AVReading Newsletter November-- Direct, Explicit Instruction

  

Teaching is one of those complex systems where it is really difficult to hold everything you need to know in your head at once.  As a consequence, we sometimes forget elements and need to be reminded.  Some of that memory decay is the result of drift.  In other words, elements that are really important for teaching one year of students might be a little less so the next.  But then, over the course of time, we might forget that element all together—or at least forget why that element might be important in the first place. 

                  That has been my experience with the idea of direct and explicit instruction. It is the practice of being very specific and clear with our lessons.  It involves breaking the new skill into smaller steps, and then intentionally demonstrating those steps as simply and visually as possible. 

                  As a secondary teacher, I have to admit, it is not a skill that was part of my training.  Whereas primary school teachers have a lot more experience with it, the practice is not one that was often demonstrated for high school teachers.  And I get it.  Part of me thinks, “Well of course they know this.  I don’t need to be so elemental in teaching this skill.”  Of course, not everything needs direct, explicit instruction in a high school classroom.  However, I will admit that my literacy work for the last two years has reminded me that I don’t do enough of it.  I had assumed that students knew things they really didn’t.  I look at these students and am a little fooled by their physical size and oral vocabulary, and even their general maturity.   I mistakenly think they are a lot farther along with their reading or academic or content skills than they are. 

                  When it comes to reading, it is probably best to error on the side of caution and to complete direct, explicit instruction.  As the year or term progresses and you notice that it is not needed as much, you can scale back, but it is good to start with it. 

                  There are some features to consider.  First, being explicit means making things visual  .  For example, when I have a lesson on annotating a text, I will mark-up a text on the whiteboard along with them.  I’ll read it aloud, highlight a passage, and write a tag for it in the margins to show them.  And I’ll have them do it on their own sheets right along with me.  As we get further into the reading, I’ll release more responsibility over to them and say, “Okay, I want everyone to read the next three paragraphs and mark-up one important idea and tag it.” 

                  Second, direct and explicit instruction is very methodical.  In other words, it demonstrates a specific method or system to employ. Break the skill down into three steps, and then walk students through those steps.  So, for example, I visited a class last week where I modeled explicit instruction.  Students were preparing for a Primary Source Text Test, where they are given several texts from primary sources and must complete a series of multiple choice questions and an essay.  The lesson demonstrated how students could deconstruct (or take a part) a primary source text in order to find important details.  I began the lesson by offering three steps: pre-reading, during reading, and post reading. 

                  In the pre-reading, students need to determine what the source is, who wrote it, when it was written, and what the purpose of the text is.  They also need to count the paragraphs of the reading to consider its length, and finally they need to preview the test items beneath it.  Step two is during reading where they must annotate the text and fix comprehension.  Step three, in the post reading, they read the items, refer to their annotations, and then determine the correct response.  It’s systematic or methodical. 

                  In the end, the goal is to help students break down complex tasks into steps.  Repeating the process across multiple skills and lessons builds confidence.  Students begin to see the patterns within these tasks, and hopefully, apply them to new tasks they face in the future. 

                  Here are some practices to make instruction direct and explicit.

                  Make It Visual:  Demonstrate the academic task in front of the students.  If possible, have multiple models to show students.

                  Make it Methodical:  Break the process into two to four discrete steps. This allows students the chance to be less overwhelmed by the process as a whole.

                  Make it Regular:  Repeat the process of explicit instruction regularly.  Again, students are more likely to see patterns where they previously saw none.  Thus, they are less overwhelmed by new tasks, and more likely to take them on.  

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