Tips for Mini-Teach: Classroom Strategies

These strategies and best practices are simple yet powerful tools to make learning engaging, organized, and effective.

Guided Notes

Guided notes are structured handouts with blank spaces for students to fill in key terms, concepts, or details as they follow along during a lesson. These notes direct attention to critical information and actively engage students in learning. This strategy helps students organize and retain information and develop essential note-taking skills.

• Elementary Example: For a social studies lesson on community helpers, guided notes might say:
  "Firefighters help keep us safe by ______ fires. Another community helper is a ______ who delivers mail."
  During the lesson, students fill in "putting out" and "mail carrier" based on what they learn.

• Secondary Example: In a biology lesson on the human body, a guided note could include:
  "The ______ system includes the heart and blood vessels. Its main function is to ______ blood and nutrients."
  Students would fill in "circulatory" and "transport" while learning about organ systems.

Activities During Direct Instruction

Direct instruction becomes more engaging and interactive when paired with activities that involve students in processing information as they learn. These strategies improve attention and retention.

• Think-Pair-Share: Students think about a question individually, discuss their responses with a partner, and then share with the class.

  • Elementary Example: After reading a story, ask, "What lesson do you think the characters learned?" Students pair up, discuss, and share answers.
  • Secondary Example: During a chemistry lesson, ask, "What do you think will happen if we add heat to this reaction?" Students predict and discuss.

• Sketch Notes/Doodle Notes: Encourage students to draw symbols or diagrams to represent ideas visually.

  • Elementary Example: While learning about the water cycle, students draw clouds, raindrops, and rivers to represent evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.
  • Secondary Example: In a history class, students create illustrated timelines of significant events in the Civil Rights Movement.

• Checks for Understanding: Using quick, formative assessment tools like polls, visual signals, or response cards helps gauge student comprehension in real-time. These checks provide immediate feedback to teachers, allowing them to adjust instruction and ensure all students are keeping up with key concepts.

  • Elementary Example:
    During a math lesson on addition, the teacher asks, "Who understands how to add two-digit numbers?" Students respond with thumbs-up for "I get it," thumbs-sideways for "I'm unsure," or thumbs-down for "I need help."
    If many students show confusion, the teacher reviews the concept with another example.

  • Secondary Example:
    During a history lesson on the causes of World War I, the teacher uses colored cards to check understanding:

    • Green card = "I understand."
    • Yellow card = "I’m somewhat clear but have questions."
    • Red card = "I don’t understand."
      Based on the responses, the teacher clarifies or expands on specific causes like alliances or militarism.

Activities While Watching a Video

Videos are powerful tools for engaging students but should include strategies that promote active learning and accountability. Activities like structured note-taking or pause points ensure students process and apply what they watch.

1. Video Notes: Provide templates for students to record key information during the video.

   • Elementary Example: For a science video on animal habitats, students use a chart to list the animal shown, its habitat, and one adaptation.
   • Secondary Example: During a video about World War II, students complete a "Who, What, Where, When, Why" graphic organizer.

2. Pause and Discuss: Stop the video at key moments for reflection or predictions.

   • Elementary Example: During a video about plant growth, pause to ask, "What do you think will happen when we add water?"
   • Secondary Example: For a documentary on space exploration, pause to discuss the significance of landing on the moon.
3. Question Generation: Encouraging students to generate questions during a video promotes active engagement, curiosity, and critical thinking. By reflecting on the content and formulating questions, students deepen their understanding and identify areas for further exploration.
   • Elementary Example: During a video on animals and their habitats, prompt students to write down one question every 2-3 minutes. For example: "Why do polar bears have thick fur?"
   • Secondary Example: While watching a video about the Industrial Revolution, ask students to jot down questions like: "How did factories change the lives of workers?"
4. Predictions: Pausing a video before a key moment to encourage predictions activates students' prior knowledge and promotes higher-order thinking skills, such as inference and reasoning. Predictions also build anticipation and engagement.
   • Elementary Example: In a video about the life cycle of a butterfly, pause and ask, "What do you think will happen when the caterpillar forms a chrysalis?"
   • Secondary Example: In a video about chemical reactions, pause before a demonstration and ask, "What do you think will happen when the two solutions are mixed?"
5. Graphic Organizers: Using graphic organizers while watching a video helps students visually organize and process information. This strategy supports comprehension and allows students to identify relationships, sequences, or key details.

   • Elementary Example: While watching a video on the water cycle, students complete a cause-and-effect chart:

     • "What causes rain to fall?"
     • "What happens after rain soaks into the ground?"

   • Secondary Example: During a video on climate change, students use a cause-and-effect organizer to map:

     • "Causes of rising global temperatures" (e.g., deforestation, greenhouse gases).
     • "Effects on ecosystems" (e.g., habitat loss, species migration).

Brain Breaks

Brain breaks are short activities designed to restore focus and energy during lessons. These breaks can vary from physical movement to reflective pauses, depending on student needs. Research shows that short breaks improve attention, memory, and mood.

• Elementary Example:

  • Physical: "Simon Says" or 1-minute jumping jacks.
  • Reflective: "Draw something that makes you happy in 2 minutes."

• Secondary Example:

  • Physical: Stand and stretch while listing three things you’ve learned today.
  • Reflective: "Take 2 minutes to write one way today’s topic connects to your life."

Use brain breaks during transitions or when students seem tired or unfocused. These breaks can be physical, creative, or calming, depending on what the class needs. The effectiveness of brain breaks depends on age and attention span: 

• Elementary School Students: For younger students, more frequent breaks are necessary due to their shorter attention spans. These breaks should typically last about 3-5 minutes for elementary school students.
  •  Ages 5-6: Brain breaks every 10-15 minutes
  •  Ages 7-10: Brain breaks every 15-20 minutes
• Middle School Students: As students get older, their ability to focus for longer periods increases. For this age group, breaks should still be around 3-5 minutes long. 
  • Ages 11-13: Brain breaks every 20-30 minutes
• High School Students: Older students can maintain focus for longer periods. High school students may benefit from slightly longer breaks, ranging from 3-5 minutes.
  • Ages 14-17: Brain breaks every 30-40 minutes
• General Rule of Thumb: A commonly cited guideline is that students can typically maintain focus for about 2-3 minutes per year of their age. For example: 
  • A 10-year-old might be able to focus for 20-30 minutes
  • A 16-year-old could potentially focus for 32-48 minutes

• Other Examples Tied to Instructional Activities:

  • Pair-Share Reflection: Pause the lesson and ask students to turn to a partner to summarize what they’ve learned so far or answer a question related to the material. “Discuss with your partner: What’s the most surprising fact you’ve learned so far?”

  • Quick Write or Sketch: Have students jot down key takeaways or draw a simple diagram to illustrate the concept. “Take one minute to write down three keywords from today’s lesson.”

  • Mind Map Building: Pause and let students add to a mind map they’re creating about the lesson’s topic. If studying ecosystems, students add new elements like food chains or examples of habitats.

  • Movement Integrated Review: “Stand up and move to the side of the room that represents your answer to this question: ‘Is this an example of renewable energy?’ Why?”

Roles During Group Activities

Assigning roles in group work ensures all students contribute and learn collaboration skills. Roles such as leader, recorder, and presenter build accountability and structure. Rotating roles allows students to develop different strengths.

• Elementary Example: For a group task on plant life cycles, assign roles like "Seed Counter" (counts seeds), "Recorder" (writes observations), and "Presenter" (shares findings).
• Secondary Example: In a history project, roles might include "Researcher" (gathers data), "Organizer" (structures the content), and "Presenter" (delivers the final presentation).

Before starting a group activity, explain the roles clearly and assign or let students choose roles. Rotate roles over time so all students gain different skills.

• Example Roles:
  • Leader: Keeps the group on task.
  • Recorder: Writes down the group’s ideas or answers.
  • Timekeeper: Monitors how much time is left for the task.
  • Presenter: Shares the group’s work with the class.
  • Checker: Makes sure everyone agrees on the final product.
    Activity Example: For a group project on historical figures, one student might research, another creates a timeline, and another presents the findings.

Wait Time

Providing adequate wait time after asking a question allows students to think critically and formulate thoughtful responses. Research supports a pause of 5-10 seconds, particularly for complex questions. After asking a question, silently count to 5 (or longer for complex questions) before calling on a student. Encourage all students to think of an answer during this time.

• Elementary Example: After asking, "Why do you think the character helped their friend?" wait 5 seconds before calling on a student to give all students time to think.
• Secondary Example: During a physics lesson, ask, "What might happen if we double the mass in this equation?" Allow time for reflection before taking answers.

Bellringers

Bellringers are quick, focused tasks that students complete as they enter the classroom. These activities help transition students into a learning mindset and connect to prior or upcoming content.

• Elementary Example: For a math lesson, display, "Draw a shape with 4 sides. What is it called?"
• Secondary Example: For an ELA class, prompt, "List three themes from the book we read yesterday."

Exit Tickets

Exit tickets are short, formative assessments completed at the end of a lesson to gauge understanding or gather feedback.

• Elementary Example: After a lesson on animals, ask, "Write one fact about mammals and one question you still have."
• Secondary Example: After a discussion on climate change, ask, "What is one new idea you learned, and what do you want to know more about?"

Incorporating Depth of Knowledge (DOK) Questions

DOK questions encourage students to engage at different cognitive levels, from recall to extended reasoning. They are strategically used to deepen understanding, analyze concepts, and foster critical thinking.

• Elementary Example:

  • Anticipatory Set: "How might plants help clean the air around us?" (DOK Level 3 – Strategic Thinking).
  • Guided Notes: During a lesson on the water cycle, ask, "Why do you think evaporation is essential to the water cycle?"
  • Think-Pair-Share: After a math lesson on patterns, ask, "What if the rule in the pattern changes? What would the next numbers be?"

• Secondary Example:

  • Anticipatory Set: "How does the concept of supply and demand affect the choices we make as consumers?"
  • Guided Notes: In a history class, ask, "Why was the Treaty of Versailles significant in shaping future conflicts?"
  • Think-Pair-Share: During a chemistry lesson, ask, "What would happen to the reaction if the temperature increased by 10 degrees?"

Integrating Movement and Hands-On Activities

Movement and tactile activities engage multiple senses, improving focus, retention, and understanding. Kinesthetic learning helps students connect abstract concepts to concrete experiences.

• Elementary Example:

  • Gallery Walks: Stations on habitats where students match animals to their environments.
  • Manipulatives: Use base-ten blocks to model addition and subtraction.

• Secondary Example:

  • Gallery Walks: Explore primary source documents in a history class, with each station focusing on a different perspective.
  • Manipulatives: Build molecular models with physical kits to understand chemical bonding.

Mastery Focus

A mastery focus ensures students understand the goals they need to achieve by providing clear expectations, scaffolding, and opportunities to apply new knowledge.

• Elementary Example: Introduce key vocabulary (e.g., “ecosystem”) with pictures, definitions, and a class discussion about examples like ponds or forests.
• Secondary Example: For a history lesson, use guided notes to define “industrialization” with visuals showing its impact on factories, workers, and cities.

Backwards Planning

Backwards planning starts with the desired outcomes, aligning lessons and activities to ensure students build the skills needed to meet objectives and assessments.

• Elementary Example: For a unit on fractions, start with the goal of solving real-world fraction problems (e.g., cooking measurements), then scaffold with lessons on identifying, comparing, and adding fractions.
• Secondary Example: In a persuasive writing unit, define the goal of drafting an argumentative essay and scaffold lessons on identifying claims, evidence, and counterarguments.

Multimodal Learning

Multimodal learning integrates various formats (e.g., visuals, music, videos) to address diverse learning preferences and improve comprehension.

• Elementary Example: Teach the water cycle using a video, a hands-on water model, and a diagram that students label.
• Secondary Example: For a biology lesson, combine a video on cell functions, an infographic showing organelles, and a song that explains their roles.

Cooperative Learning

Cooperative learning emphasizes peer interaction and collaboration, helping students develop teamwork and problem-solving skills.

• Elementary Example: In a science class, students work in groups to design a habitat for an animal, with each student assigned a role (e.g., recorder, presenter).
• Secondary Example: In geometry, students collaborate to solve a multi-step problem, dividing tasks such as drawing, calculating, and presenting solutions.

Equity of Voice

Equity of voice ensures all students have opportunities to share ideas and contribute to discussions, fostering a sense of belonging and inclusion.

• Elementary Example: Use round-robin sharing during a class discussion on favorite animals, ensuring every student has a turn to speak.
• Secondary Example: In a literature class, use Padlet for students to post reflections on a novel, allowing quieter students to contribute digitally.

Explicit Instructions and Modeling

Providing clear, step-by-step instructions and modeling tasks helps students understand expectations and succeed in their learning.

• Elementary Example: When teaching sentence writing, model how to form a complete sentence using a subject and predicate, then guide students to practice with teacher feedback.
• Secondary Example: For essay writing, model how to craft an introduction with a hook and thesis statement, showing examples of both strong and weak introductions.

Gradual Release of Responsibility

The gradual release model ("I Do, We Do, You Do") transitions responsibility from teacher to student, building confidence and independence.

• Elementary Example: In a phonics lesson, model blending sounds ("I Do"), practice with the class ("We Do"), have pairs read words together ("You Do Together"), and assign independent reading ("You Do Alone").
• Secondary Example: In algebra, model solving a linear equation on the board, practice solving similar equations as a class, assign small group tasks to solve different problems, and end with independent work.

Student Buy-In

Connecting content to students’ interests and experiences makes learning relevant, engaging, and meaningful.

• Elementary Example: When teaching animal habitats, reference popular characters like Nemo (reef habitat) or Simba (savanna habitat).
• Secondary Example: For a lesson on budgeting, create a scenario where students plan a trip with a set budget, connecting math concepts to real-life decision-making.