Jacquelyn Serra Date: March 25

th
, 2013
Unit: 8 Time Length: 15 minutes
Lesson: Direct Instruction
INTASC STANDARDS:
1. Content Pedagogy
2. Multiple Instructional Strategies
MOTIVATIONAL DEVICE: (2 Minutes) Have students watch the Charlie Brown video and
explain to them why this is a bad example of direct instruction. Ask students if they have ever
had a class that used direct instruction in this way before and if it usually happened in one
subject over the other.
INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES:
1. Given an example of direct instruction, students should be able to identify (discuss) what
good direct instruction is with 90% accuracy
2. Given the lecture on direct instruction students will be able to answer (write) all 3 key
questions with 90% accuracy.
3. Given a pencil and paper students will be able to come up (write) with one way they
would use direct instruction in their own classroom with no errors
MATERIALS NEEDED: Piece of paper & pen/pencil
TECHNOLOGY USED: Laptop
RESOURCES USED: Cruickshank, D.R., Jenkins, D.E., & Metcalf, K.K. (2012). The Act of
Teaching (6
th
ed). Boston, MA: Mc-Graw-Hill;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss2hULhXf04
LESSON TYPE: Lecture
LESSON OUTLINE: (10 minutes)
1. Introduction
Commented [JES1]: NCATE 2.2 foster familiarity with
students own/others cultures

When asking them about if they ever had a teacher like in
Charlie Brown gives them the opportunity to talk about
teachers that didnt use Direct instruction well and I will in
turn show them how it can be successfully done. This is
allowing them to think about their own experiences instead
of the teacher just talking the whole time.
Commented [JES2]: NCATE 3.6 know print/non-print
media & tech

Although I did use a laptop with a Prezi presentation that
wasnt the only thing that I was reliant on. I had many
activities that didnt include the laptop so students werent
stuck looking at a computer screen for the full 15 minute
lecture.
a. Motivational Device (Video & follow-up questions)
b. Explain what direct instruction is and what it is intended to do for students
2. Two Types of Direct Instruction
a. Research-Based
i. Basic Practice Model
ii. Explicit Teaching
iii. Active Teaching
b. Learning-Theory Based
i. Mastery Teaching Program
ii. DISTAR (Direct Instructional System for Teaching and Learning)
3. Research-Based
a. 6 characteristics of research-based direct instruction
i. Teacher centrality
ii. Academic orientation
iii. Positive, high expectations
iv. Student cooperation & accountability
v. Students psychologically safe
vi. Student behavior is controlled
b. Purpose
i. Help students learn basic academic content in the most efficient,
straightforward way when the content to be learned is well structured.
c. Basic Practice
i. 4 Basic Steps
1. Lesson intro
2. Lesson development
3. Structured Practice
4. Independent Practice
d. Explicit Teaching
i. 6 phases
1. Review and check homework
2. Present new skills
3. Guided practice
4. Provide feedback
5. Independent practice
6. Weekly/monthly review
e. Active Teaching
i. 5 phases
1. Opening
2. Development
3. Independent work
4. Homework
5. Continued review
4. Learning Theory Based Direct Instruction
a. Purpose & Major Characteristic
i. Help learn academic content in a straightforward manner
ii. Practice
b. Mastery Teaching
i. 7 parts
1. Objectives
2. Standards
3. Hook
4. Teaching
5. Guided practice
6. Closure
7. Independent practice
c. Direct Instructional System for Teaching and Learning (DISTAR)
i. Controversial
ii. Good with lower SES students
iii. Teacher proof
1. Tells teachers exactly what to do
2. Teacher is unable to screw up the lesson
iv. Draw heavily on behavioral school of thought about learning and
repetition & reinforcement
5. When is it Best Used?
a. Teaching knowledge & explicit concepts and procedures
b. Well structured, clear, unambiguous
c. Most useful during the first stages of learning unfamiliar material
KEY QUESTIONS:
1. What is one huge disadvantage of direct instruction? (Link back to motivational
device)
2. When is direct instruction best used when teaching material?
3. What is one example of how you think this could be used in your future classroom?
CLOSURE: (2 minutes) Use key questions to close the lesson as a review.
DIFFERENTIATED LEARNING ACTIVITES:
Tier 1: Basic students will be given a piece of paper with the informational already
provided being asked during the motivational device and the closure. They will only have
to circle answers on their handout rather than coming up with all their own ideas.
Tier 2: On level students will follow the lesson accordingly.
Tier 3: Advanced students will be given extra questions that require a higher level of
thinking.
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS:
1. Check for understanding throughout the entire lesson.
2. Observe student participation and if no student is willing to share then I will give an
example myself.
HOMEWORK: Students will have a ticket out the door about 3 things that they learned that
they didnt already know.

Commented [JES3]: NCATE 4.5 engage students in
meaningful discussions of oral, written, visual forms

For my formative assessments I wanted one thing to be just
to observe the students so I could see how they are doing
and if they understand the information that was given to
them. Using a powerpoint also along with oral presentation
shows that I am teaching to all different types of learning
and focusing on just one.
REFLECTION:
1. Was there enough student engagement throughout the entire lesson?
2. Will all students be able to give an example on how it could be used in their future
classroom?
3. If I were to teach the lesson again what could I do to better the lesson?








Commented [JES4]: NCATE 2.3 demonstrate reflective
practice, professional involvement, collaboration

For this assignment we needed to teach a small group about
a teaching method. Although it was on a small group we
needed to reflect about our teaching strategies and how
well we convey the information to the students. The
reflection at the end of the lesson shows that as a teacher I
am willing to look back and see what I could have done
better.