their knowledge accurately and ultimately plan instructional strategies
that fill any preexisting gaps, actively work to correct any misconceptions and
consequently promote students’ academic achievement. Students connect and add their
recent learning outcomes to their previous knowledge, interpreting incoming information
through the lens of their existing knowledge, beliefs, and assumptions (Vygotsky, 1978;
National Research Council, 2000).
In literature the term background knowledge is interchangeably used to refer to
prior knowledge. Here, the terms are used synonymously since they both mean
essentially the same. Hattie and Hansford (1982) reported an effect size of d = 1.19
between measures of intelligence and achievement. The overall effect size is among the
highest effect sizes in the meta-analyses, “This high relationship accounts for what many
researchers call the “Matthew effect,” which is based on the biblical notion that the rich
get richer and the poorer get poorer or do not gain as much” (Hattie, 2009, p. 68).
Children’s prior knowledge they brings to the classroom each year is strictly
interconnected with their achievement in previous years. Hattie and Marzano go beyond
student academic achievement at school, to talk about one’s success after school.
Marzano (2010) states that academic background knowledge affects more than just
“school learning.” Prior achievement is related to success stories emerging from the first
years of schooling including preschool (Duncan et al., 2007; La Paro & Pianta, 2000), to
high school and college or university grades (Kuncel, Hezlett, & Ones, 2001), and
between grades in school and later job performance (Roth, BeVier, Switzer, &
Schippmann, 1996).
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In fact, there is widespread agreement among researchers that students must
connect new knowledge to previous knowledge in order to learn (Bransford & Johnson,
1972; Resnick, 1983 ), yet the effect role might be sometimes erroneous when students’
background knowledge is influenced by misconceptions that can impede learning.
Strongman and Hall (2004) reports several studies that demonstrates how students harbor
misperceptions. Prior knowledge activation could impede learning if it is erroneous and if
it passes unnoticed, results are consequently negative on students’ academic achievement.
In which case intervention becomes a necessity, otherwise students can fare poorly on
tests. Teachers can not disregard such ideas, on the contrary, they need to create an
intervention plan that helps students discover thoughtful ways to correct them. Of course,
establishing the conditions that enables students’ thinking to be revealed is not a small
task. Background knowledge is the raw material that triggers learning. It acts as a mental
hook that interconnects prior learning to new materials. Examples of tapping on prior
knowledge could be direct instruction, introducing new vocabulary, questioning and
inquiring into a topic.
Strangman and Hall (2004) claim that direct instruction strategies combined with
prior knowledge have much promise with diverse elementary students. Examples of such
techniques includes vocabulary instruction, introducing difficult concepts in a reading
text or a reader has content or even in a math problem solving task. Patches (2005) also
talks about diversifying classroom groups to encourage participation among all students
and to pose questions related to the topic of study. A positive inquiry based classroom
environment is a prerequisite for students to share what they think they know through a
set of visible thinking routines. These routines will help students to develop a better
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understanding of the content to be taught while at the same time uncovering students’
prior knowledge.
Transfer Strategies and Meta-Cognitive Strategies
According to Edutech Wiki, transfer of learning refers to learning in one context
and applying it to another, for example the capacity to apply acquired knowledge and
skills to upcoming situations. In the context of education, transfer of learning can be
referred to as transfer of meta-cognitive strategies, that is the effective application by
learners of the cognitive skills gained as a result of new learning. Stated in another way,
transfer of learning occurs when learning in one context impacts an existing performance
in another context. Hattie and Donoghue (2017) focus on students acquiring deep level,
and suggest teaching strategies such as organization, concept mapping, strategy
monitoring and meta-cognitive strategies. As stated previously, deep learning can be
consolidated by using meta- cognitive strategies like questioning, comparing and
contrasting, self monitoring, explanation of thinking, self verbalizing, peer tutoring,
collaborating to reach final goals and any other critical thinking techniques. From a
practical point of view, transfer of learning can have several contexts. It can transfer
learning from one level of Bloom's Taxonomy to a deeper level, and across content areas.
The question that rises is “How can learning transfer be facilitated?”.
Questioning and Cues. Teacher questions, are classified as instructional cues and
stimuli in the classroom setting that convey to students the content to be learned and
guidance for outcome expectations and the process of their execution. Some researchers
have conducted general investigations of the role of classroom questioning and have
drawn the following conclusions: instruction which include posing questions during
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lessons is more effective in producing achievement success than instruction conveyed
without questioning students. Schroeder, Scott, Tolson, Huang, and Lee (2007) found an
effect size of 0.74 for questioning in science, and Sencibaugh (2007) reported an effect
size of 1.18 for questioning in reading comprehension. One of the studies related to cues
and questions (Hay et al., 2007) illustrated the effects of questioning on students with
language difficulties. This study investigated teachers’ use of four levels of questions,
developed by Blank, Rose, and Berlin (2003), to enhance students’ language
development. The first level requires students to name objects, events, topics, or
concepts, a practice that increases their vocabulary. The second level of questions focus
on the organization and classification of the vocabulary, which helps students store and
retrieve the information from memory. Level 3 questions require higher-order reasoning,
helping students reorganize and elaborate on the information and link the new
information to what they already know. The fourth and last level of questions move to the
abstract level and ask students to reflect on, restructure, and advance their perceptions
about concepts. In another word moving from surface learning to deep learning through a
progressive scale of questions that helps students deepen their understanding in a step by
step way going from the simple concept to the more complex. In this case teachers avoid
any confusion and devoid of understanding students may encounters dues to the
complexity of the questioning provided to initiate learning.
Marzano (2010) found a strong correlation between the cognitive level of
teachers' questions and the achievement of their students, and results on that matters has
proved frustrating to many in the field of education due to the quality of questions used in
the classroom. For instance, McREL researchers calculated effect sizes for cues and
47
questions (0.20). Researchers found higher cognitive questions used with low ability
students may have opposite effect due to the lack of understanding, the process of higher
cognitive thinking should be done gradually. The same correlation is true of research
examining the relationship between the cognitive level of teachers' questions and the
cognitive level of students' responses. The conventional wisdom that says, "ask a higher
level question, get a higher level answer," does not seem to hold. The results indicate that
systematic and progressive use of tiered questioning enhances students’ ability to
organize information in verbal memory, and their ability to engage in critical reasoning .
Such an approach can initiate and boost students’ motivation by tapping into their
curiosity and interest about the topic. In addition, using higher-order questions can help
students deepen their knowledge by requiring the use of critical-thinking skills.
Summarizing and Note Taking. The process of summarizing required distilling
the most important aspects of information or text in order to support the process of
understanding, ease the process of memorizing, and facilitate the process of learning the
relevant material. Similarly, the process of note taking involves capturing key ideas,
through varied strategies such as writing, drawing, or audio recording for later access.
Summarizing and note taking are part of the same category of transfer strategies because
they both require students to analyze and distill information. The purpose of summarizing
and note taking is to help students deepen their understanding of information and
ultimately facilitate learning, since these strategies provide opportunities that involve
higher-order thinking skills. For examples these opportunities should involve the act of
capturing, organizing, and reflecting on important facts, concepts, ideas, and processes
they will need to access at a later time (Olive, Piolat, & Kellogg, 2005). Cognitive
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psychologists (Kintsch, 1979; vanDijk, 1980) have found that summarizing involves at
least two highly critical thinking strategies: filling the missing parts through analysis and
inferences and translating information into a synthesized form. Additionally, note taking,
like summarizing, involves higher order thinking strategies: identifying essential
information, sorting and coding information, which can help them memorize information
and conceptualize new ideas. Numbers of studies have been conducted on the effect of
note taking on student achievement. Findings from McREL’s (2010) study indicate that
summarizing and note taking have positive effects across content areas and grade levels,
with note taking having a significantly higher impact on learning than summarizing —
The effect size for note taking (0.90) is similar to the overall combined effect size (1.00).
Teachers might achieve better results if they teach students to use summarizing in
conjunction with other cognitive strategies. For example, Hattie and Timperley (2007)
report an effect size of 0.86 for reciprocal teaching, which includes summarizing,
questioning, clarifying, and predicting.
Similarities and Differences. Other patterns consisted of identifying similarities
and differences through four main components: comparing, classifying, creating
metaphors and creating analogies. For instance, metaphors can be used in all content
areas to help students make sense of information. Teachers should intentionally plan to
use metaphors when they want students to focus on how items are similar on an abstract
level (Harrison & De Jong, 2005)
Seeing similarities and differences is a fundamental cognitive process (Gentner &
Markman, 1994; Goldstone, & Markman, 1995). Equally important, other cognitive
strategies promote higher order thinking such as making connections related to patterns
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amongst different learning elements, classifying groups based on specific characteristics,
creating metaphors to make sense of information and creating analogies to see similarities
between things that seem dissimilar on the surface. Students benefit by having
similarities and differences pointed out by the teacher in an explicit manner. This might
include amazing discussions and inquisitive situations, and it allows students to focus on
the relationship or bridge to the new ideas (Chen, Yanowitz & Daehler, 1996; Gholson,
Smither, Buhrman, & Duncan, 1997; Solomon, 1995). This instruction should include
providing students with steps in the process and modeling the process in order to promote
higher-order thinking. As students become more familiar with each process, teachers
should provide opportunities for them to do so independently, gradually removing the
scaffolding provided by teacher-directed tasks. Teachers can use student-directed tasks to
stimulate divergence in students’ thinking. Each of these components consist of processes
that offer students opportunities to think and learn at deep level that promotes higher
order thinking.
Generating and Testing Hypotheses. The process of generating and testing
hypotheses involves consolidating knowledge by using two higher order thinking skills
that can be interdependent or interconnected with one another. Deduction is the first skill
when we refer to generating and hypothesizing. This process entails using general rules to
make a prediction about a future event or action. Deductive thinking, involves applying a
generalization or rule that is known or provided to the student. Induction, the second
thinking process involves making inferences that are based on knowledge that students
already have or information that is presented to them. Induction involves drawing new
conclusions or identifying rules based on observations or patterns in information.
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Generally speaking, deductive approaches produce better results than inductive
approaches. The inductive approach provides students with opportunities to discover
principles and generalizations on their own, but it also provides opportunities for students
to stray from the main questions and primary learning tasks. Misconceptions can easily
form as students, investigating on their own, create an incomplete or incorrect
understanding. In this way teachers must have a solid understanding of the content,
debrief inductive learning experiences with students, and provide formative assessment
opportunities to ensure that students have not developed or reinforced misconceptions as
they constructed their own learning.
Across grade levels and content areas, inquiry in the classroom turns curiosity to
the learner's advantage. Creative teachers create opportunities to guide students through
the process of asking quality questions, generating hypotheses and predictions,
investigating through testing or research, making observations, and finally analyzing and
communicating results. A variety of tasks helps provide a context for students to generate
and test hypotheses. These tasks include processes such as systems analysis, problem
solving, experimental inquiry, and investigation. Through active learning experiences,
students deepen their understanding of key concepts. Researchers have found that
methods and techniques used during science inquiry lessons help students gain a better
understanding of fundamental concepts, in comparison to traditional methods like
lectures and textbook-based instruction (White, 1998). For example, Ward and Lee
(2004) find that students who are involved in problem-based learning which involves
students generating and testing possible solutions to real-life problems, have a better
51
understanding of the connections among the content, their own personal lives, and the
work world than students taught using a lecture-based approach.
Inquiry extends far beyond the science classroom. Inquiry methods can be used in
any other subject area. For instance, in math, students begin their target with a question
where they have to solve a problem make predictions and analyze the questions based on
their understanding of the data presented to them. In history, students search for evidence
to support their main idea and theory about why certain historical events unfolded. In
language arts, students predict what comes next in a story based on events that have
already transpired. In every context, teachers can make inquiry more effective by
initiating learning with a question that triggers their curiosity and by scaffolding their
experience as their learning unfolds progressively.
Generating and testing hypotheses deepens students’ knowledge because it
requires the use of critical thinking skills such as analysis and evaluation – the two
highest levels of thinking in the Bloom’s Taxonomy. Much of the literature suggests that
it is possible to teach successfully for transfer through generating and testing hypotheses.
The overall effect size for the 15 studies analyzed in the 2010 study is of 0.61 that was
reported in the first edition of Classroom Instruction That Works (Marzano, 2000).
Concept mapping. Concept mapping involves the development of graphical
representations of the conceptual structure of the content to be learned. In other words,
concept mapping refers to focusing on the essential aspects of the content to be learned,
thus the representation entails a pictorial-like representation to familiarize students with
the surface knowledge of the deeper concept to be mapped. The importance of concept
mapping is to scaffold students throughout the process of brainstorming the main idea of
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a specific outcome using a pictorial spectrum. Concept mapping can assist in simplifying
higher order thinking strategies, particularly for the learners who do not possess these
skills. Kim, Vaughn, Wanzek, and Wei (2004) argued that the visual displays of
information such as synthesizing, comparing, summarizing, identifying the main ideas
and interrelationships provided by concept mapping enhance the reading comprehension
of students with learning difficulties, possibly by helping these students represent their
verbal information by graphical representation and thereby improving their recall. Hattie
(2009) found that the average effect of concept mapping is 0.57.
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CHAPTER III: APPLICATION MATERIALS
Lessons were written for a group of elementary students in heterogeneous
classrooms at Collegiate American School Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Students in the
class are very diverse. There is no major population of one ethnicity or nationality, but
the majority of students are from Asia, Europe, Middle East and The United States. A
vast majority of students speak English as a second language. Thirty students in the
elementary school have Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) outlining their special
services and needs. The design of these lessons includes a description of strategies
mentioned in the literature.
Lesson Plans
Grades: 1-5
The lessons below are purposeful and apply the research related to influences
affecting student achievement. The purpose of these lesson plans is to help elementary
teachers prepare lessons that responds to Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau DSIB
framework of what constitutes an outstanding lesson. The UAE School Inspection
Framework is based on comprehensive performance standards that define the essential
aspects of a quality education (see appendix). Each standard is broken down into specific
indicators and elements, and detailed descriptors and illustrations guide inspection
judgements and school improvement. The judgment is based on performance standards
and indicators measured through evidence based research and reflection of previous years
of inspection and the vision of the years to come. School inspections are structured
around six performance standards and conclude with an overall performance judgment.
Performance standards are as follows:
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1. Students’ achievement
2. Students’ personal and social development, and their innovation skills
3. Teaching and assessment
4. Curriculum
5. The protection, care, guidance and support of students
6. Leadership and management
Below is an explanation providing guidelines for effective lesson planning related
to key elements of the research-based best practices recommended in Chapter II. Each
lesson provides a clear link between evidence-based teaching strategies and classroom
practices. Teachers can use and adjust their practices in response to their students’ needs
and monitor the impact on students’ learning outcomes. There are seven lesson
components that reliably increase student learning whenever they are applied. They
emerge from the findings of tens of thousands of studies of what has worked in
classrooms (Hattie, 2017; Marzano 2010; Tomlinson, 2014; Shaddock, Packer, & Roy,
2015)
All units are aligned with the Common Core State Standards CCSS introduced
through curriculum that covers the content. Every unit represents the relationships
between concepts that can help students to improve their meaningful learning and the
lessons to be introduced. All lessons and activities within the lessons are centered around
integrated topics with the exception of stand alone topics that can not be embedded in
other subjects. The school is using Eureka for Math, Engage NY for English Language
Art and Next Generation Science Standards NGSS for Science.
55
Part 1: Essential Question. The first part of the lesson (see appendix) consists of
the big ideas under the form of a question that is strictly connected to learning standards.
Standards are formulated in a question format to trigger students’ attention, curiosity and
prior knowledge. Schroeder et al. (2007) found an effect size of 0.74 for questioning.
When teachers begin their lessons with questions, they require students to make
inferences and draw upon what they already know and think more deeply and critically
about the standard or information presented. Since the goal is to help students achieve
learning objectives, then it is critical for the questions to address the big idea and what is
important to learn about a topic.
Part 2: Learning Objectives and Success Criteria. The second part of the lesson
(see appendix) consists of success criteria and learning outcomes. Setting objectives is
the process of establishing a direction to guide learning (Pintrich & Schunk, 2002). Hattie
and Timperley (2007) found an effect size of 0.54 when objectives and feedback work in
tandem. Teachers need to identify success criteria for learning objectives so students
know when they have achieved those objectives (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). At a
minimum, setting objectives involves clearly communicating what students are to learn.
The classroom practices presented in the lessons emphasize that learning objectives
should be differentiated to allow the diverse students abilities reaching their full potential
and their highest expectations possible (Zone of proximal development, Vygotsky, 1976)
regardless of their grade level, to maximize this strategy's potential for improving student
achievement.
The process of setting learning objectives begins with knowing the specific
standards. Often, standards are written at a fairly general level, so teachers must "unpack"
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the statements of knowledge in their standards document to drill down to more specific
statements of knowledge and skills that can serve as the focus for instructional design and
delivery. For example, as a 3rd grade teacher prepares to design and deliver writing
instruction, he or she might encounter the following 3rd grade standard and expectation:
Standard: RL.3.9. Compare and contrast the settings of stories written by the same author
about the same or similar characters
In this example, the standard is written at a very general level. While success criteria
should be more clear, specific and student friendly (Marzano 2010). Teachers may use
the unpacking process to determine students’ learning outcome under the “I Can
Statement” such as:
• D: I can list the 5 senses I heard to describe setting in a story
• S: I can give examples of what senses an author used to describe the setting of a story
• A: I can use a Venn Diagram to identify similarities and differences of setting in two
texts by the same author
C: I can debate which setting was described better to the reader using success criteria.
Part 3: Prior Knowledge. The third part of the lesson refers to students’
background knowledge. The beginning of a great lesson should engage student interest. A
brief “activator” activity (lasting no more than five minutes) should “hook” students’
desire to learn lesson content. Through an engaging and experience based activator task,
students can explore the purpose of the lesson. They can also activate prior learning and
demonstrate their readiness for learning new content. The “activator” task can also
provide the teacher with clear formative assessment data about what students know—or
may be lacking—about requisite lesson skills and content.
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As educators, we are fortunate to have meta-analyses and other research available
on effective strategies. Much of the research on background knowledge has focused on
basic skills acquisition (Donovan & Bransford, 2005; Marzano, 2004; Strangman & Hall,
2004). For culturally diverse students, previewing can be especially vital in achieving
academic success.
Vocabulary plays a fundamental role in any student’s knowledge base. The lesson
identifies essential vocabulary from the curriculum guide. This includes all words and
terms that are to be introduced in the lesson. In fact, some research suggests that teaching
vocabulary is synonymous with building background knowledge (Marzano, 2004). There
are a lot of visible thinking routines practices that teachers can use to tap on students’
prior knowledge. The most common examples are the K for things I know W things I
want to know and L for the things I learned, visual sequencing or cause and effect,
concept mapping, vocabulary sorting, find the rule question cues and problem solving, or
it could be a simple prompt like “What did you notice?” or “What did you find
interesting?”
Part 4: Cooperative or Collaborative Learning. The fourth part of the lesson
refers to students’ collaboration and collaborative learning. The evidence for the success
of cooperative learning as a pedagogical practice that promotes both socialization and
learning is overwhelmingly supported with meta-analyses by Johnson et al. (2014). In
fact, Johnson et al. (2014) suggest that organisations that wish to maximize the
motivation and achievement of their members would be well advised to structure positive
interdependence among members while minimizing negative or no independence. In
schools, opportunities for students to work in situations where they experience positive
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interdependence would seem to be a better choice than situations based on negative or no
independence. This strategy is grounded in the theory that learning can be maximized
through a well-designed, intentional social interaction with others (Vygotsky, 1978)
where the adult or teachers in this case play a prominent role in organizing it. The
recommended practices in the lessons include elements of positive interdependence and
individual accountability, grouping students into heterogeneous or homogeneous groups
depending on the difficulty of the materials presented or the outcome to reach. Another
element present in the lessons offers the use of cooperative learning consistently and
systematically where students can work in small groups to ensure every member
participates and takes ownership of a task that would not be completed if the pieces of
puzzle are not assembled to achieve the final outcome. Size of group is a key element;
students are grouped in maximum groups of four and in most cases specially in reading
groups of two or pairs is preferred. Dialogic conversation would take place in this case to
support students who feels uncertain to share their ideas in larger groups. In reading,
strong readers would support emergent readers to develop their reading skills. In math,
students would learn and collaborate together to solve a problem displaying each a
different strategy. In science, students would collaborate together to take notes on a
specific topic, brainstorm important information and present them collaboratively to the
other groups. Examples of collaborative learning are Think-Pair-Share, debate, Carousel
of learning, Jigsaw Puzzle, etc.
Part 5: Metacognitive and Transfer Strategies. Metacognition and learning
transfer have been studied for decades, generally as by a large number of investigators
(Lodge & Smith, 2017). An effective lesson ensures that students move from initial
59
acquisition of new knowledge and skills toward growing levels of independent use and
transfer.
Part five relates to the process of helping students develop understanding, extend
their learning and apply their knowledge. This part is the largest section taking up the
most time, and employing a wide range of instructional strategies. The teacher anticipates
the needs of students and provides options during the delivery of content, process, and
product. In addition, the teacher uses previous student learning data to differentiate
instruction. Specific resources used to differentiate for students’ needs are included:
digital media, websites, manipulatives, trade books, etc. Hattie and Donoghue (2016)
focus on acquiring and consolidating the different levels of learning. When teachers work
with students on acquiring surface level learning, they are teaching students to use
strategies like highlighting, note taking, mnemonics, underlining, and imagery. When
students go to the next level of consolidating surface level learning, they are using
strategies like test taking, rehearsal, and learning how to receive feedback. Hattie and
Donoghue go on to focus on acquiring deep level, and suggest strategies such
as organization, strategy monitoring, concept mapping, and metacognitive strategies. The
next step is to consolidate that deep learning by using strategies like self-questioning,
self-monitoring, self-explanation, self-verbalizing, peer tutoring, collaboration, and
critical thinking techniques (Hattie & Donoghue, 2016). Other instructional strategies
include reciprocal teaching in Reading, Modeling in writing, Inquiry questions in
Science, and problem-based strategies in Math. In addition, based on the New Bloom’s
Taxonomy, the lesson describes what students must be able to do with what they know.
The lesson should facilitate students’ use of higher level thinking skills through a multi-
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tiered scale framework to express the level of expertise required to achieve each
measurable student outcome. This framework is represented in a form progressive set of
questions and skills that begin with the simplest – remember, understand, apply- to the
hardest – analyze, evaluate, create (Bloom, 1956). It provides opportunities for students
to practice and actively process and then consolidate their learning. Lastly, Swanson
(2001) reported that the best model for instructing students with learning disabilities is
strictly interconnected to explicit teaching model. Explicit teaching strategies considered
to be foundational to effective teaching such as teacher modeling, “I do, You do, We do.”
Guided practice and independent practice are constantly and regularly implemented to
consolidate students’ understanding of a particular concept.
Part 6: Feedback. Part six refers to providing feedback throughout the learning
process. It works alongside with part five. Feedback and reflection are provided by the
teacher during and after the lesson. This is an opportunity to reflect on what worked or
did not work, whether all material for the lesson was covered, and which students are
struggling with the concepts taught. Hattie (2012) considers feedback amongst the most
important features of successful teaching and learning. He builds a model of feedback
that aims to reduce the gap between prior or current achievement and the success criteria.
In other words, to maximize the effect of the feedback teachers need to initiate the three
feedback questions: “Where am I going?”, “How am I going there?” and “Where to
next?” Feedback can be provided in many ways: verbal or written, increased effort,
motivation, or engagement, restructuring understandings, confirming to the student that
he or she is correct or incorrect, indicating that more information is available or needed,
pointing to directions that the students might pursue, and indicating alternative strategies
61
with which to understand particular information. The most common feedback used in the
lessons is the DIRT feedback, where teachers highlight in green students’ areas of
success, and then pushing their learning further by highlighting in pink what would be the
next step as an area of improvement to close the learning gap. A key consideration is that
feedback typically comes after instruction and during the learning process.
Part 7: Assessment. Black and Wiliam (1998) argue that assessment, properly
employed in the classroom, will help students learn what is being taught to a substantially
better degree. They support this argument with evidence from their research review
(1998), a meta-analysis in which they conclude that student gains in learning triggered by
formative assessment are "amongst the largest ever reported for educational
interventions" (p. 61). Formative assessment is more diagnostic than evaluative. It is used
to monitor pupil learning style and ability, to provide ongoing feedback and allow
educators to improve and adjust their teaching methods and for students to improve their
learning. Examples included in the lessons involve exit ticket, polls, quiz, checklist,
rubric, and progress check. Summative assessment aims to evaluate students learning and
academic achievement. Examples include project based rubric or performance-based
assessment, end of unit tests and standardized tests.
Students Achievement Instrument
Since Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau DSIB places a strong emphasis on
students’ achievement, school accountability and rating depends on the results of external
assessments and their alignment with the school internal reports. Results were measured
by Measures of Academic Performance (MAP). MAP is a norm-referenced measure of
student growth and achievement over time. MAP assessments provide detailed data
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supported by individual instructional plans related to each child’s unique learning path,
tracking student progress throughout a year and across school years. Being linked to the
learning skills and standards, results can assist teachers and administrators in planning
instruction. MAP assessments are used to measure a student’s growth in Mathematics,
Reading, Language and Science. Map assessment may takes place three times a year: fall
assessment gathers baseline, winter assessment measures progress and spring assessment
measures the students’ growth and achievement at that point. The Rasch Unit (RIT) scale
is used as a unit of measurement form to measure and track students’ progress. Also, the
RIT Scale is a curriculum scale that uses individual item difficulty values to estimate
student achievement. Most importantly is that MAP assessments are aligned with the
Common Core State Standards CCSS adapted at school.
With the new lesson plans and strategies implemented at school in order to
upraise the rating —an important component of school success in the United Arab
Emirates, the results were promising between MAP fall term and winter where the vast
majority of elementary students demonstrated a major improvement and an increase in
their achievement level, where at least 68% of students met their projected targets in all
subjects (Math, Reading, Language and Science).
Connection to Research
Lesson plans are interconnected with the evidence based strategies listed in this
research and leading to studens’ achievement. They emerge from the findings of studies
of what has worked in classrooms. International experts such as Hattie (2017) and
Marzano (2010) have synthesised these studies and ranked hundreds of teaching
strategies by the contribution they make to student learning.
63
The first part of the lesson is related to checking for previous understanding and
sharing learning targets through a set of differentiated success criteria catered toward the
varied students’ needs. Ultimately, the teacher must specify and anticipate the learning
objectives they will pursue, which drives planning activities in reverse (Tomlinson &
McTighe, 2010). Research shows goals are important for enhancing performance. It is
important to set challenging goals, rather than ‘do your best’ goals relative to student
starting places (Hattie, 2009). By setting challenging goals, the teacher develops and
maintains a culture of high expectations. The importance of teacher expectations in
facilitating students’ learning has long been recognized (Rubie-Davies, 2008). On the
basis of different reviews and meta-analyses, the average effect of teacher expectations
on subsequent student performance has been found to be relatively moderate (d = 0.43;
Hattie, 2009). In general, teacher expectations influence teacher behavior and the
subsequent performance of students (Rubie-Davies, 2007, 2008).
Strangman and Hall (2004) claim that direct instruction strategies combined with
prior knowledge have much promise with diverse elementary students. Examples of such
techniques include vocabulary instruction, introducing difficult concepts in a reading text
or a reader has content or even in a math problem solving task. Every lesson begins with
an essential question to intrigue students’ curiosity and engage them in meaningful
conversation where new vocabulary will be introduced to support all students and
specifically English Language Learners whose numbers are large at school. Questioning
by teachers of students is one of the most widely studied aspects of teaching. Effective
questions have varied levels as they focus on both product and process (Kyriakides et al.,
2013; Muijs et al., 2014). Effective teachers deploy it regularly to engage students,
64
stimulate interest and curiosity in learning, and make links to students’ lives. It unfolds
opportunities for students to talk together, discuss, argue, and express opinions and
alternative views. Used effectively, questioning yields immediate feedback on student
understanding, supports informal and formative assessment, and captures feedback on the
impact of teaching strategies (Hattie, 2009). Schroeder, Scott, Tolson, Huang, and Lee
(2007) found an effect size of 0.74 for questioning in science, and Sencibaugh (2007)
reported an effect size of 1.18 for questioning in reading comprehension.
The second component launches the mini lesson after evaluating students’ prior
knowledge and placing them according to that knowledge. This particular model places
the emphasis on moving students forward from surface learning to deeper learning to
conceptual understanding using Bloom Taxonomy of progressive processes ranging from
the simple to the complex, under the concept of ‘develop’, ‘secure’, ‘apply’.
Develop. Develop is the most basic level of Bloom’s Taxonomy requiring the
least amount of cognitive rigor. This is about students recalling key information and
understanding of the facts remembered. At this phase, teachers use explicit teaching
methods to provide instruction, demonstrate concepts and build student knowledge and
skills. The teacher decides on learning intentions and success criteria, makes them
transparent to students, and demonstrates them by modeling. and creating opportunities in
lessons for students to demonstrate understanding and apply the learning. Hattie (2009)
found an effect size of 0.59 for direct instruction. The results of the various meta-analyses
showed that explicit instruction should be utilized as the basis for teaching reading,
writing and math, which could also include steps for reciprocal teaching (Bissonnette et
al., 2010). Explicit instruction involves using highly structured and sequenced steps to
65
teach specifically students with learning disabilities (Gauthier, Bissonnette & Richard,
2013).
Secure. Secure is concerned with how students can take their knowledge and
understanding, and apply it to different situations. Evidence shows teaching
metacognitive strategies can substantially improve student learning. Hattie (2008)
measured the average effect size of metacognitive strategies at 0.69. At this stage,
teachers used metacognitive strategies to help students develop awareness of their own
learning, to self-regulate, and to drive and sustain their motivation to learn (Hattie &
Donoghue 2016). Hattie and Donoghue focus on acquiring and consolidating the different
levels of learning. When teachers work with students on acquiring surface level learning,
they are teaching students to use strategies like highlighting, note taking, mnemonics,
underlining, and imagery (Olive, Piolat, & Kellogg, 2005). When students go to the next
level of consolidating surface level learning, they are using strategies like test taking,
rehearsal, and learning how to receive feedback. Hattie and Donoghue (2016) go on to
focus on acquiring deep level of learning, and suggest strategies such as organization,
strategy monitoring, concept mapping (Kim, Vaughn, Wanzek, & Wei, 2004) and
metacognitive strategies. The next step is to consolidate that deep learning by using
strategies like self-questioning (Schroeder, Scott, Tolson, Huang, & Lee 2007), self-
monitoring, self-explanation, self-verbalizing, self-regulating (Pintrich, 2003),
collaboration, and critical thinking techniques. Teaching students these strategies, and
how to use them, will all help lead to transfer of their learning.
Apply. Apply is about students being able to draw connections between ideas,
think critically, and break down information into the sum of its parts. The challenge level
66
is the ultimate aim of students’ learning journey. At this final level of Bloom’s taxonomy,
students demonstrate what they have learned by creating something new, either tangible
or conceptual. Students reach this level through a progress check or self-assessment
(Hattie, 2017), feedback (Hattie, 2009) and assessment for learning (Black & William,
1998) to evaluate their initial starting point as compared to the intended learning
outcome. They progressed ultimately to reach their projected growth. The higher up in
levels students can reach , the more complex are the cognitive processes involved and, as
such, they engage in more challenging cognitive work connected to their lesson’s
content. In some occasions, we do not seek to scale multiple levels of the taxonomy in a
single lesson, instead choosing to do this over the course of a few lessons, due to the
nature of the content (Gershon, 2015, p. 103). Feedback informs a student and teacher
about the student’s performance relative to learning goals. Its purpose is to improve the
student’s learning. Feedback redirects or refocuses the actions of the teacher and student
so the student can align effort and activity with a clear outcome that leads to achieving a
learning goal. Both teachers and peers can provide formal or informal feedback. It can be
oral or written, formative or summative. Whatever its form, it always comprises specific
advice a student can use to improve their performance. Studies with the highest effect
sizes involved students receiving feedback about a task and how to do it more effectively.
Feedback in the form of praise, punishment and rewards have lower effect sizes (Hattie &
Timperley, 2007). Therefore, students should receive feedback under a form of two areas:
one area of success in students work and one area of improvement to reach the intended
projected goal. One point to make clear is that not all students are required to reach the
apply level, but all students should move at least one level up throughout one lesson.
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The last part of the lessons is related to scaffolding students based on their needs.
Differentiated teaching refers to methods teachers use to extend the knowledge and skills
of every student in every class, regardless of their starting point. The objective is to lift
the performance of all students, including those who are falling behind and those ahead
of year level expectations (Tomlinson, 2014). Differentiated teaching involves teachers
supporting students to achieve success as they move through the learning process. It
recognizes all students have different abilities. It acknowledges and values the effort each
student puts into improving his or her work. Teachers who differentiate effectively call
on information that pinpoints what students know now, and what they are ready to learn
next. They use formative assessment to monitor learning, and to guide selection of
targeted interventions corresponding with individual needs. Teachers implement
interventions to address students’ current needs. Research shows a remarkable effect size
of 1.07 for RTI (Hattie, 2009).
To be effective, the lesson plan does not have to be an exhaustive document that
describes each and every possible classroom scenario. Nor does it have to anticipate each
and every student’s response or question. Instead, it should provide a general outline of
the teaching goals, learning objectives, and means to accomplishing them. It is a reminder
of what teachers want to do and how they want to do it. A productive lesson is not one in
which everything goes exactly as planned, but one in which both students and the
instructor learn from each other. It takes “three or four experiences involving interaction
with relevant information for a new knowledge construct to be created in working
memory and then transferred to long-term memory” (Nuthall, 2000, p.93). Multiple
exposures provide students with multiple opportunities to encounter, engage with, and
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elaborate on new knowledge and skills. It is not simple repetition or drill work. Research
demonstrates that deep learning is developed over time via multiple and spaced
interactions with new knowledge and concepts. Collaboration is involved in all the
phases of learning. Hattie (2009) found an effect size of 0.59 for cooperative learning
with a focus on meaningful learning. The teacher uses strategies such as cooperative
learning strategies and strategic selection of groups to establish an atmosphere of
cooperation and collaboration (Johnson et al., 2006). Collaborative learning is supported
by designing meaningful tasks and inviting group responses to questions. It occurs when
students work together in small groups and everyone participates in a learning task.
Collaborative learning relies on students actively participating in negotiating roles,
responsibilities and outcomes. Their collaboration may involve an inquiry approach for
projects (Minner et al. 2010), problem solving, questioning or any activity involving
dialogic engagement. Through dialogue the learner is able to shape current knowledge to
construct new ideas and understanding (Vygotsky, 1978).
Reflection
Over the course of this research, I have been able to distinguish between what
constitutes best teaching and learning practices and how to implement them effectively in
the classroom with reference to their effect size. By developing background knowledge
related to the list of influences affecting students achievement, we will be able to
incorporate efficiently the ones that impact their learning. This notion is fundamentally
necessary if we as educators strive for quality education to our students. In my mind, I
have always thought that an inquiry based approach is the only strategy that I should bear
69
in mind when planning, and that explicit teaching is a traditional strategy that should be
excluded completely from the teaching strategies list. Throughout the process of my
application thesis research I have come to a realization that no strategy is a one size fit for
all. On the contrary, teachers need to collect the effect sizes within their classrooms and
then ask “What is working best?”, “Why is it working best?”, and “Who is it not working
for?” (Schagen & Elliot, 2004). There are thousands of studies promulgating claims that
this paradigm shift in teachers thinking and background works. What is concerning is that
even with the myriad of educational research related to best practices put at the
disposition of all teachers, they are rarely used or even sometimes ineffectively employed
in the classroom. That raises the following questions: How can we support teachers in
implementing these strategies frequently and effectively? How can we ensure that
teachers are pedagogically aware of the latest research about teaching and learning
practices?
One explanation may be that when research is presented to teachers, it is done in a
manner that fails to acknowledge that teachers come to research with strong theories of
their own about what works for them. For example, one of the factors relates to students
achievement is correlated with increasing the amount of feedback. However, one should
not immediately start providing more feedback and then await the magical increases in
achievement. Increasing the amount of feedback in order to have a positive effect on
student achievement requires a change in the conception of what it means to provide
effective feedback. Another explanation might be related to teachers’ inability to translate
the research and make it actionable in the classroom. Even with a paradigm shift, teachers
70
might not know exactly why some strategies are more efficient than others, and how to
harness on them in their most optimal way.
The aim is to provide more than a litany of “what works”, as too often such a long
lists of best practices provide yet another set of recommendations devoid of taking into
account any moderators of the “busy bustling business” of classrooms, and often they
appeal to have little impact on students’ learning. The point is to assist teachers when
other approaches fail, when challenging situations abound, when supporting students
becomes impossible.
When interpreting the results of the MAP results, attention should be focused on
meeting individual students needs within their classroom community and ultimately
focusing on learning. The point is not to teach every student different content.
Conversely, it is creating a system in the classroom where students’ learning is self
regulated, and where autonomous students can reflect on their work and their targets,
through a set of resources they can refer to check for learning. Resources are not only
restricted to considering teachers as the only means they can refer to, it is creating a
learning environment where students’ mistakes are considered an integral part of their
academic growth. It is also seeing students taking ownership of their own learning.
Reaching self regulated learning requires expert teachers, able to discern amongst the set
of strategies available at their disposition, and employ suitable methods that match the
most with the situations, ultimately to help students reach their full potential. Self-
regulated learning is an active, constructive process whereby learners set goals for their
learning and then attempt to monitor, regulate, and control their cognition, motivation,
and behavior, guided and constrained by their goals and the contextual features in the
71
environment.” (Pintrich, 2000, p. 453). The ultimate goal for students reaching self
regulated learning is their ability to pursue their own learning goals and take control of
their learning and consequently the process of their academic achievement. In order to
reach these goals, learners would benefit from being exposed to all strategies that lead to
their success and it is the role of the teacher and all educational stakeholders to support
them in their achievement.
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CHAPTER IV: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
Summary of Literature
“If he [the teacher] is indeed wise, he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but
rather leads you to the threshold of your mind” (p. 56).
The Prophet , Kahlil Gibran (1923/1989)
Thinking skills must be placed high on the educational agenda as one of the most
essential skills needed today. The available research provides already fairly good support
for the view that effective learning from instruction that aims at fostering adaptive
competence in students, is a constructive (Bruner, 1961), conceptual (Minner et al.,
2010), self- regulated, and collaborative (Johnson et al., 2014) process of knowledge
building and skill acquisition. Since the curriculum is overloaded with content, teaching
to the test is not an option to raise students’ achievement because it misrepresents how
much students really have learned about a topic. Instead developing higher order thinking
or critical thinking skills (Hattie & Donoghue, 2016) through metacognitive strategies
and transfer of learning (Lodge & Smith 2017) embedded in the aforementioned
instructional strategies in chapter 2, is a better approach to raise student’s performance.
They are prepared to tackle challenges they have not faced previously, yet they are
equipped with a repertoire of strategies they have gained throughout their learning
process that they can apply in any other situations.
Fisher, 2005 confirmed that when thinking skills become an integral part of the
curriculum and instructional practice, test scores in academic areas increase. According
to Bransford et al. (2000), the goal of teaching is to help learners develop the kind of
thinking, problem solving, and fluency used by “experts” (Vygotsky, 1978) and develop
73
the skills and habits of a lifelong learner. To accomplish this goal, it is necessary to equip
students with cognitive tools that they can apply beyond the initial learning situation
where students learn to think beyond the mere replication of information through a
constructivist approach (Bereiter, 2002). The ultimate goal for students reaching self
regulated learning is their ability to pursue their own learning goals and take control of
their learning and consequently the process of their academic achievement. In order to
measure the effectiveness of instructional strategies that aim to develop higher order
thinking rather than mere memorization and therefore leading to higher academic
performance, a comparison is conducted between two classrooms within the same grade
level. Results revealed that the progress and attainment of one classroom as compared to
the other is remarkably higher.
The interpretation of such results, is the teacher’s ability to employ these
strategies effectively in the classroom, transferring learning from surface to a deeper
level. One can argue that many internal causal factors leading to such an effect such as
teachers’ or students’ motivation and effort, yet it is necessary to remember the
prominent role a teacher plays in students’ lives. Ranking as the greatest influence
impacting student achievement (Hattie, 2016) is no doubt related to the productive
teaching behaviors and types of learning environments that are positively associated with
teacher efficacy. When teachers expect their students to perform at high levels, students
perform at the highest level possible so they should provide opportunities for mastery
learning (Goddard, Hoy & Woolfolk-Hoy, 2000).
A central implication for educators is that teaching and learning is an integrated
entity, optimally supported by many evidence based approaches to learning that are
74
mainly efficient when all aspects of the educational environment support the dimensions
of children’s needs (Heacox, 2017). Moreover, teachers’ input is more effective when
they monitor the impact of the instructional strategies they implement, when they use
assessment to inform instruction and intervention to reject instructional practices that
harm learning (Black & Williams, 1998). And best of all, “what teachers do matters when
they make learning visible to their students, so students can become their own teachers”
(Hattie, Fisher & Frey, 2017, p. 167). A strategy that works with one group of students
might not work with another group of students. Take the case of one third grade
classroom at Collegiate American School that interacted actively with the inquiry
approach and through which they were able to develop higher order thinking that
prepared them to tackle learning challenges including conducting computerized adapted
assessments. While the second year, the same inquiry approach was implemented with
the same age group and its impact on students was not as strong as it is expected to be.
Students’ results due to explicit teaching strategies such as I do, We do, You do were
staggering. As instructional methods evolve along with the needs and expectations of our
students (Tomlinson et al., 2003) we always seem to come back to trial-and-error
practices. There is a simple reason for this: it is a surefire pathway to students owning
their learning, and thus developing a lifelong self-regulated learning (Pintrich, 2000) .
The methods that work best, as identified from the research presented in this
application paper lead to active, direct involvement, and high sense of agency in the
learning and teaching process. Such teaching leads to higher levels of learning,
autonomy, and self-regulation on behalf of the learner. There is no perfect one-size-fits-
all teaching approach that will connect with the interests and abilities of every single
75
student out there, and teachers know this intimately. For each lesson there is an
appropriate strategy. For every scheme of learning there is an amalgam of methods
required. The most effective teachers have a strong grasp of a range of teaching methods
and they have the agility to pick between different strategies for different groups and
individuals. The big idea in this application of research is that it is not as simple as
looking at the list and learning the top 10 effect size strategies and just using them
repeatedly (Hattie, 2008). Instead some strategies are most helpful with specific lessons
or learning goals, while other strategies might be less efficient with the same lessons.
Where students are in the stage of what they are learning should determine what
approaches teachers use (Hattie, Fisher & Frey, 2017). Further, researchers (Hattie,
Fisher & Frey, 2017) argue that some strategies whose effect size is below 0.4 in the core
research may actually be much more effective when used in a different sequence or stage
of learning. They make this case, for example, for inquiry-based learning (0.4 overall)
and learning simulations (0.33). They argue that when these strategies follow the process
of surface learning first then consolidation, they can become powerful deep learning
approaches.
Research Limitations
The majority of empirical research dealing with the quality of education measures
student performance in their assessment or test results in relation to their overall
achievement. Assessment results correlated with achievement is considered as the most
accurate indicator of the effectiveness and quality of the teaching and learning. Currently,
the most frequent method for measuring students’ progress and achievement is MAP
assessments. This study utilizes the datasets provided by MAP assessment to investigate
76
the effectiveness of teaching and learning strategies to students’ achievement. However,
measuring the effectiveness of teaching and learning is a complicated endeavor, and it is
one that cannot be adequately determined based on any single factor, such as one test.
Effective teaching is determined by several factors. While student performance is part of
the measure of classroom success and positive learning gains, it should not be the only
determining or predominant factor. Just as our obligation is to look at the child with a
holistic pedagogical approach, we must also look at the whole teacher. Moreover, by just
admitting that one exam is not the end goal, nor the be-all measure of students’ learning,
we must also admit that results —even though defined by an accurate resource— it
should not be the main criterion of teachers’ effectiveness and appraisal system.
Information from multiple sources, including students’ dispositions, teachers’ attributes,
school curriculum, peer observations, and many other factors should all be considered in
building a comprehensive evaluation portfolio.
One limitation of the research is that MAP assessment can not be the only means
to measure academic performance. A second limitation is that the computer based format
means that children are working independently on a computer and not being assessed
with an adult in a one to one setting. This format limits the MAP’s ability to critically
assess students’ ability to use effective strategies because the results are only taken based
on the final response. Also since the test is based on multiple choice answers there is a
risk that students might guess the answers. Another limitation of the test is that it does not
take into consideration students’ social and emotional statues at the moment of the test, or
students’ ability to sit for a long time to answer about 42 to 50 questions that have no
interest to them. Research conducted by the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA)
77
have been extensively studying the impact of students’ effort on MAP results and found
that as students get older, the effort also decreases. The decreased compliance of students
is also confined to other areas of students’ life such as their age, level of motivations and
engagement. For English Language Learners MAP assessment reveals a lot of challenges
in term of understanding the instructions even though some accommodation were made
to them. Since all assessments including reading, language, science and math are heavy
on reading, it becomes difficult for them to overcome these challenges independently
without adult support. In the case of our school where the number of Students of
Determination and English Language Learners is considerably high, the results might not
accurately reflect teaching effectiveness and students’ learning ability.
The findings of this research highlighted some factors which influence the
academic achievement of students in the elementary school. These factors were related to
teaching strategies, learning strategies and teachers’ attributes. The academic
achievement of students is not only impacted by these factors as other factors such as
classroom management, school curriculum, students’ disposition, etc.
One of the most obvious limitations of this research lies in its relatively small
sample (100 students) as this research might not be completely representational of the
situation in the UAE. Another limitation lies in the issue that the effectiveness of teaching
and learning are only measured based on students’ external assessment results, which
means that other variables such as learning walks and formal observations for lessons
were not included to determine the effectiveness of teaching and learning, and there
should be discrepancies in the factors which influence the academic achievement of
students.
78
Implications for Future Research. Future research should be conducted on a larger
sample to ensure better representation and consider more than one criterion to judge
students’ level of achievement throughout the academic year.
Despite the amount of evidence-based teaching studies available for teachers and
students to use to improve learning and achievement, teachers must be aware of them.
The question that lies here: What if students were instead adopting ineffective learning
techniques that undermined their achievement? What if teachers are aware of these
techniques but are not able to implement them ineffectively? Techniques shown to be
effectively beneficial are underutilized by teachers or simply teachers do not learn about
them. Hence students miss the opportunity to use them, despite evidence suggesting that
theses strategies could benefit their achievement with little added effort. On the contrary,
some learning and teaching strategies proven to be relatively ineffective are very popular
amongst teachers and therefore their impact on students’ academic gain is low or
negative in some cases. One potential reason for the disconnect between research on the
efficacy of strategies influencing students’ achievement and their use in educational
practice is that because “so many strategies are available, it would be challenging for
educators to sift through the relevant research to decide which ones show promise of
efficacy and could feasibly be implemented by students” (Fleet, Goodchild, Zajchowski,
Pressley & Evans, 1989, p. 301-342). Another potential reason, is teacher mindedness
and preparedness. If teachers do not completely understand or embrace a teaching
79
concept, they are unprepared and unable to engage with their students on a deeper level.
This creates a disconnect, which in turn leaves the students unprepared and at risk.
Teachers must have a clear understanding of the value of every teaching practice and a
practical view of how to implement effectively in the classroom. We should consider
developing a graduate program that prepares teachers practically address real life
educational situations and grounded in theoretical approaches. As necessary as they seem
to be, theoretical approaches are insufficient if they are not complemented by practical
approaches that are correlated with situations teachers will face in the future. Supporting
teachers ultimately helps students in gaining better results.
Conclusion
Many instructional strategies popular amongst the teachers communities turned
out to be ineeficient if not combined with other strategies or if these strategies do not
respond to students’ needs, yet other instructional strategies that remain as equally
effective as others are not very popular. Teachers must constantly seek quality
instructional approaches to prepare their students to reach their full cognitive potential.
The aim of this application thesis is to support teachers in creating a culture of
thinking through strategies that nurture students’ cognitive thinking. By narrowing down
the list of instructional effectiveness to content that is more teacher friendly, and by
providing resources, evidence, and examples of how to transfer theses strategies
practically into the classroom life, we hope to be able to tackle teachers’ challenges and
needs. The ultimate goal is to deploy a repertoire of instructional strategies and best
practices teachers can use and select to reflect on their students’ learning processes, self-
assess and acknowledge the impact of their instructional strategies on achievement in
80
order to prepare students who are capable of self-regulation and proactively take control
of their own learning.
81
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t=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1134457&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Stecker, P. M., Fuchs, L. S., & Fuchs, D. (2005). Using curriculum-based measurement
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Stobaugh, R. (2019). 50 strategies to boost cognitive engagement: Creating a thinking
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89
Appendix
Appendix A: Grade 2 English Language Arts lesson
G&T
SoD
ELL
Emirati
Name(s)
Part 1: What will be visible at the front of the classroom?
Teacher Question:
What are the most important points presented in two texts for the same topic?
STD.RI.2.9 Compare and contrast the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic.
Part 2: What will be visible in the classroom? (Front of class, at tables, on wall)
Success Criteria/Learning Outcomes:
D: I can read a text about a specific topic
S: I can highlight important information about the features of a civilization from a text
A: I can use a Venn Diagram to show the same and different facts that two texts on the same topic give
the reader
C: I can evaluate which text gives the most information to the reader
Part 3: Starter:
How will students
reflect back on
prior knowledge?
I used to think, but now I know...
-Students will fold page in half in workbooks
-Students will be given an ancient civilization they are going to read about
-Students will write what they know about the civilization right now under I used
to think...
-Start/end of each lesson this week students will write new information they
learned to show progress of knowledge
Part 4: Learning
Skills: What and
how will students
use learning skills?
Highlight and
explain.
Responsibility: Students will read independently and highlight facts
Collaboration: Students will work in pairs and plan an argument
Communication: Debate about which text as more information
Interdisciplinary Skills:
Innovation & Technological Skills:
Enterprise:
Inquiry:
Research:
Critical Thinking: Compare and Contrast Text and Evaluating
Vocabulary: How
will students be
introduced to
lesson vocabulary?
-Focus on text vocabulary part of guided reading station
-Word work is a reading station students will be rotating through
Part 5: Develop:
What will students
be doing to
develop
understanding?
Reading
-Class will read with the teacher an example text
-Students will then go into their groups to read their text
about same civilization
-Students will write new facts they learn into their visible
thinking chart
What critical
questions do I
plan on asking?
Remember: What
facts do you
90
Part 5: Secure:
What will students
be doing to secure
understanding?
Text Detectives
-Class will review key features of a civilization – Groups of
students will be put in charge of listening for a feature
-As a class we will read model text – students will clap when
they hear their feature
-Students/teacher will underline fact on model text
-Students will go to read their group text and underline facts
about each feature they read
remember from
the text?
Understand:
Apply: Can you
identify the most
important facts?
Analyze: How
can you compare
these facts?
Evaluate: Can
you defend your
argument about
which text gives
the most
information?
Create: ?
Part 6: Progress
Check (Mini
Plenary
Thumbs Up Thumbs Down
Teacher will ask to see thumbs up/thumbs down before
working with guided reading groups to identify any students
needing immediate support
Part 5: Apply:
What will students
be doing to apply
understanding to
real-world context?
Venn Diagram
-Teacher will model how to use Venn diagram
-Students will be completing a Venn Diagram to show the
same and different facts that two texts on the same topic give
the reader.
-Students will come back to circle to discuss important
points presented in text
-What are some facts that both texts had?
-What are some different facts in the texts?
-Why might the two texts not have the same facts if they are
about the same civilization?
-Which text would you recommend first for someone who
wants to learn about __?
Challenge:
Two Start and a Wish
-Students will evaluate which text gives the most
information.
-Students will be given a success criteria to do this
-Students will share two stars and a wish with another
classmate
Part 7: Plenary:
How will students
reflect back on
learning/progress
made in the
lesson?
Exit Ticket-visible Thinking
-End of each lesson students will continue to add new information they learn
about the civilization to show progress of knowledge
Daily 5
(Students rotate
through one or two
activities per day)
Students will independently be working on daily 5 activities related to the
outcome.
Guided Reading: Students will read with the teacher on their level and practice
comparing and contrasting.
Read to Self: Students will read two texts on the same topic at their level and
complete a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast.
Read with a Partner: Students will read story from the grade level reader and
complete comprehension questions
Word Work: Synonyms and antonyms Tic Tac Toc Board
Writing: Students write a paragraph to summarize the Venn Diagram
Edmentum: Student complete 30min reading on Edmentum
91
Appendix B: Grade 2 Math Lesson
G&T
SoD
ELL
Emirati
Name(s)
What will be visible at the front of the classroom?
Teacher Question:
How can we use math drawings to represent subtraction with decomposition and relate it to a written
method?
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.NBT.B.5 Fluently add and subtract within 100 using strategies based on
place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction.
What will be visible in the classroom? (Front of class, at tables, on wall)
Success Criteria/Learning Outcomes:
D: I can recall how to use manipulatives to subtract
S: I can show how to use the vertical method to subtract
A: I can use manipulative and the vertical method to solve word problems involving subtraction
C: I can model how to use manipulatives and the vertical method using SeeSaw
Starter: How will
students reflect
back on prior
knowledge?
With a partner solve the subtraction problem. Explain to another pair how you
solved the problem. 25-11= (vertically)
Learning Skills:
What and how will
students use
learning skills?
Highlight and
explain.
Responsibility: Completing work independently and using the answer key to
check work
Collaboration: Solving subtraction problem together
Communication: Explaining their work
Interdisciplinary Skills:
Innovation & Technological Skills: Seesaw
Enterprise:
Inquiry:
Research:
Critical Thinking: Solving word problems
Vocabulary: How
will students be
introduced to
lesson vocabulary?
Subtraction, difference, decompose, algorithm
Use the vocab words to label each part of your problem.
Develop: What
will students be
doing to develop
understanding?
Students will use the place value chart and drawings to
solve the subtraction problems on the board.
What critical
questions do I plan
on asking?
Remember: What
does it mean to
subtract?
Understand: How
can we use place
value to subtract?
Apply: Can you
explain how to
decompose a ten?
Analyze: What
works better,
Secure: What will
students be doing
to secure
understanding?
Students will solve subtraction problems with
decomposition on their own and use an answer key to check
their work. If they have more than 3 mistakes, they will look
at a video or example on the table to help them. Then try 2
more problems.
Progress Check
(Mini Plenary
1, 2, 3 or 4/red, yellow, green
If you are not sure how to use drawings to decompose a
subtraction problem you are a 1/red
If you can use a drawing to decompose a subtraction
problem but still have some mistakes you are a 2/yellow
92
If you can show a partner how to use a drawing to
decompose a subtraction problem you are a 3/green
using a drawing or
written method to
solve a problem?
Evaluate: Can you
correct a mistake
in someone else's
work?
Create: How
would you explain
how to solve a
word problem
using
decomposition?
Apply: What will
students be doing
to apply
understanding to
real-world context?
Students will solve subtraction word problems using
decomposition; RDW (Read, Draw, Write)
Challenge:
If time allows, students will model how to solve a word
problem using decomposition on Seesaw.
Plenary: How will
students reflect
back on
learning/progress
made in the
lesson?
Exit ticket: Eureka page 75 – Finding the mistake of the subtraction problem.
93
Appendix C: Grade 2 Math Lesson
G&T
SoD
ELL
Emirati
Name(s)
What will be visible at the front of the classroom?
Teacher Question:
How can we represent subtraction with and without decomposition when there is a three-digit minuend?
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.NBT.B.5 Fluently add and subtract within 100 using strategies based on
place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction.
What will be visible in the classroom? (Front of class, at tables, on wall)
Success Criteria/Learning Outcomes:
D: I can recall how to use manipulatives to subtract
S: I can show how to use the vertical method to subtract
A: I can use manipulative and the vertical method to solve word problems involving subtraction
C: I can model how to use manipulatives and the vertical method using SeeSaw
Starter: How will
students reflect
back on prior
knowledge?
With a partner solve the subtraction problem. Explain to another pair how you
solved the problem. 172-48= (vertically)
Learning Skills:
What and how will
students use
learning skills?
Highlight and
explain.
Responsibility: Completing work independently and using the answer key to
check work
Collaboration: Solving subtraction problem together
Communication: Explaining their work
Interdisciplinary Skills:
Innovation & Technological Skills: Seesaw
Enterprise:
Inquiry:
Research:
Critical Thinking: Solving word problems
Vocabulary: How
will students be
introduced to
lesson vocabulary?
Subtraction, difference, decompose, minuend
Use the vocab words to label each part of your problem.
Develop: What
will students be
doing to develop
understanding?
Students will use the place value chart and drawings to
solve the subtraction problems on the board.
What critical
questions do I plan
on asking?
Remember: What
does it mean to
subtract?
Understand: How
can we use place
value to subtract?
Apply: Can you
explain how to
decompose a ten?
Analyze: What
works better,
using a drawing or
Secure: What will
students be doing
to secure
understanding?
Students will solve subtraction problems with
decomposition on their own and use an answer key to check
their work. If they have more than 3 mistakes, they will look
at a video or example on the table to help them. Then try 2
more problems.
Progress Check
(Mini Plenary
1, 2, 3 or 4/red, yellow, green
If you are not sure how to use drawings to decompose a
subtraction problem you are a 1/red
If you can use a drawing to decompose a subtraction
problem but still have some mistakes you are a 2/yellow
If you can show a partner how to use a drawing to
decompose a subtraction problem you are a 3/green
94
Apply: What will
students be doing
to apply
understanding to
real-world context?
Students will solve subtraction word problems using
decomposition; RDW (Read, Draw, Write)
written method to
solve a problem?
Evaluate: Can you
correct a mistake
in someone else's
work?
Create: How
would you explain
how to solve a
word problem
using
decomposition?
Challenge:
If time allows, students will model how to solve a word
problem using decomposition on Seesaw.
Plenary: How will
students reflect
back on
learning/progress
made in the
lesson?
Exit ticket: Eureka page 68 (Homework) – Explain the mistake and identify the
correction.
95
Appendix D: Grade 2 Science Lesson
G&T
SoD
ELL
Emirati
Name(s)
What will be visible at the front of the classroom?
Teacher Question:
Does the shape of an object help its function when solving a problems in civilizations?
K-2-ETS1-2. Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an
object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.
What will be visible in the classroom? (Front of class, at tables, on wall)
Success Criteria/Learning Outcomes:
D: I can identify what environmental problems a civilization might have
S: I can think of possible solutions to solve a problem
A: I can design and build a model to show how the shape of an object or tool can help solve the problem
C: I can evaluate if the shape of the object is best for solving the problem
Starter: How will
students reflect
back on prior
knowledge?
Learning Skills:
What and how will
students use
learning skills?
Highlight and
explain.
Responsibility: Students must read a text and find a real-world problem on their
own.
Collaboration: Students will work in groups to design and build a model
Communication: Students will reflect on their model and share conclusions after
they build
Interdisciplinary Skills:
Innovation & Technological Skills: Students will use the iPads to watch videos
and read articles, they will also come up with their own solutions and build
models
Enterprise:
Inquiry:
Research: Watching videos and reading articles to find a problem
Critical Thinking: Finding the problem and solution
Vocabulary: How
will students be
introduced to
lesson vocabulary?
Vocabulary Review
-As a class quickly review key vocabulary for the design process
-Students will be asked to use vocabulary in discussions
-Design process
-Design
-Plan
-Build
-Test
-Improve
–Engineering
-Problem
Develop: What
will students be
doing to develop
understanding?
Cause and Effect Chart:
-Students will read articles and watch videos about real
world problems happening in modern civilizations
-They will have to make a conclusion on what a problem
could be.
-They will use a cause and effect chart to identify the key
causes of the big problem
Guiding Questions
What critical
questions do I plan
on asking?
Remember: Can
you give me an
example of
interdependence of
96
-what is the problem?
-What is the effect?
-How can we use the design process to create a solution?
living things in a
habitat?
Understand: What
problems do these
living things face?
Apply: What are
some solutions can
we create to solve
these problems?
Analyze: Analyze
your solutions and
decide which one
would be the best
and why?
Evaluate: What
worked well with
your design?
Create: How
would you
improve your
model?
Secure: What will
students be doing
to secure
understanding?
Brainstorm:
-Students will brainstorm possible solutions
-Students will choose a solution their group thinks is best
Guiding Questions:
-What is our solution?
-How do we hope it will work?
-What might go wrong with our design?
Progress Check
(Mini Plenary
Apply: What will
students be doing
to apply
understanding to
real-world context?
Design and Build
-Students will draw and label a diagram listing materials
and function
-Students will use real materials to build design
-Lower ability groups will be given materials to support
their progress, where higher ability groups will choose from
a variety of materials
-Students will test design and identify problems
-Students will retest design after fixing problems
Challenge:
Evaluation Checklist
-Students will reflect on their model
-Students will use success criteria to complete a checklist
-Students will have area to write areas of development for
their tool
-Students will post their problem, solution and evaluation
onto SeeSaw
Plenary: How will
students reflect
back on
learning/progress
made in the
lesson?
Peer assessment– students go around and give feedback to other groups on their
model.
97
Appendix E: Grade 3 English Language Arts Lesson
G&T
SoD
ELL
Emirati
Names
Daniel
Yousef
Hadi
Shayan
Yousef
What will be visible at the front of the classroom?
Teacher Question: what are the important parts of the chapter?
Standard/Learning Objective:
RL.3.9. Compare and contrast the settings of stories written by the same author about the same or
similar characters
What will be visible in the classroom? (Front of class, at tables, on wall)
Success Criteria/Learning Outcomes:
• D: I can list the 5 senses I heard to describe setting in a story
• S: I can give examples of what senses an author used to describe the setting of a story
• A: I can use a Venn Diagram to identify similarities and differences of setting in two texts by the
same author
•
C: I can debate which setting was described better to the reader using success criteria
Starter: How will students
reflect back on prior
knowledge?
I used to Think, But now I know:
-Students will be asked How can a author write a good setting? What is
needed?
-Teacher will record thinking on I used to Think part of chart paper
Learning Skills: What and
how will students use
learning skills?
Highlight and explain.
Responsibility: Students will be working in centers to complete their
assignments.
Collaboration: Students will be working together to find key details
Communication: students communicate their learning by comparing
settings and events in two different stories.
Innovation & Technological Skills: Students can define or translate any
words as needed.
Enterprise:
Inquiry:
Research: students and research and record important events in the text
Critical Thinking: students can identify, categorize, and record key
details from the assigned chapter(s) and can explain why they chose
specific details to answer questions about the text.
Vocabulary: How will
students be introduced to
lesson vocabulary?
-Students will be doing word work in writing cycle
-Students will go through vocabulary for text reading at guided reading
table
Develop: What will
students be doing to
develop understanding?
Eyes Closed Listening
-Students will listen to the teacher
read a story out loud
-Students will identify what senses
they hear
-Students will then read own text in a
group and list the senses used to
describe setting
What critical questions do I
plan on asking?
Remember: What was the title
of your book and where does
the story take place?
Apply: How did recognizing
key details help you retell and
compare?
Secure: What will students
be doing to secure
understanding?
Text Detective
-Students will look at example text
and identify where senses were used
98
-Students will underline the part of
the text that use the sense
-Students will go to their own text
and find examples of senses
Analyze: How are our Magic
Tree House books similar?
How are they different?
Evaluate: “How do you feel
about sharing your knowledge
of your Magic Tree House
book with others?”
Create: Can you create your
own version of an intro to
children’s rights?
Progress Check (Mini
Plenary
Thumbs Up Thumbs Down
-Teacher will use thumbs up thumbs
down to check if any students need
help on what they are doing
Apply: What will students
be doing to apply
understanding to real-
world context?
Venn Diagram
-Groups will use a Venn Diagram to
compare the two settings read in class
-Students will identify what senses
both of the books used and which
ones were unique to each book
-Students will come together on
carpet to share Venn Diagram
-Students will discuss in mini-groups
why it is important to use as many
senses as possible when describing
setting
-Based on our Venn Diagram, which
setting gives the reader more detail?
–Should a writer use one sense or
many when describing the setting?
-How does using more senses make
the setting more interesting to the
reader?
-Why might some stories not give a
reader so much detail about a
setting?
Challenge:
Debate:
-Teacher will put students in groups
to defend a book setting
-Students will be given time to plan
argument why their book has the
better settings
-Teacher will guide students with
prompts
-Our book has the best setting
because…
-An example of this is…
-Your book would be better if…
-Students will then have their debate
with guidance of the teacher
99
Progress Check: How will
students reflect back on
learning/progress made in
the lesson?
Visible Trackers:
Students will put their names to show where they have progressed to in
the lesson
Students will share their main ideas, and own introductions to
Children’s Rights.
Student
Name
SoD,
ELL,
G&T,
AG
Differentiated
Strategies
Expected Outcomes
If Applicable: How will
LSA be utilized
appropriately?
Shayan
Yousef
SoD
Providing models of
expected work supports
all learners, but
especially challenged
learners.
They do not read the text
aloud rather, they have
someone next to them to
support their reading.
Groups are partnered.
This allows you to
support the struggling
reader partnerships
Share one important
event.
Have one peer read for
him
Consider the use of a
literacy aide or other adult
who can circulate and
assist groups with the
procedural steps.
Teacher will allow
students to listen to
Dragon of the Red Dawn
at home (on audiobooks
or read aloud by a
caregiver) as students read
along silently.
Daniel
SoD
Daniel will listen to
picture books.
He will point out to the
character and setting
when asked.
Danny put in order three
pictures related to the
story.
Daniel should be able
to point out to
characters when asked.
Daniel should be able
to point out to settings
when asked.
Daniel should be to
place three pictures
sequence in the right
order.
Ms. Kate will help Daniel
remain composed and
confident. She will read
the book.
She will scaffold his
learning by asking him
prompting questions.
Hadi
AG
Hadi will benefit from
check ins to monitor his
progress, to ensure he is
using his time
accordingly.
Hadi takes more time
to produce written
work, but will
complete most of it.
Viola
Michele
Shaheen
100
101
Appendix F: Grade 3 Math Lesson
G&T
SoD
ELL
Emirati
Names
Daniel
Yousef
Hadi
Shayan
Yousef
What will be visible at the front of the classroom?
Teacher Question:
• How can we find the area of a rectangle with array?
• What strategy could you use to find the total area?
Standard/Learning Objective: 3.MD.6 Measure areas by counting unit squares (square cm, square m,
square in, square ft, and improvised units).
What will be visible in the classroom? (Front of class, at tables, on wall)
Success Criteria/Learning Outcomes:
• Develop: I can use tiles to complete an array and find the unknown area.
• Secure: I can use the ruler and then skip count to find the unknown area.
•
Apply: I can solve word problems involving finding an unknown area.
Starter: How will
students reflect back
on prior knowledge?
Sharing learning target: Teacher shares the learning outcome and asks
students to connect the target with previous learning.
Teacher shares the expectations and explain any confusing work.
Starter: Teachers asks students to work independently to solve all three
problems independently for 3 minutes, she displays the answers afterwards.
If students are able to complete all three answers correctly they will go to
apply.
If students are able to complete two answers correctly they will go to secure.
If students are able to complete only one correctly or none they will stay with
the teacher on the carpet for mini lesson.
Learning Skills:
What and how will
students use
learning skills?
Highlight and
explain.
Responsibility: Students should be able to move to the next learning step based
on the success criteria routine set in the classroom.
Collaboration: Students will be working together to find and solve their math
problem.
Communication: students should be able to communicate the steps and
strategies they have undertaken to solve a specific problem.
Innovation & Technological Skills: students should be able to use their iPads to
review the concept taught in case of confusion ( self -regulatory learning)
Inquiry: students will use what they already know about arrays, multiplication
and area model to find an answer to a problem.
Critical Thinking: students will reflect on their answers and check with their
peers to compare and identify what makes more sense
Vocabulary: How
will students be
During the collaborative work of students solving the application problem,
teacher poses promoting questions through which she will introduce the new
vocabulary word: centimeter ruler, unknown area, tiled rectangle.
102
introduced to lesson
vocabulary?
To solve the application problem, students are working collaboratively in
heterogeneous groups. Then they share their strategies together. Then the
teacher shares her answer and starts sending students off based on their
conceptual understanding.
Develop: What will
students be doing to
develop
understanding?
Students will use tiles to cover
different rectangles.
• Students will be able to
Understand the relationship
between side lengths and area.
Teacher Draw the rectangle
and side length shown on the
right and asks students to Use
square inch tiles to show this
rectangle as an array, place
tiles to make the known side.
• Tell your partner about the
relationship between the side
lengths and the area. Write an
equation to show your
thinking. Be sure to include the
units.
• Repeat the process using a
rectangle with a known side
length of 5 inches and an area
of 15 square inches. Ask
students to write an unknown
factor problem, 5 × = 15, and
then use the tiles to solve.
What critical questions do I plan on
asking?
Remember: how many total tiles will
you use to make our rectangle?
Understand: how can I use mental math
to solve this equation?
Apply: How are the areas related? (The
area of 1(f) is half the area of 1(c).) How
might you have figured that out just by
knowing the side lengths of each array?
Analyze: Compare Problems 1(b) and
1(e) and Problems 1(a) and 1(c). How
does each pair show commutativity?
Evaluate: what strategy did you use to
find the unknown side length? Is there
another way you could have figured it
out?
Create: Is there another way to know
whether this equation is true?"
Secure: What will
students be doing to
secure
understanding?
• Students will work with their
partners to complete problem
set 1 on their math journals
• The first problem asks students
to use the centimeter side of a
ruler to draw in the tiles, and
then skip-count to find the
unknown area. Write a
multiplication sentence for
each tiled rectangle.
• While students are working on
this section, circulate and
provide feedback on student
work. Encourage them to
explain their reasoning
Progress Check
(Mini Plenary
As students are working
independently or in small groups
they move based on their level of
understanding of the concept based
on the success criteria.
103
Apply: What will
students be doing to
apply
understanding to
real-world context?
Descriptions
Students are working on solving
word problems where they have to
identify the unknown side using the
area as a reference.
Students working above grade level
may be eager to find the area of two
combined rectangles.
Keep these learners engaged by
optimizing their choice and
autonomy.
Request from them an alternative
model, such as a tape diagram.
They may enjoy offering two more
examples of their own in which
they use the standard algorithm to
compose larger units twice.
Progress Check:
How will students
reflect back on
learning/progress
made in the lesson?
Visible Trackers:
Students will put their names to show where they have progressed to in the
lesson
Students will return their exit tickets. Teachers would focus on the strategies
they have used to solve the problem.
Student
Name
SoD,
ELL,
G&T,
AG
Differentiated Strategies
Expected Outcomes
If Applicable:
How will LSA be
utilized
appropriately?
Danny
SoD
Danny is following an
accommodation program that
develops his basic math skills:
using sensory objects and
manipulatives for a short
period of time
Danny can be given a
paper grid where he can
cover a small
rectangular shape and
count up to 10 to find
the total amount of tiles
he placed.
Will support Danny to
start with one example
and watch Danny
complete the other
example with visual
prompts.
If Danny shows
signs of frustration
and can take away
from learning to
calm for 5 minute
breaks if needed
Shayan
Yousef
Hadi
Ghali
ELL
Hadi and Yousef will be
working at first in small groups
to develop an initial understand
through collaborative discourse
with peers and teacher guided
questions.They compare their
thinking to the other team
members’ thinking.
When working in guided
groups or independently: They
will share their strategy with
Able to develop an
initial understanding of
the forming a rectangle
by tiling with unit
squares to make arrays
Teacher will ask
questions using the
mathematical
discourse prompts.
104
their peers and check their
answers with their partners,
then with the teacher.
They will use pictorial
representation to explain their
strategies.
They will use manipulative to
help them understand the
concept of arrays and
ultimately cover the area.
Simplify and clarify your script
for English Language Learner:
Rephrase, “What information
do we know?” to “How many
rows of inch squares? How do
you know?”
They can refer to the lesson
video to self correct.
Teacher will provide DIRt
feedback.
Viola
Samer
Shaheen
HA
Use of mathematical discourse
to guide their collaborative
work during the application
problem.
Solve real life word problems
with their peers and check their
answers using the answer key.
Complete problem set 3 using
the Read Draw Write
strategies.
Providing a written explanation
of the strategies they used to
solve the problem.
Develop higher order
thinking by reflecting
on their work and
compare it to others.
Use of mathematical
discourse.
Identify the area
formula based on
patterns noticed and
drawings.
Solve real problems
using the area formula,
skip counting,
estimating, measure
with ruler, tape diagram
strategy or any other
strategy.
105
Appendix G: Grade 3 Math Lesson
G&T
SoD
ELL
Emirati
Names
Daniel
Yousef
Hadi
Shayan
Yousef
What will be visible at the front of the classroom?
Teacher Question:
• Why is not necessary to draw all of the unit squares in an incomplete array, to find an area?
• What equation or formula can we use to find of a given rectangle?
Standard/Learning Objective: 3.MD.7 Relate area to the operations of multiplication an d addition. a.
Find the area of a rectangle with whole- number side lengths by tiling it, and show that the area is the
same as would be found by multiplying the side lengths. b. Multiply side lengths to find areas of
rectangles with whole- number side lengths in the context of solving real world and mathematical
problems, and represent whole- number products as rectangular areas in mathematical reasoning.
What will be visible in the classroom? (Front of class, at tables, on wall)
Success Criteria/Learning Outcomes:
• Develop: I can draw rows and columns to determine the area of a rectangle given an incomplete
array.
• Secure: I can identify and use the area of a given rectangle using the area formula.
• Apply: I can solve word problems involving finding an unknown area.
Starter: How
will students
reflect back on
prior
knowledge?
Sharing learning target: Teacher shares the learning
outcome and asks students to connect the target with previous
learning.
Teacher shares the expectations and explain any confusing
work.
Starter: Teachers asks students to work independently to
solve all three problems independently for 3 minutes, she
displays the answers afterwards.
If students are able to complete all three answers correctly
they will go to apply.
If students are able to complete two answers correctly they
will go to secure.
If students are able to complete only one correctly or none
they will stay with the teacher on the carpet for mini lesson.
Learning Skills:
What and how
will students use
learning skills?
Highlight and
explain.
Responsibility: Students should be able to move to the next learning step based on
the success criteria routine set in the classroom.
Collaboration: Students will be working together to find and solve their math
problem.
Communication: students should be able to communicate the steps and strategies
they have undertaken to solve a specific problem.
Innovation & Technological Skills: students should be able to use their iPads to
review the concept taught in case of confusion ( self -regulatory learning)
Inquiry: students will use what they already know about arrays, multiplication and
area model to find an answer to a problem.
Critical Thinking: students will reflect on their answers and check with their
peers to compare and identify what makes more sense
Vocabulary:
How will
students be
During the collaborative work of students solving the application problem, teacher
poses promoting questions through which she will introduce the new vocabulary
word: incomplete array, columns and rows, unknown area, tiled rectangle.
106
introduced to
lesson
vocabulary?
To solve the application problem, students are working collaboratively in
heterogeneous groups. Then they share their strategies together. Then the teacher
shares her answer and starts sending students off based on their conceptual
understanding.
Develop: What
will students be
doing to develop
understanding?
Students will use tiles to cover different rectangles.
• Students will be able to estimate and draw the missing square
unit inside an array. Teacher Draw the rectangle and side
length shown on the right and asks students to Use square inch
tiles to show this rectangle as an array, place tiles to make the
known side.
• Tell your partner about the relationship between the side
lengths and the area. Write an equation to show your thinking.
Be sure to include the units.
• Repeat the process using a rectangle with incomplete arrays:
area model 1 and area model 2. Ask students to write an
equation to represent the area.
What
critical
questions
do I plan on
asking?
Remember:
how many
total tiles
will you use
to make our
rectangle?
Understand
: How can
an array of
square units
help you
find the area
of a
rectangle?
Apply: How
can we find
the number
of rows in
an
incomplete
array? How
can we find
the number
of columns
in an
incomplete
array?
Analyze:
What
equation can
be used to
find the area
of the
rectangle?
Evaluate:
what
strategy did
you use to
find the area
of an
incomplete
array? Is
there
Secure: What
will students be
doing to secure
understanding?
• Students will work with their partners to complete problem set
1 on their math journals
• The first problem asks students to represents 1 square
centimeter. Draw to find the number of rows and columns in
each array. Match it to its completed array. Then, fill in the
blanks to make a true equation to find each array’s area.
• While students are working on this section, circulate and
provide feedback on student work. Encourage them to explain
their reasoning
Progress Check
(Mini Plenary
As students are working independently or in small groups they
move based on their level of understanding of the concept based on
the success criteria.
Apply: What
will students be
doing to apply
understanding to
real-world
context?
Descriptions
Students are working on solving problem set 2; one and two step
word problems where they have to identify the area using the area
formula
Students working above grade level may be eager to find the area
of two combined rectangles.
Keep these learners engaged by optimizing their choice and
autonomy;.
Request from them an alternative model, such as a tape diagram.
They may enjoy offering two more examples of their own in which
they use the standard algorithm to compose larger units twice.
107
another way
you could
have figured
it out?
Create: Is
there
another way
to solve this
problem?
Progress Check:
How will
students reflect
back on
learning/progres
s made in the
lesson?
Visible Trackers:
Students will put their names to show where they have progressed to in the lesson
Students will return their exit tickets. Teachers would focus on the strategies they
have used to solve the problem.
Student
Name
SoD,
ELL,
G&T,
AG
Differentiated Strategies
Expected Outcomes
If Applicable:
How will LSA be
utilized
appropriately?
Danny
SoD
Danny is following an
accommodation program that
develops his basic math skills:
using sensory objects and
manipulatives for a short
period of time
Danny can be given a
paper grid where he can
cover a small
rectangular shape and
count up to 10 to find
the total amount of tiles
he placed.
Will support Danny to
start with one example
and watch Danny
complete the other
example with visual
prompts.
If Danny shows
signs of frustration
and can take away
from learning to
calm for 5 minute
breaks if needed
Shayan
Yousef
Hadi
Ghali
ELL
Scaffold the following
sequence further by beginning
with a basic 2 by 2 rectangle in
which 2 tiles are missing.
Graduate to a 2 by 3 rectangle
in which tiles or lines are
missing. Continue step by step
until students are ready for
rectangles with larger areas.
Also, adding color to
alternating tiles to assist with
counting or distinguishing tiles
from rectangles or blank space.
Able to develop an
initial understanding of
the forming a rectangle
by drawing arrays and
columns to complete
the area.
Teacher will ask
questions using the
mathematical
discourse prompts.
108
Hadi and Yousef will be
working at first in small groups
to develop an initial understand
through collaborative discourse
with peers and teacher guided
questions.They compare their
thinking to the other team
members’ thinking.
When working in guided
groups or independently: They
will share their strategy with
their peers and check their
answers with their partners,
then with the teacher.
They will use pictorial
representation to explain their
strategies.
They will use manipulative to
help them understand the
concept of arrays and
ultimately cover the area.
They can refer to the lesson
video to self correct.
Teacher will provide DIRt
feedback.
Viola
Samer
Shaheen
HA
Use of mathematical discourse
to guide their collaborative
work during the application
problem.
Solve real life word problems
with their peers and check their
answers using the answer key.
Complete problem set 3 using
the Read Draw Write
strategies.
Providing a written explanation
of the strategies they used to
solve the problem.
Develop higher order
thinking by reflecting
on their work and
compare it to others.
Use of mathematical
discourse.
Identify the area
formula based on
patterns noticed and
drawings.
Solve real problems
using the area formula,
skip counting,
estimating, measure
with ruler, tape diagram
strategy or any other
strategy.
Students provide
feedback to each
other.
Complete the
challenge.
109
Appendix H: Grade 3 Math Lesson
G&T
SoD
ELL
Emirati
Names
Daniel
Yousef
Hadi
Shayan
Yousef
What will be visible at the front of the classroom?
Teacher Question:
• How can we use/interpret the area model to draw a rectangular array?
• What equation or formula can we use to find of a given rectangle?
Standard/Learning Objective: 3.MD.7 Relate area to the operations of multiplication an d addition. a.
Find the area of a rectangle with whole- number side lengths by tiling it, and show that the area is the
same as would be found by multiplying the side lengths. d.Recognize area as additive. Find the areas of
rectilinear figures by decomposing them into non-overlapping rectangles and adding the areas of the
non-overlapping parts, applying this technique to solve real world problems.
What will be visible in the classroom? (Front of class, at tables, on wall)
Success Criteria/Learning Outcomes:
• Develop: I can explore the relationship between units and area.
• Secure: I can interpret area models to make rectangular arrays.
•
Apply: I can solve word problems involving interpreting area model to find area.
Starter: How will
students reflect
back on prior
knowledge?
Sharing learning target: Teacher shares the learning
outcome and asks students to connect the target with
previous learning.
Teacher shares the expectations and explain any
confusing work.
Starter: Teachers asks students to work independently
to solve all three problems independently for 3
minutes, she displays the answers afterwards.
If students are able to complete all three answers
correctly they will go to apply.
If students are able to complete two answers correctly
they will go to secure.
If students are able to complete only one correctly or
none they will stay with the teacher on the carpet for
mini lesson.
Learning Skills:
What and how
will students use
learning skills?
Highlight and
explain.
Responsibility: Students should be able to move to the next learning step based
on the success criteria routine set in the classroom.
Collaboration: Students will be working together to find and solve their math
problem.
Communication: students should be able to communicate the steps and strategies
they have undertaken to solve a specific problem.
Innovation & Technological Skills: students should be able to use their iPads to
review the concept taught in case of confusion ( self -regulatory learning)
Inquiry: students will use what they already know about arrays, multiplication
and area model to find an answer to a problem.
Critical Thinking: students will reflect on their answers and check with their
peers to compare and identify what makes more sense
Vocabulary: How
will students be
introduced to
During the collaborative work of students solving the application problem,
teacher poses promoting questions through which she will introduce the new
vocabulary word: rectangular array, area model, unit size, square unit
110
lesson
vocabulary?
To solve the application problem, students are working collaboratively in
heterogeneous groups. Then they share their strategies together. Then the teacher
shares her answer and starts sending students off based on their conceptual
understanding.
Develop: What
will students be
doing to develop
understanding?
Students will use tiles to cover different rectangles.
• Students will be able to arrange square pattern blocks
into 7 by 4 array. They will draw it on the grid. Then
they will transfer it to draw a rectangular area without
arrays and make the connection between both areas.
Then they write the multiplication sentence. Teacher
try to collect as many strategies as possible to allow for
peer influence to take place and for students to be
exposed to as many strategies and learn the one they
felt more confident with.
• Tell your partner about the relationship between
rectangular array and area model.
•
Repeat the process using lesson 7 homework.
What critical
questions do I
plan on asking?
Remember: How
might you find the
area?
Understand: what
was your strategy
to find the total
number of squares
when drawing a
rectangular array?
Apply: what is the
connection
between the
rectangular array
and area model?
Why is it important
to label the unit
when you are
talking about area?
Analyze: compare
two rectangles with
the same area total,
do they have the
same area?
Evaluate: For
Problem4(b),most
students answered
that Mrs. Barnes’
array probably had
24 squares. Is there
another answer that
makes sense?
Compare the area
Secure: What will
students be doing
to secure
understanding?
• Students will work with their partners to complete
problem set 1 on their math journals
• The first problem asks students to Find the area of each
rectangular array. Label the side lengths of the
matching area model, and write a multiplication
equation for each area model.
• While students are working on this section, circulate
and provide feedback on student work. Encourage
them to explain their reasoning
Progress Check
(Mini Plenary
As students are working independently or in small groups
they move based on their level of understanding of the
concept based on the success criteria.
111
Apply: What will
students be doing
to apply
understanding to
real-world
context?
Descriptions
Students are working on solving problem set 2; one and two
step word problems where they have to identify the area
using the area formula
Students working above grade level may be eager to find
the area of two combined rectangles.
Keep these learners engaged by optimizing their choice and
autonomy.
Request from them an alternative model, such as a tape
diagram. They may enjoy offering two more examples of
their own in which they use the standard algorithm to
compose larger units twice.
model to the array.
How are they the
same and
different?
Create: Is there
another way to
solve this problem?
Progress Check:
How will students
reflect back on
learning/progress
made in the
lesson?
Visible Trackers:
Students will put their names to show where they have progressed to in the lesson
Students will return their exit tickets. Teachers would focus on the strategies they
have used to solve the problem.
Student
Name
SoD,
ELL,
G&T,
AG
Differentiated Strategies
Expected Outcomes
If Applicable:
How will LSA be
utilized
appropriately?
Danny
SoD
Danny is following an
accommodation program that
develops his basic math skills:
using sensory objects and
manipulatives for a short
period of time
Danny can be given a
paper grid where he can
cover a small
rectangular shape and
count up to 10 to find
the total amount of tiles
he placed.
Will support Danny to
start with one example
and watch Danny
complete the other
example with visual
prompts.
If Danny shows
signs of frustration
and can take away
from learning to
calm for 5 minute
breaks if needed
Shayan
Yousef
Hadi
Ghali
ELL
Students will be prompted to
approach rectangle E first
because it is the easiest.
Hadi and Yousef will be
working at first in small groups
to develop an initial understand
through collaborative discourse
with peers and teacher guided
questions. They compare their
thinking to the other team
members’ thinking.
When working in guided
groups or independently: They
will share their strategy with
their peers and check their
Able to develop an
initial understanding of
the forming a rectangle
by drawing arrays and
columns to complete
the area.
Teacher offer
practice with 1 by n
rectangles to build
fluency and
confidence.
Teacher will ask
questions using the
mathematical
discourse prompts.
112
answers with their partners,
then with the teacher.
They will use pictorial
representation to explain their
strategies.
They will use manipulative to
help them understand the
concept of arrays and
ultimately cover the area.
They can refer to the lesson
video to self correct.
Teacher will provide DIRT
feedback.
Viola
Samer
Shaheen
HA
Use of mathematical discourse
to guide their collaborative
work during the application
problem.
Solve real life word problems
with their peers and check their
answers using the answer key.
Complete problem set 3 using
the Read Draw Write
strategies.
As a challenge complete the
application problem. This
problem reviews multi step
word problems.
Providing a written explanation
of the strategies they used to
solve the problem.
Develop higher order
thinking by reflecting
on their work and
compare it to others.
Use of mathematical
discourse.
Identify the area
formula based on
patterns noticed and
drawings.
Solve real problems
using the area formula,
skip counting,
estimating, measure
with ruler, tape diagram
strategy or any other
strategy.
Students provide
feedback to each
other.
Complete the
challenge.
113
Appendix I: Grade 3 Science Lesson
G&T
SoD
ELL
Emirati
Names
Daniel
Yousef
Hadi
Shayan
Yousef
What will be visible at the front of the classroom?
Teacher Question: How does inherited information cause organisms to function differently?
Standard/Learning Objective:
LS3.B: Different organisms vary in how they look and function because they have different inherited
information. (3-LS3-1)
What will be visible in the classroom? (Front of class, at tables, on wall)
Success Criteria/Learning Outcomes:
• Develop: I can predict the function of different bird beaks
• Secure: I can investigate to find the function of different bird beaks
• Apply: I can connect the function of bird beaks to inherited traits
• Challenge: I can point out how the function of specific inherited traits are necessary for an
organism’s survival.
Starter: How will students
reflect back on prior
knowledge?
Think 1, Think 2
-As a class student will be asked what they know about traits
-Students will talk to a shoulder buddy first
-Students will share with teacher
-Teacher will write student responses on Think 1 section of chart paper
Learning Skills: What and
how will students use
learning skills?
Highlight and explain.
Responsibility: Students will be working in centers to complete their
assignments.
Collaboration: Students will be working together to find key details
Communication: students communicate their learning by comparing
settings and events in two different stories.
Innovation & Technological Skills: Students can define or translate any
words as needed.
Enterprise:
Inquiry:
Research: students and research and record important events in the text
Critical Thinking: students can identify, categorize, and record key
details from the assigned chapter(s) and can explain why they chose
specific details to answer questions about the text.
Vocabulary: How will
students be introduced to
lesson vocabulary?
-During the starter and the prediction teacher will highlight key
vocabulary words and writes them on the white board: inherited trait,
variation of trait, similar organisms, functions, offspring, beak types.
-Teacher will use students discussions to identify vocabulary meaning
Develop: What will
students be doing to
develop understanding?
Prediction:
-Students given pictures of 4
different bird beaks
-Students will be asked to write the
function of each of the bird beaks
-Teacher will model a prediction for
the class
-Students will write their predictions
in A3 investigation package
What critical questions do I
plan on asking?
Remember: What is a
prediction?
Understand: What are the
steps of the investigation?
Apply: What are the different
variables?
114
-Students will complete prediction
chart for each bird beak
Analyze: What does your data
tell you?
Evaluate: Is this a fair test?
Secure: What will students
be doing to secure
understanding?
Investigation and Observations
-Students will go over beak
experiment
-Teacher will model as a whole class
first round of investigation
-Teacher will ask students to identify
the dependent, independent and
controlled variables in the
investigation
-Students will be given roles for the
investigation
-Students will use A3 investigation
package to record their observations
Progress Check (Mini
Plenary
Thumbs Up Thumbs Down
Teacher will ask students to put
thumbs up if their investigation is
going fine
Teacher will ask students to put
thumbs down if they need help
Teacher will assist any group
needing help
Apply: What will students
be doing to apply
understanding to real-
world context?
Analysis
-Teacher will give mini lesson on
structure and how to use a bar graph
-Students will take their observations
and make a bar graph for each beak
-Students will answer questions
based on their bar graphs
Guiding Questions
-What beak worked the best for
eating …?
-What beak worked was not very
good for eating …?
-Is there any beak that was the best
for more than one type of food?
Challenge
Conclusions
-Students will compare their
predictions with their analysis
-Students will revise their predictions
if they were initially wrong
Guiding Questions
-What makes beak shape an example
of an inherited trait?
-How does the shape of a whooping
cranes beak affect the way the beak
function?
-Using your understanding, which
birds in the picture would challenge
the birds investigated for food?
115
Progress Check: How will
students reflect back on
learning/progress made in
the lesson?
Progress Movement:
-At the end of each lesson students will move their names to show
where they are on the investigation progress chart
-Students will reflect as a class to add to Think 2 new learning
-Teacher will ask students questions based on the learning
-What is something new you learned about traits
-How did you think like a scientist?
-What challenges did your team face? How did you overcome them?
Student
Name
SoD,
ELL,
G&T,
AG
Differentiated
Strategies
Expected Outcomes
If Applicable: How will
LSA be utilized
appropriately?
Shayan
Yousef
Hadi
SoD
Providing models of
expected work supports
all learners, but
especially challenged
learners.
Students in this group
will benefit from check
ins to monitor their
progress and to make
sure they stay on task.
Write a prediction as a
group.
Follow the
investigation steps.
Teacher would guide
students through the
process before and during
the investigation.
Teacher would model one
example to help students
with their predictions.
Provide a video with the
required steps they need
to undertake in order to
complete all steps.
Daniel
SoD
Daniel will be working
with a small group
during the investigation.
Some scientific tools will
be provided specifically
to him in order to avoid
any unnecessary stress
that might cause when he
requests a tool and
cannot find it.
When students are
writing their predictions
Daniel will be working
on his ipad to interact
with an app related to his
parents traits.
Attempt to work in
group.
Match parents to
offspring using visuals.
Ms. Kate will help Daniel
remain composed and
confident. She will
support him in joining the
groups and attempting to
participate.
She will scaffold his
learning by asking him
prompting questions.
Viola
Michele
Shaheen
AG
