Instructional Steps for directed instruction

 

  1. Anticipatory set is used to prepare students for the lesson by setting the students' minds for instruction. This is achieved by asking a question or making statements to pique interest, create mental images, review information, focus student attention, and initiate the learning process.
  2. Stating the objective to students alerts them to what they will need to do and the purpose of the lesson. What they will learn, be able to do at the end of the lesson, why it is important, how it will help them.
  3. Instructional input is where the student gains the knowledge needed to achieve the objective. Information is provided so students will be able to achieve the objective.
  4. Modeling is when the instructor, or student(s), demonstrates how to achieve the objective, provides examples of what the objective looks like or the product students are to create.
  5. Check for understanding is when the teacher checks to see if the students understand the concept, procedure to achieve the objective, and how to implement the procedure to achieve the objective.
  6. Guided Practice is when students do the objective under the guidance of a support system that can assure success by providing encouragement and immediate remediation as required.
  7. Independent practice is when students are capable to practice what they learn, without support to gain skill, fluency and flexibility in use of the achieved objective.
  8. Closure reviews, summarizes, and extends what has been learned. May tie the beginning of the lesson to the end. Resolves all issues and ends the lesson. All students should know it is time to move on to something else.

While these elements are sequential, Hunter has stated that they are a guide for instruction and teachers can combine or eliminate steps to meet the needs of their students. Further teachers must constantly assess and evaluate students to adjust on the fly what they do and sometimes return to previous steps and reteach.

 

Based on Instructional Theory into Practice (ITIP) by Madeline Hunter's original Seven steps

 

Dr. Robert Sweetland's notes
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