How do I keep my mini-lesson short when the text is long?

Summary

The video discusses effective strategies for delivering mini-lessons in reading comprehension, emphasizing the importance of teaching thinking skills rather than simply reading text aloud. Kristina explains how to keep mini-lessons within 15-20 minutes by focusing on explicit instruction of skills like identifying the main idea, followed by modeling ('I do, you watch') and guided practice ('We do'). She highlights the need to use previously read texts for teaching thinking, ensuring that the lesson is about instruction, not just reading. Ultimately, mini-lessons should develop critical thinking before applying skills to new, unseen texts.

Takeaways

• 📚 Teachers often struggle to keep comprehension lessons brief while covering extensive text and complex topics.
• 📝 Mini-lessons are focused on teaching thinking skills, such as identifying the main idea or analyzing an argument.
• 🕒 A mini-lesson should last 15-20 minutes and involve explicit instruction on a specific skill, like finding the main idea.
• 👩‍🏫 The first half of a mini-lesson should include direct instruction where the teacher explains the concept, such as what the main idea is and how to find it.
• 🔍 Teachers should model the thinking process using a text they have already read, projecting it to show how to apply the lesson.
• 🧠 The lesson isn't about reading new text but about demonstrating how to think through comprehension tasks with a previously-read text.
• 👀 After modeling the skill ('I do, you watch and listen'), teachers should guide students through the process ('We do').
• 📖 Simply reading aloud and asking questions is not considered a lesson, but rather a read-aloud session.
• 🎯 The goal of the mini-lesson is to teach the thinking process, not just to complete the reading of a text.
• 🏅 Mastering the skill of applying comprehension strategies to a new, unseen text happens over time, beyond mini-lessons.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the mini-lesson being discussed?

The mini-lesson focuses on teaching 'thinking' skills, such as understanding how to figure out the main idea, rather than just reading the text aloud.

Why does Kristina emphasize teaching thinking skills in a mini-lesson?

Kristina emphasizes that a mini-lesson is about teaching students how to think, specifically how to analyze and understand concepts like the main idea, rather than just reading the text.

How should a mini-lesson be structured according to the speaker?

A mini-lesson should be divided into two parts: the first half involves explicit instruction on skills like finding the main idea, and the second half uses a 'gradual release' model, where the teacher demonstrates ('I do') followed by a guided practice ('We do').

What is the purpose of using previously read texts in a mini-lesson?

Previously read texts allow the teacher to focus on teaching the thinking process without spending time reading new texts. This helps the teacher model how to identify concepts like the main idea without having to go through an entire text in class.

Why does Kristina say 'reading aloud and asking questions' is not a lesson?

She explains that simply reading aloud and asking questions is not instruction. A true lesson involves explicit teaching of thinking skills, such as how to identify main ideas, followed by student practice.

How should the 'I do' phase of the mini-lesson be conducted?

During the 'I do' phase, the teacher models the skill being taught (e.g., identifying the main idea) using a text that has already been read, demonstrating the thinking process while students watch and listen.

What role does gradual release play in the mini-lesson structure?

Gradual release means the teacher first demonstrates the skill (I do), then guides the students as they practice it together (We do), eventually leading to independent student application.

What is the ultimate goal of teaching thinking skills through mini-lessons?

The ultimate goal is to prepare students to apply these thinking skills independently with new texts, though this takes time and practice beyond the mini-lesson.

How does Kristina suggest dealing with longer texts in upper grades?

She suggests not reading longer texts during the mini-lesson but instead using excerpts or previously read materials to focus on teaching the skill, such as identifying the main idea.

What is the difference between a mini-lesson and game-day practices, according to Kristina?

A mini-lesson teaches the skill (e.g., how to think about the main idea), while game-day practices involve applying the skill to fresh, unseen texts in a more comprehensive way.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Mini-Lessons Focus on Thinking Skills

Brian Lovell, the director of curriculum instruction at Clark Pleasant School District, discusses the challenge of teaching comprehension skills within a short timeframe. He clarifies that mini-lessons are meant to teach 'thinking' skills, such as identifying the main idea, theme, or author's purpose. The first half of a mini-lesson should be dedicated to explicit teaching of these skills, followed by a demonstration where the teacher models the skill using a previously read text. This approach ensures that students understand the process before they attempt to apply it themselves.

Keywords

💡Mini-lesson

A mini-lesson is a short, focused instruction period that lasts 10-20 minutes. It is designed to teach a specific skill or concept. In the context of the video, the speaker emphasizes that mini-lessons are meant to focus on thinking skills, such as identifying the main idea, rather than simply reading aloud.

💡Main Idea

The main idea is the central thought or message of a text. The video discusses how teachers should explicitly teach students to identify the main idea by providing clues and evidence. It is one of the core skills covered in comprehension mini-lessons, as teachers demonstrate how to pinpoint the main idea in previously-read texts.

💡Gradual Release

Gradual release refers to the teaching method where responsibility is slowly transferred from the teacher to the students. The teacher first models ('I do'), then practices with the students ('We do'), before having students perform the task independently. The video highlights this method as essential for teaching comprehension skills like identifying the main idea.

💡Explicit Instruction

Explicit instruction is a teaching approach where concepts and strategies are clearly and directly explained to students. In the video, explicit instruction involves the teacher telling students what the main idea is, how to find it, and the steps for analyzing it. This direct approach is necessary to ensure students understand the skill being taught.

💡Thinking Skills

Thinking skills refer to cognitive processes like analysis, inference, and problem-solving that are required for comprehension. The video stresses that mini-lessons are focused on teaching students how to think critically about texts—such as determining the author's purpose or analyzing an argument—rather than just reading the text.

💡Previously-read Text

A previously-read text is a passage or article that students have already gone through. The video advises teachers to use previously-read texts when modeling comprehension strategies, allowing them to focus on thinking and analysis without the pressure of first-time reading. This reinforces the thinking process during the mini-lesson.

💡I Do, You Watch

'I Do, You Watch' is the first stage of the gradual release model, where the teacher demonstrates a skill while students observe. In the video, this method is described as a key part of mini-lessons, where the teacher models how to identify the main idea in a text, and students watch to understand the process.

💡We Do

'We Do' is the second stage of the gradual release model, where the teacher and students work together to practice a skill. In the video, this is the step following the teacher's demonstration, where the students participate in identifying the main idea with teacher guidance.

💡Cold Text

A 'cold text' refers to a text that students are encountering for the first time. In the video, cold texts are mentioned as a challenge because the focus of mini-lessons is to teach thinking strategies using familiar texts, not cold texts. However, students will eventually need to apply these strategies independently to cold texts during 'game-day' practice.

💡Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension is the ability to understand and interpret what is being read. The video centers on how to improve students' comprehension skills, particularly through mini-lessons that teach them to analyze texts for main ideas, themes, and author’s arguments. Effective comprehension instruction is the overall goal of the lesson approach being discussed.

Highlights

Mini-lessons focus on teaching thinking skills, not just reading aloud.

The lesson should be structured with an 'I do, you watch and listen' approach, modeling how to think about main ideas.

Mini-lessons should be 15-20 minutes long and focus on skills like finding the main idea, identifying clues, and gathering evidence.

Text used in mini-lessons should already be read, allowing the teacher to focus on modeling thinking instead of reading.

'I do' involves projecting a previously-read text and demonstrating how to extract the main idea.

Teachers should not confuse read-alouds with lessons; a lesson includes instruction on thinking, not just reading.

The lesson involves transitioning from 'I do' to 'We do'—students practice the skill with a previously-read text.

A mini-lesson should not involve reading long texts, especially with intermediate and middle school students.

In the 'We do' phase, students apply the skill collaboratively, working on another text they have already read.

Eventually, students will need to practice the skill on new, unseen texts, but that’s part of later practice, not the mini-lesson.

Effective mini-lessons focus on how to do the thinking required for comprehension, not just reading through a text.

Teachers need to break down complex comprehension tasks, like determining the main idea, into manageable steps within the lesson.

The goal is to guide students from teacher-led instruction ('I do') to student practice with guidance ('We do').

Mini-lessons help students learn key reading skills incrementally, preparing them for independent application later.

The structure of gradual release—'I do, we do, you do'—is essential for teaching reading comprehension skills effectively.

Transcripts

For every teacher who's been working so hard to deliver explicit, direct whole-class comprehension

instruction, you are going to appreciate this next question.

Brian Lovell is the director of curriculum instruction at Clark Pleasant School District,

just south of Indianapolis, and he's trying to support his intermediate and middle school

ELA teachers as they're using various reading resources and curriculum materials. And they're

struggling with: How do we keep a lesson mini--you know, 10-15...20 minutes--how do you keep

it mini when,. you know, you have to read so much text. We're trying to do main idea.

We're trying to do theme. We're trying to do analyze the argument or author purpose.

Well, all of that happens after you read the text. So how can I read the text and do the

lesson all in 15 minutes, Kristina? Ah, okay, wait. We have a big misunderstanding

here. Remember, mini-lessons are about skills. They're about "thinking" skills--teaching

kids how to think. So if I'm going to do a mini-lesson, alright,

a 15-20 minute comprehension mini-lesson, the first half of the lesson is going to include

I teach them. I explicitly tell them--what is main idea, how do you figure out main idea,

what are the types of clues to figure out main idea, when do you start thinking about

main idea, what's evidence for main idea, where do you find those details and evidence

for main idea. All of that has to be taught. Somebody has

to tell me that stuff. Alright, but as part of that first half of

the instruction, there also has to be an "I do, You watch and listen." Right? Because

we all know best practice and gradual release means that I'm not going to ask you to do

something that I didn't do first. Yeah, but Kristina, they're in fourth, fifth,

sixth, eighth grade, the text is so much longer. How can you do that?

Wait a minute. At this point in the lesson, you now hold up a text you've already read--a

chapter book, a novel. You project a 3-page NEWSELA article that you've already read.

Because you read it for gist, but now, now you're going to use it in the "I do" to model

how to take the instruction, the learning, you just delivered and show them how you figure

out main idea (from a previously read text). You don't have time to read a text. No. You

project a previously-read text. The lesson is about teaching thinking.

If all you do in a lesson is read, read aloud, pause, and ask questions, that's a read aloud.

And that's fine but don't call it a lesson. It's not a lesson. A lesson is instruction.

"I do. You watch and listen." Followed by a "We do." So after the "I do," after I projected

an article and I modeled how to figure out what the main idea sentence is, I'm going

to now change my slide, and I'm going to put up a second article (that we've already read),

and I'm going to say, "Remember this? Okay. So, you guys, let's attack it. How do we do

it?" I'll guide. I'll facilitate the "We do." And

we'll do it with this. I know, eventually, they have to be able to do it with fresh,

cold brand-new text: read it, think it, figure out main idea all in one sitting.

But that's not going to be the mini-lesson. That's going to be game-day practices and

such. When you teach a skill, the lesson is about how to do the thinking. The lesson is

not just reading aloud.