Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Yessica Lozano
Dr. P. Huff
February 4, 2018
If I knew then, what I know now, I could have made a bigger impact during my first
years in teaching. The book, “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction,” written
by Sean Cain and Mike Laird is a great read for all teachers, new and those with experience. The
authors of the book are involved in daily action research, finding ways to help improve
instructional practices. In 2009, Cain and Laird visited over 900 classrooms from grades
districts. Their findings were dissatisfying. It was observed that The Fundamental Five was
almost never put to practice in these classrooms. The Fundamental Five are individual practices
As a future educational leader, this book will help guide classroom walkthroughs and
observations, both announced and unannounced. A great lesson begins with an essential element
known as Framing the Lesson. Teachers are to frame a lesson in such a way that all students will
know what they will be learning, what is expected of them, and what the end result will be. Cain
and Laird call this the ‘Objective.’ The objective is to be written in student-friendly language.
Teacher benefits to framing a lesson, is that they will be able to select activities that aim directly
to the intended lesson while focusing on the end result (expectation/product). The student benefit
to having a lesson framed is that they will know beforehand, what they will be learning and
doing to achieve understanding. Approaching a lesson in this manner will produce student
Another important element to the Fundamental Five is what Cain and Laird call the,
“Power Zone.” They explain three different locations from where teachers do their craft. The
book introduces them from the least effective to most effective locations a teacher conducts
instruction. When a teacher is commonly at her desk waiting for something to happen and at
times delivering instruction from the work area, is the least effective approach to a desirable
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student outcome. On the contrary, when a teacher is in close proximity to the action, in this case,
where the learning is occurring, Cain and Laird call this “working in the power zone.” Working
in the power zone changes the dynamics of classroom delivery. This sets the right conditions for
student understanding and productivity. Observable behaviors are: on-task behaviors increase,
discipline issues decrease, and student retention of the content increases (Cain & Laird, 2011, pg.
45). Working in the power zone is set to be the most effective in instructional delivery.
In chapter five, Cain and Laird describe an effective teacher practice known as, “frequent,
small-group, purposeful talk about the learning.” Simply, the teacher has a preplanned ‘seed
question’ that is used to guide student conversations about the intended material. The authors
recommend that after every ten to fifteen minutes of the teacher leading the instruction, students
are to be given multiple opportunities to make connections in small groups. Allowing purposeful
talk between peers makes a significant positive impact on retention (Cain & Laird, pg. 55). I
believe this practice is important to note for all educational leaders who routinely make
walkthroughs at their campuses. I, in the near future, will keep this important practice in mind,
A question that will always ponder in the minds of educators and those in the realm of
education is, do the academic standards do social justice for all student populations, sub-groups,
and bring equality to all American children? My opinion, no. These standards seem to measure
attributes of an intellectual thinker. Not all students succeed at the same level, at the same time,
in the same way. For that reason, celebrating the small victories will make big differences for
students who struggle with school work. Cain and Laird explain why it is important to recognize
academic successes, no matter how small they may seem to the teacher. We must make it “a
really big deal,” as Cain and Laird (2011) state. Recognizing and reinforcing student work and
effort is, a powerful practice that will motivate students to perform. Often times, students will
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work for extrinsic rewards which will shape the behaviors the teachers want to see (Cain &
About eight percent of the classrooms observed by Cain and Laird, did any form of
critical writing related to the topic. Writing critically increases both the amount of material that
can be recalled by the learner (Cain & Laird, pg. 84). Content writing could serve as an informal
assessment while at the same time increase literacy skills. Students given these opportunities will
In summary, The Fundamental Five are the essential keys to effective instructional
practices and student achievement. I believe that Cain and Laird have found the formula to help
teachers create change in their classroom across America. This could be an “action theory” of
change. This book is carefully organized in a way this it’s message delivery is self explanatory
and easy to implement. It is a book with five simple, yet, carefully crafted synthesis of ideas
developed primarily for practice. I strongly believe that if teachers set the right conditions for
learning, then they are on their way to motivate adults and students to do new things that may
sometimes be difficult at first. As a future educational leader, I plan in implement this book to
REFERENCES
Cain, S. & Laird, M. (2011). The Fundamental Five: The Formula for Quality Instruction.