Rosenshine's Principles #2

Summary

This video explores Rosenshine's second teaching principle: presenting new material in small steps with student practice after each step. Emphasizing the importance of breaking lessons into manageable chunks, it highlights how working memory is limited while long-term memory is effectively unlimited. Teachers are encouraged to introduce content gradually, ensuring understanding through active practice and assessment, such as the 'close the loop' AFL technique or mini whiteboards. The principle underscores that learning is more effective when progress is measured carefully, reinforcing that steady, incremental teaching—brick by brick—supports deeper comprehension and lasting mastery of new concepts.

Takeaways

• 📚 Rosenshine's second principle emphasizes presenting new material in small steps and providing student practice after each step.
• 🪜 The principle links closely to the idea of stepping stones within lessons and ongoing arrival checking.
• ⏸️ Teachers should avoid rushing through content and instead break concepts into manageable chunks.
• 🧠 Cognitive Load Theory underpins this principle, highlighting the limits of working memory compared to effectively unlimited long-term memory.
• 🔢 Working memory can typically hold only 4-5 discrete pieces of new information at once, making small-step teaching essential.
• 🏗️ Lessons should progress gradually, only moving on once students have consolidated understanding of each chunk.
• ✅ The 'Close the Loop' AFL technique is a practical way to check understanding at each stepping stone before proceeding.
• 📝 Tools like mini whiteboards and cold-calling students can quickly assess comprehension across the class.
• 🚦 Avoid including material that does not directly serve the lesson's objectives to prevent cognitive overload.
• 🏛️ The principle reminds educators that learning builds gradually, much like constructing Rome brick by brick.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the second video in this series?

The second video focuses on Rosenshine's principle of presenting new material in small steps with student practice after each step.

How does this principle relate to the concept of 'stepping stones' in lessons?

The principle aligns with the 'stepping stones' concept by encouraging teachers to break lessons into manageable chunks, ensuring each step is mastered before moving on.

What is meant by 'arrival checking' in the context of this principle?

'Arrival checking' refers to continuously assessing students’ understanding throughout the lesson, not just at the end, to ensure they have grasped each step before progressing.

How does the 'close the loop' AFL technique work in practice?

In the 'close the loop' AFL technique, a teacher only moves to the next lesson stage once a strong majority of the class demonstrates understanding of the current stepping stone, often using cold calls or other formative assessments.

Why is it important to present new material in small steps?

Presenting new material in small steps prevents overloading the working memory, allowing students to consolidate understanding of each chunk before moving on.

What are the two types of memory described in cognitive load theory?

Cognitive load theory identifies long-term memory, which stores acquired knowledge and skills indefinitely, and working memory, which temporarily processes new information but has limited capacity.

What is the approximate capacity of the working memory according to recent evidence?

Recent evidence suggests that working memory can hold about four to five discrete pieces of new information at a time.

How does Rosenshine suggest teachers should respond to the limitations of working memory?

Teachers should present new material gradually, breaking lessons into small steps and allowing practice for each step, thereby preventing cognitive overload and enhancing learning.

What classroom strategies can be used to check understanding of each stepping stone?

Teachers can use strategies such as cold calling students, mini whiteboards for rapid assessment, and formative assessment techniques like 'close the loop' AFL to ensure understanding before moving on.

Why is it important to avoid covering material that doesn't serve the lesson's objectives?

Covering irrelevant material can distract students, increase cognitive load unnecessarily, and reduce the effectiveness of learning the key concepts intended for that lesson.

What metaphor does the video use to describe the process of teaching new material?

The video uses the metaphor 'Rome wasn't built in a day' to emphasize the importance of teaching gradually, step by step, rather than rushing through content.